Doonst lucks out at Horseshoe Valley

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Doonst
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Doonst lucks out at Horseshoe Valley

Postby Doonst » Sun Sep 13, 2009 10:29 pm

Saturday was the final 5 Peaks Ontario race of the year, at Horseshoe Valley Resort. A beautiful day, if a little warm in the sun for September. Its a ways up north, took me just about an hour and a half to get there. There's so often a great atmosphere at their races. I ran into lots of people I knew, old friends I haven't seen in years, people from my town, maniac pals old and new. The distances available were 6K, 15K, and 21K; I did the 15.

I haven't run farther than 12.7 K since a disastrous half marathon in June, that one really tore up my achilles tendon. All summer I have been babying it, with several false starts and setbacks. I've been on a positive roll for 3 weeks now, with a longest recent run of 12 K. Needless to say I was concerned for not re-injuring it, so the plan was medium easy pace.
The start went well, lots of fast going early on to spread out the crowd. AirForceRunner went by about the 2 K mark, just before heading onto the singletrack. And what singletrack it was! So much curvy, back and forth, s-turns rolling up and down, and all around. There was not much in the way of huge hills, but it was always doing something. There were hills, we would just take a very meandering route to climb or descend them. Every now and then there was a wider road-like section, but sooner or later it was back into the twisties. For those who have done them, I would compare it most to the Durham Forest course, only lots more of it. The course was mostly shaded, but near the end we were more in the sun. By now it was after 11 AM, and the sun was hot. I was walking a lot of the uphills, but I tried to keep it to just there. Still the final hill wasn't that steep, just long and sandy, but attempts to run it didn't last long. At least there was a bit of a flat at the top so that we could finish sprinting. For the second half I was somewhere near AirForceRunner, beside or behind. At the line he beat me by 10 seconds.

Final time was 1:33:43, I'm fine with that. 1:30 sounds better but hey I wasn't supposed to be racing really at all. I am happy with my effort, and especially that I pulled it off without any AT damage. Today it feels better if anything. Afterwards was social fun too. Again lots of friends to chat with, and lunch too. I'd call it a success, a very fun day with only good vibes for the rest of the running season. Bring on The Toad!
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BaldGuy
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Re: Doonst lucks out at Horseshoe Valley

Postby BaldGuy » Sun Sep 13, 2009 10:43 pm

Great stuff, Sheldon. Not re-injuring yourself, plus an excellent time for your longest run in ages, PLUS only being back at it for three weeks? I always said you were a machine. Possibly from the future. ;-)

Congrats and enjoy the Toad!
BG

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Re: Doonst lucks out at Horseshoe Valley

Postby Darth Tater » Mon Sep 14, 2009 12:34 am

Sounds like a great day all around. Way to go Doonst!
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Re: Doonst lucks out at Horseshoe Valley

Postby HCcD » Mon Sep 14, 2009 6:14 am

Nicely done, big guy ... glad to see you back on the roads, err trails, again ... :P
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Re: Doonst lucks out at Horseshoe Valley

Postby jgore » Mon Sep 14, 2009 6:26 am

Great run, Sheldon. Only back at it for 3 weeks? :shock: Wow! That's a great finishing time.

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Re: Doonst lucks out at Horseshoe Valley

Postby Jo-Jo » Mon Sep 14, 2009 6:53 am

Sounds like you had a great time on the Trails! Good to hear your injury didn't flare up.
Thanks for befriending AFR out there :D
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Re: Doonst lucks out at Horseshoe Valley

Postby La » Mon Sep 14, 2009 7:20 am

Good to see you and your funky tights again! Great race! See you at The Toad.
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Re: Doonst lucks out at Horseshoe Valley

Postby The Donald » Mon Sep 14, 2009 7:31 am

Sounds like you are back with us! Congrats on your recovery.
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Re: Doonst lucks out at Horseshoe Valley

Postby दिवंगत » Mon Sep 14, 2009 8:19 am

Good job Sheldon, for the race, and for keeping the AT in good shape too. You're back! :)

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Re: Doonst lucks out at Horseshoe Valley

Postby scrumhalfgirl » Mon Sep 14, 2009 8:40 am

Great running, Sheldon - I'm glad you've been able to keep your injury in check and still get out to enjoy the trails.
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Re: Doonst lucks out at Horseshoe Valley

Postby Robbie-T » Mon Sep 14, 2009 9:13 am

Atta boy Doonst, nice show, sounds like a good day of running and fun
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Re: Doonst lucks out at Horseshoe Valley

Postby ian » Mon Sep 14, 2009 11:55 am

You're starting to get some good runs in lately.

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Re: Doonst lucks out at Horseshoe Valley

Postby b_squared » Mon Sep 14, 2009 12:48 pm

Great run out there Doonst!

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Re: Doonst lucks out at Horseshoe Valley

Postby Strider » Mon Sep 14, 2009 12:56 pm

Nicely done young fella - good to see you "racing" again. See ya at the Toad.
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Re: Doonst lucks out at Horseshoe Valley

Postby kpoire » Mon Sep 14, 2009 1:03 pm

Great job, Sheldon. Sounds like a pretty good day on the trails.

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Re: Doonst lucks out at Horseshoe Valley

Postby 5km » Mon Sep 14, 2009 1:47 pm

Well done. Congratulations on your return.

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Re: Doonst lucks out at Horseshoe Valley

Postby ratherBrunning » Mon Sep 14, 2009 4:09 pm

Great job--sounds like a lot of fun! Glad AT is better--bring on the fall season!! :D
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Re: Doonst lucks out at Horseshoe Valley

Postby richie-rich » Mon Sep 14, 2009 4:15 pm

Good to hear you back running without pain and enjoying yourself. good luck with the rest of your runs. and dare i suggest an egg nog shallonge??? :dance:

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Re: Doonst lucks out at Horseshoe Valley

Postby West Grey Runner » Mon Sep 14, 2009 5:23 pm

Doonst

Sounds like you and AirForceRunner had a blast, loved the reports!

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Re: Doonst lucks out at Horseshoe Valley

Postby VeloCarrie » Mon Sep 14, 2009 5:43 pm

Aren't trails great? Congratulations on a great race!
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Re: Doonst lucks out at Horseshoe Valley

Postby Garrett » Mon Sep 14, 2009 11:13 pm

Great job! Sounds like an awesome course!

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Re: Doonst lucks out at Horseshoe Valley

Postby ultraslacker » Mon Sep 14, 2009 11:19 pm

yay for a great run! glad to hear that your AT is feeling better. :)
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Re: Doonst lucks out at Horseshoe Valley

Postby AirForceRunner » Tue Sep 15, 2009 10:53 am

As I've already stated...had a blast out there with you. I'm thankful I got to run my first trail race who had a really strong technical 'grip' on how to tackle the course.
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Re: Doonst lucks out at Horseshoe Valley

Postby Ken B » Tue Sep 15, 2009 3:18 pm

Great run and report and super good news about the AT. See you at the Toad!

Congratulations! :D

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Re: Doonst lucks out at Horseshoe Valley

Postby QuickChick » Tue Sep 15, 2009 8:14 pm

I'm so glad that your AT was ok during and after the race. Phew! It was great to see you as always. Hey maybe next year Tuzo can run it too! There were a couple other people with doggies.
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