When You Follow Your Priorities, It's Always a Success

Always a smile...especially when I have pop tarts.

100 miles. Even driving in a car for that distance is a long way to travel; doing it by only using what God gave you (your legs and arms…and that small empty space between your ears), well, that seems almost impossible.

100 miles. That was the goal for 2024. That was the reason why I signed up for the Quebec Mega Trail Endurance Race in July. That was why I put in so much training earlier in the year, to prepare myself to run 100 miles.

1 mile too many. That was what resulted in my goal to run 100 miles becoming a wish unfulfilled in 2024. With an injury that took longer than expected to heal, I no longer had any chance of reaching my goal. Even attempting to run a shorter distance of 50 kms was out of the question now, as I wouldn’t have the required lead up time to properly train for it. So, what were my options? How about planning an event where maybe rather than run the full distance, I could instead combine it with other activities like using a bike or swimming (Thanks for the idea Laura Lee). Brilliant! Let’s go.

One of my goals for the last few years was to attempt a sprint triathlon which consists of a 750m swim, a 20 km bike ride and a 5 km run. I came close to signing up for one in August but when my injury was taking longer than expected to heal, I decided against it. So, we get to October and I still want to attempt something extremely challenging this year. My healing was finally going well, and I felt good. Let’s think big. How about I plan a 100-mile self supported triathlon style endurance challenge for my 48th birthday, and because it will be the holiday season when that takes place, how about we combine it with a way to raise funds for a good cause. Sounds like the perfect idea. Where to start.

The first thing I did was reach out to my coach and get his opinion as to whether it’s doable. “Yes, with some proper training I think you could do it. However, as we still have to limit impact to your ankles, let’s try the running portion after the swim and then finish off on the bike”. "Sounds good to me", I say. Now, I had to determine how much distance I would complete for each activity. The swim would be the shortest distance followed by the running and then the bike. After some brainstorming, I decided it would look like this. I would attempt to swim 2 kms as a minimum, followed by a 20-30 km run. I would then make up the rest of the distance on the bike. Also, because it’s basically winter here in Canada when I would be attempting this, I would need to figure out where I would conduct the swim portion and what I would do for the bike ride. I decided that the swim portion would be in a pool and the bike ride would also be inside just in case there was lots of snow on the ground when I attempted it.

So, one thing about the swimming portion, I can barely swim. As such, I would need to get in a considerable amount of training to be able to swim 2 kms. The problem is the pool on base has very limited hours that it is open for lap swims so the alternative training facility would be the YMCA in Fredericton. This actually turned out to be a blessing. First off, the pool opens at 5:30 am. While that is very early, it would allow me to get my training in and then make it back home before the kids wake up. Another bonus is I could do the swim portion of the challenge at the YMCA, then run from there to the base gym, and finish off on a spin bike thereby making it a lot easier logistically to complete. Good to go.

So, let’s discuss the training for this. As I felt confident about the running portion, I decided to focus most of my training on practicing how to swim as well as being on a bike. For swimming, I swam twice a week for about one hour each time. Same for the bike, two times a week for about an hour. Because it was the YMCA, I was also able to conduct more strength training to help build a stronger body for my big race in 2025. For running I did a few shorter sessions on the treadmill each week. The swimming I came to enjoy quite a bit even though I never did get my breathing figured out when doing the front stroke and thus only swam using the breaststroke and backstroke. I think during the training I reached a max of 1.5 kms during one session. The training on the bike also went well.

Unfortunately, about three weeks before the challenge, I started noticing my ankles acting up quite a bit and I was unsure as to why. After a few visits to the physiotherapist, it was determined it was tendon related, but why did it happen. One more session in the pool answered that question. Because I had very limited experience swimming, even though it was low impact compared to running, the motion I was making with my ankles while doing the breast and backstroke resulted in my tendons becoming very irritated to the point where I literally had to stop all training three weeks out. I also must admit that I was doing more one-legged strength training exercises as well which didn't exactly help when my ankles were already sore. So how bad was it? I would say it felt as bad as my stress fracture during the summer and seemed to make doing just about any exercising hard to do, less upper body weightlifting which became my mental health lifesaver. It was quite demoralizing to say the least as I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to even attempt the challenge. To make matters worse, the day I decided to stop my training, that morning I had reached out to a few friends to contribute to the fund-raising initiative I planned for this. I now felt additional pressure to somehow make it happen.

Speaking about the fundraising component of this, I have a good friend that occasionally volunteers at the foodbank who told me all about the good work they do supporting the local community. I was also very aware that during the holiday season, more and more families relied on the foodbank for their Christmas meals. As such, I made the decision that I would sponsor a family and do what I could to give them a Christmas they deserve. The sponsored family ended up being a single dad with four kids, perfect. The foodbank gave me a list of Christmas gifts to get for each child and with the generous donations of my friends and family I was able to acquire all the gifts on the list. The plan was that on the day after my challenge (provided I could walk), I would drop off all the gifts with my son, Samuel, so he could learn about giving during this season to give. Combining the fundraiser with the event also gave me an additional “why” to get it done.

We are now a few days out and I am still up in the air about whether I should attempt it, especially since my ankles were still bad. As always, I reached out for advice to some of the most trusted people I know, and the recommendation was that I should still give it a go. I’m glad I took their advice. Let’s move forward to the day before.

I would like to say that I took full advantage of the 11th Dec to get ready for the challenge the next day, but that would unfortunately be a lie. Yes, it was my intent at the start of the day to make sure I would be good to go by early evening to then allow myself to get a good night’s sleep but of course being who I am with my awesome case of bad timing, I had plumbing issues the day before that took a lot of the day and night to resolve. Given that earlier this year, as I was leaving the house to go attend the birth of my youngest child, we had a sudden water leak in the basement, I should have known that something would come up during this event as well. Needless to say, I wasn’t done getting my kit ready until about 11:00 that night. With my alarm set for 04:30 the next morning, I definitely didn’t get a lot of sleep. Just par for the course in being a young father.

So, it’s D Day now, the 12th of Dec, my birthday. It’s a little after 3am and I’m awake. We had a bad wind and rainstorm that night and the sound from such had me awake multiple times during the night. It also made things a little cautious driving due to the amount of debris on the road in travelling in on the North side of the Saint John River. On a positive note, the snow all disappeared during the night so, as long as the trail wasn’t too wet, it should be a good run back to Oromocto.

I got dressed, packed what I needed for the YMCA swim as well as my running vest and poles for the run and lastly all the fuel I would need for the day. I should mention that the day before I dropped off a second bag at the base gym so I could change when I arrived.

It’s about 05:15 when I arrive at the YMCA. One thing I did for this challenge was create a WhatsApp group chat of select friends and family that would be able to follow along with the days journey and offer best wishes if they wished. I in turn would update them after every major component starting off with a short video I made when I first arrived. I have a quick snack in my car and head to the pool. One thing about the YMCA is that while it’s never too busy at that time of the morning, you could very well be sharing the swim lane with someone else. Thankfully, I would have the “slow” lane to myself with only a few other swimmers using the other lanes.

Regarding expectations for the swim, especially with all the ankle issues of late, I figured best case I would get 2.4 kms which would be 100 laps. If I completed 2 kms that would still be amazing. If I matched my personal best with 1.5 kms I would still be happy. Let’s Goooo. Five laps in, all is good. Ten laps, I'm still feeling great. Twenty laps now and I start feeling my left ankle, although nothing too serious. Still, knowing I have a long way to go, I adapt by limiting how much I use my left leg. I can make it work but it takes a lot more concentration and extra effort with only using my arms and right leg. Now I get to fifty laps, and its been a little under an hour. Time to fuel. I jump out of the pool and grab a gel from the fuel bag I had brought. I quickly consume it and then I get back in the pool. Next I get to sixty laps, and I am now in uncharted territory as that is the furthest I have ever swam up to that point. I keep going. Seventy laps and I am now getting out of the pool more often to either get fuel or use the bathroom, which ironically the longer I go, it seems the more often I have to go. It got to a point where I was getting out of the pool every 15 mins or so. Eighty laps done and by this time the end is in sight, however, I am having to stop every few laps now to give my ankle a rest. The main thing is I am still going. Ninety laps and I’m checking my watch to monitor the distance. 2.3 kms…yes…four laps to go. Boom…2.4 kms. I did it, somehow, I did it. It was a miracle given how bad my ankle felt during the swim. I felt proud but there was a lot more to do.

I get out of the pool, have a quick shower and get dressed for what I expected would be a wet long run. I also do one final check of my watch to confirm the distance I swam again. Yup 2.4 kms…and…wait for it….96 laps. Huh…I was shooting for 100. During the last few months I had gone over in my head multiple times to confirm that 2.4 kms would be 100 laps. I like round numbers. No….Noooooo….what happened with my math. Oh yes, I remember, I only completed up to grade 11 math during high school. That might explain it. I would say at this time I was upset, but I wasn’t at all, I was actually laughing (in my head). Remember, best case…2.4 kms. I had achieved my best case so how could I not be happy about it.

96 laps....aghhhh.

Providing my swim completion update...still smiling even with my math error.

I pack up and head to the car to get some fuel and my running vest. I also did an update on my group chat. It’s now a little after 08:00. I should also mention at this time that I heard from my teammate in the Fantastic Four running group, honorary member of Team Torch (select pers who will play a pivotal roll in getting me ready for the Dragon’s Back race), and incredible friend, Isabelle, that she had made a sign for me that was to be displayed at the pool. I had no idea, so I went back in to see if I could find it. No luck but what it did do was get me hyped up to complete the second phase of the challenge.

Great sign and so appreciated

The walk back into the gym was also a wake-up call that my ankle was far worse than I thought. That development would end up changing the whole trajectory and outcome of the day.

It's about 08:30 now, time to begin my run. I step out of the car, start jogging and instantly realize, S^%$, I can’t run. My ankle felt so bad that any significant impact I put on it made me question whether the run was possible. I knew right away it wasn’t but, could I hike this instead. It would take significantly longer to complete and there was a chance I could end up stuck somewhere a little more secluded than where I was now. The further I hiked away from the YMCA, the further I would be away from my car should I need to abandon the plan altogether. I thought to myself, what’s worse, attempting it but having to stop part way knowing I tried or not having tried at all. The answer was clear. This challenge wasn’t just for me. It was for the family many of us came together to give a Christmas to. It was also to prove my support team was correct in believing in me. There were too many people whose support I valued to give up now, so my run thus became a hike.

I’m sure to anyone who saw me, I looked the part of an endurance runner, what with my vest all loaded including a set of running poles. I of course had on my Choose Strong yellow hat as well. However, what I’m sure many people saw instead was a guy clearly walking with a slight limp made more evident whenever I had to cross any streets with traffic. I pass the fire station, I pass Regent Street, I pass the University and I continue on, slow by steadily. It was when I started getting out of the city that I took out my poles. The Poles, Black Diamond Carbon Zs aren’t cheap and they did get me through one winter. However, one of them kept collapsing on me which became very annoying the further I hiked. That’s fine. I would rather have this happen on a flat surface where I was using them mainly because I was injured rather than during a race with lots of elevation where I would be using them to assist because of the terrain.

The ankle seemed to be holding out as I got further away from the city and closer to the gym. I kept track of my distance with my GPS watch (Coros Pace 3 Eliud Kipchoge edition…what, what) but I was unsure what the final exact distance would be. I figured it would be anywhere between 23 kms to 25 kms. It was at about the 13 km mark near the airport when I looked at my phone to shoot another video that I saw it was at 14% power.

Video snap from behind the airport.

I had been using it to listen to some podcasts from my coach, Joe Corcione (host of Everyday Ultra Podcast) and my teammate, Liz Myers (host of The Tribe of Runners) and in doing so it drained the battery quicker than I thought. I shot a quick video which I sent right away on my group chat and then turned it off. On a positive note, the weather turned sunny and it became somewhat warm out. So, we get to three hours hiking and still I have a ways to go. I was originally hoping that I would be able to complete the run portion in two and a half hours but that estimate was quickly becoming way off which meant I would end the bike portion later on in the day as well. That is something I would deal with later though. I still had to complete the hike. Four hours in and I’m finally on base grounds.

So those that know me, know that I’m all about creating opportunities and since my office was on the way to the gym and since it was Christmas season I decided to stop by and deliver some Christmas cards I had done up for a few of my co-workers. This would not only fire me up again, but it would allow me to quickly charge my phone and have a few Pop Tarts, of which I always have a box open at work. When I got to work and thus considered the run portion over, it was about 25 kms and 4 hours 10 minutes later. I should mention that my watch was paused for a bit, so I figure the total hike was about 26 kms. Next would be the final portion of this endurance challenge, an approximately 130 km ride on a spin bike.

The run that became a hike.

Upon arrival to the gym, I quickly changed and made my way to the spin bike room. The staff at the gym had already placed the bike I would be using in the centre surrounded by all the other bikes. It was around 1:30pm when I started the bike ride. Now I have to mention two amazing instances of support that took place during the bike ride as well. When I got to the bike room, my friend Geneviève was already there “spinning” and while she could only stay for a bit (since I had arrived much later than I planned) she stated that she would be back later on in the day to check in on me. It was very much appreciated and unexpected, particularly as she stopped by twice. The other show of support was a second sign made for me, once again by Isabelle wishing me best of luck with the final leg of the challenge.

This surprise in the spin room fired me up for sure.

My good friends really showed a lot of support and there is no doubt that it helped when / as things got tough (er). As I started the bike ride I realized that it would have its own challenges, especially with fueling since I never really planned how I would get my gels, bars and anything else I had brought whenever I felt I needed to eat again. I was able to place a few of them on different parts of the bike but it wasn’t convenient at all as when I did need to grab something, or even go to the bathroom, the mileage tracker on the bike would stop and go back to zero. Thus, I had to remember to take a picture of the tracker before I got off, to ensure I was keeping proper track of my total distance.

First time I had to get off the bike to stretch, 34 kms in. The odometer would go back to zero everytime I stopped.

I got into a rhythm and quickly got in a few hours without any major pain to my ankle. I think it was about three hours in when I started noticing my ankle getting sore again. I had to use the bathroom a few times while on the bike and when I stopped and walked to the bathroom it was slow and very painful with my foot turned sideways as I limped past the reception area into the locker rooms. I had no quite in me though. I also had another visitor stop by to give support as one of my co-workers, Chantelle, came by with her husband to see how I was doing. It was a good chat but I think they could clearly recognize I was very uncomfortable and in pain. It was greatly appreciated though.

Around this time, I noticed my speed and thus distance biked, was slowing down considerably. Even when I would give some extra effort, which I thought would make a difference, it didn’t. I think it was a combination of the injured ankle, being tired and a lack of implementing a proper nutrition plan that resulted in having a much slower pace than I thought I would. I originally hoped to be done by 5:30 to 6:00pm, which, when the run became a walk it looked more like it would be 7:00 to 7:30pm. Now however, with myself slowing down on the bike I knew it would be quite late when I would be done. As such I did a quick check to see when the gym closed. I thought it closed at 10:00pm but surprise, it actually closed at 8:30pm. This changed things completely. I realized that at the pace I was going I would have no chance to complete the 100 miles, let alone anything close. I now had a decision to make, go until the gym closed and see what my final distance was or call it a day early and go home to spend my birthday supper (which my family came from Nova Scotia to prepare) with my parents and kids. Now I could say it was a hard decision to make, but it wasn’t. My top priority will always be my kids and knowing I was never going to reach my initial goal no matter what I did, I decided that I would rather spend time with those who mean the world to me than chase something that was never meant to be. As such I determined I would stop around 6:00pm and have my folks come and pick me up at the gym. It would be the best decision I made all day, and the one I was most proud of. I also had the support from everyone that followed along and that made it even better.

Making the call to end it early.

So, the final tally. I believe it was around 6:15pm when my mother stopped by to pick me up. I did some math and added up the mileage from the swim, run (hike) and bike, and it was 96 kms. Yes, that 100 kms would have been nice but no regrets. I mean, I swam further than I ever did (when I can barely even swim), I hiked on one leg for about 26 kms, I biked further and longer than I ever did, I had amazing support from my family and friends, including one who was deployed overseas and had far more important things she could have been doing and of course, to end it off, I had an amazing supper with my family. I tested myself, pushed my limits and I became stronger for it.

Oh…and the next day Sammy and I made a deliver to the local foodbank with gifts and fixings for Christmas dinner for another family that deserved to experience the same feeling of joy that I did on a beautiful Thursday in December of 2024.

The "sled" is all loaded to deliver Christmas goods.

Sammy and I dropping of goods to one of the volunteers at the Oromocto Foodbank.