looking forward to Death (Race)

I took a week off from training following the Iron Horse to recover. It was nice having an extra 10+ hours to catch up on the rest of my life. Sadly, with the wife out of town I realized I don't have much of a life so I'm looking forward to running again. It's time to begin preparing for the Canadian Death Race. This is a good thing because I forgot to tell my appetite to take the week off too.

What did I learn from my first ultra and what will I do different?

1. Add hills to my training. I felt that I finished Iron Horse strong - I was still running right to the end. However, my only goal was to finish. I don't intend to set a loftier goal for the Death Race but the course is longer and harder and I want to ensure that making the cut-off time is a non-issue. The problem is Edmonton is flat. I ran my first hill workout on the local riverbank-turned-ski hill by my house: bottom to top in under 1 minute. I will need to make a few trips to the mountains before race date.

2. Stretch. Period. I'm not proposing that I need to take my stretching to a higher level like yoga or something. I don't have a level. I need to start stretching. I use to be able to touch my toes. The thought of reaching for my toes now makes me wince.

3. Experiment with different shoes. I love my Speedcross2 shoes but my hips and knees were very sore by the end. This may be inevitable regardless of the model of shoes I wear but I only have experience with one model over that distance so I should at least try something else.

4. Be strategic in the aid stations. It was pointed out to me that 5 aid stations at 10 minutes per station is nearly an hour of extra time on the course. I don't think I dawdle but I want to remain conscious of this potential time vortex. My fueling strategy worked well so I won't be changing anything there.

5. Have more fun training. This will be easy to accomplish now that winter is over. Preparing for a spring race in a northern climate was a challenge for someone who runs for adventure rather than fitness. I like the cold and snow. But when cold and snow is all you get for 4+ months running becomes monotonous plodding in the dark on the same few routes that are routinely plowed. I've already swapped cyclocross tires onto my touring bike in anticipation of the coming fun.