Holy crow is 800 miles a long way... I left in Wednesday and was supposed to pick up Dave James in Quebec City but his flights got screwy on his way back from Austria, so alone I ventured. Wait, I have my girls with me, both Ellie and Lena are making the adventure to Canada. (Side note: the girls have been awesomely behaved the whole trip.).
My plan is to race a Vertical K on Friday, rest Saturday then race the marathon on Sunday. The VK goes up Mont Albert while the marathon will run up Mont Jaques-Cartier then back down. I really had my mind set on winning both (no one told me I shouldn't). 
Upon my arrival to the Haute Gaspesié I found there not to be any mountains, let alone even some hills. I saw pics of them but wasn't seeing them as I was about to be on top of them. Without disappointing, they came out of no where, and very impressive. They looked closely like the Franconia side of the Whites except a little steeper (the ones I can see). Cool.
Also upon arriving I found that dogs are not permitted into the park whatsoever. They are not even allowed to be in the car if you stop within the park!??!!! What the cuss is that about? Like everything, I'll wing it...
Did a little course preview before heading down and getting ready for the "night before the race" type cuss. 
Thursday Night: I got settled as where things are and as I'm about to leave and hit the town, I hear a hissing... Flat tire, cuss you! 
I got it driving on one of the highly traveled highways...
So, flat changed, I hit the local town for Subway and grab a few provisions and see about getting my tire fixed. I took the girls to the beach quick and enjoyed seeing them out running in the sand. 
(Lena is way out in the middle of the pic)
Friday: after camping out the night before in my truck with the girls I awoke with the sun, 4:11! I tried incredibly hard to sleep a bit more as the race started at 2. Around 6 I stirred and shagged a slow and easy 3 mile run with the girls (off the park limits). This felt awful on the way out and much better once I turned around. He car ride made my hamstrings a bit tighter than normal but could feel them loosening up. Bc the girls can be in the park, I statues about 3 miles off a dirt road just over the parks borders by a river with a culvert. I hung here under ye culvert like a troll and enjoyed the morning. There was a concern: what was I going to do with the girls during the race? I solved this very easily, I found a vacant fishing site along the river with heavy cover. I parked with the windows down and pretended I owned the place. It worked! My girls were cool and calm when I returned after the race (I ran like hell back down the mtn to get them out ASAP).
Once the girls were settled/hidden in the woods I ran to the start of the VK. I was unsure who was any good, so I just hung around and looked/sized everyone over. I was to start 12th in a staggered start, (in one min intervals).
As it turned out, there was a 1:05 half, 29:00 10k road runner here (so he says, but he wouldn't be the first fast road runner I've taken down, hell, I've taken down faster PR guys this year! As it turns out, he has recently run these times and also finished second at the World Snow Show Champs held in VT this winter)... I didn't know his stats before the race but he told me he was elite. Once he told me I had a very natural reaction: I hated him. I had to, it was a race, I'll talk to him after but for now, hate was the flavor of choice.
The good news about that guy was he wasn't a liar, he was very fast and ended up winning the race easily (that sentence was harder to write than the VK itself).
With the staggered start it def would be all against the clock. With 11 people ahead of me, I liked the idea of caching people and it forced me to fight, claw and gnash the whole way.
The race itself was very odd. The mtn looms and looks huge, but the 5.6k race was very very... easy. What made it hard was the incrediblely fast pace. I was expecting a lot of speed hiking and power walking, but there were very little places to do it. It was a running race all the way. "True racers course..." Haha
I was super aggressive the whole race and looking back at the final outcome I can't find anywhere I could have done anything different. I charged the climbs and raced the runnable sections in a sprint type way. Overall, after an effort like that, I would never guess anyone would run faster.
Just over 3/4 of the way I was told that the leader was only 7 min ahead of me. With not a lot of race left it gave me a mental break. Physically I wanted to bury as much time into everyone as possible. With 100 meters to go you crack the tree line, run across a snow glacier and finish. I gave all I had and was happy with my time, 40:45 (?) and happy with the effort I put forth. I was not happy with the lead dude pumping his fist and celebrating right in my face... As it turned out, the dude who told me I was 7 min back was not accurate. Pepe Le Pui beat me by just under 2 min...
It was hard to be pissed as I knew I couldn't have run the race any other way AND, once on top of the ridge it was a huge field which is a grazing ground for the caribou. There was a causeway across the field and, I ran this to the other side, and was super stoked to be where I was. Yes, I'm annoyed I didn't win, but the dude is legit. Cuss him, haha. The top of the mountain was awesome. I wish I could have stayed longer but the thought if my girls dying in the car due to heat exhaustion was enough to have me rifle down the mtn. When I got to them they were super excited and totally fine. The breeze of the river was super cold and we ended up taking a swim in that ice bath river.
Ps. The mosquitoes and flies are ruthless and relentless. I swear a mosquito left my car after the first nights sleep the size of a sparrow, hopefully the lack of blood will not come back to haunt me.
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