I don't really know how to start this one. I guess there was some excitement, so I'll just go with that.
I'll start by describing the week leading up to Wild Duluth. I didn't sign up for the race until Thursday because I was unsure I was going to attempt the race in the first place. I'm glad I did, but I'm not glad about how it ended up.
Normal work week aside from a meeting on Friday afternoon which I needed to ask for permission to leave. I was granted permission and was from SLP LTF at 2pm on my way home. From there Jesse would meet me and we would check in at Bayfront park on the south west shore of Lake Superior. That is where the race was to leave from on Saturday morning.
Backing up a couple of days... A friend of mine from work is from Duluth so it came up that I would be there over the weekend. I did not have a place to stay and would gladly take a warm bed over the inside of a wind shaken tent. It was windy too. Not too cold, but really windy that Friday night the 14th of Oct. It was worked out and I will talk more about that experience later on in my chronicles. A blessing nonetheless that saved me hundreds of dollars and gave me the opportunity to say "thank you".
It was mid month so I felt that I would not be missed too much around the club on a Saturday. This race was to be my last of the year. Actually Superior 50 mile was to be the last of the year, but I decided to try and parlay that finish in early September into this race in mid October. I really didn't even have maintenance mileage going into it. I was well trained for the 50 mile, my nutrition was even tighter heading into this 100k and I had learned a lot about race day nutrition from the 50 mile as well. I made my stop on Friday morning at Running Room MG for oodles of sport beans, purchased a new jug of EFS as I was running low, headed to the chiropractor for one final adjustment ( I love those boys over at Broman Chiropractic), and headed to SLP for some leadership development. Life Time Fitness is a great company to work for and I am so thankful for the opportunity to develop as a leader within the company, transcending into all areas of my life.
Was fed a bit ( thank you DK), and took off for home in MG. Once I got there I took a nap on the bottom bunk. I guess it was a nap as my 3.5 year old Elli kept coming in to tell me something ( I just love her). I obliged and re-dozed for 45 minutes or so. Then Jesse came, I packed all of my necessities and we hit the road.
We could feel the wind leaving MG hopping onto 610 (which is now just .25 miles from our front door; how nice is that!!). Bro drove and talked about feeling the wind all the way up. We stopped only once on the way as I was eating constantly (lot's of fruit, nuts, cheese, and drinking a ton of water). When we got out at the rest area it was windy. I didn't think I'd be in it much since I thought I would be in the trees for a good majority of the run (I was).
Although our journey was shorter and less painful ( in some ways) than I had anticipated, it was not without adventure. It's all an adventure when your life consists of wake, work, play, dinner, tubs, stories, bed, repeat for 5 days of the week and the same with a bit more "me" time and football on the weekends. That reminds me, I better get the garage cleaned out this weekend.
We got to check in at 7 ( it was supposed to close at 7). The folks were cranky and frankly not very nice either. We got free hats and "cuzzies" (is that how you spell cuzzies?). I filled my drop bags (ziplocs/ small ones) with help from Jess and we were off to Olive Garden. I could not think of a better meal to eat the night before a 100k race than Olive Garden. It was late enough we though that we wouldn't need to worry about being seated right away. Then we got to the parking lot, walked in, heard 50 minutes to an hour, and walked out.
We drove around for 10 minutes or so seeing parking lot after parking lot full of cars before settling in at... yep... Super 1 baby!! Yeah, the grocery. They did have a deli. They did have pasta, and fried chicken (go Jess). They also had buns, peanut butter and hard boiled eggs (for the morning), and water to drink. We saved $20 and 45 minutes!! I definitely feel that we missed out on Olive Garden though. Bonding.
From there it was lodging. First, we stopped at the Holiday to pick up a thanks card for saving us over $150 bucks to stay the night. An interesting place, perfect accommodations. Slept great and even got some bonus snoring while showering at 4:45 on Saturday morning. We were out by 5:15 and at the race start by a quarter to 6.
Headlamp... check. Everything else that I would need for the entire day and into the night on the trail... check. Fleet feet... must have forgotten them at home.
I got to a mile (all things considered; dark, rock, leaves covering all debris, lack of maintenance trail training, and a momentary lapse in trail concentration)... TRAIL WINS TODAY!!!
Mile 1 or just beyond on a downhill, I think the first one, standing tall and confident, I heard two pops in the right ankle. I roll all the time on the trail, but it is usually just one pop and it works itself out. I had a feeling with two pops, this was going to be different.
I didn't know for sure right away as adrenaline has a way of masking the pain for a while. Also, I knew I would be in it, just not yet and not this kind of acute swelling and focused pain. I came to aid at 4-something and mentioned it to the station attendant. He said, "be careful out there." I proceeded.
I got to about 6 miles and the pain was really setting in. Especially when I would step a certain way or bear to much weight on the right side. I was forced to walk in running situations which was very frustrating for me to do. I felt great and knew that ,particularly my nutrition, was tight leading up to this race and I was poised to finish a 100k race on my way to 100 miles next summer. I was passed by a number of folks, they all asked, "are you alright".
"Yeah, have a great day," was my reply.
The battle was this. Grandma saying, "you only have one body."
Caden saying, "persevere daddy."
I love my son, but my grandma has more wisdom. At mile 8.8, I listened to her and declared myself a drop. Peacefully
Jesse was to wait for me at the next aid so they called him to come and pick me up. He did then I made some phone calls, we drove to Broman Chiro, then to Urgent Care for an X-ray and treatment prescription. That's a great story in itself...
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Monday, September 26, 2011
Superior 50 mile recap
I have a difficult time on where to start. What a great weekend we had, the three of us. Dad, Jesse, and myself headed up 35 on Friday about 1pm and got to "The Nest" in Little Marais on Friday about 4:30 or so. It was a beautiful day. Sunny and 80 (a bit hot; perfect really). We settled in and headed up the north shore to Lutsen, where the race would finish on Saturday night. We checked in for the race, put all of the drop bags in the big bags to the aid stations and waited around for 40 minutes or so for the pre race briefing. What a beautiful night to be on the north shore. The hills just tower over you in that location too, especially knowing that it will probably be dark when you see them again and I'll have run 40+ miles by then too. Anyway, once the briefing was through, we went into the Moguls cafe and had dinner. It was 8ish by the time we finished so we headed back for "The Nest" and were settled into bed by 9:30. It always helps to be well rested going into a long run. Saturday the race started at 6am and I finished at 8:45 that night. Thanks for reading my story...
I'll write more details:
I had this race on my radar last year too but due injury I was unable to participate. I signed up early for it this year which means I committed early. This would be the longest I had run by 21.5 miles and it is a little bit intimidating going in knowing what the terrain looks and feels like on these trails. I was excited though as 35 miles of this adventure were new to me. I'll get to run another 31 in a couple of weeks as I plan to run "Wild Duluth" 100k (62 miles). That's an out and back course. Still need to sign up for that one and I'm going to need to get a few more good training runs before I'm ready to commit to that one. I think Jesse has agreed to come aid for me on that one. Back to "Superior 50 mile".
Dad and Jesse and I had been in communication all week as to when we would leave and how the weekend would go. We didn't even know that Jesse would be able to make it, but I'm so glad he squeezed this Saturday trip north into his schedule. He left on an airplane Sunday morning at 10 something, but still stayed to see me finish and drove home in the wee hours Saturday night. Thanks Jess!! It means a ton to me that you made that happen. It was great to have you there supporting me. I visited Broman Chiropractic twice the week leading up to the race, just wanting to make sure everything was lined up. Thank you guys (Doug and Chad), met with my dietitian on Thursday before taking off as well to talk about day before race nutrition and race day nutrition as well. Thank you Theresa. With that information I headed to Target on Thursday night to pick up my food for Friday. I got a lot actually. In the previous couple weeks, I had been starving myself of carbs, even fruit. I had been getting them all from beans or veggies. We decided on Friday leading up to the race on Saturday, I would eat as much fruit as possible. We also decided that a big pasta dinner on Friday night would be a good fill up for Saturdays cross country trip as well. That was real good and left my muscles feeling full of fuel.
Friday morning I was up early with a client at 5am - 10am. It was a busy morning, but it was good to see those folks, be on my feet and busy working. It was a productive 5 hours for me. At 10 I left and went home. Kate was home that day with the kids as Hannah had a doctors appointment (that morning, no afternoon, well whenever) so it was nice to see everyone before leaving. Dad was at the house about 11. He brought his big cooler with to pack all the food for the trip. Lots of fruit, peppers, hummus, grapes, bananas, peanut butter, apples, raspberries, strawberries, and lots of water. I made the list of what I would need, we packed it all up, said goodbyes to my beautiful wife and three lovely children and off we went. Dad and I made one quick stop at Sipes to get ice, drove by the old house, and headed for the new 610. We found that Jesse would not be far behind us so we actually ended up meeting him in Duluth and driving up the north shore front and back. It was a beautiful day.
Once we got checked into "The Nest" it was time to start thinking about what exactly tomorrow would hold. Back to "The Nest". I don't know how this place was still available 3 weeks prior to the race as all of the rooms at Caribou Highlands were booked. "The Nest" is a little 14x16 cabin just off of HWY 61. Like just on the lake side of the road. Great accommodations. Just perfect for the three of us. We got settled in and I grabbed all of the things I would need to create my bags for the aid stations. I packed a lot of "shot blocks" and "sport beans". I would start off eating blocks and finish eating nothing but beans. Next time, I'll start and finish with them. I packed more fuel towards the end than the beginning and I had two scoops of EFS waiting for me at each aid station as well. Electrolyte Fuel System. I have trained with it and with water on the trail, this stuff is a muscle saver. I learned a couple of things from this race. One, drink water at the aid stations and EFS on the trail; two, sport beans instead of shot blocks for me. I really didn't eat "real" food at any of the aid stations. It didn't taste good and when I did, I didn't feel well for the first 20 minutes or so once I got back on the trail. I talked about the pre race briefing, the dinner, and that night. It was pretty uneventful really but so nice to share that time with Dad and Jesse. I have run 50k races before, in fact two on the final 15.5 miles of this trail, and each time I was here alone. It was so much better to share this experience with those two. At the race check in they were selling last years shirts for 2$ and sweatshirts for 5$. I got a couple of T shirts and a sweatshirt. What a great deal!!
Saturday morning. It was game time. Slept well and had everything laid out from the night before (race number pinned onto my shorts and everything set up to put on in the morning). I had 3 hard boiled eggs for breakfast with a banana and peanut butter spread on top. That's what Theresa and I had agreed on to have for a pre race meal. It was perfect. We all hopped in the pickup and headed to new Finland Rec Center where the race would start. The 100 milers had been through that aid station hours before hand and we would catch some of them and finish with them near the end. Each time I saw one running that race, I was in awe of their triumph over these hills and their minds. Incredible. Thank you Dad for writing the times on the aid station direction sheet. It is great to go back now and figure averages and remember each leg of the race. I am looking at that sheet that you and Jess got to know so well that day. Thanks! It was dark at the start and the energy was high. This was it and I was FIRED UP and ready to go. The race began at 6:05 and what a beautiful morning. The sun had not yet even peeked up, but we all knew it would be a beautiful day. As I headed out this morning, I wondered what was to come. How was I going to do this? What pace would I be able to keep up? I felt more prepared for this race than any other and there was a huge calm in that. I really could feel a ton of support too and that makes a huge deal. I knew that Dad and Jesse would be waiting for me whenever they were allowed and I knew that there would be times when I would feel like I couldn't go on.
I left the start at 6:05 and settled in behind Bob, a 60 year old who had done a number of ultras even a few 100 milers. I figured early on in my first 50 he would be a good one to settle in behind for the first few miles on this day. It was great conversation and aside from some roots and uneven trail, the first couple sections really were pretty manageable. It was 7.5 miles to the Sonju Lake Road aid (there was no crew access there). They had a fire going and the people were very friendly. We were all feeling great at this point. 4.2 to Crosby Manitou and I was actually on pace to run a sub 12 hour. I made that point to some more experienced ultra runners and they brought me back down to earth. At this point, I hadn't eaten anything which is how I had done a number of my training runs. If fact, just three weeks prior, I did a 23 mile run with no food at all. Just EFS and I had some of that this time around too. I got into Crosby Manitou at 8:47 so I averaged almost 14 minute miles up to this point and was really feeling great. There were a couple of great climbs to come on the way to Sugarloaf.
It is 9.4 miles to Sugarloaf and I got to see Dad and Jesse. This is the first time I've seen them since the start of the race. Very nice to see them and they were so helpful at all the aid stations. I'm sitting here looking at the topo map of this next section and there were some pretty good climbs at the front end of those 9.4. I had a strategy for the big hills. I would climb until I could feel my heart rate getting close to threshold and then I would stop, drink, and have some beans. Let my HR come down a bit and continue on. I would only have to stop once maybe twice per hill, but I do feel like this helped a lot with the way I felt especially at the end. A couple big climbs early on in this section, then some rolling hills (rocks actually). There were a couple miles of rolling rock piles. Climbing up and over, and even coming to some places where there were extra signs to make sure that the 100 milers doing this section in the dark didn't end up going over the edge as I was pretty high up in some parts. This was a beautiful section of the trail and it was still morning when I was traversing the rocks. It seemed that the section to Sugarloaf went on for quite a while. It is a 9.4 mile section. I'm pretty sure I went through all of my EFS on this section and was ready for more by the time I hit Sugarloaf aid. One mistake I had been making up until the next aid in the race is I had not drunk any water at any of the aid stations. I only had been drinking EFS. Once I got to Cramer Road aid, I started to drink water at the aid stations and that really helped. The last couple miles of this section were pretty flat if I remember right and I cruised into Sugarloaf. I got in at 11:13 and averaged almost 16 minute miles on that section.
I was 21.1 miles into my adventure and felling decent. I knew I had a long ways to go but was excited to see some new trail. There were a couple of spots on the trail that I was not looking forward to. One is Carlton's Peak and the other is Oberg Mountain. Turns out Carlton's Peak was a wretched as advertised and Oberg ascent was much easier than the descent. I wasn't there yet, but had already begun to think about getting there and overcoming these obstacles. I don't remember much about this leg of the race as I was out of it. This was one of those times that I was just pretty much hanging on. I think we have them in races like this and I think we have them in the race of life too. Each step is a difficult one to take, we just need to keep putting one foot in front of the other and gaining on our final goal or destination. I think on this leg, I was trailing another runner who was obviously struggling but running at the same time. There was a section of roots that seemed to never end. Roots and I don't get along real well (although on this race, on this day, I kept my feet all day). We were not moving fast but just having that someone else running with me was real helpful and I needed that right here. Dad and Jesse worried about me when I staggered into Cramer Road. I knew I was in rough shape and really no support was going to help from anyone at this point. I think after Cramer is the only time Dad called to update the folks back home what was going on. It was bad timing. I had meant to reapply glide on the previous aid but had left without doing so. I did reapply at Cramer but I had already started chaffing. That was the message that was received at home. Thankfully, it never really became an issue as I reapplied at each aid thereafter. At Cramer, I got in at 12:44 and averaged a little over 16 minute miles.
I headed towards Temperance feeling like I imagine a beaten dog to feel. Not good. It was 7.1 to Temperance and I knew that I wasn't going to have to tackle Carlton's Peak yet. Thanks God for that. This was actually a beautiful section of the trail. For really the only part of this section that I remember, there was a stream running on the left of me for a good distance. I kept looking at it and thinking I should stop and dunk my head in the water. I needed that so bad, I could almost feel it before, which would turn out to be one of my last opportunities, I stopped, dropped my water bottles next to the trail, splashed water onto my face and over my head, soaked my bandana in the water, wrapped it onto my head, and hit the trail. If it were not for that decision, I may have not made checkpoints near the end. That one thing is the thing that I attribute to changing my attitude and entire make up for the remainder of that leg and the remainder of the race. I ran a couple of pretty quick miles coming out of that creek and then remember hitting a big hill where I had to employ my hill strategy to keep my HR down manageable. I got to Temperance at 2:50 and averaged 17.5 minute miles. Looks like I'm getting a bit slower as the miles accumulate.
Carlton's Peak sucks to climb. Especially 35 miles into a 50 mile race. I left Temperance and until I got to Carlton's Peak, all this trail was still new. From Temperance to the base of Carlton's I saw a lot of people. There was easy access to the Temperance river and day trippers were all over the place. I passed one guy and asked him how he was doing. He said, "fine, How are you?" I said, "I'm on 35 of 50." He said, "laps?". I said, "No, miles." He said, "Holy Shit." And that was it. It was just 5.7 to Sawbill and I knew what to expect from there. This leg was uphill from the start until the Peak. It started climbing gradual and progressed to more intense, until finally I was climbing over car sized rocks to get to the top. This is the first time I came in contact with the guy in the red shirt. I'll call him "sleepy" cause that what he said was the hardest part for him, not sleeping all night. Sleepy is a 100 mile racer and I seemed to see him on all of the major climbs from here until the end of the race. I didn't actually see him finish, but would have liked to. That ascent seemed to never end. I would say this is the other spot on the trail that I really felt like I didn't know how I was going to keep going. Once you get to 2.8 miles on this leg though, it's actually quicker to keep going forward than it is to go back anyhow. That's what I did. I made it to Sawbill and Jesse greeted me about 400 yards from the aid. It was good to see him and it was good for him to see a bit of the trail too. It's tough out there on that trail. Other ultra runners I know have great respect for how technical that trail is up there near Lutsen and some won't run it for that reason. Absolutely beautiful country! I got in and felt kind of like I did coming into Cramer. A major difference now is that I knew I was less than 15 miles from the finish and knew what all of this trail looked like. I got into Sawbill at 4:37 and averaged 19.25 minute miles. Carlton's Peak climb is a doozy!
I left Sawbill thinking I had a fairly easy section of trail in front of me. It is much easier than Oberg, but not easy. I had some "real" food at Sawbill aid and didn't feel right until I was on the trail again for 30-40 minutes. I was moving slow, walking a lot. I got to a point and told myself, you've got to run and keep moving, and keep moving faster than you are. That's what I did. It was 5.5 miles to Oberg aid and it took me awhile to cover it. I just wasn't feeling right for most of this section. I knew I was close, and I also knew what was coming. Oberg section is one of the toughest sections of the whole race and I knew that. I was talking to a guy at the pre race briefing who confirmed that information. The Sawbill section is rolling hills with a lot of roots. I went slow but made it to Oberg. It took me 120 minutes to cover 5.5 miles and I averaged almost 22 minute miles. It was a slow section. I haven't done the math yet on the Oberg section, but it may have been the slowest of the whole race. How great to see Dad and Jess and hear all of their support. I really think they had a great time getting to know some of the runners and their family's. I had a cup of hot soup, put on my headlamp, got some final words of encouragement, and the guy from TC Running said, the first couple miles of this last section are runnable. I listened to that, had forgotten that, and ran as much as I could of the first 3 miles of this last section.
I did run as much as I could coming out of Oberg aid. One of the hardest parts of the race for me I knew would be the steps up Oberg. They have put in railroad ties, I remember a hundred of them from the spring. I expected this thing to go on forever. It went on for awhile, but not forever like I remembered. I was to the top fully prepared to continue climbing. I thought that the toughest part was now behind me. It wasn't. On Oberg there is the climb, then a mile or so of just cruising on the top of the mountain, followed by a real technical descent. Especially in the dark. This was probably the slowest portion of the race for me. Big old rocks and at this point my quads were not well. I was alright, but this really shredded my quads. They held up pretty well. Lots of hill training leading up to this race. Practicing downhills as well as uphills. That's the ticket on the hilly trails. Slow descent. I cruised around the bottom for a while, then came to the switchbacks. Once I got here, I knew I would be coming out of the woods pretty soon. Also, I had a GPS and knew that I was getting pretty close. Again it was the way down the hill that proved the most challenging. I thought it was pretty cool running through the woods in the dark only being able to see a few feet in front of your face. I was the only one running at this point by the way. All others were walking slowly and shocked that I was tearing past them. It felt like tearing (in reality it was probably just creeping faster than them). In any case, it felt really good to run. There was a stretch that I didn't see the markers for the course for quite some time and began to wonder if I was lost in the woods this close to finishing. Finally I came to some markers and I could see the lights to the lodge. A welcomed sight for sure. I was moving pretty good by now, then I heard the Poplar river and knew it was about a mile to the finish. I got to the road as I passed another runner and it was on. I ran by far my fastest mile of the entire race right there with the end in sight. I looked down at my Garmin and read that I was running a 7:30 mile on the road. It was flat for the first time all day which was nice. I started to hear cheering and saw some lights. When I crossed the finish line, Dad and Jesse were waiting there with open arms to welcome me to the end. I thought I would have a real emotional reaction when I finished, but this is not my end goal in this running phase. I would like to do 100 miles next summer some time. I'll attempt a 100k race in a few weeks this fall. What I did feel instead of a huge emotional reaction was everything that I had put out of my mind all day. Like my body was pretty sore and I wasn't going anywhere fast. I ran this last section in just over 2 hours 124 minutes and averaged 17 and a half minute miles. That is with some 30 minute per mile hills. I was flying at the end and moving pretty good at the beginning of the Oberg section as well.
That's it. What a great experience that I am so thankful to have gotten to share with my Dad and brother Jesse. Thank you Kate for allowing me to train. I hope my dedication to these ultra events can teach our children about preparation, determination, and pushing through adversity. I love you and am so blessed to have such a wonderful wife and life partner.
Dad and I hit up Betty's Pies on Sunday morning and made our way back to home for a recovery day with football and family.
I'll write more details:
I had this race on my radar last year too but due injury I was unable to participate. I signed up early for it this year which means I committed early. This would be the longest I had run by 21.5 miles and it is a little bit intimidating going in knowing what the terrain looks and feels like on these trails. I was excited though as 35 miles of this adventure were new to me. I'll get to run another 31 in a couple of weeks as I plan to run "Wild Duluth" 100k (62 miles). That's an out and back course. Still need to sign up for that one and I'm going to need to get a few more good training runs before I'm ready to commit to that one. I think Jesse has agreed to come aid for me on that one. Back to "Superior 50 mile".
Dad and Jesse and I had been in communication all week as to when we would leave and how the weekend would go. We didn't even know that Jesse would be able to make it, but I'm so glad he squeezed this Saturday trip north into his schedule. He left on an airplane Sunday morning at 10 something, but still stayed to see me finish and drove home in the wee hours Saturday night. Thanks Jess!! It means a ton to me that you made that happen. It was great to have you there supporting me. I visited Broman Chiropractic twice the week leading up to the race, just wanting to make sure everything was lined up. Thank you guys (Doug and Chad), met with my dietitian on Thursday before taking off as well to talk about day before race nutrition and race day nutrition as well. Thank you Theresa. With that information I headed to Target on Thursday night to pick up my food for Friday. I got a lot actually. In the previous couple weeks, I had been starving myself of carbs, even fruit. I had been getting them all from beans or veggies. We decided on Friday leading up to the race on Saturday, I would eat as much fruit as possible. We also decided that a big pasta dinner on Friday night would be a good fill up for Saturdays cross country trip as well. That was real good and left my muscles feeling full of fuel.
Friday morning I was up early with a client at 5am - 10am. It was a busy morning, but it was good to see those folks, be on my feet and busy working. It was a productive 5 hours for me. At 10 I left and went home. Kate was home that day with the kids as Hannah had a doctors appointment (that morning, no afternoon, well whenever) so it was nice to see everyone before leaving. Dad was at the house about 11. He brought his big cooler with to pack all the food for the trip. Lots of fruit, peppers, hummus, grapes, bananas, peanut butter, apples, raspberries, strawberries, and lots of water. I made the list of what I would need, we packed it all up, said goodbyes to my beautiful wife and three lovely children and off we went. Dad and I made one quick stop at Sipes to get ice, drove by the old house, and headed for the new 610. We found that Jesse would not be far behind us so we actually ended up meeting him in Duluth and driving up the north shore front and back. It was a beautiful day.
Once we got checked into "The Nest" it was time to start thinking about what exactly tomorrow would hold. Back to "The Nest". I don't know how this place was still available 3 weeks prior to the race as all of the rooms at Caribou Highlands were booked. "The Nest" is a little 14x16 cabin just off of HWY 61. Like just on the lake side of the road. Great accommodations. Just perfect for the three of us. We got settled in and I grabbed all of the things I would need to create my bags for the aid stations. I packed a lot of "shot blocks" and "sport beans". I would start off eating blocks and finish eating nothing but beans. Next time, I'll start and finish with them. I packed more fuel towards the end than the beginning and I had two scoops of EFS waiting for me at each aid station as well. Electrolyte Fuel System. I have trained with it and with water on the trail, this stuff is a muscle saver. I learned a couple of things from this race. One, drink water at the aid stations and EFS on the trail; two, sport beans instead of shot blocks for me. I really didn't eat "real" food at any of the aid stations. It didn't taste good and when I did, I didn't feel well for the first 20 minutes or so once I got back on the trail. I talked about the pre race briefing, the dinner, and that night. It was pretty uneventful really but so nice to share that time with Dad and Jesse. I have run 50k races before, in fact two on the final 15.5 miles of this trail, and each time I was here alone. It was so much better to share this experience with those two. At the race check in they were selling last years shirts for 2$ and sweatshirts for 5$. I got a couple of T shirts and a sweatshirt. What a great deal!!
Saturday morning. It was game time. Slept well and had everything laid out from the night before (race number pinned onto my shorts and everything set up to put on in the morning). I had 3 hard boiled eggs for breakfast with a banana and peanut butter spread on top. That's what Theresa and I had agreed on to have for a pre race meal. It was perfect. We all hopped in the pickup and headed to new Finland Rec Center where the race would start. The 100 milers had been through that aid station hours before hand and we would catch some of them and finish with them near the end. Each time I saw one running that race, I was in awe of their triumph over these hills and their minds. Incredible. Thank you Dad for writing the times on the aid station direction sheet. It is great to go back now and figure averages and remember each leg of the race. I am looking at that sheet that you and Jess got to know so well that day. Thanks! It was dark at the start and the energy was high. This was it and I was FIRED UP and ready to go. The race began at 6:05 and what a beautiful morning. The sun had not yet even peeked up, but we all knew it would be a beautiful day. As I headed out this morning, I wondered what was to come. How was I going to do this? What pace would I be able to keep up? I felt more prepared for this race than any other and there was a huge calm in that. I really could feel a ton of support too and that makes a huge deal. I knew that Dad and Jesse would be waiting for me whenever they were allowed and I knew that there would be times when I would feel like I couldn't go on.
I left the start at 6:05 and settled in behind Bob, a 60 year old who had done a number of ultras even a few 100 milers. I figured early on in my first 50 he would be a good one to settle in behind for the first few miles on this day. It was great conversation and aside from some roots and uneven trail, the first couple sections really were pretty manageable. It was 7.5 miles to the Sonju Lake Road aid (there was no crew access there). They had a fire going and the people were very friendly. We were all feeling great at this point. 4.2 to Crosby Manitou and I was actually on pace to run a sub 12 hour. I made that point to some more experienced ultra runners and they brought me back down to earth. At this point, I hadn't eaten anything which is how I had done a number of my training runs. If fact, just three weeks prior, I did a 23 mile run with no food at all. Just EFS and I had some of that this time around too. I got into Crosby Manitou at 8:47 so I averaged almost 14 minute miles up to this point and was really feeling great. There were a couple of great climbs to come on the way to Sugarloaf.
It is 9.4 miles to Sugarloaf and I got to see Dad and Jesse. This is the first time I've seen them since the start of the race. Very nice to see them and they were so helpful at all the aid stations. I'm sitting here looking at the topo map of this next section and there were some pretty good climbs at the front end of those 9.4. I had a strategy for the big hills. I would climb until I could feel my heart rate getting close to threshold and then I would stop, drink, and have some beans. Let my HR come down a bit and continue on. I would only have to stop once maybe twice per hill, but I do feel like this helped a lot with the way I felt especially at the end. A couple big climbs early on in this section, then some rolling hills (rocks actually). There were a couple miles of rolling rock piles. Climbing up and over, and even coming to some places where there were extra signs to make sure that the 100 milers doing this section in the dark didn't end up going over the edge as I was pretty high up in some parts. This was a beautiful section of the trail and it was still morning when I was traversing the rocks. It seemed that the section to Sugarloaf went on for quite a while. It is a 9.4 mile section. I'm pretty sure I went through all of my EFS on this section and was ready for more by the time I hit Sugarloaf aid. One mistake I had been making up until the next aid in the race is I had not drunk any water at any of the aid stations. I only had been drinking EFS. Once I got to Cramer Road aid, I started to drink water at the aid stations and that really helped. The last couple miles of this section were pretty flat if I remember right and I cruised into Sugarloaf. I got in at 11:13 and averaged almost 16 minute miles on that section.
I was 21.1 miles into my adventure and felling decent. I knew I had a long ways to go but was excited to see some new trail. There were a couple of spots on the trail that I was not looking forward to. One is Carlton's Peak and the other is Oberg Mountain. Turns out Carlton's Peak was a wretched as advertised and Oberg ascent was much easier than the descent. I wasn't there yet, but had already begun to think about getting there and overcoming these obstacles. I don't remember much about this leg of the race as I was out of it. This was one of those times that I was just pretty much hanging on. I think we have them in races like this and I think we have them in the race of life too. Each step is a difficult one to take, we just need to keep putting one foot in front of the other and gaining on our final goal or destination. I think on this leg, I was trailing another runner who was obviously struggling but running at the same time. There was a section of roots that seemed to never end. Roots and I don't get along real well (although on this race, on this day, I kept my feet all day). We were not moving fast but just having that someone else running with me was real helpful and I needed that right here. Dad and Jesse worried about me when I staggered into Cramer Road. I knew I was in rough shape and really no support was going to help from anyone at this point. I think after Cramer is the only time Dad called to update the folks back home what was going on. It was bad timing. I had meant to reapply glide on the previous aid but had left without doing so. I did reapply at Cramer but I had already started chaffing. That was the message that was received at home. Thankfully, it never really became an issue as I reapplied at each aid thereafter. At Cramer, I got in at 12:44 and averaged a little over 16 minute miles.
I headed towards Temperance feeling like I imagine a beaten dog to feel. Not good. It was 7.1 to Temperance and I knew that I wasn't going to have to tackle Carlton's Peak yet. Thanks God for that. This was actually a beautiful section of the trail. For really the only part of this section that I remember, there was a stream running on the left of me for a good distance. I kept looking at it and thinking I should stop and dunk my head in the water. I needed that so bad, I could almost feel it before, which would turn out to be one of my last opportunities, I stopped, dropped my water bottles next to the trail, splashed water onto my face and over my head, soaked my bandana in the water, wrapped it onto my head, and hit the trail. If it were not for that decision, I may have not made checkpoints near the end. That one thing is the thing that I attribute to changing my attitude and entire make up for the remainder of that leg and the remainder of the race. I ran a couple of pretty quick miles coming out of that creek and then remember hitting a big hill where I had to employ my hill strategy to keep my HR down manageable. I got to Temperance at 2:50 and averaged 17.5 minute miles. Looks like I'm getting a bit slower as the miles accumulate.
Carlton's Peak sucks to climb. Especially 35 miles into a 50 mile race. I left Temperance and until I got to Carlton's Peak, all this trail was still new. From Temperance to the base of Carlton's I saw a lot of people. There was easy access to the Temperance river and day trippers were all over the place. I passed one guy and asked him how he was doing. He said, "fine, How are you?" I said, "I'm on 35 of 50." He said, "laps?". I said, "No, miles." He said, "Holy Shit." And that was it. It was just 5.7 to Sawbill and I knew what to expect from there. This leg was uphill from the start until the Peak. It started climbing gradual and progressed to more intense, until finally I was climbing over car sized rocks to get to the top. This is the first time I came in contact with the guy in the red shirt. I'll call him "sleepy" cause that what he said was the hardest part for him, not sleeping all night. Sleepy is a 100 mile racer and I seemed to see him on all of the major climbs from here until the end of the race. I didn't actually see him finish, but would have liked to. That ascent seemed to never end. I would say this is the other spot on the trail that I really felt like I didn't know how I was going to keep going. Once you get to 2.8 miles on this leg though, it's actually quicker to keep going forward than it is to go back anyhow. That's what I did. I made it to Sawbill and Jesse greeted me about 400 yards from the aid. It was good to see him and it was good for him to see a bit of the trail too. It's tough out there on that trail. Other ultra runners I know have great respect for how technical that trail is up there near Lutsen and some won't run it for that reason. Absolutely beautiful country! I got in and felt kind of like I did coming into Cramer. A major difference now is that I knew I was less than 15 miles from the finish and knew what all of this trail looked like. I got into Sawbill at 4:37 and averaged 19.25 minute miles. Carlton's Peak climb is a doozy!
I left Sawbill thinking I had a fairly easy section of trail in front of me. It is much easier than Oberg, but not easy. I had some "real" food at Sawbill aid and didn't feel right until I was on the trail again for 30-40 minutes. I was moving slow, walking a lot. I got to a point and told myself, you've got to run and keep moving, and keep moving faster than you are. That's what I did. It was 5.5 miles to Oberg aid and it took me awhile to cover it. I just wasn't feeling right for most of this section. I knew I was close, and I also knew what was coming. Oberg section is one of the toughest sections of the whole race and I knew that. I was talking to a guy at the pre race briefing who confirmed that information. The Sawbill section is rolling hills with a lot of roots. I went slow but made it to Oberg. It took me 120 minutes to cover 5.5 miles and I averaged almost 22 minute miles. It was a slow section. I haven't done the math yet on the Oberg section, but it may have been the slowest of the whole race. How great to see Dad and Jess and hear all of their support. I really think they had a great time getting to know some of the runners and their family's. I had a cup of hot soup, put on my headlamp, got some final words of encouragement, and the guy from TC Running said, the first couple miles of this last section are runnable. I listened to that, had forgotten that, and ran as much as I could of the first 3 miles of this last section.
I did run as much as I could coming out of Oberg aid. One of the hardest parts of the race for me I knew would be the steps up Oberg. They have put in railroad ties, I remember a hundred of them from the spring. I expected this thing to go on forever. It went on for awhile, but not forever like I remembered. I was to the top fully prepared to continue climbing. I thought that the toughest part was now behind me. It wasn't. On Oberg there is the climb, then a mile or so of just cruising on the top of the mountain, followed by a real technical descent. Especially in the dark. This was probably the slowest portion of the race for me. Big old rocks and at this point my quads were not well. I was alright, but this really shredded my quads. They held up pretty well. Lots of hill training leading up to this race. Practicing downhills as well as uphills. That's the ticket on the hilly trails. Slow descent. I cruised around the bottom for a while, then came to the switchbacks. Once I got here, I knew I would be coming out of the woods pretty soon. Also, I had a GPS and knew that I was getting pretty close. Again it was the way down the hill that proved the most challenging. I thought it was pretty cool running through the woods in the dark only being able to see a few feet in front of your face. I was the only one running at this point by the way. All others were walking slowly and shocked that I was tearing past them. It felt like tearing (in reality it was probably just creeping faster than them). In any case, it felt really good to run. There was a stretch that I didn't see the markers for the course for quite some time and began to wonder if I was lost in the woods this close to finishing. Finally I came to some markers and I could see the lights to the lodge. A welcomed sight for sure. I was moving pretty good by now, then I heard the Poplar river and knew it was about a mile to the finish. I got to the road as I passed another runner and it was on. I ran by far my fastest mile of the entire race right there with the end in sight. I looked down at my Garmin and read that I was running a 7:30 mile on the road. It was flat for the first time all day which was nice. I started to hear cheering and saw some lights. When I crossed the finish line, Dad and Jesse were waiting there with open arms to welcome me to the end. I thought I would have a real emotional reaction when I finished, but this is not my end goal in this running phase. I would like to do 100 miles next summer some time. I'll attempt a 100k race in a few weeks this fall. What I did feel instead of a huge emotional reaction was everything that I had put out of my mind all day. Like my body was pretty sore and I wasn't going anywhere fast. I ran this last section in just over 2 hours 124 minutes and averaged 17 and a half minute miles. That is with some 30 minute per mile hills. I was flying at the end and moving pretty good at the beginning of the Oberg section as well.
That's it. What a great experience that I am so thankful to have gotten to share with my Dad and brother Jesse. Thank you Kate for allowing me to train. I hope my dedication to these ultra events can teach our children about preparation, determination, and pushing through adversity. I love you and am so blessed to have such a wonderful wife and life partner.
Dad and I hit up Betty's Pies on Sunday morning and made our way back to home for a recovery day with football and family.
Monday, September 5, 2011
taper
Well, I am a week out from my first 50 mile race. Superior 50 mile on the 10th of Septmember.
Training:
My longest run in training for this race was 23 miles. I did a 10 miler on a Thursday, a 23 miler on that same Saturday and 10 miles on the Monday two days later. I would have liked a little bit tighter grouping but I was able to run some hills and didn't make training for this thing my whole life as I don't really have the kind of time right now to do that.
Where did I train:
I trained quite a bit at Elm Creek Park Reserve, right by my house. Probably 75% of the miles I run, I run here. There are miles of hiking and horse trails and the Three Rivers Park District is a beautiful set of parks, very well run and always kept in great shape. I also trained once at Baker park Reserve on horse trails and long grass (the terrain there was pretty flat although their was long grass 8-10 inches in most areas). I trained at Hyland park Reserve on their massive ski hills just the other day in my last intense training run. I trained a bit around Life Time at Crosstown, none on the treadmill anywhere (it has been a joy to run outside 3-4 days per week. For the most part, that's about it for the training grounds this time around. I did find a little nugget that I didn't know existed just a few miles from my house though on my 23 miler a few weeks back. There is 15 miles of mountain bike and trail running paths on the northern half of Elm Creek Park Reserve. They say it is for trail running and mountain biking, but I haven't see any other trail runners there yet. That is a pretty aggressive track and the rolling hills resemble that of northern minnesota's Superior hiking Trail (minus the rocks and roots). There is also no elevation around here that you will find there. That trail is unrelenting!!
I am really looking forward to the trip up there next weekend. My dad and brother are going to come with me and be my support. I'll have everything placed where it needs to be without them, but it will be great to have someone to share this adventure with. We are going to be staying in a little cabin called "The Nest" in Little Marais, cruising to Lutsen on Friday evening for the pre race meeting, maybe stopping at an aid station to see the 100 mile racers, loading up on carbs, and hitting the hay fairly early that evening.
Saturday is an early start. 6am racers leave Finland on their way to Lutsen. There were just 9 people who finished the race in less than 12 hours last year out of 50 that ran it. That would be great, but lets face it, not very likely to happen to me. That is a stretch goal of mine, I just don't know if I have the experience to do that right now. We will see...
Here are times and paces:
12 hrs x 60 = 720 / 50 = 14.4 min/mi
13 hrs x 60 = 780 / 50 = 15.6 min/mi
14 hrs x 60 = 840 / 50 = 16.8 min/mi
15 hrs x 60 = 900 / 50 = 18 min/mi
The 21st runner out of 42 last year completed the event in 13:40. I would like to finish before 6pm on that day, really would like to be in the top half of the field. That means I'll need to average better than 17 minute miles to do so. I know the last stretch is going to be slow because of the hills and exhaustion, miles 40-45 will be more rolling, and I have no clue what the first 35 miles even look like. The 50k is an out and back from Lutsen to Carlton's Peak and back to Lutsen again. I am really excited to see some more of the trail, hopefully from about 6 feet up and not face to face with it. That will probably happen too though, I just hope I see some dirt up close and not the high point of one of the rocks that make this trail such a tripping hazard. It's the roots that really get me though. I need to make sure I am lifting my feet over the roots. I have a tendency to catch my toe on those things and that is when I eat the trail. I know late in this race my shoulders won't be able to catch me too many times as they'll be beat as well.
I'll be carrying two water bottles filled with EFS throughout the entire race. I don't plan on dipping into the EFS much though until after the first aid station. I'll probably just have one filled with EFS from the start and will have EFS dropped at most aid stations along the way. I am going to get a new pair of compression socks and will have fresh socks at probably two of the aid stations along the way.
I am excited to see familiar faces along the trail and will tell them to not let me quit (I'm sure I'll feel like it late and probably often). I will persevere through pain and win the battle of the mind. I am strong, determined, trained, and devoted to this goal of traversing 50 miles at one time. Super excited for the T-Shirt at the end and I'll wear it proud for about two weeks after finishing.
I'll need prayer along the way that day, early and often. Please pray for strength, focus (on the trail), health, power, determination, persistance, wisdom (in decision making on the course (fueling, when to rest, etc)), enjoyment.
It means so much to me that Dad and Jesse will be there to support me. I have run 3 50km races and this is the first that I'll have someone to share this experience with. I know it is a long day, and I hope they will enjoy their day on the North Shore. I'll have everything laid out that I need on the course so that you just need to enjoy the lake, take in some of the suffering, and drive me out of the Caribou Highlands parking lot after the trail takes its best shot at me.
I am personally really looking forward to the adventure, each and every part of it. It is a unique folk, us ultra runners, and folk that is looking to push beyond what most people think is reality or sanity. We look to do things that most think can't be done. We train our bodies to endure some of the most physical, long lasting, fatigue and we pay to put our training to the test. Again, I am so looking forward to sharing this experience with two people that I love very much. It brings me to tears thinking of the sacrifice they are making to support me on September 10th.
A short week that will take forever awaits... The weather is supposed to be perfect all week on the trail, which should mean no mud!! That would be huge, I don't feel like running in wet feet for an entire day. You never know what Gitche Gummee's weather system will throw at you though. I'll keep my fingers crossed and my eye on the radar. SHT here I come!!!
Training:
My longest run in training for this race was 23 miles. I did a 10 miler on a Thursday, a 23 miler on that same Saturday and 10 miles on the Monday two days later. I would have liked a little bit tighter grouping but I was able to run some hills and didn't make training for this thing my whole life as I don't really have the kind of time right now to do that.
Where did I train:
I trained quite a bit at Elm Creek Park Reserve, right by my house. Probably 75% of the miles I run, I run here. There are miles of hiking and horse trails and the Three Rivers Park District is a beautiful set of parks, very well run and always kept in great shape. I also trained once at Baker park Reserve on horse trails and long grass (the terrain there was pretty flat although their was long grass 8-10 inches in most areas). I trained at Hyland park Reserve on their massive ski hills just the other day in my last intense training run. I trained a bit around Life Time at Crosstown, none on the treadmill anywhere (it has been a joy to run outside 3-4 days per week. For the most part, that's about it for the training grounds this time around. I did find a little nugget that I didn't know existed just a few miles from my house though on my 23 miler a few weeks back. There is 15 miles of mountain bike and trail running paths on the northern half of Elm Creek Park Reserve. They say it is for trail running and mountain biking, but I haven't see any other trail runners there yet. That is a pretty aggressive track and the rolling hills resemble that of northern minnesota's Superior hiking Trail (minus the rocks and roots). There is also no elevation around here that you will find there. That trail is unrelenting!!
I am really looking forward to the trip up there next weekend. My dad and brother are going to come with me and be my support. I'll have everything placed where it needs to be without them, but it will be great to have someone to share this adventure with. We are going to be staying in a little cabin called "The Nest" in Little Marais, cruising to Lutsen on Friday evening for the pre race meeting, maybe stopping at an aid station to see the 100 mile racers, loading up on carbs, and hitting the hay fairly early that evening.
Saturday is an early start. 6am racers leave Finland on their way to Lutsen. There were just 9 people who finished the race in less than 12 hours last year out of 50 that ran it. That would be great, but lets face it, not very likely to happen to me. That is a stretch goal of mine, I just don't know if I have the experience to do that right now. We will see...
Here are times and paces:
12 hrs x 60 = 720 / 50 = 14.4 min/mi
13 hrs x 60 = 780 / 50 = 15.6 min/mi
14 hrs x 60 = 840 / 50 = 16.8 min/mi
15 hrs x 60 = 900 / 50 = 18 min/mi
The 21st runner out of 42 last year completed the event in 13:40. I would like to finish before 6pm on that day, really would like to be in the top half of the field. That means I'll need to average better than 17 minute miles to do so. I know the last stretch is going to be slow because of the hills and exhaustion, miles 40-45 will be more rolling, and I have no clue what the first 35 miles even look like. The 50k is an out and back from Lutsen to Carlton's Peak and back to Lutsen again. I am really excited to see some more of the trail, hopefully from about 6 feet up and not face to face with it. That will probably happen too though, I just hope I see some dirt up close and not the high point of one of the rocks that make this trail such a tripping hazard. It's the roots that really get me though. I need to make sure I am lifting my feet over the roots. I have a tendency to catch my toe on those things and that is when I eat the trail. I know late in this race my shoulders won't be able to catch me too many times as they'll be beat as well.
I'll be carrying two water bottles filled with EFS throughout the entire race. I don't plan on dipping into the EFS much though until after the first aid station. I'll probably just have one filled with EFS from the start and will have EFS dropped at most aid stations along the way. I am going to get a new pair of compression socks and will have fresh socks at probably two of the aid stations along the way.
I am excited to see familiar faces along the trail and will tell them to not let me quit (I'm sure I'll feel like it late and probably often). I will persevere through pain and win the battle of the mind. I am strong, determined, trained, and devoted to this goal of traversing 50 miles at one time. Super excited for the T-Shirt at the end and I'll wear it proud for about two weeks after finishing.
I'll need prayer along the way that day, early and often. Please pray for strength, focus (on the trail), health, power, determination, persistance, wisdom (in decision making on the course (fueling, when to rest, etc)), enjoyment.
It means so much to me that Dad and Jesse will be there to support me. I have run 3 50km races and this is the first that I'll have someone to share this experience with. I know it is a long day, and I hope they will enjoy their day on the North Shore. I'll have everything laid out that I need on the course so that you just need to enjoy the lake, take in some of the suffering, and drive me out of the Caribou Highlands parking lot after the trail takes its best shot at me.
I am personally really looking forward to the adventure, each and every part of it. It is a unique folk, us ultra runners, and folk that is looking to push beyond what most people think is reality or sanity. We look to do things that most think can't be done. We train our bodies to endure some of the most physical, long lasting, fatigue and we pay to put our training to the test. Again, I am so looking forward to sharing this experience with two people that I love very much. It brings me to tears thinking of the sacrifice they are making to support me on September 10th.
A short week that will take forever awaits... The weather is supposed to be perfect all week on the trail, which should mean no mud!! That would be huge, I don't feel like running in wet feet for an entire day. You never know what Gitche Gummee's weather system will throw at you though. I'll keep my fingers crossed and my eye on the radar. SHT here I come!!!
Sunday, July 17, 2011
July 16th and 17th training and events
18 and 6; finishing the 18 with a 3.7 that I ran on my wedding day 9 years ago! My wife and I talked that we averaged 1 kid per 3 years and we have seen a lot in the last 9 years. I am blessed to have her by my side.
Saturday
I woke at a quarter to 5 to get ready to run. The 3.7 Rice Lake Classic began at 8 and my plan was to get as many miles in before that race with my wife. I actually had to wait in my garage and watch as the rain was pounding down on the pavement and the thunder was pounding on my eardrums. It was coming down.
I had to wait for about 15 minutes. In that time, I cut some holes in a garbage bag in order to at the least keep my phone and music dry. It was dark and off I went. It rained for the first 30 minutes or so and I watched the sun come up as I ran the race route on my way back to my house to refuel. As I crossed over the bike bridge over county road 81 and began to cruise down the hill on the other side, I was reminded of my greatest purpose that day. My cousin Dann and good friend got married. On the way down the slope out of the corner of my right eye I saw a HUGE bald eagle soaring across the Eastern sky. My first reaction was tears. I thought of that committment. The marriage and the committment to our great country. That Eagle didn't flap once all the way across the sky. Awesome sign that gave me great perspective on the day. So honored.
I was home to refuel in 9 miles and was off again. Kate was just waking up so I was at the least able to communicate. She actually brought up a new shirt for me. Thanks hon! I reapplied vasaline, dropped the headphones, refilled the EFS, and off I was for the next 60 minutes until I was to meet Kate at Rice Lake for the race. I took off through the park reserve and was actually cut off at one point by a downed tree. I wondered if that was from the nights storms or because of the lack of government activity around the Three Rivers Parks. I turned and took a new path (which I needed to trudge through a foot of water for a hundred yards or so) and headed to Rice Lake. I was starting to feel pretty tired by now as this is the longest I have run since the Superior 50 K in may. I got to "Freedom Field" at about 7:45 and was set to stand around for 15 minutes. I was able to talk one of the workers into giving me a banana. He mentioned usually we don't give out food before the race ( I was thinking "dude, I am 15 miles into my run"). I didn't say that but needed the fuel and appreciate his providing me with it. I really enjoyed Kate and I's time together. She did a great job and I am super proud of her. Not only for completing the 3.7 (mostly running), but for being such a great mom and really sacrificing her running to take care of our third child (daughter Hannah). I am very thankful to be married to such a wonderful, devoted woman. Kate- I Love You!!
Back to the race- It was great and a struggle for the both of us. I have been running more than Kate so it was good that we were both struggling a bit to finish. We got to the final hill and I took off up it. Kate ran the whole thing as well. I am very proud of her for how she ran this race. Then it was off to the wedding. Honored!
Sunday was HOT!!!!!! I was out the door by 10 and intended to run more than 6 miles. 1 scoop of EFS wasn't enough to fuel that and I was sweating like a faucet was turned on. I am very content in getting 6 in as this is the first time that I have done multiple days in a row of significant miles. Next weekend is a bit lighter 10 and 8. I will shift to Sunday and Monday next week and tomorrow will do weights and rest on Tuesday. Wed will be a cross train day and Thurs will go longer along with comboing Friday. Saturday weights and Sun Mon long again. Till next time...
Saturday
I woke at a quarter to 5 to get ready to run. The 3.7 Rice Lake Classic began at 8 and my plan was to get as many miles in before that race with my wife. I actually had to wait in my garage and watch as the rain was pounding down on the pavement and the thunder was pounding on my eardrums. It was coming down.
I had to wait for about 15 minutes. In that time, I cut some holes in a garbage bag in order to at the least keep my phone and music dry. It was dark and off I went. It rained for the first 30 minutes or so and I watched the sun come up as I ran the race route on my way back to my house to refuel. As I crossed over the bike bridge over county road 81 and began to cruise down the hill on the other side, I was reminded of my greatest purpose that day. My cousin Dann and good friend got married. On the way down the slope out of the corner of my right eye I saw a HUGE bald eagle soaring across the Eastern sky. My first reaction was tears. I thought of that committment. The marriage and the committment to our great country. That Eagle didn't flap once all the way across the sky. Awesome sign that gave me great perspective on the day. So honored.
I was home to refuel in 9 miles and was off again. Kate was just waking up so I was at the least able to communicate. She actually brought up a new shirt for me. Thanks hon! I reapplied vasaline, dropped the headphones, refilled the EFS, and off I was for the next 60 minutes until I was to meet Kate at Rice Lake for the race. I took off through the park reserve and was actually cut off at one point by a downed tree. I wondered if that was from the nights storms or because of the lack of government activity around the Three Rivers Parks. I turned and took a new path (which I needed to trudge through a foot of water for a hundred yards or so) and headed to Rice Lake. I was starting to feel pretty tired by now as this is the longest I have run since the Superior 50 K in may. I got to "Freedom Field" at about 7:45 and was set to stand around for 15 minutes. I was able to talk one of the workers into giving me a banana. He mentioned usually we don't give out food before the race ( I was thinking "dude, I am 15 miles into my run"). I didn't say that but needed the fuel and appreciate his providing me with it. I really enjoyed Kate and I's time together. She did a great job and I am super proud of her. Not only for completing the 3.7 (mostly running), but for being such a great mom and really sacrificing her running to take care of our third child (daughter Hannah). I am very thankful to be married to such a wonderful, devoted woman. Kate- I Love You!!
Back to the race- It was great and a struggle for the both of us. I have been running more than Kate so it was good that we were both struggling a bit to finish. We got to the final hill and I took off up it. Kate ran the whole thing as well. I am very proud of her for how she ran this race. Then it was off to the wedding. Honored!
Sunday was HOT!!!!!! I was out the door by 10 and intended to run more than 6 miles. 1 scoop of EFS wasn't enough to fuel that and I was sweating like a faucet was turned on. I am very content in getting 6 in as this is the first time that I have done multiple days in a row of significant miles. Next weekend is a bit lighter 10 and 8. I will shift to Sunday and Monday next week and tomorrow will do weights and rest on Tuesday. Wed will be a cross train day and Thurs will go longer along with comboing Friday. Saturday weights and Sun Mon long again. Till next time...
Superior 50 Mile Training Program
I was going to do Voyager, but end of the month, necessity to perform in July, and having not trained much in the last few weeks all played a role in me signing up for Superior instead. I'm glad I did sign up for that race as last night as I was standing outside the Creamery in Scandia, I talked to the pastor who officiated Specialist P4 Carlson of the US Army. Great wedding and he and Nina are a perfect fit!!
The pastor... he talked about the section of Superior between county road 1 and county road 6. As we spoke, he said him and a friend (who has run the Sawtooth 100) from the church ran that section not long ago. One of the first things he said was that the goal was to run between 22 and 24 minute miles. I have seen the times that are run there and there were only 2 runners that finished the 100 mile inside of 30 hours. I don't believe there were any that finished in a day.
That's enough here for now. I signed up for the Superior 50 mile and will be following a program that I have created to train for it. This program will be dynamic and can change at any time. For example, I was scheduled to run 22 and 10 in the last two days and due to the heat as well as the wedding, was only able to get 18 and 6. I'll write more on that in a minute.
The pastor... he talked about the section of Superior between county road 1 and county road 6. As we spoke, he said him and a friend (who has run the Sawtooth 100) from the church ran that section not long ago. One of the first things he said was that the goal was to run between 22 and 24 minute miles. I have seen the times that are run there and there were only 2 runners that finished the 100 mile inside of 30 hours. I don't believe there were any that finished in a day.
That's enough here for now. I signed up for the Superior 50 mile and will be following a program that I have created to train for it. This program will be dynamic and can change at any time. For example, I was scheduled to run 22 and 10 in the last two days and due to the heat as well as the wedding, was only able to get 18 and 6. I'll write more on that in a minute.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
New Training Grounds Unlocked-Watertower Hill and drinking fountain loop
So, as all know who read this blog, I am a personal trainer at Life Time Fitness at the Crosstown location. I have a client and friend who is an ultrarunner as I am. I should say I am as she is as she has been much longer than I. Anyway, she has been running around the Eden Prairie area for a long time and training to run long distances all over the country. Let's just say she know a bit about running up and down hills over and over again for fun in Eden Prairie.
Let me start by saying this, I absolutely love how she explains to me where this place is. "you take shady oak north to this road, down this hill, look over your left shoulder, turn around and start going up hill." Spot on with direction, I just love how the adventure begins.
Interestingly enough, two weeks ago (the last time I had time to try to find this place), I left the club in search of "Watertower Hill". Did the whole head north to this trail, East under this bridge, South to this path and look for the park. After that "you can't miss it". Well, after getting to where I was supposed to be then now, I could and did miss it. In fact I ran right past it, like it was directly in front of my face. So what did I find on that sunny, hot day two weeks ago? What I like to call drinking fountain loop. A bit more grown in today than then and swap out the sun for a steady rain. Makes for a much different environment. Not bad or good, just different. Different challenges and a different audience... none!
Well, I didn't find what I was looking for then and was asked the question, "did you run watertower hill?" on Tuesday in my clients training session. My answer was similar to what I explained above minus the part about how I ran right past it and anything that happened today. I talked about the drinking fountain and she acted like she had never seen or known about it. For goodness sake, it's only within eyeshot of watertower hill. I'm sure she has seen the drinking fountain in question, at least if she has run watertower hill in the last 10 years or so. It is quite possible that she may not have. Her ultra days are a ways behind her.
That was a bit of a tangent but fun to write about none the less. Where was I? Yes, today... I got into work, began working with a potential client that turned into a contact (too many of them lately), worked with a client while silently being reprimanded by the one who gave the client to me. I love my new client by the way... that's not the point. Serviced a consultation that was very productive and made some great connections, had one more referral consultation that I believe went very well, and then I was free to program design and run, until making 6 phone calls when I got back (two of which turned into appointments).
My workout:
1 hill 500 feet up/ 500 feet down (not real muddy yet)
2 mile warm- up 9 minute mile pace
5 hill repeats threshold up pace walk
2 drinking fountain loops at the top of tennis court hill
5 hill repeats threshold walk recover down (getting muddy and slippy)
2 drinking fountain loops first fuel and back down
5 hill repeats threshold walk w/ pieces of mulch to help count (muddy fell on last hill down)
2 drinking fountain loops walked at top of hill two
back down tennis court hill to acute hill cooldown for 2 miles
1 hill for good measure and back to the car.
pre workout nutrition:
6 oz apple sauce natural
2 bananas w/ peanut butter gobbed on
water
and that's it really since Kate's yogurt for breakfast.
One cool motivator for this workout was that Grandmas was today and I know a few folks that ran. Way to go Tomm!!!!! I had finish line live footage rolling as I got ready for my run today and heard them call 5 hours.
I got to my destination, revisited my revised instructions on how to get to watertower hill, and followed them. I must confess, I did make a rather large loop in the car to finally arrive at my destination. Hopkins watertower is not what I was looking for I quickly realized (there's no hill). I looked back to the Southwest and saw barely the top of what looked like a watertower. I knew it had to be the one I was looking for as it was off the road I was to be looking for it off of. Down the hill, around the bend, and there it is, right in front of you.
I was curious. So, I started walking right up the hill to see what I was getting myself into. It was clear quickly that we were not messing around here, especially with the rain turning dirt to mud. I got to the bottom and began to warm up. Jog two miles was the protocol today before my first set of repeats. I didn't know exactly how this workout would be structured, what I did know is that there would be hills and 15-20 of them as that is what I was told would be a good supplement to 20-25 miles and 4-5 hours away from my family. Coincidentally or not, I was done with this 10.75 with 17 hill repeats in 2:20.
Pace was as it could be. Walking up, and down really especially as the dirt did turn to mud. My pace up was between 22 and 28 minutes per mile. I don't know what it was on the way down as my focus was not falling flat on my face. There were roots. I don't get along very well with roots. When I go down, roots are the root... cause. Pun intended hahahaha! We are a bit crazy yes...
Long hill up to the flat on the top of drinking fountain loop but much more gradual that watertower hill for sure. Joggable so that's what I did. It felt good every time to stretch my legs, especially on the down of drinking fountain loop
The workout is listed above and until that final 2 mile cool down it was fuel to stay ahead of any extreme fatigue. There were a couple of acute hills there at the end that really taxed every bit of stores left in the tank. I pushed though and made up my mind that I would do one more hill when I got back just for good measure. I did and back to the club I went to describe my experience to the boss at the club and a good friend of mine who just happened to be meeting together.
It really is nice to share the work that we put in. I thought about that on the way back to the club after my workout today. How would I explain my workout to those who asked and would they be patient enough to listen to what I had to say. They were and that is why I have so much respect for the two I was able to connect with this afternoon. Thank you.
I feel like I unlocked a new training grounds today thanks to my client who I feel is grooming me as an ultramarathoner and I am grateful for her support. That's all for now, the plan is a couple of hours more steady tomorrow as I need a couple of tough weekends in preparation for 50 miles on July 30th. I will be asking Life Time to sponsor my as a runner in that race. Night!
Let me start by saying this, I absolutely love how she explains to me where this place is. "you take shady oak north to this road, down this hill, look over your left shoulder, turn around and start going up hill." Spot on with direction, I just love how the adventure begins.
Interestingly enough, two weeks ago (the last time I had time to try to find this place), I left the club in search of "Watertower Hill". Did the whole head north to this trail, East under this bridge, South to this path and look for the park. After that "you can't miss it". Well, after getting to where I was supposed to be then now, I could and did miss it. In fact I ran right past it, like it was directly in front of my face. So what did I find on that sunny, hot day two weeks ago? What I like to call drinking fountain loop. A bit more grown in today than then and swap out the sun for a steady rain. Makes for a much different environment. Not bad or good, just different. Different challenges and a different audience... none!
Well, I didn't find what I was looking for then and was asked the question, "did you run watertower hill?" on Tuesday in my clients training session. My answer was similar to what I explained above minus the part about how I ran right past it and anything that happened today. I talked about the drinking fountain and she acted like she had never seen or known about it. For goodness sake, it's only within eyeshot of watertower hill. I'm sure she has seen the drinking fountain in question, at least if she has run watertower hill in the last 10 years or so. It is quite possible that she may not have. Her ultra days are a ways behind her.
That was a bit of a tangent but fun to write about none the less. Where was I? Yes, today... I got into work, began working with a potential client that turned into a contact (too many of them lately), worked with a client while silently being reprimanded by the one who gave the client to me. I love my new client by the way... that's not the point. Serviced a consultation that was very productive and made some great connections, had one more referral consultation that I believe went very well, and then I was free to program design and run, until making 6 phone calls when I got back (two of which turned into appointments).
My workout:
1 hill 500 feet up/ 500 feet down (not real muddy yet)
2 mile warm- up 9 minute mile pace
5 hill repeats threshold up pace walk
2 drinking fountain loops at the top of tennis court hill
5 hill repeats threshold walk recover down (getting muddy and slippy)
2 drinking fountain loops first fuel and back down
5 hill repeats threshold walk w/ pieces of mulch to help count (muddy fell on last hill down)
2 drinking fountain loops walked at top of hill two
back down tennis court hill to acute hill cooldown for 2 miles
1 hill for good measure and back to the car.
pre workout nutrition:
6 oz apple sauce natural
2 bananas w/ peanut butter gobbed on
water
and that's it really since Kate's yogurt for breakfast.
One cool motivator for this workout was that Grandmas was today and I know a few folks that ran. Way to go Tomm!!!!! I had finish line live footage rolling as I got ready for my run today and heard them call 5 hours.
I got to my destination, revisited my revised instructions on how to get to watertower hill, and followed them. I must confess, I did make a rather large loop in the car to finally arrive at my destination. Hopkins watertower is not what I was looking for I quickly realized (there's no hill). I looked back to the Southwest and saw barely the top of what looked like a watertower. I knew it had to be the one I was looking for as it was off the road I was to be looking for it off of. Down the hill, around the bend, and there it is, right in front of you.
I was curious. So, I started walking right up the hill to see what I was getting myself into. It was clear quickly that we were not messing around here, especially with the rain turning dirt to mud. I got to the bottom and began to warm up. Jog two miles was the protocol today before my first set of repeats. I didn't know exactly how this workout would be structured, what I did know is that there would be hills and 15-20 of them as that is what I was told would be a good supplement to 20-25 miles and 4-5 hours away from my family. Coincidentally or not, I was done with this 10.75 with 17 hill repeats in 2:20.
Pace was as it could be. Walking up, and down really especially as the dirt did turn to mud. My pace up was between 22 and 28 minutes per mile. I don't know what it was on the way down as my focus was not falling flat on my face. There were roots. I don't get along very well with roots. When I go down, roots are the root... cause. Pun intended hahahaha! We are a bit crazy yes...
Long hill up to the flat on the top of drinking fountain loop but much more gradual that watertower hill for sure. Joggable so that's what I did. It felt good every time to stretch my legs, especially on the down of drinking fountain loop
The workout is listed above and until that final 2 mile cool down it was fuel to stay ahead of any extreme fatigue. There were a couple of acute hills there at the end that really taxed every bit of stores left in the tank. I pushed though and made up my mind that I would do one more hill when I got back just for good measure. I did and back to the club I went to describe my experience to the boss at the club and a good friend of mine who just happened to be meeting together.
It really is nice to share the work that we put in. I thought about that on the way back to the club after my workout today. How would I explain my workout to those who asked and would they be patient enough to listen to what I had to say. They were and that is why I have so much respect for the two I was able to connect with this afternoon. Thank you.
I feel like I unlocked a new training grounds today thanks to my client who I feel is grooming me as an ultramarathoner and I am grateful for her support. That's all for now, the plan is a couple of hours more steady tomorrow as I need a couple of tough weekends in preparation for 50 miles on July 30th. I will be asking Life Time to sponsor my as a runner in that race. Night!
Monday, May 23, 2011
weeds
I got $35 for the weed work next door. Not bad. She may turn into a regular client. At $50 a pop for the lawn, I might be able to quit my day job... or make it part of my day job at least.
50 bucks to mow the lawn
I got 50 bucks to mow the neighbors lawn today. I left it up to her what she would pay me and she talked herself right into 50 bucks. I thought "we do need groceries." I'm going to spray her yard for weeds too. We haven't talked price on that one yet. It seems like that's a little bit more specialized than mowing though... We'll see.
So, I got done mowing and my legs felt pretty good. I changed into my running shorts and headed off through the park reserve. Running a traditional route for most of the way, I was cut off by really high water. With all the rain we have had, there are spots that are impassible unless you want to get your feet real wet. I didn't feel like it today so I found an alternate route. Quads are still fried but I must learn to run on tired legs. Also, apparently I need to use vaseline even on 45 minute runs when it is this humid outside. Actually drew blood. Outch!!!
I need a day off. Maybe a few. I'll keep updated.
So, I got done mowing and my legs felt pretty good. I changed into my running shorts and headed off through the park reserve. Running a traditional route for most of the way, I was cut off by really high water. With all the rain we have had, there are spots that are impassible unless you want to get your feet real wet. I didn't feel like it today so I found an alternate route. Quads are still fried but I must learn to run on tired legs. Also, apparently I need to use vaseline even on 45 minute runs when it is this humid outside. Actually drew blood. Outch!!!
I need a day off. Maybe a few. I'll keep updated.
tired legs
Yesterday I ran 13 minutes. I had the idea to run on tired legs for an hour or so since that's what I'll need to do to prepare for a 50 miler. I got about 8 minutes from home, heard a clap of thunder and immediately turned right around. The plan wasn't to get any speed work in but that changed when the drops kept getting bigger. Still the ultra shuffle, just a bit quicker pace.
Superior 50k
Well, I finished running the Superior 50 trail race for the second year in a row just a couple of days ago. My quads have never been so fried in all my life. I guess there is a reason why not everyone attacks downhills with reckless abandon. At one point I had to stand still and down a hammer gel just to get my legs moving again. A bit like the tin man in "The Wizard of Oz" I suppose. I'm sure I looked like him for the last 10 miles or so. Here is the weekend story:
My journey to and through the woods in 5:35
I worked Friday morning; trained a client, did some learning, and out the door by 10:30. Next it was on to home where I packed the remaining of my things into my large army green rucksack, ate lunch (and fed the two bigs), said my goodbyes and hit the road for Lutsen. I had been signed up for this race for a couple months. Did Trail Mix 50k 5 weeks ago and finished that in 5:46 and some change. I felt pretty good after that race though and knew I could push harder at Superior. My plan was to drive to Lutsen, get a good nights rest, attack uphill, coast at the top, and recover on the down. Some of that happened, the unexpected "legs can't move, no literally, can't move" wasn't.
Back to the story. I headed up 35 on my way to Lutsen. I packed all of the food I would need for the entire trip in my little playmate elite cooler aside from the meal I would have that night which turned out to be stuffed pork and mashed potatoes. It was good, but I'm not there yet. Drinking water the whole way up beyond Duluth onto the 61 expressway, I didn't need to stop until I reached Two Harbors. There's a little Holiday station on the lake side. That was the only stop I would need to make on the trip to the lodge. I did stop at the Holiday in Tofte so I wouldn't need to on the way out as well. Being anxious to get to Caribou Highlands; where I would spend the night, and where the race would leave from the next morning, I wanted to drive on through as much as possible.
I ended up arriving at the lodge about 6:00, checked in to my room, checked in to the race (got my number and such), checked out a movie for my viewing pleasure (Daddy Day Camp- if you must know), walked down the steps to order my runners special ( I actually ended up getting stuffed pork and mashed potatoes-the waitress was good at upselling). I was a little nervous about how that particular meal would sit the next day on the trail so I left some of the stuffing for the dishwashers to clean off of my plate. It was delicious though, the bread and chicken soup also. It was all good. After dinner it was off to the pre race briefing. The atmosphere around a trail race is somewhat loose and a little bit crazy. A bunch of people who pay money to be a part of something that will challenge them in every way, each with their own reasons for attempting to conquer the mind body connection. And these trails are not your average trails either. Rocks, roots (which give me the most problem), mud, downed trees, just plain old trees, and the hills (we'll get into that a bit later). Back to the pre race briefing, there was a comment made about hearing the horror stories of the course conditions and being super excited to take on whatever this course had to offer. That's about right. Bring it on!!!
After the pre race briefing it was off to my room to set up for the early start and pop in "Daddy Day Camp". I found a bit of inspiration in that movie in that Cuba has an idea, a mission, a vision, and attacks it head on no matter how bleak it may seem, he keeps charging and with values that make me proud, overcomes seemingly insurmountable obstacles by the "bad" camp. Again, back to the story, it was 8:30 and I was ready to get some sleep. After all, I was up before 5 that morning.
Time to run
I had set a wake up call for 530 am and they weren't kidding with the "wake up". That is the loudest phone I have ever heard in my life. It needed to be because I was sleeping like a baby. I set the alarm on the alarm clock too but it didn't go off at all. In any case, I was awake and ready to take on the hills and downed trees. I brewed a pot of weak coffee, mixed a water bottle full of EFS to drink before the race started, had 3 packs of instant oatmeal that I had brought from home (along with a couple of bananas), headed to check in by 6am when the check in began, and headed back to my room to get ready for the run.
My plan was run the uphills, cruise the flats, and recover on the downs. Apparently I had forgotten what some of the uphill looked, and felt like. There are 5 uphills that I am just not good enough to run yet, and by the end of the race there were a whole heck of a lot more than that. It is tough to train for hills like that at Elm Creek Park Reserve, where I do most of my training aside from some hill repeats. I'll need to map out some better runs to prepare me for the hills that I'll face at Superior and I'm sure other ultras as well. I had done some hill training in the weeks leading up to Superior and I'm sure that helped a lot primarily with the recovery part on the flats. So I got ready and spent the minutes before the race in my room waiting, rolling, praying about the day ahead, and going over my pre race strategy in my head. I knew there would be times where I felt like quitting and just giving up, but I also knew that I was stronger than that, that I needed to find sources of strength to get me through some of those times. I would draw on my family, my faith, and examples of perseverance from my career as a personal trainer.
Well, I got to the start line, started about mid pack and got the go signal. This is the part of the race when everyone is together and you get to sort of feel everyone out and you'll settle in with the 5 or 6 people to head out onto the single track with. My pace was much faster than I had anticipated, but my plan had sort of changed at the line. Probably not the greatest strategy, but in any case that's what happened. I figured I would be tired by mile 20 weather I took off fast or slow and I would need strength outside of myself by that point regardless of what my pace was for the first 18-20 miles. The only difference between going fast or slow out of the gate was how quickly I got to that point. I decided it was better to get there sooner than later. Between mile 17 and 18 is where I really began to feel the effects of what I was doing to my body. Around mile 3 or 4 I started to feel my quads getting a little bit tired. I was recovering on the way down like I had planned ( for some reason I felt that since I could feel my quads now, I was bracing too much on the way down the hill); when I felt my quads start tingling I made the decision to use gravity on the downs and let it all go. The key to downhill on these trails is quick feet, good eyes, and a good kick behind you. If you don't make the lever short on the way back out front, you'll catch whatever it is you are hurdling and down you will go with a face plant into whatever rock is in front of you at the moment. Not a good place to be. So my brilliant recover on the down plan was out the window and instead I was working to make up ground as I shredded my quads with a series of eccentric contractions (negative) repetitions. Ouch!!! This would prove to be a decision that would leave me feeling like that tin man I mentioned earlier.
The good news is that up until mile 16 I had only run 2 miles slower than 11 minutes. Mile 4 (mystery) and mile 14 (carlton). That's when I began to slow down though. I had used up the glycogen and was no longer ahead of the fatigue. My quads were shot and I still had 14 miles to go. The section after the Sawbill aid is rolling and relatively flat in comparison to the other two sections of the course, so I said to myself as I headed out of that Sawbill aid to make up as much ground as I could because I knew I would be walking quite a bit on the Oberg section to finish the race. Miles 16 through 21 I was running steady high 11 minute miles ( a little bit slower than I would have liked) but with the condition of my quads is particular any jog was my goal at this point. I still had a long ways to go and the step hill in the Oberg section was a killer. It seemed to never end, with each new turn in the path was more hill and more steps. There were a few breaks on that hill just to catch my breath and fuel. I probably went through 2 hammer gels just on that hill alone. Once reaching the top of the steps came the tin man legs. There was a group behind me of 3 runners that I needed to let pass because my legs stiffened up like boards. I needed about 5 minutes and a full gel (oil) just to get them working again.
Once at the top of this 4th big hill of the race, I knew I needed to keep moving. If I stopped and walked, I would walk all the way in and the pain would continue to worsen and slow me down even more. I needed to get off this course as soon as possible and dig for whatever I could to get me there. I thought of family and my son Caden saying "whatever you do, do your best". I knew that my best was to keep moving and to fight through the obstruction that my legs didn't want to move. I thought about clients who have experienced hardship that I hope I'll never have to endure. I thought of personal conquer in beating what had beaten me last year. About mile 24 is where I walked it in last year and finished in 6:12. Not this time, not this year; these hills and rocks, and roots, and beaten down legs weren't going to beat me this time. And I feel they didn't. I was much slower in between miles 24 and 28 but I was jogging and gaining and my spirits were high and I knew that I was doing my best. On the switchbacks up the final hill I was passed by a kid who was running his first ultra. He kept me going. He also taught me along with a number of other fast hill walkers, that I need to practice walking up hills quickly so I don't get passed like that with just a couple miles to go.
I tried to catch him all the way down the hill but didn't see him again until he was filling his paper cup with 1919 root beer with a bowl of awesome chili in his hand. Once reaching the top of that final hill, hearing the Poplar river is a welcomed sound as that signals you are just about "out of the woods"!! You cross the bridge, cruise up the hill to the road, and it's pavement for the last half mile or so. What a great feeling to look down at my watch and see 5:35. Even greater knowing that I pushed through so many opportunities to stop, slow down, give up, quit and I pushed through every one of them and did my best to finish the race that I started. Ultra marathoning is a metaphor for life. When the going gets tough, the tough get going. True character is not revealed when it's easy, but when times are tough is when true character shines through. That is something I need to keep at the front of my mind as I try and juggle my life at it's so far craziest. Be the rock in the house. Keep my foundation firmly Jesus and build upon his rock that he promises will stand forever and be there in times of good and bad. I feel that I ran a good race; really breaking it down into 3 sections; fast, getting tired, and fighting hard. I averaged about a 10 minute mile from 1-15, then went to closer to 11:30 minute pace until mile 21, where I settled in at around 15 minute pace to top of hill 5 ( where the pace hastened on the way down the hill to the finish). The drive home was good with frequent bathroom stops ( a good sign). That means insides are working and it is also an opportunity to stretch the legs a bit. Now, two days after the race, I haven't been this sore in a long time, maybe ever. No chaff, which is nice, feet are in good shape, muscles are absolutely shot!! Quads, calves, traps, hams, core. What a great feeling to know that you spent everything out on the course and really did your best out there. I'll look forward to running my first 50 miler this fall and next summer hope to complete my first 100 mile race. Understanding that's a whole new level of precision.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
My Training "b" log
Welcome to my training blog. Here I'll post some of the things I have been doing for training. I've got 5 races scheduled for this summer and fall. Finding time will definately be a challenge, but it is for everyone, a challenge to make time for exercise. Thanks for visiting!
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