tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6678176705221669352024-03-05T09:30:55.600-08:00Stillwater RunnerSt Croix Valley Runnersstillwaterrunnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07185881704535781991noreply@blogger.comBlogger38125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-667817670522166935.post-68338166019890943802014-07-11T05:22:00.000-07:002014-07-11T05:22:02.854-07:002014 Afton Trail Run 50k Race Report<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many people can point to annual events which indicate the
beginning of summer; fireflies, the baseball all-star game, end of school, fireworks,
mosquitoes, etc. For me it is Afton,
specifically the <a href="http://www.aftontrailrun.com/">Afton 50k Trail Run</a> put on by John Storkamp each July in Afton
State Park along the Saint Croix River in Minnesota.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Each Afton is the same; same great organization, great
people, low-key vibe, and hills (eight notable per loop). And then each Afton is different; park
closure reroutes, rain, varying heat, and humidity, trail conditions. This year stood out for me because of the
nice cool weather (I don’t think it broke 80°F) and the fantastic breezes in
the open areas.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This actually turned out to be one of my favorite Aftons.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And it might be my last.
My family and I are moving to the Oshkosh, Wisconsin area in the next
few months and I’m not sure I’ll have the opportunity to make it back to this
great race. I know there are a few races
on the IAT and the Northern Unit in that area, so I won’t be wanting for good
trail races. I will be documenting my
new running digs through this blog though, and will be continuing it as long as
I have more than one reader, other than my mom.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Overview</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This race has been held at <a href="http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/afton/index.html">Afton State Park</a> in Minnesota for
the past 20 years or so. 25k and 50k
distances are offered, depending on whether you traverse 1 or 2 loops through
the park. The trails range from gravel
road to singletrack, from wide open prairie to dense forest, from railroad bed
flat to eroded washout hills. Total
elevation for the 50k is about 4,700 ft of climbing. This year 340 or so folks opted for the 25k
distance, while about 170 braved the 50k.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLtI5r7IlKbKv1cwp5KpqgZMkqGii2UZex6jUjZRyGnPoejES42nHPu5oXvEmEoW2IDz-RaJ98DJPIMcDZHrGq8wijLYP0dIGazrG3-V3nZY6OTMIEWc1lafksZSPbMSdOcqMCMHOhWrvg/s1600/2010_Afton_Elevation_Profile_100dpi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLtI5r7IlKbKv1cwp5KpqgZMkqGii2UZex6jUjZRyGnPoejES42nHPu5oXvEmEoW2IDz-RaJ98DJPIMcDZHrGq8wijLYP0dIGazrG3-V3nZY6OTMIEWc1lafksZSPbMSdOcqMCMHOhWrvg/s1600/2010_Afton_Elevation_Profile_100dpi.jpg" height="308" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Pre-Race</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The morning of the race was uneventful. I did not get much sleep the night before
(fireworks), but I felt fine, considering.
I also ignored the temptation for a nice scoop of cream cheese for
breakfast (<a href="http://stillwaterrunner.blogspot.com/2013/07/2013-afton-trail-run-50k-race-report.html">read here</a> for that bit of stupidity). After a nice drive into the park, and a
smooth packet pickup, Beth (crew) and I (runner) were at the start with about
15 minutes to spare.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">John, the race director, gave us some encouragement and
guidance, and then asked who had done 5 Aftons?
10? A few raised their
hands. This would be my fifth, with
sub-5 hr finishes in the last 2. I was
hoping to improve on this trend.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2CKevpf49Li6oSlL9PkBuC9kZfwpENJsMY4qYWhjHn4IW5WrbJ7V2jmIqktU5xbxBfzT4NSdD49hOcFssdkGkz8zMPYfLBvc_JC2XURc4rtlZzuI3vncpMKtwdkL2JjYZ8m2M53RUgErv/s1600/IMG_3621.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2CKevpf49Li6oSlL9PkBuC9kZfwpENJsMY4qYWhjHn4IW5WrbJ7V2jmIqktU5xbxBfzT4NSdD49hOcFssdkGkz8zMPYfLBvc_JC2XURc4rtlZzuI3vncpMKtwdkL2JjYZ8m2M53RUgErv/s1600/IMG_3621.jpeg" height="298" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As a prelude to this race, I ran (<a href="http://stillwaterrunner.blogspot.com/2014/06/2014-kettle-100-race-report.html">and finished</a>, woo hoo!)
the <a href="http://www.kettle100.com/">Kettle 100</a>. Following this race I
had some interesting recovery issues with the ball of my left foot and the
associated Achilles tendon. That, along
with the usual calf and hamstring decimation, I was hardly fully-recovered. I was, however, in decent enough shape to run
a 50k hard. In truth though, I had no
idea how my legs would respond. We’d
see.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Beth and I ran into the Kettle RD Tim Yanacheck, who was there to crew his
wife. In fact, I ran into him at various
points along the course, and as usual, he had great encouragement for me. He is truly one of the good people.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>And then we were off</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I usually start this race near the front, and this year I think
I was too far so. As we careened down
the first descent to the base of the ski hill, runners were zipping past me. The descent is kind of like a cattle chute,
so I let others past as well as I could.
It was evident that my foot “injury” limited my speed on rocky descents.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But things cleared up quickly. The fast people took off, and I took in with
a like-minded group at about a 7:30-8:00 pace.
The temperature at the base of the ski hill was nice and cool. Ahhh.
I love this race (before it gets hot).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first hill hit quickly.
It is about 250 ft, not too steep, and with a few false tops thrown
in. I had planned on running all the
hills if I could, and did just that. So
far so good; my legs felt fine.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Africa Loop</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The top of the first climb takes us up to the Africa Loop; beautiful,
grassy prairieland along with the associated micro-fauna. Think Serengeti sans lions and wildebeests. It was still cool in the early morning and a
fantastic breeze was blowing, keeping everyone cool. Time to pick up the pace!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Following a mile or so of smooth prairie running, we
descended into another climate zone called the Back Forty. This area is more rain forest than prairie,
and it tends to be pretty hot and humid.
The descent was pretty painful for my foot, but not debilitating, and
before I knew it I was zipping past the first aid station (AS) and onto some
nice singletrack. The Back Forty is a
nice 2-mile section off the Africa Loop, with a section of stairs thrown in for
fun. Keeping with the plan, I ran those
stairs and was back to the aid station in no time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The climb out of this section is pretty gradual and affords
the opportunity for a running ascent back up to the Africa Loop. Once on top, the breezes cooled me off
nicely. This section of trail then leads
to a wonderful descent to the third AS by the Saint Croix River. I really like this descent, but today I had
to take it easy due to the foot issues.
It was still fun.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Beth was waiting for me at AS 3 with a bottle of UCAN, and
an S-cap. I did not ask for a time
update; I was running as fast as I could comfortable maintain, so it wouldn’t
really matter. After the quick
turnaround at the aid station, I was off, up Stone Hill.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The Middle Part</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Like the previous hills, I ran Stone Hill to the top, and
was greeted again with the breeze. I
could feel it warming up a bit, but it was only in the 70’s I think. Still cool for Afton. From the hill top, the trails wrapped around
the beautiful north end of the park, and then dropped back down to the
river. My favorite vista is on this
section of trail.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course, once we dropped, it was time to climb back up. Up the most gnarly of hills in the park, this
thing was washed out with exposed rocks and roots. I didn’t run this climb. I trudged the steepest sections really. And then I was on top, through the campground,
and back down to the river.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Beth was again ready for me at AS 4. She replaced my UCAN, and this time gave me a
bandana full of ice, ice for under my hat, and some ice down my shirt. I was sick of turning into a hyperthermic zombie
in races past, so Beth and I came up with a plan: ice, early and often. I will say this, I stayed cool throughout, though
I think because of the benign conditions, this was a bit of overkill. Oh well.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think at this point I told Beth that my legs were
hamburger, and wasn’t this fun? That’s
where I was at.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The Last Bits</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Out of AS 4 is a nice flat section that makes you think it is
time to put the hammer down. I’ve long
ago learned that this would be a mistake for me. 7:30 pace would have to do through here. I swear, this flat section hurt more than the
hills.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But before I knew it I was at the end of flat and heading up
Meat Grinder, the 6<sup>th</sup> of the 8 hills. I continued to run the hills, so I was up in
a jiffy and into AS 5. I never know what
to expect from this aid station when I round the bend; it was an inexperienced
but enthusiastic girl’s cross-country team one year. This year AS 5 was all business, and I was in
and out with a fresh water bottle and gel.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From there it is down into the absolute best portion of
trail in the park; the Snowshoe Loop.
From the initial descent, you are assaulted with wondrous singletrack
winding up and down though a forested section, with a few open areas and a
tough climb thrown in for good measure.
I approached this section with Newton’s first law in mind. Run it hard, and the up-hills can be dealt
without concern with inertia. I did run
hard, and was soon climbing back out to the straight-away to the start finish
area. One loop done, and I felt pretty
good. In fact, I felt I might have PR’ed
that loop.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not even close. I saw
2:23 on the clock and my heart dropped with disappointment. The perceived effort was there, but the speed
was not. Oh well. I still felt fantastic, and it was time to
gear up for the second loop.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the start/finish area, I changed my shirt, re-UCAN’ed, and
re-iced, and then I was back down the chute for my second loop.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Back Down the Chute</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, the second loop was much like the first loop, only a
bit slower. I never bonked or even felt
remotely overheated. The temps never
really became an issue for me in this race.
I really was enjoying myself! I
kept on running the hills like before, and counted them off as I climbed each. 8-7-6.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the downhill coming out of the campground, I passed a 25k
runner who was in obvious pain. I
thought I’d encourage her a bit: I said “These downhills sure do hurt, don’t
they!”, as I scampered past. All I got was
a glare. Hmmm, maybe a “Way to go” would
have been more appropriate.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I did see Steve Quick on Meat Grinder and introduced
myself. At that point I was in a bit of
a zone, so I completely blew off the photographer Steve was conversing
with. Sorry.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Throughout the second half of the race, I was swapping
positions with another guy named “Steve”.
We would encourage each other as one passed, but it was evident we were
in the same Age Group, so I think there was some competing going on. I sure was feeling it. Steve seemed a great guy, and he sure was
running strong. Coming out of AS 5 going
into the Snowshoe Loop, he was right behind me.
Great. I said something like “Let’s
hammer this last section”. He seemed
game. So much for reverse psychology.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He stayed right behind me as I picked up the pace on the
initial drop. I wasn’t really trying to
lose him just yet, we had a couple of climbs yet to come, and I wanted to gauge
his energy on them. Plus, I was
tired. I hiked the second-to-last hill
and he stuck to me like a booger. So
about 2/3 of the way to the top I started to run, and I opened a bit of a gap
by the apex. I then put the hammer down
for the last time. I knew there were
trail twisties coming up and if I had a gap on him here, he might have a tough
time keeping me in sight.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sure enough, I saw no more of Steve after this section. It always feels good to be in the last
sections of a race and to still be racing.
I ran as hard as I could through the last bits of valley and hill until
at last, the climb out and the half mile or so of flat to the end.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I ran this section as hard as my hamburger legs would allow,
and I crossed the line in 5:08, in 31<sup>st</sup> place. Not a PR, but I was pretty happy. I ran this race as hard as I could on
un-recovered legs and had fun doing it. Plus, I was lucid at the end, and not really
feeling injured. Weird.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHOfB-nWlSS2qrNkdTsjwFa0NSd4kimHYpQUfAe62b8e01iq3nA-ZTNb_7HX2XajC4khJVREWAcLpXOLWAQDP7uqU2VpTziPIIZ-FsJJeg7rMcoa9bgBQ4h22EdBcLdaYtvdLr0nU39-AC/s1600/IMG_3112.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHOfB-nWlSS2qrNkdTsjwFa0NSd4kimHYpQUfAe62b8e01iq3nA-ZTNb_7HX2XajC4khJVREWAcLpXOLWAQDP7uqU2VpTziPIIZ-FsJJeg7rMcoa9bgBQ4h22EdBcLdaYtvdLr0nU39-AC/s1600/IMG_3112.jpeg" height="298" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>In Closing</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The winner, Wisconsin native Michael Borst, finished in
3:43, 3 minutes off last year’s course record.
Way to go Michael!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks again to the legions of great volunteers who put on
this great race. Thanks to Afton State
Park for allowing the event to take place in their beautiful park. And thank you Beth for sharing these
experiences with me and getting me through the aid stations quickly.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtEFoA2LNOye_QdSzOG2MV9wZnKcFIHM7I7gkiCodMd7E8EBVOREHw8SdliisX3z0JRT-aFYuKatt1WYDbE9Y0R6HFMjdODWf8SWXDvUSp2Gf5SVCR8uVhFcefdoBFiPrLIWEsRw5j4_b5/s1600/Kitten.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtEFoA2LNOye_QdSzOG2MV9wZnKcFIHM7I7gkiCodMd7E8EBVOREHw8SdliisX3z0JRT-aFYuKatt1WYDbE9Y0R6HFMjdODWf8SWXDvUSp2Gf5SVCR8uVhFcefdoBFiPrLIWEsRw5j4_b5/s1600/Kitten.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By the way, anyone want a kitten or two? I have five that can't make the move to Oshkosh.</span></div>
stillwaterrunnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07185881704535781991noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-667817670522166935.post-87938555647812008122014-06-16T06:03:00.001-07:002014-06-16T06:04:18.292-07:002014 Kettle 100 Race Report<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the weekend of Kettle, I died a few deaths. I lost a bit of sanity (but got it back, I think). I did not finish strong. I did not run with good strategy. I did not care about my time. But I finished the Kettle 100 mile endurance race. After failing to accomplish this goal in
2013, vindication is sweet.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">364 days is a long time to live with a failure around my
neck. My last attempt at the Kettle 100
ended in me feeling mentally broken and quitting at mile 63. I learned a lot in that race and applied it
to the 2014 attempt. I also now understood,
mentally, how I needed to be prepared for the rigors to follow. If you care to read about the 2013 attempt,
check out the following links (<a href="http://stillwaterrunner.blogspot.com/2013/06/2013-kettle-100-adventure-lessons.html" target="_blank">Link1</a>, <a href="http://stillwaterrunner.blogspot.com/2013/06/2013-kettle-100-adventure-race-report-2.html" target="_blank">Link2</a>, <a href="http://stillwaterrunner.blogspot.com/2013/06/2013-kettle-100-adventure-my-nutrition.html" target="_blank">Link3</a>). But that
is now old history. Here is my new
story.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Primer</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But before I start, I’d like to tell you a bit about the
Kettle Moraine 100 Mile Endurance Run.
Feel free to skip this section if you know this kinda stuff.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This endurance run, in its 19</span><sup style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">th</sup><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> edition, took
place in early June, on the trails in the wonderful Southern Unit of the <a href="http://stillwaterrunner.blogspot.com/2012/08/running-kettle-moraine.html" target="_blank">Kettle Moraine</a> State Forest in Wisconsin, mostly on portions of the 1000-mile Ice Age
Trail (IAT).</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Those trails vary from
steep and rocky to flat and runnable, forest canopied to open prairie, narrow
single-track to wide grassy ski trails.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No mountains though.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Or glaciers
(not anymore anyway, and the penguins have long skedaddled).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The race started at the Nordic Ski Trails in La Grange,
WI. We then headed west to the IAT, where we proceeded
north to the Scuppernong trails near Dousman.
This first section was about 31 miles and made for a perfect first
50k. We then turned around and headed
back on these same trails returning to Nordic.
Then out from Nordic again, back out onto the IAT, but this time heading south
to Rice Lake, returning to Nordic via the same route. A double out-and-back.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The race was run by some fantastic and special people, with one
of the best volunteer groups to be found in Midwest races. Absolutely first-rate.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Pre-race</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Living in the Twin Cities, it is sometimes difficult to make
it down to my favorite running trails in the Wisconsin Kettle Moraine. Therefore, I am very grateful that my parents
live just miles from the forest and are always gracious and willing to host me
for races. My wife and crew Beth, and the
2 younger of our 4 children headed down bright and early Friday morning so we
could be at packet pickup on-time and spend some extra time scoping out some of
the course we missed last year (Bluff to Uruguay, er Rice Lake).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Packet pickup and check-in was quick and easy; a cool black
shirt in a big green bag. Following
that, Beth and I took a drive through some beautiful Kettle Moraine terrain to
find the Highway 12 station (easy) and the Rice Lake turnaround (not so easy). We were glad we did because finding aid
stations in the dark can be difficult for someone not familiar with the local
roads. Beth would absolutely hate it if
she missed me at an aid station.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With the logistics complete, and a small meal in my tummy, our
kids being spoiled by grandma and grandpa with popcorn, ice cream and a
Godzilla movie, Beth and I were in bed by 8:30 with a bright-and-early 4:30 am
alarm set; which went off all too
soon. Everything, of course, was laid
out the night before, so we got dressed, did some quick packing, and were out
the door by 5:00. Yawn.</span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwZQb0QRkTcBOZ7jDLJ6FClvE1wjkFpigwQK0TLaJ8SbufCkpdVpEaWhmvXBB4kegzcoiEpkMw9Kv4N7s68IA3xmOIkLf1X8vVyuT5HFAX-jIUSJRI1pfhc5GeFVqIxVv35GRtt2tS9iAW/s1600/Lemon+Drop.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwZQb0QRkTcBOZ7jDLJ6FClvE1wjkFpigwQK0TLaJ8SbufCkpdVpEaWhmvXBB4kegzcoiEpkMw9Kv4N7s68IA3xmOIkLf1X8vVyuT5HFAX-jIUSJRI1pfhc5GeFVqIxVv35GRtt2tS9iAW/s1600/Lemon+Drop.JPG" height="320" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Lemon-drop of Power</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There seemed to be about 400 or so people at the Nordic
starting area getting ready to support or run either the 100k or 100 mile
races. It was a comfortable jumble of
folks; some nervous, some extremely fit, and most both. I love the starts of ultras, so low-key and
good-natured. Beth and I hung around the
smiling crowd until the opening remarks, waiting for the starting gun to go
off. “Anyone who does not have their
timing chip, please come to the table and retrieve it, we have several yet to
be picked up”. Whoops! I gave Beth a last kiss, ran over to collect
my timing chip, and then we were off.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>And then we were off, Nordic (1), mile 0.0</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Down the rabbit hole.
250ish 100-mile, and 100ish 100k runners fed through the starting gate
funnel and into the first section of the race.
Because of the route design as a double out-and-back, the first seven
miles of the race become pretty familiar because we will end up traversing it four times.
It is usually pretty painful by the last trip due to the endless and pointless
ups-and-downs (PUDS), but the first time through was a breeze. The temps were in the 60’s and I was feeling
fine, cruising along in a crowd that lightened up after about 3 or 4
miles. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tamarack is the first station we
met, where my sister Laurie was volunteering.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I did stop to give her a hug, but then I was through and off to the
Bluff station and onto the IAT.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the Bluff aid station I met Beth for the first time. I doffed some cool-weather clothes and slid
on a light mesh shirt. I took my first
bottle of UCAN, 1/2-strength, and I was off.
Totally coherent and having fun.
It was a beautiful morning for a run.</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At last year’s race, one of the things that brought me down
was a broken upper body. This year was
to be different. I did core exercises
all through the winter, and I worked on keeping my upper body loose throughout
the race. Coming into Bluff, I stretched
my arms and core. No problems this race.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>North onto the IAT, Bluff (1), mile 7.5</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The wide open and hilly ski trails at Nordic then fed into a
rocky, single-track ascent onto the IAT.
Now this is real running; fresh legs, gnarly trails, steady footfalls,
and wonderful views. After the first
climb to the top of a bluff (with a fantastic vista), the trail took us into
the woods, along the rugged remains of the last glacier. We cruised up and down eskers and kettles,
through sun-dappled woods. This was a
great part of the race (on the way out) and very much worth the price of
admission. I caught in with a train of
like-minded runners and we just cruised easily through the forest hills.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Following an unmanned water-stop at Horseriders we were spit
out of our forested womb, birthed into an ultra party that is the Emma Carlin
aid station. Woohoo! Beth was here to get me some more UCAN, and
to ice me up. We knew what was coming,
and heat preparation was key to surviving the next miles and hours.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Onto the prairie, Emma Carlin (1), mile 15.8</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When it is cool out, this section of the IAT is one of my favorites. Where else can you go to find prairie as far
as your eye can see, wildflowers and native plants with nary an unnatural sound
(except for airplanes of course). But it
was starting to get warm, and we were out in the open now. The terrain, thankfully, was even and smooth,
so these miles went easy. So far so
good! But we would be seeing this
section on the way back; when it would be warmer, and my legs would be more
trashed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After two more unmanned water-stops at Antique Lane and
Wilton we were into the Highway 67 aid station.
This aid station marks the end of the prairie and back into the woods
and hills.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgArkOHTGtPjv90jUHMZQ10qmPJloJ8Za4pKcL75eUKG5FtgNABTRIVXye3qKBxWdDt2yy53gT8jraqAh8UukK6TAytluymyYe93E-bWEm5aIjfMiFIH-EXKQwFTnIaPD7weeorMSTvU1fv/s1600/Into+67.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgArkOHTGtPjv90jUHMZQ10qmPJloJ8Za4pKcL75eUKG5FtgNABTRIVXye3qKBxWdDt2yy53gT8jraqAh8UukK6TAytluymyYe93E-bWEm5aIjfMiFIH-EXKQwFTnIaPD7weeorMSTvU1fv/s1600/Into+67.JPG" height="298" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Coming into Highway 67 Aid Station</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Back into the woods and hills, Hwy 67 (1), mile 24.1</b></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At this point of the race, I was still feeling fine. I could feel the temps increasing and the
humidity rising, but these were problems for the future. The here and now was just fine. This next section tended to be mostly tree-covered
and hilly, with some technical footing thrown in, and some actual
switchbacks. Nice.</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The highway ZZ aid station is thrown in the middle of this
section, but I just cruised right through.
The last portion of this section wound through a campground and was
pretty easy, so no problems here. And
before we knew it, the first 50k of the race was history.</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the Scuppernong 50k turnaround it was a quick bottle
change (still UCAN) with Beth, and then back out onto the trails. My legs were still is good shape, but I knew
the heat would become a problem soon. It
was now well into the 80’s I think. I
was sweating pretty heavily.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After the second Hwy 67 aid station is where the fun
started. The prairies opened up to
upper-80’s heat and very little tree cover.
Even with the ice and a good water dousing at the aid station, I was
overheating and I knew it. My smooth,
even pace turned into a shuffle, while my mind started to lose focus. I was in good enough condition to
know that I was not in danger; I was still lucid and sweating. Taking in calories was out of the question
when it was this hot though. I would
just get nauseous; no water available for digestion. Dang it was hot, but I knew relief was soon
to come.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Relief, Emma Carlin (2), mile 47.4</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I stumbled into Emma Carlin looking for Beth; I knew she
would know what to do. When we found
each other, I sat on the ground and proceeded to try to get my respiration
under control while Beth stuffed ice everywhere; down my back, in my hat, up my
shorts (that brought me back to life). I
may have whined a bit at this point, but we’re not sure. When on the ground, I looked up to see a
woman staring at me in concern. She was
obviously waiting for her runner to come in, and if I was in this bad shape
now, what would her runner look like? I
realized then how I looked, so I smiled at her, got up, slammed water and a bit
of UCAN, I was gratefully back into the woods and nearing the halfway point.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Only, there was not much relief in the woods. With the high temps came humidity, which did
not go away with the tree cover. In
fact, all the trees did was block any breeze that tried to cool us off. This meant more slow going. My spirits were OK though, at least I was on
my way back to the Nordic turnaround.
This section of trail saw my pace slow considerably due to the heat, but
I was still in pretty good spirits. I
don’t remember much of the sun-dappled woods that I saw on the way out, at this
point it was all about getting back to Nordic.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was at this point, I think, where my mind slipped just a
bit; where I started playing mental games with myself. Kinda like Gollum. “Should I quit at Nordic again this
year? Maybe 100k is my distance, and I’m
just not a 100-miler. No, I have to do
better than last year, just turn around at Nordic and quit at the next aid
station, then this year would be an improvement, and thus a success. Right? There’s just no way I’m running 100
miles though, just ain't my day. Beth is
going to be pissed, I’ll have to work on my speech.” Pulling into Bluff at mile 55.7, I told Beth
nothing. I was still not eating, but I
was moving OK. After getting re-iced,
and a few whimpers, I was back on the trail returning to Nordic.</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Actually, Beth tells me that, at this point, I told her this would be my last attempt at this distance. She just replied, "uhuh, right."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The 100k turnaround, Nordic (2), mile 63.2</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My mental state coming into Nordic had degraded
substantially. I could not think a
positive thought, even though I knew this was what I needed to be doing. I just could not reference anything
happy. My patronus would have been
pretty pathetic at this point. Once at
Nordic, I sat on the ground thinking I did not want to go further, but that
shifted part of me knew I really would.
It was at this point where my psyche really seemed to split. I didn’t really know it at the time, but I
separated the wimpy part of me who wanted to quit from my pragmatic self; the
part of me who knew I would continue; and one was keeping secrets from the
other. More on this bit of weirdness
later.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Back on the ground, Beth re-iced me and forced water into my
gullet. My sister Laurie was telling me I needed to get up, and give me a banana or something. Marty, a friend who started with an injury, with
a planned DNF at the 50k mark, knelt down to my level, eye-to-eye (man-to-man),
and told me “you know what you need to do, so get back up and moving on the
trail again.” Darn-it, the man card. My pragmatic self knew he was right, so up I
got and out I went. Just for giggles I
took an espresso gel with me to see if I could start taking in calories
again. I took my headlamp too, it was
getting dark. Plus, now it was raining and I was getting cold.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Back on the trail, cooling off in the rain, I started
feeling better. After the espresso gel,
I felt 100-grams-of-caffiene better. I
wouldn’t call my state “good”, but at least I was serviceable. I was moving.
Plus the temps were thankfully dropping.
By my return to Bluff, the rain had stopped, and I was actually
considering taking one more leg before quitting. I was curious what lay south of Bluff. How bad could it be?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Heading South, Bluff (3), mile 70.7</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I took on water and 2 gels at Bluff, plus a Red Bull, got a few “keep moving”
words from Beth, and entered uncharted territory. It was dark by now, and my headlamp was doing
its best to illuminate the forested trail ahead. Heading south on the IAT, the trail now took
a big drop in elevation. I kept eating
and drinking, and dropping, until I reached a sort-of valley. A very frog-infested-croaky valley. The trail here was pretty flat and I actually
started making good time. My mind was
still definitely split. My wimpy side
was planning on quitting at Highway 12, while my pragmatic self knew I would,
at least, be going to Rice Lake. It kept
telling the wimp what it needed to hear.
Actually, Mr. Pragmatic, at this point, made a deal with the wimp. If you finish this race, you will never be
asked to do another. Hmmm. Sounds reasonable. Let me think about that.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mr. Pragmatic was lying.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Running in the dark, with my world boundaries the size of a
headlamp beam, is some kind of awesome and surreal. Hours of focusing only on the trail
ahead. It was Zen, or something very
like that. Steady pace and breathing,
adjusting footfalls for the rocks and roots 5 feet ahead; nothing existed
outside my headlamp beam. Well, the
frogs existed. Lordy they’re loud at
night. Croaking and barking, they kept
me company throughout this section. My
world slowly changed from one of light and bustling excitement, to darkness,
rocks and root, and frogs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The road crossings were lit by green glow sticks. Very nice touch. It was then, with a line of glow sticks, that I
entered the Highway 12 aid station. I
handled the shocking transition between the Zen of the woods and headlamp, to
the lights and sounds of the aid station, well; I was actually feeling pretty good. Now I knew I would make it to Rice Lake (where
I could quit with my head held high, maybe).
I did not tarry at the station, so after recharging my water bottle, and
taking a couple of gels, I was back into the woods towards the Rice Lake
turnaround. I wanted me more of that
Zen.</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, having not run these sections before, the trail into
Highway 12 was actually very nice. I
made great time and my pragmatic self actually started “knowing” that I would
finish. Ha! I had no idea what lay ahead. The nice smooth trail of the previous section
was replaced with washouts, stairs, steep ascents and descents, rocks and
roots. In other words, technical “gnarly”. Oh boy.
The steeps were relentless, and the downs were worse due to the rocky
nasty nature of the washout hills. If I
fell on one of those descents, well, I think it would have hurt. A lot.
I had yet to fall in the race, so I was due.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So I took it slow through this section. I was eating and drinking well, but I would
not consider myself moving very fast.
More power-hiking really. All the
nice smooth trail Zen was replaced with zombie running. I would love to hammer this section of trail
some day, but not today. Not now. By the time I rolled into Rice Lake, I was in
a sour mood. My pragmatic self was
taking a logical beating from the wimp.
Plus, the trail crossed a narrow footbridge without railings over water
prior to Rice Lake. I did NOT want to
fall in there.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The final turnaround, Rice Lake, mile 81.9</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I don’t remember much from Rice Lake. All my good feelings were gone by now. Beth ministered to me with ice, gels and
water. I also took on some real food as
well; pretzels and a sandwich I think.
And before the wimp could open his mouth, I was back out onto the trail,
heading home.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think Mr. Pragmatic had played a joke on me. It knew that once I started heading back <i>towards </i>the finish, my mental state
would improve a bit; I would start to believe.
This did not help my mental state through the last section of trail
though. This was going to suck. And suck it did. Up, down, tiptoe through the rocks and roots,
all in the world of a headlamp beam. And
frogs, lots of frogs. Wait, were there
frogs on this section? Maybe I
hallucinated them.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’m not sure how I dragged myself though this section. I do know that, to maintain a bit of sanity,
that I stepped away from myself a bit, and became a bit of an automaton. I just kept moving, one foot in front of the
lamp-lit other, to the next landmark.
Just make it to the next road crossing, water stop, aid station, whatever. I knew my pragmatic self had already won,
that I was going to finish, but my wimpy self still needed to be dealt with. We still had a lot work remaining.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once I pulled back into Highway 12 for the last time, I sat
down and let Beth nurse me back to life.
I was more pissed than anything.
These stupid trails were slowing me down from getting this beast of a
distance over with. And I wanted to be
done; just end this. BTW, the cheese and
salami sandwiches at Highway 12 were delicious.
I would never choose to eat such a thing in real life; but I was far
from that.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After more water and real food, I was back out on the
trail. I knew this section would be
easier, and it was. I started moving
like a runner again, though nothing anyone else would consider running. At least I wasn’t power hiking. It was still dark, but I knew the second
sunrise would soon offer me an emotional pick-me-up (at least I read this happens). All through this last section of the IAT,
headlamps were still coming towards me.
Oh my. These poor souls had yet
to traverse the crap that now lay behind me.
They had <i>hours</i> to go. Poor souls.
But really, they seemed stronger than I; they had a determination in
their voices as we offered each other encouragement in passing. Tough souls.
And before I knew it, the sky was starting to lighten, and I was off the
IAT and into Bluff.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A note on staying up all night. I took some caffeine to help keep me awake,
but not that much. I really didn’t ever feel
like falling asleep; I felt as awake as when I started. Weird.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>As good as done, Bluff (4), mile 93.1</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I knew I was as good as done in Bluff; with the race that is. I just wanted <i>to</i> be done; to get this <i>over</i>. At Bluff, I did not sit down, and I did not
whine. Beth filled me up with water and
a gel, and I left post-haste, back to Nordic, just end this.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The last seven miles of this course are the home stretch, no
doubt. But they still hurt. Those endless hills that seemed so simple in
the beginning of this adventure were relentless now. But they were nothing I couldn’t put behind
me. So after a nice stretch through
Tamarack, where I high-fived my sis for the last time, I was running to the
finish. It hurt to run, but my pride
would not allow for walking. I passed a
few folks through these pointless hills (the whole thing is pointless really,
not just the hills, but anyway), each person hurting more than I was, I endured
until the mile markers started to count down from…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Five, still a good distance to go, don’t start thinking
about the finish yet. Why is it taking
soooo long for the next mile marker! This
is the distance I run with my friends in Stillwater every Saturday
morning. That’s a really long way! Too long! Until…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Four, ahhh, I’m making progress. Will these hills ever end? I think I missed the next mile marker. It has been forever since the last, oh wait
there, up ahead is…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Three. I am actually
going to finish this. At this point, my
pragmatic self re-merged with the wimp, and both knew this was in the bag. I hurt.
Everything hurt. And these hills
were never ending. But I was moving
forward. And these hills, did I mention
these hills? My slow movement made each
mile just draaag. But before I knew it,
there was…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Two. Two miles. Holy cow, I thought I could hear the party at
the end. I heard people for sure, and
traffic. Keep running, just keep running. I so wanted to walk, but now I had no excuse
worth listening to. And then the hills
mercifully stopped. Run, just run
Forrest. And enjoy this, no matter how
much it hurt. And at long last, there it
was…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One. One mile to
go. Where is this energy coming
from? Something my body was keeping in
reserve I guess. At this point the whole
race started to flash past me. The easy
first miles, the dreadful heat that turned me into a drooling zombie, all the
miles and miles of rocky hills seen through a headlamp. All that brought me to this point: one mile remaining
in a 100 mile race. Actually, I passed
100 miles already, as the total distance in this race was 100.6. Whatever.
Just run.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The finish line actually caught me by surprise. I rounded a corner and there was the
mat. There was Beth waiting for me with
a big smile on her face. I actually
wished that that last 100 yards would take longer, just so I could savor this
moment. But of course, like all
appalling things, this race must come to an end. I crossed the finish line in 25 hrs 52 min.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I finished, Nordic (4), mile 100.6</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA0jB6HOIFMRbC-JAvQWbnNsbZx1zrGMSdRFtK6qmjwSGkqnMWj0bt_v-DQ4liaWMhwV_PACDIwHYNIFIgVFyDbkBO-m55STz4wsSo4wEvktXh0txAdSVT-Z_-aPasoofsJ9PtIucXcRNL/s1600/Finished.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA0jB6HOIFMRbC-JAvQWbnNsbZx1zrGMSdRFtK6qmjwSGkqnMWj0bt_v-DQ4liaWMhwV_PACDIwHYNIFIgVFyDbkBO-m55STz4wsSo4wEvktXh0txAdSVT-Z_-aPasoofsJ9PtIucXcRNL/s1600/Finished.JPG" height="298" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I finished. Holy cow,
I finished. What an amazing feeling; elated and destroyed at the same time. It was a good feeling. Like I stated in the
beginning, today I died a few deaths. I
lost a bit of sanity. I did not finish
strong. I did not run with good
strategy. But I finished. I imagined Nietzsche and Freud, kind of like
Darth and Obe-wan at the end of Star Wars, smiling and nodding knowingly. I did not know how I did it, but I think they
knew.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Beth was waiting for an embrace, and then prevented me from
crumbling. My body, once it realized it
was really done, went into shock a bit, I think. After feeling a bit light-headed, I started
shaking uncontrollably. Forget food, I
wanted a warm blanket and sleep. And
thankfully, that came soon after; after a nice elevator ride. Elevators, what a nice invention.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The next day</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Beth, God bless her, downed a Red Bull and a Coke, and
safely drove us home Sunday afternoon.
My body is now showing signs of recovery. I did sustain a sprained left ankle, or a
strained left Achilles tendon; whatever.
I am getting better though. I’ll
be ready for Afton in 4 weeks.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thank you to God for getting me to the point of being able
to attempt something like this. Thank
you to my parents for their support, grandchildren spoilage, and offer of
domicile. My sister for her support
along the route. Marty, for saying the right words to keep me moving. My friends and family
back home following my progress via texts and offering their support. The great volunteers at the aid stations, without
whom, this race could not be run. And,
thank you Beth, without whom these pointless races would be just that,
pointless. Thanks for giving this some
meaning.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Am I doing this again next year? Heck yes!
It would be the pragmatic thing to do.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Results</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">251 hardy, optimistic folks singed up for the 100 mile race. I'm not sure how many toed the starting line, but the website <a href="http://www.runrace.net/findarace.php?id=14158WI&tab=a4&results=5634#dRlt">RunRace.net</a> lists 111 finishers, of which I was 44. Way to go, Kyle from TN (16:55) and Tracy from IN (19:16), the race winners.</span></div>
stillwaterrunnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07185881704535781991noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-667817670522166935.post-83311921523757163042014-01-27T14:33:00.001-08:002014-01-28T06:08:34.304-08:00The Running of the Llamas<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4 months until
<a href="http://www.kettle100.com/" target="_blank">Kettle</a>! I’m jussayin.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Also, check <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da7oiPm91Gw" target="_blank">this</a> out: trail running, European style. It's called a Vertical-k. That is elevation, not distance. Pretty intense!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Are you all familiar
with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qmp4DjtWcuw" target="_blank">The Running of the Bulls</a> in Pamplona Spain? It is a very old and amazing event that could
never be possible in our United States of Litigation. It’s not really an endurance sport, as it
only goes for about 1,000 yards. But it
is pretty extreme. You’ve got to outrun 16
badass bulls at an average of about 15 mph; that’s a 4-min pace! Take that Spartan Commando Warrior Dash! Actually, the most famous version happens in
Pamplona, other cities in Spain and Mexico hold similar events.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But I’m here to
announce that I’ve discovered that we, here in America, have the next best
thing! I give you, <a href="http://www.therunningofthellamas.com/" target="_blank">The Running of the Llamas</a>. I knew of this event for a few
years now, and on an early fall day last year I thought I’d take two of my kids to
witness the spectacle. The running
happens every year in Hammond, WI, and it is as much fun as you want to make
it. Check it out on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeE9Z-CBB-g" target="_blank">YouTube</a>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ7cjvtgHSDJDL25neuHH3jkXqIOLoSopvqCqaEPNVe6jl3G2HnWBFMa4XMCXUbpReQpf7Z-GX3x5tkxcfcbKczwLo1mMZdXOziOZPsZ9VRMefIclVC57mRwSK5GTkv3OouVHgCHPLZcrl/s1600/Atmosphere.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ7cjvtgHSDJDL25neuHH3jkXqIOLoSopvqCqaEPNVe6jl3G2HnWBFMa4XMCXUbpReQpf7Z-GX3x5tkxcfcbKczwLo1mMZdXOziOZPsZ9VRMefIclVC57mRwSK5GTkv3OouVHgCHPLZcrl/s1600/Atmosphere.JPG" height="298" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Knowing the run
started at 1:00 pm, I thought I’d get to the event about 30 minutes early to
get a good spot along the road. I mean,
who would go to the Running of the Llamas, right? Wrong.
The place was packed with people.
At least a thousand. Really! Street vendors were selling anything from
4-oz bacon on a stick, to jewelry to Llama wool blankets. It was quite the unexpected atmosphere.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I tried to get my
kids as close to the street as possible, but the best we could do was
2-deep. Oh well.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcFt77qkvry73TZzUl2Ir5JPw2JnMXOs45O_DxtwdsYE8qUQ54C5Lgw8hWGsv7702DJSzlsvsy37uGnUkL6nU6WTDKlywshYD8fjFK0v8HFuyIfd3-enaQnBhyyWMizhRBRrvcVJy1w5Lc/s1600/Runner.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcFt77qkvry73TZzUl2Ir5JPw2JnMXOs45O_DxtwdsYE8qUQ54C5Lgw8hWGsv7702DJSzlsvsy37uGnUkL6nU6WTDKlywshYD8fjFK0v8HFuyIfd3-enaQnBhyyWMizhRBRrvcVJy1w5Lc/s1600/Runner.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next year I’m going
early and staking out a good spot. And I’m
eating bacon for lunch that day.</span></div>
stillwaterrunnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07185881704535781991noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-667817670522166935.post-20187217113021376342014-01-06T14:18:00.001-08:002014-01-06T14:18:39.963-08:00Happy 2014<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">Happy
2014 everyone.</span><span style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">This is a mixing of mostly
unrelated topics; I’m not very organized this time of the year.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span></span>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">St. Croix Valley Runners<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We’re
a group of runners who meet at <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/preview?hl=en#!data=!1m4!1m3!1d1255!2d-92.845157!3d45.0714452" target="_blank">Brown’s Creek</a> parking lot every Saturday morning
at 8:00 am for a gentle 5 mile run. Rain
or snow, hot or cold, someone always shows up.
Except that one time Dave had to run the route by himself. Don’t expect a super fast pace, we run mainly
for the social aspect. And we’re on
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/StCroixValleyRunners" target="_blank">Facebook </a>evidently.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5k Race Series</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
New Richmond Centre hosts a <a href="http://www.nracentre.com/sports/5k-racing-series/" target="_blank">5k race series</a> with one race per month October
through April. The cost is $20 for the
whole series, so you can’t go wrong.
Plus, 50 or so runners show up, so the turnout isn’t bad either. I’ve run the November and December races and
find this series a great way to keep my fitness throughout the winter. I wrote about the December race here, and I
won the January race! Yea Old Guys!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lapham Peak Trail Runners<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There
is a group of trail runners that get together in the Southern Kettle Moraine
called the <a href="http://laphampeaktrailrunners.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Lapham Peak Trail Runners</a>.
Great group of people; my sister is a member. I did get the opportunity
to run with a few of them on 12/28, on the Funk Road segment of the Ice Age
Trail. The run was on snow-covered
trails along the beautiful Oconomowoc River.
Thanks for taking me along guys!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kettle 100</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It
is time for me to make another attempt at the 100 mile distance this spring at
the <a href="http://www.kettle100.com/" target="_blank">Kettle 100</a>. My last attempt went
very well, except for the fact that I did not finish (<a href="http://stillwaterrunner.blogspot.com/2013/06/2013-kettle-100-adventure-lessons.html" target="_blank">blog post</a>). My lessons learned will be put to good use:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
</div>
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;">Running 100 miles is nuts; I had no clue.
The </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;">mental aspect</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;"> of racing this distance is one for which I
was not prepared.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;">I will be doing a bit
of visualization.</span></li>
<li><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;">Beware the chair</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;"> at mile 63.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;">I am doing a U-turn at the start-finish.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Running 100 miles on hill and trail was hard
on </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">my whole body</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My core
and upper body weakness became very evident later in the race.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’m starting core work now!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Screw the goal time, </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">just finish</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> my
first 100 miler.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, I need to set a
pace, so I will need a goal time for that, plus know I can do a 20 hr 100-miler.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So maybe I just need to be prepared to throw
the schedule out the window and just finish the darned thing.</span></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;">I
am planning on the following races later this year:</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.aftontrailrun.com/" target="_blank">Afton 50k</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://fall.superiortrailrace.com/" target="_blank">Superior 50 mile</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://surfthemurph.org/" target="_blank">Surf the Murph 50 mile</a> or <a href="http://wildduluthraces.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Wild Duluth</a></span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I
haven’t run Superior before; in fact this should be my first trip north of
Duluth. Should be fun!</span></div>
stillwaterrunnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07185881704535781991noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-667817670522166935.post-16034010841441767712013-11-18T06:30:00.001-08:002013-11-18T06:30:03.072-08:00New Richmond 5k Fun<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Like many of you, I like to run. While we do have our preferred distances, it doesn't matter if it is 100 miles or 1; we like to run. Some of us are competitive in the longer stuff, while in the short/fast distances we'll strain a gluteus just to be a mid-packer. But why then is it fun for long-distance runners to run fast? Until oxygen debt has us drooling and tripping over our own shoes? 5k's are grueling, but not for long. I think short races are fun <i>because </i>they are short; we're barely warmed up and it's already time to have a Clif bar and a banana. I had one of those races last weekend.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But this report is not about <i>my </i>5k race, that would be boring.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Every year, the <a href="http://www.nracentre.com/sports/5k-racing-series/" target="_blank">New Richmond Area Centre</a> hosts a series of (7) 5k races throughout the winter, one a month from October to April. The whole series costs $20. It would be challenging to find a single race entry at that price, so I consider it the deal of the century; a no-brainer. For that price you get a shirt, low-key race vibes, non-certified courses that tend to be a few k long, and more importantly, a reason to run throughout the winter. Plus they start at 9:00 am. I can still sleep in!</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The November iteration was one I was not planning on attending. It was too soon after my last 50-miler, and I was still in recovery mode. And for $20, I can miss a few and still have a clean conscience. I went though (what the heck), intending on a relaxing 5k tour of the New Richmond Industrial Park.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The start line for this race was in the Family Fresh parking lot, with the course an out-and-back on paved trail. There were about 100 racers toeing the line that morning, with a great mix of moms and dads, kids, students, dogs, strollers, and a few runners. Good weather too; at about 40°F, some of us were in shorts and tee's.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After a ready-set-go, we were off, high-tailing it up the trail. After an initial sorting out, I found myself in the lead pack, consisting of a girl's high-school cross-county team, myself, and a 12 year-old boy in gym sneakers. This report is about that boy.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He was TRUCKING, having a blast! Prepubescent arms and legs flailing about just trying to stay with the 6:30 pace. The contradiction between the smooth flowing stride of the girls with his discordant zombie sprint on Red Bull was joyously evident. But what he lacked in style and efficiency, he more than made up with zeal. He would inch into the lead, and then look around with a loopy grin that seemed to say, "I can run faster than these people. Those are just girls and an old guy, and they're slow. I'm going to win. This is easy. Mom said I was a good runner, and she was right!" And, of course, the rest of us are cringing for the eventual blow-up.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But he kept this up for far longer that I expected. After about a mile though, I could tell he was starting to flag. The periodic forays into the lead had ended, and he was now working hard to maintain pace. And his smile was unfortunately gone. Compared to the lead group's symphony of rhythmic footfalls and harmonious breathing, he was playing the roll of jazz trumpeter; off beat and blowing like a freight train. It was a little sad to see, though not really unexpected. Talk about a school of hard knocks.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Eventually, his strain turned to panic. He was now delving into some serious oxygen debt, and losing his battle with consciousness. Each time he looked back to gauge the leaders' positions, I could see panic in his eyes. They now seemed to say "What's happening? It wasn't supposed to be this way? Why is this so hard? I can't breathe! Man these girls are fast!"</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And then he was gone, like a parachutist into the slipstream, he just disappeared. Bummer, I was rooting for him. It was like the lead group just lost its mascot. I think he learned some valuable lessons though, like "running is hard", and "racing is harder". What heart!</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I did see our 12 year-old runner at the finish line. He eventually <i>did </i>cross the line, and he did <i>not </i>look too good. But his smile was back. Maybe <i>he'll</i> be back too. I hope so. I admire youth with an adventurous, "go for it" spirit. He'll have the rest of his life to learn to strategize and moderate.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I crossed the line in second place. I did drop the girls past the half-way point, though some high school boy loped past me just short of the finish line. Inches from an old-guy win!</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Maybe in Decemebrrr. And I'll be looking for my 12-year-old friend; I've <i>got</i> to meet him, and maybe chat on him a bit.</span></div>
</div>
stillwaterrunnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07185881704535781991noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-667817670522166935.post-35419082825399431772013-11-08T04:42:00.000-08:002013-11-08T04:42:42.553-08:00Mary's 2013 Autumn Leaves 50k Race Report<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mary recently ran the <a href="http://www.orrc.net/races/autumnleaves/autumnleaves.htm" target="_blank">Autumn Leaves 50k</a> at Champoeg State Park in Oregon.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here is her race report.</span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My cousin Amy, who some of you met (the woman with the
green cast, who had breakfast with us at the Oasis ) has been wanting me to do
a race in the Pacific NW for at least 4 years. When she lived in Seattle I
looked at some races there, but they looked a bit too challenging for me and
the timing never seemed right.</span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then she moved to Portland. She joined the Oregon Road
Runners Club and this summer she suggested the Autumn Leaves Run, which is put
on by the club. She had volunteered last year and thought it was a race I would
like. The website made it look appealing, so I registered. The race takes place
in the Willamette Valley at a State Park which is the location where Oregon became
a territory of the US. It is located about 30 miles south of Portland on the
way to Salem, the capital.</span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I flew to Portland on Thursday to get
"acclimated" to the rainy humid weather! It's been so dry here in
Tucson that it actually felt good. I intended to watch Amy's son in a district
cross country meet, but just missed his heat. Was fun to be part of the event
though. It was supposed to be sunny all weekend so I didn't even consider an
umbrella or other rain gear when I packed. On Friday it started getting
overcast and the weather forecast for Sat. which had been sunny and low 70's now
turned into 42 degrees at the start and a high of low 50's. Fortunately I had
taken an assortment of clothes.</span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh4hsLOe2sp2Z6bOaRaIy_o1uuIArKbI_f93WT6y3AMTMmRPwgbDKVDoSlOpiDQ9_MPWp7jkmYBpeq0mH0iPscynEno56MV3-DuQ2tXKQR1-NG4E9ltv_r5w_uelxyvpZImdSnZvBUs0bw/s1600/Autumn+leaves+Start+Pavilion.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh4hsLOe2sp2Z6bOaRaIy_o1uuIArKbI_f93WT6y3AMTMmRPwgbDKVDoSlOpiDQ9_MPWp7jkmYBpeq0mH0iPscynEno56MV3-DuQ2tXKQR1-NG4E9ltv_r5w_uelxyvpZImdSnZvBUs0bw/s400/Autumn+leaves+Start+Pavilion.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Race Start Pavilion at Champoeg State Park in Oregon</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There were two distances for the event, a 50 miler which
started at 6:00 AM and the 50k which started at 7:00 AM. When we got to the
park it was pitch dark and I then understood why they said headlamps were
essential.(It's light in Tucson by 6:15 so I sort of thought I could get by
without.) There was a festive atmosphere at the start since the 50 milers had
started already. Some runners were coming in from doing their first loop before
we started. The race director reviewed the course briefly and we were off. I
hadn't thought about strategy (I'm not like Dave) for this event and was
already about two miles into the race when I realized that this was a very
runnable course and not your usual trail ultra where the hills automatically
allow some walk breaks. So I reverted back to my marathon strategy of walking
about 30 sec. every 10 minutes.</span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The race consisted of 5 loops. Each loop was a 10k and
there was a 1.2 mile section which was single track trail. There was basically
one aid station which you passed by on the way out and back. It was fairly strategically placed, but
I could have carried a water bottle. The bike path started on a very flat path
which passed through a meadow area for about a mile. The trail then entered a
more forested area along the Willamette river and became just slightly rolling
with a small hill as you came to the 3.1-mile turn around point. The out and
back course allowed for seeing all the participants many times. It was
interesting to watch how the look on their faces or their gait changed as they
became more fatigued. I was lapped by the lead woman several times. She was
doing the 50 miler and ran a blistering pace. Her name is Pam Smith and she was
the woman winner of Western States this year.</span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The cool weather made for excellent running conditions,
but it was hard to figure out what to wear. I started with two layers and
capris. After the first loop I took off the long sleeved shirt and grabbed my
arm sleeves. After the second loop I was chilled and grabbed my wind breaker
jacket. Amazingly I wore the jacket for the next 3 laps and was never too warm.
</span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since this course was relatively easy to run it was more
of a psychological challenge to complete the same 5 loops. I was quite relieved
after the 1st loop when I suddenly realized I only had 4 loops left instead of
5. It just took me one loop to wake up!
By the third loop I decided I needed to be distracted and put on my
I-pod. This worked amazingly well and the 4th loop flew by. When I finished this
loop I thought for sure that I would be able to run under 6 hours and 30
minutes. ( I was really planning to slow down this last lap since I had already
run almost a marathon ). Well, my cousin Amy had asked if she could run the
last lap since she needed to do a 10k that day for her training program. So she
joined me with her heart rate monitor on and we got going. I was amazed that I
could still run with minimal breaks. She really pushed me and in the end I ran
the 5th loop at the same pace as the second loop. My time was 5:52. I was very
surprised to see that I had run under 6 hours. </span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<br /></div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOf4Ql0nU55rriL7aVshGZjmcoxad7AxwBIwdk2XH0P4Ed1eirNuyjzJksXvGSZs6ZlSHLYnIuhs-SG1y-jEJccioR94IusZM-TN8lacl-J-saZunbLVt18So-am6lE9iYTKuDvIMP-Mvd/s1600/Mary+and+Amy+at+the+start.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOf4Ql0nU55rriL7aVshGZjmcoxad7AxwBIwdk2XH0P4Ed1eirNuyjzJksXvGSZs6ZlSHLYnIuhs-SG1y-jEJccioR94IusZM-TN8lacl-J-saZunbLVt18So-am6lE9iYTKuDvIMP-Mvd/s400/Mary+and+Amy+at+the+start.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mary and Amy at the Start/Finish Area</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since it was a very low key event, we gathered my gear,
ate the post race meal, thanked the race director and his wife and went home. A
couple days later I checked the results and was pleasantly surprised to see
that out of 68 finishers I was 34th and I was the second oldest runner in the
race. There was one man who was 68 and he finished behind me. This would not be
an event for those who like bands at every aid station and lots of fancy swag,
but there was chipped timing, a certified course and friendly people helping at
the race and running it. What more could a person want?</span></div>
stillwaterrunnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07185881704535781991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-667817670522166935.post-3370270827316277752013-10-29T09:19:00.003-07:002013-10-30T15:14:01.813-07:002013 Surf the Murph 50M Race Report<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;">What a way to end
the racing season!</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;">Good friends, perfect
weather, hills and 50 miles of beautiful trail.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;">I went into this race with some distinct personal goals, and I came out
wondering how far and how fast I can take this running thing.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;">In the end, it was a real eye opener for me.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>But first-things-first – </b>Surf the Murph is a series of three races
set in the 2,800 acre Murphy Hanrehan Reserve in Savage, MN. A single loop of the park nets a little less
than 17 miles, so we get races at a long 25k, a long 50k and 51 miles depending
on the number of loops you feel like suffering though. The terrain varies from dirt road to
technical singletrack with about 2,000 of elevation change for each loop.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A few things someone
interested in running this event should know:</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Most all of the hills are encountered in the
first 5 miles of the loop; they are a bit relentless, but each no more than 300
ft or so.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The event is pretty low key; no laser light
shows or paid MC’s.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Costumes are
encouraged!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Don’t zone out if you are not familiar with the
course.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are so many intersecting
trails, that losing track of the flags will get you off-course in a jiffy.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pay attention at this one.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you like fall scenery, you’re in for a treat.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What other race do you get announced at an aid
station with a horn?!</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Race Goals –</b> As I stated before, I had a few goals for this
race. Last year was a pretty good run
for me: a 9:30 goal while actually crossing the line in 9:12 and 11<sup>th</sup>
place overall, while losing 10 minutes on an off-course jaunt. This year, I felt that an 8:45 finish should
help me crack the top-10, so I planned my pace to match, with no unintended
off-course excursions this time.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Race Morning –</b> The alarm went off Saturday morning at 4:30 am, so
my wife and I could be at the park for the 6:00 am start. I am so glad that we pack everything the
night before; I am pretty worthless for the first 30 minutes each morning
(commuters you have been warned). The
weather was a wonderfully clear 43°F with some light winds. This would be a good start compared to last
year’s 22°F start. Plus, those giant
klieg lights in the start/finish area?; they put out an enormous amount of
radiant heat. And I forgot my sunscreen.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For clothing, well,
I was afraid of getting too chilled at the start, so I wore two layers, with a
plan to remove the outer as I warmed up: technical tee, shorts and arm sleeves
underneath, with a sweatshirt and running pants over top. Add a pair of gloves and a Gore-tex beanie,
and I was set.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimLYJU0RKutwR-HJlvNBfO_XMaIvHuSDZdXDa3YeHfSk4Em8PsH9XZMwYcvOXujjZ-fINuvjegWGwlvfEoYiOgyr_cVt9WmSkS2R4ttfSpJG3WfVm-H6ErmVO6u-iR0uJY-lY4zKC-6DWH/s1600/2013+At+the+Start.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimLYJU0RKutwR-HJlvNBfO_XMaIvHuSDZdXDa3YeHfSk4Em8PsH9XZMwYcvOXujjZ-fINuvjegWGwlvfEoYiOgyr_cVt9WmSkS2R4ttfSpJG3WfVm-H6ErmVO6u-iR0uJY-lY4zKC-6DWH/s320/2013+At+the+Start.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the Start</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Packet pickup and
the pre-start went very quick; the StM team is pretty efficient. The race shirt was the same as in the
previous years (long-sleeve technical with a turtleneck collar), though lime
green this time. A note to the RD: your
pre-race pep talk was hard to hear.
Maybe get in the middle of the crowd or get a bullhorn? No big deal though, we knew the drill. We all chatted and milled around the start
area, waiting for the clock to wind down.
Typical pre-race nervousness.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Loop 1<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;">And then we were off.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;">After a resounding “runners ready”, we were
off down the bunny trail; about 100 bobbing headlamps leaving the well-lit
start area.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;">Into the void.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;">I started near the front with the intention
of staying within the top 10 for the entire race.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;">I just love the start of races, the opening
miles feeling effortless, though always a bit unnerving to think of the 50
miles yet to be run.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;">Easy running though,
keeping the pace under control, and conversations going with those around
me.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;">Until the hills start that is.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;">After about a half mile the terrain shifted
from flat and easy to (pointless) 100-300 ft ups and downs, some kinda
steep.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;">I just kept the heart rate under
control and tried to Zen through.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;">I knew
that any over-expenditure here would be paid back three-fold on the later laps;
not fun.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;">I was getting warm though; the
extra layers would need to come off soon.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Aid station 1 was
located in the hills here, but after only 3 miles, most of us just ran right
through. I had taken no calories prior
to the race, and did not intend to do so until much later, letting my
fat-burning furnace kick into “sizzling”.
I just had my waist-pack water bottle, which would not need a refill
until much later due to the cool temps.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A little different
this year, I ignored the standard operating procedure of walking the steep
hills, running most of them. I thought
it foolish to train so hard in the hills prior to the race, only to walk them
during a race.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After about 5 miles,
the hills mercifully stopped, and the trail spit out into the horse camp aid
station. It was here that I met my wife
and crew, Beth. We traded water bottles
and I lost the sweat shirt and pants.
After some words of encouragement (I think it was, “well, what are you
waiting for?”) I headed out onto some flat land trails, with my headlamp still
on my forehead. The sun was <i>just </i>starting to lighten the horizon by
now.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The terrain between
the horse camp aid stations is fairly flat and even, so it was time to kick up
the pace a bit. I joined with a group of
guys, and the eventual women’s winner, and we kept between an 8:00 and 8:30
pace. Aid station 3 came and went, and
then there were only three of us.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Between Aid 3 and 4
is Smurph village, a couple miles of deer trail that wind through the forest. Running your own pace can be difficult
through this section in a conga line, so I sped up a bit to hit this section
first. This proved well for me as I run
well on this type of terrain. I gapped
the other two in this section while I wound my way amongst the Smurph signs;
off her meds indeed.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Into Aid 4, I met
Beth again, and it was here that I took my first calories of the day. I traded my water bottle with one filled with
UCAN. This liquid/food/starch stuff
seems to provide a steady drip of carbs without tripping my insulin response,
resulting in no central fatigue/no bonk.
This stuff works for me. Unlike a
gel, it takes a while before it truly kicks in.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The section between
Aid 4 and the finish is a bit hilly, but nothing like the start. There is one hill (Pikes Peak) that I
walked. Last year I remember a log that
needed to be hurdled on the steepest portion of this climb; not so this
year. I think it had decomposed enough
that it no longer posed an obstacle.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And then I was into
the start/finish for the completion of my first lap. I had planned on a 2:50 lap, and was just a
bit concerned when I saw 2:30. That’s a
lot of time off my goal pace and it left me wondering if I would have to pay
the piper for going out too fast. Beth
told me not to even think about it. I
removed my arm sleeves, replaced my beanie with a ball cap and sun glasses, and
I was off again. Feeling strong.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Loop 1: Goal: 2:50,
Actual: 2:38</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Loop 2<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;">I ran out of the
start/finish area feeling pretty good about that time, and had decided that if
I could finish the second loop under 3 hours, I would gun for an 8 hr
finish.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;">Ha!</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;">I was already writing my victory speech. I've</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;"> done that before, and you can guess the
end result in those races.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;">Ah hubris.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEgzX5_AyPzO37uDaDoBiuk8WY-3PIfmTSKR9mqlCJRyEyH2xnL2pJob8L0sPPwa5-uwbs_0oEWpojRSlojNm4TnrHfhqdtxqT_GmUpyOEDfymewttrniKF8y2ldhveNs4YDek_e-GDrHT/s1600/2013+view.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEgzX5_AyPzO37uDaDoBiuk8WY-3PIfmTSKR9mqlCJRyEyH2xnL2pJob8L0sPPwa5-uwbs_0oEWpojRSlojNm4TnrHfhqdtxqT_GmUpyOEDfymewttrniKF8y2ldhveNs4YDek_e-GDrHT/s320/2013+view.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Typical Fall Murphy </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: start;">Hanrehan View</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The initial hills
felt fine on the second loop, and I was still feeling strong. The quick first loop made me a bit worried
about an overdrawn energy account, so I slowed it up a bit. Just a bit.
I ended up running this section with two guys, Yellow Hat and The Red
Rider. It is tough to run <i>with</i> someone through hills as we all
needed to pace ourselves individually.
We all stayed within viewing range, with a little bit of chitchat, but
that too can be tough in the hills.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One feature of lap 2
that I remembered from last year was the addition of new trail signs. Billboards had been erected at a few tricky
locations between loops. Hmmm, some
folks must have been taking off-course excursions this morning. Easy to do.
Gotta pay attention. I should
know.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With a swap of UCAN
bottles with Beth, I left Yellow Hat and The Red Rider behind at Aid-2. For the remainder of loop 2 I worked hard at
keeping my pace under control, saving something for the last loop. I was nearing the midpoint of the race, and
from here on in I would not be passed by another 50 miler. The first three 50k racer came through. <a href="http://ericsenseman.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Eric Sensemen</a> was well ahead of the other two
and looking very strong. He ended up
setting the 50k CR that day at 4:04.
Smokin’, Eric! I also started to
come upon the back end of the 50k race.
It was nice to have some company on the trails; it can get a bit lonely
out there.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As the second loop
was drawing to a close, I was still feeling great. Weird.
I now felt I might be in the position to try for something remarkable on
the third loop. The fatigue I am so
familiar with late in races just wasn’t there.
It was at that point that I started to fear going off course, as I have
done in my two previous runnings of this race.
I’ hatedthe thought of running so well and then getting lost. I would search hard for the next trail
marker, and feel a sense of relief when I saw one just around a bend. A few seconds after passing a marker, I would
start to doubt my navigation, and would stress until the next trail
marker. Sometimes I just need to learn
to relax a bit. Funny.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Loop 2: Goal: 3:00,
Actual: 2:42 (Race time: 5:20)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Loop 3<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;">I decided to hammer
the last lap; as hard as I could push.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;">It is not often that I think I can achieve something remarkable while
running (my use of the word “remarkable” is relative of course; I by no means
consider myself really fast).</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;">But an 8
hr Surf the Murph 50 mile would have been something, and I probably wouldn't get many chances at something like this.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;">Think strong thoughts!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The initial 5 miles
of hills on the last lap went something like this: “I won’t have to do <i>this hill</i> again. Or <i>that</i>
hill, and so on…) It was like this that
I found myself pretty spent but smiling, coming out into the Horse Camp aid
station. That hurt; but it “hurt so good”
as John Mellencamp says.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With the
keto-adapted, fat-burning diet I have been adhering to the previous year,
central fatigue/bonking is a thing of the past.
It is a strange thing to feel discomfort to that level, and to be so
completely mentally sound. But as I get
used to that feeling, I learn that I can push my body much harder than my mind
lets on. And push I did, and my body did
not fail me. Almost.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At about mile 40 my
left calf started to cramp. I did not
feel this cramp was due to fueling, hydration or electrolytes; I was managing
these pretty well. I think it came from
pushing my muscles too hard and for too long, plain and simple. I started praying for relief. I did not want to come this far and work this
hard only to be brought down by cramping. If I kept my left foot flexed forward and
minimized the push-off, I found that the cramp would diminish and become
manageable. It sure slowed me down, but
not too much.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I concentrated on
getting down every stretch of trail as fast as possible. I have never run this hard this late in a 50
mile race. It is a strange thing to have
so much fun while experiencing so much discomfort. I used each mile marker to remind myself of
each manageable distance yet to come. 14
miles, 13 miles, 12 miles…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’d like to diverge
a bit for a moment. I do not care for
the term “pain” when describing what I feel when running hard. That term gives that feeling too much
power. I feel pain when I break a leg or
pull an Achilles tendon. Pain makes me
stop. “Discomfort” now, that is
something I can work through; I am tough enough to deal with that. I was feeling a great deal of discomfort.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKmgXUDNX0PYMo8DiSGXvGWyo3vDVMuGjNegUmWWFFBx_pBKVYl2AcFpnYUhd1x53Efs7Lyi0bYYNFvY8HvfXFLwM6ZeP5P7JsFrjMHwlJu3n2v6F1RRMUCoCamuBEIE6qRrMjd9vwu5Hg/s1600/2013_Surf_the_Murph_(116_of_146)-(ZF-5113-65766-1-001)+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKmgXUDNX0PYMo8DiSGXvGWyo3vDVMuGjNegUmWWFFBx_pBKVYl2AcFpnYUhd1x53Efs7Lyi0bYYNFvY8HvfXFLwM6ZeP5P7JsFrjMHwlJu3n2v6F1RRMUCoCamuBEIE6qRrMjd9vwu5Hg/s400/2013_Surf_the_Murph_(116_of_146)-(ZF-5113-65766-1-001)+(1).jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hammering the remaining miles<br />(<a href="https://www.facebook.com/BryanCochranPhotography?directed_target_id=0" style="background-color: white; color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">Bryan Cochran Photography</a>)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the last aid
station I ditched the waist pack and pounded home, my cramping calf setting as my
speed limiter. I was passing many 50k
racers and second-loop 50-milers at this point, and I concentrated on reaching
and passing each one. That helped take
my mind off of the distance remaining.
And before long, I heard the cheering at the finish and I knew I was as
good as done. I was really enjoying
this!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Loop 3: Goal: 3:00,
Actual: 2:51 (Race time: 8:11)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wow, what a great
feeling to have finished so strong. I
had run an almost complete race (except for the slow second loop and the
cramping on the third). And holy cow did
the runners get fast when compared to last year! In the 2012 event I ran 9:12 for 11<sup>th</sup>
place. This year I </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;">took an hour off of
that time and ran… an 11</span><sup style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;">th</sup><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;"> place?</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;">The front runners were smokin’ this year!</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;">Michael Borst ran a 50M course record 6:46, way
to go Michael!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;">Note: Final results put me in 8th place.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is a strange
feeling to run so hard that I start to cramp up, and enjoy the sensation of
pushing myself to my limits! I think
that now I better understand my limits and how best to prepare and push past
them next season; nothing some specific training can’t overcome. Next year will be exciting for me! Steve Quick stated that he would be gunning
for the M50 win next year at Afton.
That got me thinking about what I really could accomplish there. I think a 4:30 is certainly within my
reach. We’ll see! It is always dangerous to put such lofty
goals in print.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnNff5Dq5-TGIk761exA4Bhu87joL_hCkoyLxKOg8YVqJJ7aHQZi9jEK8j0e8Xvf6riCphfJ1Am39uw1R6tVzLCvEU0fmh1ZQbxrGLigeAq9kMNrduaBEHWfT5OdUXBQYpTtx-WnYKr8Fj/s1600/At+the+End,+Jujyfruits.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnNff5Dq5-TGIk761exA4Bhu87joL_hCkoyLxKOg8YVqJJ7aHQZi9jEK8j0e8Xvf6riCphfJ1Am39uw1R6tVzLCvEU0fmh1ZQbxrGLigeAq9kMNrduaBEHWfT5OdUXBQYpTtx-WnYKr8Fj/s320/At+the+End,+Jujyfruits.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the End with my Jujyfruits Shirt<br />(thanks Bobby!)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’d like to finish
this blog post on a spiritual note, as this run was certainly a spiritual
experience for me. God gave me this gift
of running, and I am grateful. What gift
can I return that is better than utilizing His gifts in the best ways possible;
using His gifts to the fullest. I ran
this race as a gift to God, working through my great discomfort for His glory,
not mine. I could have been disappointed
for falling short of an 8 hr finish time, or missing the top-10… again. But that would be making it about me. Thank you God for the gift of running, I hope
you liked my gift to you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thank you Beth, as
always, for sharing this experience with me, and making my food/hydration/aid
stations so easy for me. Thanks to the
volunteers; the aid stations seem to be better each year I run this race.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;">And now I can eat
Fritos and have a hamburger, on a real bun.
With French fries! Time to relax,
get a little fat, and enjoy the holidays.
The Kettle 100 is not too far off!</span></div>
stillwaterrunnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07185881704535781991noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-667817670522166935.post-30641618952286493382013-09-03T14:15:00.002-07:002013-09-03T14:15:27.543-07:00My Ice Age Trail Adventure<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On Monday, September 2</span><sup style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">nd</sup><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> (Labor Day 2013), my
wife and I headed north to the Ice Age trail (IAT) in Wisconsin to run a pre-planned
40 mile section of forest, fen and prairie.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The section from Leach Lake Road to our newest park, Straight Lake State
Park, was brand new to both of us.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
plan was: I would run and Beth would crew.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As a preamble to this report, I had been in a pretty
miserable mood prior to the run; kind of depressed. The French have the word ennui, pronounced “ahn-<b>wee</b>”, that I like to use because it makes me
smile. Sounds like a treatise on
urination; “Ennui; Draining the Sleepy Weasel”.
Anyway, we just saw my oldest daughter off to college, and that, along
with not running as much as I’d like, and family financial issues, had me in a
major funk by the time this run started.
And the weather Monday morning mirrored my mood. Real gloomy, Eye-ore type conditions.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the trailhead
(Washburn County)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After the 5:00 am alarm, we gathered our gear and drove north
about 1.5 hrs to the trailhead just north of Cumberland, WI. The temperature was cool (perfect for running)
at about 50°F, and the sky was overcast when we found the trail entrance off of
Leach Lake Road. It was not too tough to
find, though most non-state roads up here tend to be of the gravel variety, so
the going was slow.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwulw2k2Sb0yFHoDf7ysvzUDe1bxUG_gYOor0vo3BPvep1wjO1Sx9IUIIdqHSL-EOS3PSkcxvwhUoCobVpsy9bVHxY2lguf2rUVTBxQuFV5LAKE44ZHq9f22nwZ4jhm5D2Ml-zcys8-95b/s1600/Map2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="373" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwulw2k2Sb0yFHoDf7ysvzUDe1bxUG_gYOor0vo3BPvep1wjO1Sx9IUIIdqHSL-EOS3PSkcxvwhUoCobVpsy9bVHxY2lguf2rUVTBxQuFV5LAKE44ZHq9f22nwZ4jhm5D2Ml-zcys8-95b/s400/Map2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Though it was a chilly 50°F, I knew I would get warm quickly
once the legs started moving. I wore a
technical long-sleeve shirt, compression shorts, a Gore-tex beanie and some
cheap gloves. I carried water in a
single 20-oz bottle on a waist pack, with the section map in a pocket to be
traded at each new segment. This proved
to be about just right.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As we stood there in the misty morning, looking at the scant
opening in the woods marking the trail entrance, we spotted an otter trundling
down the road, inchworm style. We looked
into the forest again, and then with a shout of “epic/awesome!”, I went through
the looking glass.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Through the looking
glass: Timberland Hills Ski Trails (miles 0-5, Burnett County)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was immediately engulfed in dense woods. The trees were mostly deciduous, closely
spaced, and with very little undergrowth.
In fact, last year’s leaf litter still blanketed the ground. I was left to find my way without much of a
trail to go by. The IAT is marked by a
series of yellow blazes; rectangular marks on trees along the trail. I was left to go from tree blaze to tree
blaze until a trail finally showed itself.
Without the blazes I would have needed a bloodhound. This would have been tough later in the fall.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Following my auspicious start, the IAT eventually joined
with the Timberland Hills XC Ski Trails; a hilly segment through marshland and
some light woods. I went from a barely
visible scratch in the earth to a grassy superhighway. It was a fantastic change as the trails now
were easily discernible and the footing firm.
After about 5 minutes though, I missed the dense woods and the
singletrack. I could have driven my car
down these paths, with enough room for oncoming traffic. Also, there were many trails crisscrossing
the IAT; keep looking for those blazes!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Along one portion of this trail, the undergrowth was about
waist-high, blocking sight of my feet.
The footing was pretty even here so I was not concerned while I kept up
my pace. Unknown to me, a family of
turkeys was traveling the trail just ahead of me, <i>under</i> the undergrowth. Once
they heard me coming in was major panic time.
Wattles and snoods gobbling everywhere as about 10 turkeys flew into the
trees, crap soaring in every direction like chaff from fighter planes. Funny.
Their crap missed me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Near the end of this section, Beth met me at the Boyd Lane
trailhead with a change of water bottle.
I drank very little during this portion, and really didn’t need the water.
We did this mostly for safety in case we
missed each other at a later trailhead.
And then I was off, feeling (just a little) better.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The superhighway
continues: Still more ski trails (miles 5-10, Barron County)</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After crossing the county line, the ski trails became wider
and even better managed. I think 2 lanes
of traffic, each way, could have managed through this section. Plus, these were lighted trails, with
overhead lamps on poles lining the path.
Not really the ambiance I was looking for, and not the IAT character I
was expecting. Thankfully, this section
did not last long.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A fantastic section of snowshoe trails broke from this
forest superhighway, and I was again immersed in glorious wooded
singletrack. Snowshoe trails tend to be
great running trails (without the snow), and this section was no
exception. This is what I came for, and
I enjoyed every bit of it. The path
wound over hills and into valleys, along small lakes and through
marshland. It was still cloudy and in
the 50’s, but I was starting to have fun as I warmed up. I could feel my malaise (another funny
sounding word, reminding me of a sandwich spread) lifting a bit more.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In no time I saw Beth again for our second meet at County
Line Road. We traded water bottles
again. I think I drank maybe 6 ounces at
most all day; I still didn’t need much water.
Then, after leaving the trailhead, I had about a quarter-mile jog down
County Line Road, and back into the green tunnel.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Things start to get
interesting: Sand Creek Segment (miles 10-15, Barron and Polk Counties)</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To paraphrase Bane, Batman’s recent nemesis, “Oh, you think undergrowth
is your ally. But you merely adopted the briars; I was born in it, molded by
it.” Oh the undergrowth; a thousand tiny
claws tearing at my body as I wound through the charnel way. The trails entering the Sand Creek Segment of
the Burnett and Polk County Forests were highlighted by marsh and fen, with
knee to waist-high undergrowth hiding the trail; undergrowth with teeth! The briars continually tore into my legs, cut
my socks and pulled on the fabric of my shirt.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdhGcN8gY2xq_vO5YUVw5XoyPZkFxxIds4MhgPqh6CcQJRI41ishpVxXGvKaNwAn6khso8Pa8leODq5hJq9dS4s0zBHITxV7Bza9XZuOXSElPNHsVBEjEgDp8j2kqqMuEMI1tWza7Lq6kw/s1600/sand+creek.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdhGcN8gY2xq_vO5YUVw5XoyPZkFxxIds4MhgPqh6CcQJRI41ishpVxXGvKaNwAn6khso8Pa8leODq5hJq9dS4s0zBHITxV7Bza9XZuOXSElPNHsVBEjEgDp8j2kqqMuEMI1tWza7Lq6kw/s200/sand+creek.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Needless to say, I was having less fun. At one point, the undergrowth hid a
significant rise in the trail. I fell
for the first time at this point, though it was not a major spill. I fell forward to a pushup position and
merely pushed myself from supine to upright and kept motoring.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’d prefer not to dwell on this section, though I was
getting concerned that the trail conditions may never improve. I can say that once I got out of the
marshland the trail became legible singletrack once more, and I bounded out of
the woods to meet Beth once again at the County E trailhead.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After the traditional water bottle trade, it was time to
search for the trail on the opposite side of E.
It just wasn’t there. Where did
they put it? The old trail ended, and no
new trail began; just a wall of corn.
The map showed the trail crossing the road directly at the trailhead,
with no jog down the road. Our first
navigational challenge. After a journey
into the cornfield, and a search up and down the road, we eventually found the
opposite trailhead a quarter mile north.
Stupid map. Whatever; I was off
again.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The charnel house
continues: Sand Creek Segment (miles 15-20, Polk County)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTHrrvzILvj4RyUivnQbe3YOWAFrI-ouK9vwt3K9ux7JDYsuW9vI7uZ9fZYsgsUT5MHaehoJNGoetsuWT_QQg-cXitgmrBeS4Y6hyb23R5Nez1dqSsjCjGreXe7wCYz6ZitY4zfGkzBNCQ/s1600/mp0903briars01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTHrrvzILvj4RyUivnQbe3YOWAFrI-ouK9vwt3K9ux7JDYsuW9vI7uZ9fZYsgsUT5MHaehoJNGoetsuWT_QQg-cXitgmrBeS4Y6hyb23R5Nez1dqSsjCjGreXe7wCYz6ZitY4zfGkzBNCQ/s200/mp0903briars01.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was feeling very comfortable running by now. My legs were full warmed and I was moving at my
planned 10-minute clip. Any faster would
have been disaster. The briars and
undergrowth remained, but the footing became more technical. Hidden roots and hillocks crisscrossed the
trail, with numerous creek crossings over shaky log and stick “bridges”. At one point I ducked my head to avoid some
overhanging branches, only to get beaned by the unseen next branch; and then
the next. That hurt, but it was kind of
funny in a 3 Stooges sort of way. I
hadn’t lost my sense of humor. Yet.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By now my legs were getting pretty scratched up, and I was
covered with those seeds that have hooks and quills designed to adhere to your
clothes. I came out of that forest
looking like Sasquatch, days after getting kicked out of the cave by the
missus.</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The weather was still cold and gloomy, yet my attitude was
perking up; I was having fun. Though it
could have been funner. And it was time
to see Beth again. At the van I took off
my shoes and socks to empty them of the detritus I picked up over the previous
20 miles. A blister would ruin any fun I
was having for sure. I drank about half
my water bottle on the last section, and it was time to take on a few
calories. I grabbed a Hammer
Apple-Cinnamon gel (one of my least favorite gel flavors), took a new bottle,
and was off into the longest section of the day.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The start of Awesome:
McKenzie Creek Segment (miles 20-27)</span></b></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The end of the briars was evident as I plunged back into the
green tunnel. Glorious forest singletrack! And it was here that some hills started. Before the adventure, I had planned on
running all of the hills, while maintaining an easy 10-minute pace. Some of these hills challenged that plan; not
with their heights, but with their grades.
These were some steep climbs and descents! For the first time that day my legs were
complaining. But that was easily
overshadowed by the most gorgeous section of trail yet that day. The path cut through and over ridges, above
the Clam and McKenzie creeks; sometimes <i>way
</i>above.<i> </i> It
was here that the sun came out, dappling the hillsides and warming the air just
a bit. From reading a plaque along the
trail, these creeks were recently revitalized for the trout population, making
them Class 1 (self-sustaining) trout streams.
More than once I heard a loud splash, though no culprit could be seen.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was here that I fell the second time. My legs were getting pretty trashed from the
ups and down, and my metabolism was still mainly carb-burning. I think a bonk was coming. It was then that a root reached up from the
trail and grabbed my toe sending me face-first into the dirt and rocks. All action just ceased; the footfall tempo
abruptly halted. I stood up slowly to
assess the damage and found two bloody but otherwise unhurt legs. And I was off again, albeit a bit sorer from
the fall.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To take my mind off of my sore legs, I began thinking about
food. My mind always seems to dwell on
food later in runs. I developed a
yearning for a PB&J sandwich in the worst way. On Wonderbread, with strawberry preserves and
chunky peanut butter. Then my mind
wandered off to work. In less than 24
hour’s time I would be sitting at my desk in St. Paul doing who knows what. Surreal.
OK the thinking thing was not going well, back to the forest and trail.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As the sun was finally out, and the hills were keeping the
legs working, I felt myself warming up a bit.
I then found the next trailhead at McKenzie Lake and I was out of the
green tunnel and met Beth waiting for me wondering what took me so long. Yeah, that section went slow. I traded the long sleeve shirt with a shorter
version, the beanie with my ball cap, and lost the gloves. I took another gel (Montana Huckleberry this
time, one of my faves) and swapped bottles and set off into the next segment.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Into the Open: Pine
Lake Segment (mile 27 to 34)</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finding the next trailhead meant about a mile of road trotting
before cutting into some private hay fields.
It felt great to be warmed by the sun, as the cool breeze kept me from
over-heating. The trail meandered a bit
before it came out onto another road, with its continuation to be found
directly across and into a freshly mown field; obviously private property. For respect’s sake the trail skirted the
outer edge of the field. It was pretty
uneven and tough to run through, with the trail indistinguishable among the
mown grass. I kept expecting the trail
to plunge back into the forest at each turn, but it continued around the field
perimeter along all four sides, returning the same road as before. The trail finally dove back into the forest
about 20 yards west of where exited.
What was the !@#$ point of that?
Most of the IAT to that point was laid out in a logical manner; up to
that point.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway. It was now
time to run through some sunny pasture and along some corn fields. Unlike the crops near the Twin Cities, the
fields around here looked great; lines of tall green sentinels with multiple
ears on each plant. The trail obviously
wound along and through private land here.
At one point the trail ran directly between two camper trailers, around
the lawn chairs circling a camp fire.
The campsite was vacant, though if the campers were at hand that might
have been awkward. Weird.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">About here my legs fully recovered from the previous hills
and I had transitioned to mainly fat burning, reducing the chance for that bonk. My legs felt great again. A portion of this segment ran along the
Straight River; very scenic, though the footing was pretty technical with
sections covered in the roots of trees reaching for a river slurpee. I had yet to have much smooth trail on this
adventure, so I was looking forward to the groomed state park paths to come.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After a nice climb away from the river and a slight jaunt
along Highway 48, I met Beth yet again.
Time to get ready for the last portion of the IAT that day.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And back into the
woods: Straight Lake State Park Segment (miles 34 to 40)</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL_aU6Q0R4WH7rBXy2eRfBfAOtol6T-2MwnqkJY99vwaqp8R6IVQ3M6QmlqH8nkrO7vUABZ-_xxb-3iPMqFNOFQCKSmmuVVtjXih6dNVMWPKhubB-NcDjZHQaFY_zBUZ1iXmuQNtr88TPW/s1600/straight+lake2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL_aU6Q0R4WH7rBXy2eRfBfAOtol6T-2MwnqkJY99vwaqp8R6IVQ3M6QmlqH8nkrO7vUABZ-_xxb-3iPMqFNOFQCKSmmuVVtjXih6dNVMWPKhubB-NcDjZHQaFY_zBUZ1iXmuQNtr88TPW/s200/straight+lake2.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At one of the North Face 50-mile races along this very trail
(though 200 miles to the south), I sipped some Mountain Dew late on the
course. I had been running for about 7
hours and the soda was like a jolt to the system; an IV straight to the
furnace. So of course, I wondered what a
Red Bull might do?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the trailhead, I downed 12 oz of Red Bull in 3 gulps
(hmmm, I could feel it working already), took my last gel, swapped water
bottles for the last time, and set off into the woods once again. Here the trail wound past a gate with a “Do
Not Enter: Private Property” sign (really?), past 3 quaint cabins overlooking the
Straight River, across the driveway and lawn of the last cabin and onto the
trail again.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Also, I had a plan for this last bit. Throughout the run my melancholy (another
funny name, like the part of a musical arrangement that makes you sad) had been
lifting. By this time it was gone and I was
feeling great while drowning in endorphins.
I felt it was time to demonstrate my manhood to my wife. Enough of this measly 10-minute mile
stuff. Beth was going to show up at the
opposite end of the park only to find me waiting for her with a satisfied smirk
on my face (and one of those glinty things on my teeth). She would bask in my studliness as I
described throwing down a 6.5-minute pace for the last 6 miles. Our grandchildren would be raised hearing
this story. They would raise a pint at the pub in my honor.</span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY7CwpIq7Ctk_UmsOCh0dKFID75y7TZVGTqfpuIo2N5953CC2tnIxV-8Gj2bISc-Pu5CUFC94IrT5bLsn22yuTC3U5DorAVJo9ZcXsH3lKp8G_kM_aJFPeBrFga55n450WLACzQvV1As8w/s1600/redbull.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY7CwpIq7Ctk_UmsOCh0dKFID75y7TZVGTqfpuIo2N5953CC2tnIxV-8Gj2bISc-Pu5CUFC94IrT5bLsn22yuTC3U5DorAVJo9ZcXsH3lKp8G_kM_aJFPeBrFga55n450WLACzQvV1As8w/s1600/redbull.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I took off down that trail on fire, reveling in the smooth
surface and relatively flat terrain. A
caffeine-fueled rush of trees, rocks, roots and Red Bull. What I hadn’t factored in was, that running
fast on trail meant keeping my eyes peeled on that same trail, not in the trees
where the yellow blazes were painted.
Any look up may have ended in a major tumble</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I went down the first errant path right off. A quick glance up told me I was way off as
the trail was about to end at the river.
No problem, a blast back found the trail again after about 200
feet. I could still do this. Until I went down the next wrong path. This one cost me maybe 5 minutes of
backtracking before I found the IAT again.
After slowing for some very tricky terrain along the Straight River, I
felt my quest was in grave danger. After
the third wrong turn, I knew it was. So I
gave up the quest and just had fun running fast. Our grandchildren would have to do without.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The singletrack became perfect at the state park entrance
sign though. Now it was easier to keep
the blazes in sight as I sped my way to the end of this adventure. The trails here were very hilly with some
steep sections and sharp switch-backs.
No matter, I was Red Bull-powered! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My legs were pretty beat but I did not let up on the throttle one bit; I
was having too much fun.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The last scenic section along this route led along the
shores of Straight Lake. There were a
few people along these trails, but without camp sites, the population of humans
was pretty sparse for a state park. The
sun was getting a bit lower in the sky as well, but its warming rays were as
strong as ever, shining off the water surface and glinting off each ripple and
wave. The lake was fairly large, with
absolutely no man-made structures to be seen.
Beautiful, and rare. I could see
the value of saving this park for the people.
And with that I exited the woods right on time for my planned 10-minute
pace. So much for Mr. Studly. Oh well, what a day!</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What a day: Adventure
Postscript</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Up to this day I had never contemplated running my own race
like this, where pace didn’t matter much and I could take as long as I wanted
at each aid station. Though I did miss
the competition and camaraderie, I did not miss the entry fee and long
drive. I entered full of ennui, and left
inspired to tackle life once again. The
gray weather of my mood lifted, now filled with sunlit possibilities, from the
fasted initial 20 miles to the Red Bull-fueled frenzy at the end.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Though I probably could have filled a pack full of water and
gels and done this on my own, there was something special in sharing the day
with Beth like this. What a great spouse
to give up her day so I could gallivant through the woods, chasing turkeys and
bloodying my legs! Thanks.</span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am planning on doing this again someday; maybe along the
North Shore of Lake Superior, maybe along another segment of the IAT. Probably more than 40 miles next time. Who knows.
What possibilities.</span></div>
stillwaterrunnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07185881704535781991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-667817670522166935.post-21254345148141091872013-07-23T07:22:00.000-07:002013-07-23T07:22:08.667-07:00Ice Age Trail, Straight Lake Segment 40 mile Lard Ass<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A "Fat Ass" is the name given to a low-key, by-invitation run without fees, awards, aid, course marking, guarantees or zombies. It can be a race, or just a social event. A course, a date and time, and some friends. But, if I have no friends, is it still a "Fat Ass"? Maybe then it's a "Lard Ass" or something. I guess I'll use the time I have left to make some friends I think.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I guess I don’t care, I’m doing one anyway.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Due to sucky budget issues, I’ve pared down this year's race schedule
to the bare minimum, which leaves 16 weeks between <a href="http://www.aftontrailrun.com/" target="_blank">Afton</a> and <a href="http://surfthemurph.org/" target="_blank">Surf theMurph</a>. I can’t train 16 weeks for a 50
mile race, I would die a training death of a thousand screams, or go bananas
from being so bored. Soooo, instead of
taking the next 8 weeks off, I've planned a 40 mile run along a segment of the 1000-mile <a href="http://www.nps.gov/iatr/index.htm" target="_blank">IceAge Trail</a> in northern Wisconsin at about the end of August. I’ll treat it like a race, with base build
up, heat and speed training, an injury or two, and a taper.
Also, my wife Beth will provide the mobile munchy wagon, meeting me at
key road crossings.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4SXwUF00c6BMYekEF2oUairchd1BkVXZvUSjNL7BaYLQWyptaAtggaBkzRMyX9_Al2_SjCioi5ZbNTTFLHnf8QFVApXDeb6EYdbAs7zSNbDKbze_GinKor7n4ETwsJsn7VNc7rJ3XmdXV/s1600/map.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4SXwUF00c6BMYekEF2oUairchd1BkVXZvUSjNL7BaYLQWyptaAtggaBkzRMyX9_Al2_SjCioi5ZbNTTFLHnf8QFVApXDeb6EYdbAs7zSNbDKbze_GinKor7n4ETwsJsn7VNc7rJ3XmdXV/s320/map.gif" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The route I've selected includes about 40 miles of very
hilly singletrack on the trail. This trail travels along the furthest extent
of the last ice sheet to bother Wisconsin in the last 10,000 years, and as
such, is full of many interesting terrain features, such as eskers, drumlins,
kettles and kames. Read <a href="http://stillwaterrunner.blogspot.com/2012/08/running-kettle-moraine.html" target="_blank">here</a> for more on
my experience running the southern portion this trail. The
section I will be running will be <a href="https://maps.google.com/maps?q=leach+lake+road&hl=en&ll=45.664626,-92.010069&spn=0.047207,0.057335&sll=45.411948,-91.911621&sspn=1.5174,2.881165&hnear=Leach+Lake+Rd,+Shell+Lake,+Wisconsin+54871&t=m&z=14" target="_blank">Leach Lake Road</a> (mmm, sounds inviting) to the <a href="http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/parks/name/straightlake/" target="_blank">StraightLake State Park</a> <a href="https://maps.google.com/maps?daddr=45.612362,-92.427375&hl=en&sll=45.612349,-92.427391&sspn=0.001477,0.002814&mra=mift&mrsp=1&sz=19&t=m&z=18" target="_blank">parking area</a>.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Driftless Area</span></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyG38_wOzBudY-dZnYCXEeroqcKgHNqybb6SnVfMKjk9fmTMGzVApXDflVJVMW1rEb3RRa006qppSy7ijEKml7dRHvYB3m-vgt8a3ZHh71kXWZxDV3QPQfw0hcGBYRH0f9t1cyebuTWi-V/s1600/ice+sheet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyG38_wOzBudY-dZnYCXEeroqcKgHNqybb6SnVfMKjk9fmTMGzVApXDflVJVMW1rEb3RRa006qppSy7ijEKml7dRHvYB3m-vgt8a3ZHh71kXWZxDV3QPQfw0hcGBYRH0f9t1cyebuTWi-V/s320/ice+sheet.jpg" width="277" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As a side note, just as interesting as the ice sheet
boundary in Wisconsin is, the region the glacier missed is even more incredible. The southeast corner of Wisconsin is known as
the “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driftless_Area" target="_blank">Driftless Area</a>”, or “Paleozoic Plateau”.
Take a look at a terrain map of Wisconsin, and you’ll see what I
mean. River valleys are deeply dissected
(up to 650 feet), and are characterized by steep <a href="http://www.thefreedictionary.com/coulee" target="_blank">coulees</a>. The area is so rugged, a portion of it is
known as the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocooch_Mountains" target="_blank">Ocooch Mountains</a>, with exposed 1.6 billion year old <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monadnock" target="_blank">monadnock</a> (not
the disease. it sounds like a disease. or a prescription medicine that can cause frequent urination).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Driftless Area begs for a Superior Hiking Trail-like
corridor, but alas, is pretty undeveloped.
In fact, maybe it’s better that way.
If you are interested in visiting this area, I would recommend the following
points of interest from personal experience:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Camp at a state park:</span></li>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/parks/name/devilslake/" target="_blank">Devil’s Lake</a> – reserve your spot
early, this is the largest and one of the most popular of the Wisconsin parks</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><a href="http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/parks/name/wyalusing/" target="_blank">Wyalusing</a> – get
one of the bluff tent sites, incredible view, especially at night</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><a href="http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/parks/name/wildcat/" target="_blank">Wildcat Mountain</a> –
</span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;">the</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;">wildcat did growlll</i></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><a href="http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/parks/name/govdodge/" target="_blank">Governor Dodge</a> –
big and beautiful in the fall, a family favorite</span></li>
</ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Boat the Wisconsin River, east of
<a href="https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Mazomanie,+WI&hl=en&ll=43.197167,-89.813404&spn=0.098486,0.11467&sll=46.44186,-93.36129&sspn=11.917423,14.677734&oq=mazomanee&hnear=Mazomanie,+Dane,+Wisconsin&t=m&z=13" target="_blank">Mazomanie</a> – camp on a sand bar (no bugs), fish the river (always a huge
variety)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bike the <a href="http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/parks/name/elroysparta/" target="_blank">Elroy-Sparta</a> – bring a
flashlight, this is one of the best rails-to-trails in the country with awesome
scenery and several loooong tunnels</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Canoe the <a href="https://maps.google.com/maps?q=kickapoo+river+wi&hl=en&ll=43.307442,-90.847492&spn=0.098308,0.11467&sll=46.44186,-93.36129&sspn=11.917423,14.677734&hq=kickapoo+river&hnear=Wisconsin&t=m&z=13" target="_blank">Kickapoo</a> – lazy, winding,
beautiful, and a great swim too; lots of outfitter options</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Have dinner at <a href="http://www.disciascioscoonvalley.com/about.html" target="_blank">Di Sciascio’s</a> in
<a href="https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Coon+Valley,+WI&hl=en&ll=43.699651,-91.015635&spn=0.048836,0.057335&sll=46.437857,-97.536621&sspn=11.917423,23.049316&oq=coon+valley+&hnear=Coon+Valley,+Vernon,+Wisconsin&t=m&z=14" target="_blank">Coon Valley</a> – this place is the proverbial “hole in the wall”, the exterior
looks like a bar, but the food is fantastic; you won’t believe me when you see
it and will be tempted to move on; don’t!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Spend the night at the <a href="http://www.westbyhouse.com/" target="_blank">Westby HouseB&B</a> – this is probably the best B&B in the Driftless Area.</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But, back to my Lard
Ass (run)</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’m not sure what to expect, or how best to prepare, so I
think I’ll take a cautious attitude:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since we do not know this area very
well and I may miss an aid drop (or get really lost), I’m thinking a hydration
pack would be smart, over my usual 20 oz bottles. Maybe a few iodine pills and Kool-Aid too.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Due to patchy logging and some private land crossings, the trail might be difficult to follow in some areas. I am getting the latest Ice Age Trail Atlas and Companion Guide from our library. I do NOT want to get (too) lost.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ll bring my smartphone for
sure. Other than the talky thing, this
will be good for pictures at least, and I can use a breadcrumb app to track my
progress.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Should I go fast or slow? Slow makes for a more enjoyable journey, but
fast equates the race for which I’m pretending to prepare. Maybe a combination; fast when I feel like
it, and then slow when I want to take a picture of a squirrel or enjoy some
scenery or something.</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Should be a fun adventure no matter what happens!</span></div>
stillwaterrunnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07185881704535781991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-667817670522166935.post-64402694250123267982013-07-11T18:00:00.001-07:002013-07-11T18:00:52.059-07:002013 Afton Trail Run 50k Race Report<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wow.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another year passed,
and another great <a href="http://www.aftontrailrun.com/" target="_blank">Afton 50k</a> in the books.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The years for each of these great races don’t really seem to blend
together though.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Each seems to stand out
for different reasons; usually due to the weather, or sometimes course changes.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I remember the unreal heat and brutal ski
hill course in 2011 (cursed Republicans), the gentle rain which kept things
cool in 2009, etc.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This year may not
stand out for many though.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The weather
was pretty standard and the course had only one minor change.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It will stand out for me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This will be known as the year that I tried something new on
race day when you’re NEVER supposed to try anything new on race day. This will be the year I had to gut it out,
because I made a simple, stupid mistake.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A quick overview of the Afton trail Run… This race has been held at <a href="http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/afton/index.html" target="_blank">Afton State Park</a>
in Minnesota for the past 20 years or so.
25k and 50k distances are offered, depending on whether you traverse 1
or 2 loops through the park. The trails
range from gravel road to singletrack, from wide open prairie to dense forest,
from railroad bed flat to eroded washout climbs. This year 400 folks opted for the 25k
distance, while 200 braved the 50k.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What I like about this race, and what keeps me coming back
(aside from the organized crew that runs the event) is that it is challenging:
hot, hilly and fast, but not too much of each.
The terrain and scenery changes throughout the course, keeping the day
interesting.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Race morning started like most: the beeping alarm, zombie
motions out of bed, getting into some snappy getup I laid out the night before,
a quick drink of water, and a spoonful of cream cheese. Actually, that last part was new for this
year. I read somewhere that a bit of fat
before a workout stokes my fat-burning furnace and allows me to hit the trails
harder minus the sluggishness.
Hmmm. We’ll see.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Check-in was as smooth as ever. The volunteers at this race are pros (except
for the lady who tried to give me someone else’s timing chip). No early morning food though. With the diet I have been adhering to
recently, I avoided taking on calories before the race; I wanted to get that
fat-burning furnace going. I did have a
slight knot in my stomach though; must be pre-race jitters. We then ambled towards the start area about
15 minutes before the gun. I carried a
single 20 oz. water bottle on a waist pack; simple and light.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Following a quick pep talk about Afton State Park (a portion
of our race entry fee is donated to the park) and hydration (it might get
pretty hot out there), I worked my way towards the front of the pack of runners
waiting for the start. I’ve found that
things can get pretty crowded near the back as the trail narrows a bit. I found Chris Lundstrom grinning and greeting other runners; I was unexpectedly next to trail running royalty! And then we were off.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Three things were evident as we started down the initial
chute:</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">I was right where I needed to be in the pack, as
runners started to spread out a bit in front of and behind me.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">The heat was noticeable from the start.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">I think it was in the low 70’s F, which was a
bit warmer for 6:30 in the morning than in the days leading up to the race.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">I was hoping heat would not be an issue until
the second loop.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">Not so this year.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">That knot in my stomach exploded into full Alien
mode as I was jostled on the quick descent.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">Pre-race jitters generally go away when the gun goes off; this was
something different.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">This was that
spoonful of cream cheese.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">Crap!</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">Well, the pain wasn’t debilitating, so I kept
the pace.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">Maybe the Alien would hatch
and go infect someone else.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">Ha ha.</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In past Aftons I tended to run a pretty strong first loop,
while flagging the second loop by quite a bit.
This year I decided to hold back a bit initially saving for a stronger second
loop, and hopefully a faster time overall.
It was 5 minutes into the race and I was sweating already. Dang.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Following the initial drop, we climbed to the Africa loop, a
forest-bordered prairie-like section of parkland complete with swaying grasses
and flitting microfauna. A slight breeze
kept the runners from getting too hot as we circled the southern portion of
this trail. Warmup over, I got my pace
up to about 7:30 miles as the runners spread out along the path. Me and my cream cheese grenade felt good.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unlike my previous Afton race reports, I’ll skip the course
blow-by-blow. Please read <a href="http://stillwaterrunner.blogspot.com/2012/07/afton-trail-run-2012-50k-race-report.html" target="_blank">here </a>for a
description of each course section.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">During the first loop, I kept a nice even pace, I felt good
(though a bit warm), though my stomach was killing me. Any time I pushed the pace, or bombed a
downhill, I was reminded about how the crew aboard the spaceship felt in the
movie Alien; the ones stupid enough to want to get a close look at that nasty thing with crab legs. It was a weird feeling to have that much
pain, while all other systems were functioning fine. I successfully pushed Alien aside for the
moment, but it did take some of the fun out the moment.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was now that I noticed another mistake: It was evident I
ran too hard 3 days prior to race day.
The Wednesday speed workout in the heat went too hard, and for too
long. Those specific muscles that ache
after those types of runs were still hurting.
Oh well, not much I could do about that at the moment; something to add
to the “don’t do this again before a race” list.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I took on no calories during the first 15 mile loop, running
mainly on my onboard store of carbs and fat.
I did, however, keep the ice in the water bottles, and took several
electrolyte tablets. I came in to the
start/finish for a quick turn-around, and then was down the chute for my second
go-around. First loop went at about 2:20.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the second loop, heat became more of an issue. To combat this, my wife/crew Beth handed me
frozen bandanas to wrap around my neck, and frozen washcloths for placing under
my hat. Near the end of the race, I
started pouring ice down the back of my shirt as well. This strategy worked well for me as I
suffered no heat-related issues or central fatigue during the race. The temperature did get up to the mid-80’s I
think.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was on the second loop where I started to take on some
calories. Not much though. I think I had 2 gel packs and a packet of
UCAN in one of my 20 oz bottles. I’m
still experimenting with limiting my carb intake during races. Fast-acting gels tend to provide a good hit
during faster/shorter 50k’s, while the steady drip of energy provided by the
UCAN seems to be more effective in the longer, 50 mile+ distances.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another feature for this year was that, I was running alone
for most of the second half of the race.
In previous Aftons, I almost always had someone nearby on the trails. This year there were times I felt I was
lost. I saw very few 50k racers
following Aid 2 There was a portion of the Africa Loop where I could see no one in the front or rear of me. I did start to catch
the back of the 25k pack after Aid 3 though, so I must have been on course.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After climbing out the Meat Grinder for the second (and
last) time, and looking forward to another go at the Snowshoe Loop, I started
to have some fun. The Cream Cheese Alien
was still snarling, but I had, by then, mentally pushed that issue
aside. My body was aching, I was hot,
and I was ready to be done, but I was still running strong. By now I could smell the roses, but part of
me did not want the run to end. Besides,
the Snowshoe Loop is a blast to bomb.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Coming out of the Snowshoe Loop, there is about a half mile
of straight and flat to the end. I
poured on the speed here and ran strong to the finish. Unknown to me at the time, I was very close
to breaking 5 hours. I’ve never been
cheered like that into a finish. That
was fun. I came across the line at
4:59:22. Not a PR, but I was still very
happy with the result. Thanks Mary and
Mel for coming by to watch the finish!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stillwater Runners Wayne M., Dave M., and Tom A. all
completed the 25k race. What can I say
about Chris Lundstrom? 3:40 is a rockin’
time and a course record. That’s a 3:05 marathon pace with
4,600 or so feet of climbing. Simply
awesome Chris!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks again to the legions of great volunteers who put on
this great race. Thanks to Afton State
Park for allowing the event to take place in their beautiful park. And thank you Beth for sharing these
experiences with me and getting me through the aid stations quickly.</span></div>
stillwaterrunnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07185881704535781991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-667817670522166935.post-43323235021636901722013-06-18T07:38:00.002-07:002013-06-18T07:48:53.987-07:002013 Kettle 100 Adventure, My Nutrition (3 of 3)<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.0pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Following a disappointing <a href="http://stillwaterrunner.blogspot.com/2013/06/2013-kettle-100-adventure-race-report-2.html" target="_blank">Kettle 100 DNF</a> on June 1, I was left
wondering; what went wrong, and how I might apply my learnings to the next
attempt? (<a href="http://stillwaterrunner.blogspot.com/2013/06/2013-kettle-100-adventure-lessons.html" target="_blank">See post</a>)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One thing that did not go wrong was the nutritional aspect of my
training leading up to, and during the race.
In order to put the raceday nutrition into context, I’ll need to start 5
months ago, during a typical frigid Wisconsin January. With lots of snow. And it was cold. I'm just saying.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14pt;">I started a new nutritional strategy based on a modified Atkins diet,
adjusted for athletes, whose plan is laid out very succinctly in </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14pt;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Art-Science-Low-Carbohydrate-Performance/dp/0983490716/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1371563142&sr=1-1&keywords=the+art+and+science+of+low+carbohydrate+performance" target="_blank">The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance</a></i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14pt;">, by Jeffery Volek and Stephen Phinney. This plan shows how an athlete can transition
from relying mainly on carbs for fuel, to running on fats. Now, for an ultra-runner, as you might think, this plan can be
advantageous. Work with me here for a
bit:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our bodies can provide a reserve store of, at most, 2,000-3,000
calories in carbs. Burning 800-1000
calories/hr, this can equate to about 3 hrs during a tough trail run. We can take on, at most, 200-250 calories per
hour of carbohydrates. So adding the
stored carbs with the calories taken on during that time, I get at most 4 hrs
of running before my glycogen tank runs dry. Kaput. What happens then? I bonk, that’s
what happens. My brain is now competing
with my muscles for whatever fuel it can get.
I become a zombie, pure and simple.
</span><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/nov/04/television-simon-pegg-dead-set" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">The slow kind</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now consider fat as a primary fuel source. Even with a low body fat %, I have enough
on-board energy to run 100’s of miles.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14pt;">Starting out on this diet, my body was trained to burn
carbohydrates. I was stuck dealing with
the bonk in EVERY long race; and running out of fuel really sucks. But of course, my body is also burning fat,
which allows me to continue, though in a less-effective, zomboid fashion.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14pt;">Everyone knows there are two types of zombies, ...mainly (no, not girls and boys). The slow ones and the fast ones of course. Think of carb-fueled me late in a race. Slow zombie, all the way. Drooling and </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">whimpering</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14pt;"> and stumbling along. As a fat burner? Think fast zombie (or at least faster). Drooling and whimpering, but moving at a good clip. Brains!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Enter a new way of eating, one in which I eat less than 50g of carbs per day. This new nutritional strategy allowed me to train my body to burn
primarily fats; to become keto-adapted.
The results have been amazing.</span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">My racing weight dropped from 160 lbs, to 135
lbs on Kettle 100 race day.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">Because of that weight loss, hills have come
less of a challenge.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">I experienced no central fatigue (no bonking) at
all during the 63 miles and 12+ hrs of running.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I did supplement during the race with a product called <a href="http://www.generationucan.com/home.html" target="_blank">UCAN</a>. This is a super-starch carbohydrate powder
that, when mixed with water, provided a steady drip of carbohydrates during the
run; but not enough to trip the insulin response (important). I took on these carbs because my brain runs
on the fuel created from them. I also think my body needs carbs to burn the fats. I needed
the carbs, even if I was keto-adapted. The
result? My energy level was steady
throughout.</span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But the best part about this diet was the recovery. Oh my goodness. I felt like I could run the following
day. In fact I did go on a 3-miler two days
following the race, and my legs felt no more fatigued than during usual
training. After a week, I was training
as hard as I did leading up to the race.
After running 63 miles, this was truly mind-blowing for me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I attribute this fantastic recovery to the diet. My theory goes something like this: because I was burning primarily fats, I did not run out of fuel, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ra5-H9ZBS1U" target="_blank">ergo, vis-a-vis</a> my muscles were not called
on to provide the alternate fuel source; i.e. protein; or the muscles
themselves. Ouch.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One interesting result of this diet, which relates to the lack of
central fatigue (zombification), is that I can feel leg fatigue more
acutely. I am completely aware of the pain in my body now. Believe me, I'm not complaining, having tired legs
is preferable to central fatigue. I can push through
tired legs, so much so that cramping has become an issue. I am pushing harder now later in races then I
ever have. Hopefully, good training will
alleviate this, and I'll become one of the fast zombies.</span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ll be running the Afton Trail Run 50k in a few
weeks, which is a much shorter race distance than the 63 miles I ran at
Kettle. During a recent 4.5 hr run at Afton
State Park, I was able to hammer the hills at end of
the run. I am mildly optimistic to see
what my new legs can accomplish!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">In finishing this post, I want to tell a story that gives me a lot of inspiration. Ultra god and two-time Western States winner, Hal Koerner, ran one of the greatest races I have ever known in France at the <a href="http://www.ultratrailmb.com/" target="_blank">Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc</a>. In 2011, he took 38 hrs to round that mountain (the winner, Killian Jornet, took 20 hrs). He was passed by most everyone. He got lost. He was chafing in all the wrong places (the worst!). But he did not quit. After he finished, he was asked 'why he did not DNF.' His answer was, that he 'dropped out of the race the last time he attempted it (in 2007).' He waited 4 years for some retribution. Read his <a href="http://halkoerner.com/2011/09/04/utmb-takeaway/" target="_blank">blog post</a> on the subject, it is amazing.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">This is what I will be taking into the Kettle 100 next year. No mountains, no crazy elevation, just some serious baggage to release.</span></div>
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stillwaterrunnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07185881704535781991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-667817670522166935.post-45397449388331932972013-06-11T08:49:00.002-07:002013-06-11T09:08:13.249-07:002013 Kettle 100 Adventure, Race Report (2 of 3)<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is the second of three posts on this subject, with the final
entry to focus on<i> my nutrition</i>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At some point last year, it became apparent that “it was
time.” I had put this off long
enough. 50 miles no longer felt
“far.” I needed to challenge myself, and
maybe feel the bite of failure again. It
was time to sign up for my first 100 mile trail race. Enough of the short-course shenanigans, it
was time to step up with the big boys.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When it came time to selecting that race, there was no real
decision to make; it would be the <a href="http://www.kettle100.com/" target="_blank">Kettle 100</a> in the Southern Wisconsin portion
of the <a href="http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/parks/name/kms/" target="_blank">Kettle Moraine</a>. This race is held
mainly on some of the greatest singletrack in the Midwest, on the 1000-mile
long <a href="http://www.nps.gov/iatr/index.htm" target="_blank">Ice Age Trail</a> (IAT). This race
includes about 8,000 ft of elevation change, which makes it a relatively flat
100 miler, so I thought this might help me to ease into the distance. The only downside seemed to be its spring
scheduling; I've never had to train through winter. <a href="http://stillwaterrunner.blogspot.com/2013/05/not-so-fast-spring-winter-encore.html" target="_blank">Training went fine though</a>, as I learned to
tromp through snow and ice. In fact, I
thought spring would never come.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But come it did, and soon enough it was time to lace up my
shoes and try something that would again push my limits. Several friends and family members requested
to follow my progress through text updates by my wife and crew, Beth. I found this very touching; I was really
humbled by the interest. Thanks. I hope you found the drama interesting.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYVJCUeCKGojvCPzymRu6YcdGUch_EfSv4sxJwKzrIjrw8iF7r1FksMoT5oJqiJ0nPzbejJhySoVU6R6FxurcT0Rk-i7p3-fVJTv5TLwVaGe58aqH2CA-cTFOe_YcW-bEEzMm3H5EPALvv/s1600/At+the+start.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYVJCUeCKGojvCPzymRu6YcdGUch_EfSv4sxJwKzrIjrw8iF7r1FksMoT5oJqiJ0nPzbejJhySoVU6R6FxurcT0Rk-i7p3-fVJTv5TLwVaGe58aqH2CA-cTFOe_YcW-bEEzMm3H5EPALvv/s320/At+the+start.JPG" width="239" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Kettle 100 is a double out-and-back course. Starting at the Nordic Station in La Grange,
WI, the first section starts on 7 miles of ski trails, and then travels 25
miles north on the IAT to Scuppernong, for an out-and-back total of 63 miles
(or almost 100k). The second section
starts on the same 7 miles of ski trail, but then turns south for 12 miles to
the Rice Lake turnaround, providing a total course length of about 101 miles.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are four races held on the course. The first three start simultaneously: 100
mile solo, 100 mile relay, and 100k. The
final 38 mile “fun run” starts some time after 6:00 pm, and helps to keep the 100
milers company on some lonely stretches of trail. My goal was an average 12 min/mi pace for a
20 hour finish time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We picked up our race packets the night before, so all we had Saturday morning were the usual victuals and
expendables. This was a very low-key
start line, rife with nervous energy. I met a few great people here, but none seemed
able to focus on much of a conversation. We had all prepared hard to get to this
point. Let’s get this thing going!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy6xV3Y449hUZXS1HL8K0wxQ2-S7gPKUffaLNze5jtBBxl8rbRmgj6Z5tps31rGngZz2XWITegqEQHEsYPYH0sV9gk_7B0gIU03e4j09RDwV64hP1AuC7oPYaOUL401g8GB_6BXS92qSqi/s1600/And+were+off.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy6xV3Y449hUZXS1HL8K0wxQ2-S7gPKUffaLNze5jtBBxl8rbRmgj6Z5tps31rGngZz2XWITegqEQHEsYPYH0sV9gk_7B0gIU03e4j09RDwV64hP1AuC7oPYaOUL401g8GB_6BXS92qSqi/s320/And+were+off.JPG" width="239" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And, soon enough, it was “ready, set, go.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I started out at 10.5 min/mi, a pace a bit faster than I had
planned, but his was the pace of the crowd and I went with it. The first 7 miles of ski trails were not
fun. They were wide and boring and very
hilly. Not much elevation, but full of
Pointless Ups and Downs (PUDs). Our
first aid station, Tamarack, came in about 5 miles. I don’t really remember much other than
filling my water bottle, grabbing a gel, and hugging my sister who was
volunteering here. Have some stinky
sweat Sis!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first crew-access aid station was only 2.5 miles further
at “Bluff”. Here Beth handed me my first
bottle of UCAN, and a gel. We’ve gotten
good at the pit row aid station method: Beth and I swap bottles, she hands me
what else I might need, I tell her what I might need ready at the next station,
and I’m off.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The next 8 miles were fairly hilly singletrack. Very pretty and just a little technical. I kept my 10.5 min/mi pace going comfortably,
and the miles ticked off. After an
unmanned water stop at Horse Riders, I was at the first out-and-back half way
point; Emma Carlin. This was one
fantastic aid station. Tons of
people! I loved it. But soon enough, I was out of there with
another bottle of UCAN and some gels.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This section of the course was my favorite. Everything was fresh in the spring morning,
including my legs. A decent-sized group
of us formed a Zen-like conga line though the forested singletrack,
effortlessly zooming through the stony ups and downs, feet knowing, without
thought, just where to plant. A grove of
flowers unexpectedly appeared at this point, wrapping the moist air in a
blanket of sweet fragrance. I wish I
could bottle up this emotion and uncork it whenever someone questions running
such distances. I could not image being
anywhere else.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then, of course, I fell flat on my face. No blood though, and I quickly caught back up
with my friends.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJw33Leg5a4j9zVBxOniyzsq_pG2cnvJA6w3aheHM5aX6EulivQRQ4x0EC6b7iWJ8FrKev7hF94xWLAESaoYrUr0XjpXlntZ3ouUD0CENhmlx4TdZ4HZywO06RXIvGIKV9Lj_po5NdrlKd/s1600/Emma+Carlin.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJw33Leg5a4j9zVBxOniyzsq_pG2cnvJA6w3aheHM5aX6EulivQRQ4x0EC6b7iWJ8FrKev7hF94xWLAESaoYrUr0XjpXlntZ3ouUD0CENhmlx4TdZ4HZywO06RXIvGIKV9Lj_po5NdrlKd/s320/Emma+Carlin.JPG" width="239" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The next section had a fair bit of open prairie and was
relatively flat. As the heat of the day
had yet to set in, the 10.5 min/mi pace continued easily. I knew this section had a reputation for
being hot, so I was prepared to slow it down some on the return leg; but not
yet. I did get a chance to meet a guy
with an Aussie accent. He was searching
for his wife’s iPod, which he had dropped on the trail. A few of us searched in vain, but then it was
time to skedaddle; Hwy 67 came soon enough.
Through this part there were many sections of unavoidable mud and
muck. These can suck, and I tried to
ignore them, plowing right through and trying to maintain my balance.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After Hwy 67 we got another good dose of hills, but at least
this area was fairly wooded, so there were really no heat issues. I had other, more pressing issues to contend
with at this point though.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Having run this section of the IAT a kajillion times, I
thought I knew exactly where the Hwy ZZ aid station was located; at the same
location as the North Face Hwy ZZ aid station of course. So, instead of following the well-marked
course, I made a bee-line to (what turned out to be) my imaginary aid
station. After coming down a hill, and
not seeing an aid station where I thought one should be, I continued until I
saw one across the street. Whew! I thought I had gone off course.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Funny, Beth wasn't there; the first crew-access aid station
she’d missed. I know my pace was still
10.5, so I must be too far ahead of schedule.
I’ll see her at the next station, the Scuppernong turn-around, for
sure. So I refueled and took off down
the trail.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEwBFRW7kmd795UXd24hyphenhyphenASCuLmiFMjXM5QJyhVykj8Amo4UGPG4L8RBCf6hpkZvpmqP29_8JWYK-canqzrKjSOOX9sCPN2oFdzkwlBpbGmqaWGeiE9ijiyiziRlchUVRrstAGf42FTERd/s1600/Hwy+67.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEwBFRW7kmd795UXd24hyphenhyphenASCuLmiFMjXM5QJyhVykj8Amo4UGPG4L8RBCf6hpkZvpmqP29_8JWYK-canqzrKjSOOX9sCPN2oFdzkwlBpbGmqaWGeiE9ijiyiziRlchUVRrstAGf42FTERd/s320/Hwy+67.JPG" width="239" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Funny, there are a lot of very fit looking people running
towards me on the trail. Well, either I
was moving pretty fast, or I was where I shouldn't have been. Sure enough, I had missed a turnoff and
bounded confidently into the Scuppernong aid station, skipping Highway ZZ. Bummer.
But I had a plan. Since the Hwy
ZZ to Scuppernong was an out-and-back, the section is run twice. So after Hwy ZZ, all I needed to do was
double-back to Scuppernong, plead my case, and run this section again.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course, Beth thought she had lost me. She was speaking with the course monitors
trying to figure out where I had last checked out. I met her again on my second trip to
Scuppernong. She was relieved, but
worried that I would be DQ’ed. That
would have sucked. Bet the RD, who felt
that if I was not top-3, I could continue, as long as I travelled the same
distance, albeit a bit in the wrong direction.
Thank you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was weird to be at about 30 miles in a 100 mile race,
feeling fantastic, and keeping pace.
There was no “central fatigue” with which to deal, and no tired
legs. I felt like a million bucks. This thing will be a snap. Ha ha.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Returning to Hwy ZZ, there are sections of switchback singletrack. Since this was an out-and-back section, I met
quite a few runners. They were very
courteous, yielding to the out-of-control downhill runners. These downhills were a blast.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In and out of Hwy ZZ with a fresh UCAN, I ran with relative
ease to Hwy 67. The sun had finally
shown its face, and as it had been raining quite a bit the week approaching the
race, the humidity would become an issue.
But not yet. I was still on a
10.5 min pace and feeling comfortable, with a bit of leg fatigue. At Hwy 67, I took a lot of ice with my UCAN,
and wrapped an ice-filled bandanna around my neck in preparation for the open
prairie section. This did the
trick. It was hot and humid, but the
cool bandanna and ice kept me cool.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I slowed my pace significantly through the prairie towards
Emma Carlin. I knew the hills that were
to come, and running at the faster pace in the heat would not have been
prudent. Still, I felt pretty good
coming into Emma Carlin. So with a quick
refuel and kick in the butt, I was out of there and back into the cooler (so I
thought) forested section back to Bluff.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC3kL12u7UuZBmG1jQ5m8yzyt6a7cjb6uSI44Dxxej5yyQw1Lj7e60yQ-YtaLbNHbUzCAUqDckky2PFjZ6t2wKoIPT7ypH0qZzyEqVIU3BXWrlCyylXHHHgPq3XVu87SMuiGpCQ9z89VIT/s1600/Miserable.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC3kL12u7UuZBmG1jQ5m8yzyt6a7cjb6uSI44Dxxej5yyQw1Lj7e60yQ-YtaLbNHbUzCAUqDckky2PFjZ6t2wKoIPT7ypH0qZzyEqVIU3BXWrlCyylXHHHgPq3XVu87SMuiGpCQ9z89VIT/s320/Miserable.JPG" width="239" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Funny thing, but the humidity seemed to be trapped under the
forest foliage. I sure was feeling it
here, both mentally and physically. The
PUD hills and humidity were wearing me down.
My legs were not tired, but everything else became a burden. I found myself slouching, with very sore
shoulders and back. The miles, which
ticked off so easily before, now seemed to double in length. And the UCAN, which was giving me a steady
drip of energy throughout, started making my stomach feel bloated, like I had
just eaten 500 pretzels. Coming into
Bluff, I was in a sorry state. Beth
wrung sponges of ice water on my back, which helped a lot. Food looked worse than the UCAN so I
continued with the same fueling schedule.
I vowed to revive my negative attitude into Nordic.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To counteract those negative feelings, Beth and I planned on
a sock change at Nordic. A pick me up.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And then I was out of Bluff and headed back to the Nordic
start-finish to start my second out-and-back.
I lost a bit of my sanity on that 7 mile stretch. What once felt totally doable now seemed
unfathomable. My brain was wreaking
havoc, and I was unprepared for the lengths my it was willing to go to get me
to stop. My legs were fine, yet I couldn't imagine running a measly 38 more miles. After what seemed like hours, I came into
Nordic in a terrible mental state.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjknKNCDA31I8bLe_CA86A9goTM1hXrcRN40YPMikuWVLEPjRDTEWd-meXeaWlWZc0MU3ITCGCT3ecBjBhPfLhDbk_7wvJQz9u6ECcqfbvHx5Ao8y-rJVCuG4VL7syqsFtD8yf4R9KG-nuX/s1600/Nordic+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjknKNCDA31I8bLe_CA86A9goTM1hXrcRN40YPMikuWVLEPjRDTEWd-meXeaWlWZc0MU3ITCGCT3ecBjBhPfLhDbk_7wvJQz9u6ECcqfbvHx5Ao8y-rJVCuG4VL7syqsFtD8yf4R9KG-nuX/s400/Nordic+2.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was miserable, my stomach felt worse, my back and
shoulders were killing me, and I sat down to change my socks. Big mistake.
Terrible mistake. Fatal
mistake. I should have changed my stupid
socks at Bluff! I wanted to quit in the
worse way. I started to shiver, and nausea
was wracking my body. What I needed to do
was get back moving again; to get the leg-heart system back in gear. Walk to the next station if need be, and quit
there if I still felt so compelled.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And then the heavens opened, sealing my mental fate.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I told Beth that “I don’t want to do this anymore.” I turned in my timing chip and left, feeling
dejected.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I really had no reason to be so morose. I had just run 63 miles, by far my longest
single distance to date. My legs held
out fine and could have continued. But I
quit, and I wished I hadn't. I learned a
TON though (<a href="http://stillwaterrunner.blogspot.com/2013/06/2013-kettle-100-adventure-lessons.html" target="_blank">see previous post</a>), whose lessons I plan on applying to next year’s
race.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I ran the race using a single waist-pack water bottle, usually filled with <a href="http://eatingacademy.com/sports-and-nutrition/introduction-to-superstarch-part-i" target="_blank">UCAN</a>. My shoes were my trusty Inov8 F-lite 230's. I've been using this model for the last 5 years, and they are still my favorites for hard-packed singletrack.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thank you all to the fantastic RD, wonderful aid station
volunteers, everyone who was following my progress, and of course my wife and
crew, Beth. It was a fantastic
experience, and even though I failed to finish, I am aware of the wonderful
gifts God has provided. We’ll get ‘er
done next year!</span></div>
stillwaterrunnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07185881704535781991noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-667817670522166935.post-31231872571847401542013-06-04T15:30:00.001-07:002013-06-10T06:25:53.125-07:002013 Kettle 100 Adventure, Lessons Learned (1 of 3)<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is the first of three posts on this subject, with the
next two to focus on <i>the race report</i>
and <i>my nutrition</i>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The thing I like about writing this blog is that it allows
me to relive and share some very good races and wonderful experiences, while
conversely providing me the vehicle for putting some unsuccessful experiences
behind me. Get it out on paper (or
pixels in this case), and then shift focus on what’s next.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I DNF’ed at mile 63 of the Kettle 100 mile race, my first
attempt at this distance. Surprisingly,
I am not as devastated by this result as I might have expected. I learned a ton just getting to that point in
the race, all of which I plan on applying to my next attempt at this distance;
probably in the same race next year. So
without a further waste of pixels, here’s what I learned.</span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span>Running
100 miles is friggin’ INSANE! I had no
clue. Everything I experienced in this
race, I've read about previously; there were no real surprises. But to experience it is to know it I
guess. The <b>mental aspect</b> of racing this distance is one for which I was not
prepared. My body did not fail, but my
mind was left reeling. This aspect is
one for which I must be better prepared.
I have a whole new level of respect for those who can finish at this
distance. Mary, you rock!</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span>Steve
Quick warned me! <b>Beware the chair</b> at mile 63.
I had the great idea that changing my socks at this point in the race
might be a great pick-me-up. But I need
to sit for that to happen. Big
mistake. I was too close to the car, to
a George Webb’s burger (which WAS delicious), to warmth and comfort and family,
and anything other than running. Why did
I sit down? Once I made that decision,
it might as well have been the Kettle 1000.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span>I
need to <b>have a plan</b>. Prepare for the lure of the chair! If I am dead set on quitting, then quit at
the <i>next</i> aid station. Maybe caffeine might give me the boost I
need. Or music. Or maybe a cattle prod.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span>Running
100 miles on hill and trail was hard on <b>my
whole body</b>. Afterwards I felt like I
had been rolled in an alley by some thugs; big ones with bats. And tattoos.
In the months of training leading up to the race, I focused almost
entirely on leg strength and endurance.
That part of my training worked.
I still was able to run the uphills and downhills relatively comfortably
late in the race. My back and shoulders
were very fatigued. I can get away
without push-ups and planks for races less than 50 miles it seems; but not at
this distance.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span>Screw
the goal time, <b>just finish</b> my first
100 miler. I had set a goal time of 20
hours. I know I can run that time, and I
will some day. But this was my first
attempt at this crazy distance. Setting
a goal this aggressive applied too much mental pressure. Next time, just finish the darned thing.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">6.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span>With
that said, I still need to <b>plan a pace</b>. I set out at a 10.5 min pace for the first 40
or so miles, and I don’t think that hindered me at all; I don’t think I started
out too fast. I was comfortable at that
pace, allowing me to slow it up when the heat became more of a factor. I have a feeling that once the coolness of
the evening set in, I could have returned to at least an 11 min pace.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">7. At locations late in the race in which DNF'ing is uniquely convenient (i.e. the 63 mile turnaround at the Kettle 100), plan on a <b>u-turn</b>. Do not linger and allow naughty thoughts to develop.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In conclusion, for those who are considering this insanity,
I hope this helps. For those who are
already nuts and have completed this distance, I would love to hear your input
and guidance. The bottom line is: I
could have continued. I did not. I wish I would have.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The actor Peter Ustinov once said, “The point of
… being an optimist, is to be foolish enough to believe the best is yet to
come.” Well, I'm understating the obvious when I say that trying this again will be foolish. Here’s to what’s
yet to come!</span></span>stillwaterrunnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07185881704535781991noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-667817670522166935.post-21257025778751195252013-05-24T08:59:00.001-07:002013-05-24T09:03:53.853-07:00Kettle 100 Jitters<div class="MsoNormal">
In one week I will be somewhere on a lonely stretch of
singletrack in the <a href="http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/parks/name/kms/" target="_blank">Southern Kettle Moraine</a> trying to do something that I find
pretty intimidating; something that is simply an unknown for me. I am going to try to run <a href="http://www.kettle100.com/" target="_blank">100 miles</a> in one
day. Thousands of people do this every
year and they aren't falling apart from the experience. I know I can do this too.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My trepidation comes from that unknown quantity; it’s always
the unknowns that give us pause. Will my
body keep it together, or will it let me down?
I know my body will be aching for sure, but how will my mind handle the
experience? Will I be able to while away
the miles, or will each stride be a step closer to going absolutely nuts? Will I see monkeys? Will I barf?
Will I yell at my crew? Will I
get a (gasp) blister?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tapering for my first 100-miler has become a pretty
nerve-racking experience. I can’t
imagine life past 6:00am on June 1<sup>st</sup>, 2013. Part of the deal is, I am as prepared for
this race as I can be. With a high-fat,
low-carb keto-diet, I am a lean & mean racing machine at 140 lbs. I've been putting in the miles and hammering
the hills for the last 5 months, through snow, mud and rain. I've also never been this uninjured and
healthy in preparation for a race. My
energy levels are fantastic, and my legs are pretty tough.</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
I know I’ll be fine.
I will feel like a million bucks after I cross that line sometime on
June 2<sup>nd</sup>, and all those questions will be answered. It’s going to be long, and rough, and hard,
and painful. But it will be nothing I
can’t handle. Unless there are
<a href="http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/scary%20clowns" target="_blank">clowns</a>. Then I’m done for.</div>
stillwaterrunnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07185881704535781991noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-667817670522166935.post-16264096353314845282013-05-02T13:46:00.001-07:002013-05-02T13:46:18.352-07:00Not so fast Spring: A Winter Encore!As luck would have it, Winter was NOT done in Wisconsin. Another dumping of about 6" of snow found Willow River State Park on the morning of May 2nd. I love running in this state.<br />
<br />
I took the following pictures on my morning run in the park. With scenes like these, Spring can take its time. Enjoy!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_TJ_cfq0jHrQDdk4E_QQOsD6JWn3ZsAwSXHf1-uXLNWI2E_mAW0y1cuRUBEpJah9JHWGSQkLQrayN6Z2AtHiWU1OdsshFvcj-GV9_WKnibGYUFMmwDpKhmQ3DD5Rfvm_Lj5n_JQcIB5x0/s1600/IMG_0776.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_TJ_cfq0jHrQDdk4E_QQOsD6JWn3ZsAwSXHf1-uXLNWI2E_mAW0y1cuRUBEpJah9JHWGSQkLQrayN6Z2AtHiWU1OdsshFvcj-GV9_WKnibGYUFMmwDpKhmQ3DD5Rfvm_Lj5n_JQcIB5x0/s400/IMG_0776.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The path into the park; 6 inches deep!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjna4t4_8CY2Iiiva_pc1YhjdPb9hzNGTR1aeFT23l9EacycqO9P436Lon4-fgTrKYZqBjCDv6Mo8yqT2XUdzFfCKwJXeQk3154T1ek07mYepLyekFwNlNIh6o3PjQCn2nspOILLcMHuoU4/s1600/IMG_0781.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjna4t4_8CY2Iiiva_pc1YhjdPb9hzNGTR1aeFT23l9EacycqO9P436Lon4-fgTrKYZqBjCDv6Mo8yqT2XUdzFfCKwJXeQk3154T1ek07mYepLyekFwNlNIh6o3PjQCn2nspOILLcMHuoU4/s400/IMG_0781.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The steps to the North observation overlook</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE9LT8fGHrnh6kKBCoaBDGE8g4Bkg7_xEtWdRw34780m6CXe3fVY8tOC4q-hd_Hm24q0j2S-uWgkDqY7dLdvMu0Ubw7Spq0o9Wzuze894LHNAFAQh4KfLCtmYWbFPE7v1fDDfHXkZifZ_X/s1600/IMG_0780.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE9LT8fGHrnh6kKBCoaBDGE8g4Bkg7_xEtWdRw34780m6CXe3fVY8tOC4q-hd_Hm24q0j2S-uWgkDqY7dLdvMu0Ubw7Spq0o9Wzuze894LHNAFAQh4KfLCtmYWbFPE7v1fDDfHXkZifZ_X/s400/IMG_0780.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view from the overlook; the picture does not do the scene justice</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBpZ0WbFx0b8Y2Qz6U793I_oxkU2a9IAn9Hk1BBPzr-PTQlGFwSWLQ2qVi2y7wXAPTTKsJ0Ysd24628JMff3wXVS1FCXd2sfxtxC0ktVerrvmzZSf6izd9k1w4jY_fKLJr4fgCv4I0bDNg/s1600/IMG_0783.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBpZ0WbFx0b8Y2Qz6U793I_oxkU2a9IAn9Hk1BBPzr-PTQlGFwSWLQ2qVi2y7wXAPTTKsJ0Ysd24628JMff3wXVS1FCXd2sfxtxC0ktVerrvmzZSf6izd9k1w4jY_fKLJr4fgCv4I0bDNg/s400/IMG_0783.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Willow River, at the Falls Bridge</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
stillwaterrunnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07185881704535781991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-667817670522166935.post-43150418391548473912013-04-23T06:39:00.001-07:002013-04-23T06:48:24.105-07:00One Last Winter Gift at Willow River<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've never been forced to train through the winter. Ever. I've always chosen to peak for fall races, giving me the summer to train properly. This is more about perceived limitations than toughness. I just never considered winter as a time to train.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When it came time to choose a first 100-miler, I wanted something fairly straightforward, flatish, close-by and familiar. The obvious choice turned out to be the <a href="http://www.kettle100.com/" target="_blank">Kettle 100</a> in S. Wisconsin. I know and love the <a href="http://www.nps.gov/iatr/" target="_blank">Ice Age Trail</a> in this area. Fantastic running, beautiful scenery, and (mostly) non-technical singletrack. The trouble was though, that it runs the beginning of June.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This early race forced me to train through snow and sleet. Through 6" of snow and very uneven footing. At 5:30 in the morning with a headlamp. I refused to run on the roads in training for a trail 100-miler; that would make no sense. I am now emerging from winter pretty tough and fit, and uninjured. Relatively of course.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One unexpected gift that came my way was "the things you see" when you run at all times of the day and year. This morning was no exception. It is the end of April. Average high temps are supposed to be around 60°F. We are expecting to see the sun and 75° by the weekend (woo hoo!). And yet, God saw fit to give us one more winter gift in the form of about 8" of freshly-fallen snow overnight.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was out on the trails at <a href="http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/parks/name/willowriver/" target="_blank">Willow River State Park</a> in NW Wisconsin this morning, at about 5:45 am., and took these pictures. Enjoy, and happy end of Winter!</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>stillwaterrunnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07185881704535781991noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-667817670522166935.post-21283795352963257142013-03-15T10:28:00.002-07:002013-03-19T07:21:33.256-07:00Ft Lauderdale A1A Race Report<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The A1A weekend brought three St Croix Valley runners—Randy, Steve,
Candy—and a couple of their friends together for a great time. Captain Randy
was a gracious host, coordinating dinner reservations/locations and race
logistics. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD5nQRaw3C3xMcqz6A34GT60MushydgFoZhyNE5k8oHbaqWziekhECdxURq8sDFVWUyWamyFk5jnTumzCeVEgz0TabS-i4sru027J_asF84Ok0pzE2yVdLx5etkkkw-QNrQz_8ECRj2sKg/s1600/lady_chateau_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD5nQRaw3C3xMcqz6A34GT60MushydgFoZhyNE5k8oHbaqWziekhECdxURq8sDFVWUyWamyFk5jnTumzCeVEgz0TabS-i4sru027J_asF84Ok0pzE2yVdLx5etkkkw-QNrQz_8ECRj2sKg/s1600/lady_chateau_1.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lady Chateau</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The runners and their support teams met on Randy’s Lady
Chateau before heading out for a pasta dinner on Saturday night. A discussion
about race logistics and our departure time from the hotel the next morning
turned into a bit of a negotiation between Randy and Steve. As always, Randy
wanted to get to the start line about an hour before race time. That gives him
enough time to take in the crowd, drink some extra fluids, and revel in the
atmosphere. Steve, on the other hand, prefers to step out of the vehicle and
into the running queue, getting all the beauty sleep he can and wasting no
energy on frivolous, pedestrian activities. As it turned out, we were very
early and it got to be uncomfortable standing in that cold, blustery wind.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4pxpbn2rm0Rhc51-DTmNkXMq2ulV0iW1chbn7HR-xTvxnYL9YyB-gTcvhvwyyaHiaD1kilg_LmMUMTh-JFxChYEAPw-BwywTYX81J_Ww3794loDwxnnt0a0ckZV9y37TkaBKc7sucgmZW/s1600/pic+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4pxpbn2rm0Rhc51-DTmNkXMq2ulV0iW1chbn7HR-xTvxnYL9YyB-gTcvhvwyyaHiaD1kilg_LmMUMTh-JFxChYEAPw-BwywTYX81J_Ww3794loDwxnnt0a0ckZV9y37TkaBKc7sucgmZW/s400/pic+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The Runners--Steve, Bobbye, Candy, Randy,
Juliana</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBNghpVbGnizR9P2vuyuJJqxXlDnYL-FuNLz6Jo8i5EGcYqnO2hPaH9bZfugZSQGTcaZORmfZX_DpUqxZnytVJBahsFhoP0EP-S3vIo1r9p9RD3N7ohKu6z1S0EnMDmsTqOItUv0peL1a6/s1600/pic+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBNghpVbGnizR9P2vuyuJJqxXlDnYL-FuNLz6Jo8i5EGcYqnO2hPaH9bZfugZSQGTcaZORmfZX_DpUqxZnytVJBahsFhoP0EP-S3vIo1r9p9RD3N7ohKu6z1S0EnMDmsTqOItUv0peL1a6/s400/pic+3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">The Support Team--Jerry,
Robin, Gary</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The weather conditions for the 6:00 am start were much
cooler than in past years. The temp was 45° F at the start, or 38° F with the wind chill due to a 17 mph wind out of the north. This was a bit of a
concern because the route for about 11 miles of the marathon and 4 miles of the
half was straight into the wind.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_pav4J2coW-3r2KnlnONr458qg-2ZShDtyW8ZHdBGXgcXXC5yG-iCSwZy6ap6qo5JCRG9Z7HHcPLdlk9wJ0qye2IQ6Rcmp7MZsj6SRxZWL5huPVLKSW9_JY0SWkKS9GwFNbkZ-P3Z3BZe/s1600/pic+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_pav4J2coW-3r2KnlnONr458qg-2ZShDtyW8ZHdBGXgcXXC5yG-iCSwZy6ap6qo5JCRG9Z7HHcPLdlk9wJ0qye2IQ6Rcmp7MZsj6SRxZWL5huPVLKSW9_JY0SWkKS9GwFNbkZ-P3Z3BZe/s400/pic+4.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Staying warm--Bobbye,
Steve, Juliana, Candy, Randy</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first priority during those early morning hours was
staying warm. The high temperature for the day was somewhere in the 60s.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Randy placed second in his AG in the marathon and friends
Juliana and Bobbye nailed down PRs in the half. Steve ran the half with Juliana,
and Candy managed to drag her butt across the finish line logging one of her
slowest times. All were very interested in Candy’s time in that she was trying
a new training technique. It’s the Hanson-Brooks method, and for those
unfamiliar with it, they stress running on tired legs with the longest run at
16 miles. She followed the program pretty well, but a bout with the Minnesota
“crud” wasn’t on the schedule, and she found the <a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=667817670522166935" name="_GoBack"></a>running
against the cold wind quite challenging.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Randy expanded his host duties on Monday by taking our merry
group on a boat ride along the Intracoastal Waterway. Among the notable things
to see was Steven Spielberg’s yacht that is parked a dock away from the Lady
Chateau.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5OuszHMyBp1hzcxpdzGjZEdZga8RZQkudTPBJsvTlZMybxKNOUz9TTLChldLQNcwkKiZP-FtVSeU_LQw1wCsytsCm2kDQjtqYQ2cIKaVjHAp7t8BF5vEU-7Z33vTl_AeGYgJm5QicCeA6/s1600/pic+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5OuszHMyBp1hzcxpdzGjZEdZga8RZQkudTPBJsvTlZMybxKNOUz9TTLChldLQNcwkKiZP-FtVSeU_LQw1wCsytsCm2kDQjtqYQ2cIKaVjHAp7t8BF5vEU-7Z33vTl_AeGYgJm5QicCeA6/s1600/pic+5.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">Cruising the Intracoastal
Waterway--Bobbye, Candy, Robin, Juliana (ouch that is sunburn)</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1177uJavDUNrLAN65-UB1uH-VBnlHU9tbVK5yeSpnpuCyBuCWHi07A4f19D63suSrPKGyqXDSexP6Im3PbnOCxzXSlTOtBy3FMnWC5dvWdmxtGNQnGbhvGqG4DqV6LRkmPipzEjttmaKY/s1600/pic+6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1177uJavDUNrLAN65-UB1uH-VBnlHU9tbVK5yeSpnpuCyBuCWHi07A4f19D63suSrPKGyqXDSexP6Im3PbnOCxzXSlTOtBy3FMnWC5dvWdmxtGNQnGbhvGqG4DqV6LRkmPipzEjttmaKY/s1600/pic+6.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">The Spielberg
yacht--complete with indoor swimming pool</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thank you Captain Randy for the Ft. Lauderdale adventure!</span></div>
stillwaterrunnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07185881704535781991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-667817670522166935.post-37478352917447013372013-03-06T12:25:00.000-08:002013-03-07T06:12:53.441-08:00The Adventures of Keto-Man<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The end of 2012 found me contemplating my previous racing season. It was a great year of ultra-marathons, with
multiple PR’s, an AG win and <i>almost</i> a
top-10. I was left with the feeling
though, that “this was it”, I just can’t get much faster or better and it will
be all downhill from here. I am 48, so
that day is looming I’m sure.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 14pt;">But. I still have one card yet
to play. My diet. </span><span style="line-height: 18.65625px;">I've</span><span style="line-height: 14pt;"> always just eaten anything and
everything. Why not when you run 70
mi/wk, right? Well, after reading <a href="http://zachbitterrunning.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">ZachBitter’s blog</a> on low-carb performance, I thought that was well worth
investigation. My long race performance
(> 50 mi) sure could use some improvement.
Too many bonks with too much central fatigue.</span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIj5MaR6VfpRm8B8ONJ-6B8L_g9R1lrTLzHunDn68CRS5JbHpaTz5ytf_ZvMGcFF3OibYW97-q3WcLuR3Ft8_D9TXRF64TpDz26FfElNGHlRZ25ktDEtqBc78nPyHw1_Btntaa_GX7NGwf/s1600/the+art+and+science.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIj5MaR6VfpRm8B8ONJ-6B8L_g9R1lrTLzHunDn68CRS5JbHpaTz5ytf_ZvMGcFF3OibYW97-q3WcLuR3Ft8_D9TXRF64TpDz26FfElNGHlRZ25ktDEtqBc78nPyHw1_Btntaa_GX7NGwf/s200/the+art+and+science.jpg" width="138" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 14pt;">I went out and bought </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Science-Carbohydrate-Performance/dp/0983490716/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1362601066&sr=8-1&keywords=the+art+and+science+of+low+carb+performance" style="line-height: 14pt;" target="_blank">The Art & Science of Low-Carb Performance</a><span style="line-height: 14pt;"> by Stephen Phinney and Jeff Volek. I
have now been officially keto-adapted for 8 weeks and I’m no longer looking
back to my old diet. I eat <50 g low-glycemic
carbs/day, a set amount of protein, and enough healthy fat to manage my body
weight. Here are some of the results </span><span style="line-height: 18.65625px;">I've</span><span style="line-height: 14pt;"> found in my short experiment:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Energy Level</b> – I considered
the spikes and lows of carb-based nutrition as just normal every-day life
experience. Not so as keto-man! I feel awesome! My energy levels are even all day long, with
no afternoon slumps. During long runs, I
experience about an hour of slight soreness in my legs, and then no significant
discomfort after. Without fueling. My longest run so far has been 4 hrs, so what
happens beyond, we’ll see.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14pt; margin-bottom: 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Recovery</b> – Wow. This is the area where I am seeing the greatest improvement. I used to really feel a 4 hr run for at least 48 hrs. Now it is just a dull ache for about 12 hrs, and I am ready to go the next day. This is good, because I want to be doing closer to 100 miles/week max in training for a 100 miler.</span></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQqIf5ii5yoiFxqwtcWFIrSnn7uNk75mvgzYq0kQsPub0CFZmwJLEHDd4d_IPsHmzKYBTO0gLqPcYYi-5oaWHE7wEIFz6MeOLFal-q5-yICQR-8nzXjuwvGbBnK5VOF2TvXtteS75oBVP0/s1600/willowriverstairs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQqIf5ii5yoiFxqwtcWFIrSnn7uNk75mvgzYq0kQsPub0CFZmwJLEHDd4d_IPsHmzKYBTO0gLqPcYYi-5oaWHE7wEIFz6MeOLFal-q5-yICQR-8nzXjuwvGbBnK5VOF2TvXtteS75oBVP0/s320/willowriverstairs.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Explosive Power</b> – I find
that I <i>might</i> have a little less
explosive power available. I am still in
my base training phase, and have not started speed-work yet, so this may not be
the case. But. I do stair training every Tuesday morning, at
the 250 ft Willow River falls stairs.
Last year, as a carb-fueled person, I would lunge every-other step for
the first 125 ft, and then run each step of the remainder. This year, the lunges seem to me a bit more
difficult to maintain, and I’m dying more at the end. We’ll see though. It may be too early to tell.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14pt; margin-bottom: 6pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Body Weight</b> – I can’t keep it
on! My racing weight used to be around
150 lb at about 14% fat. Training weight
was about 155-160 lb. Today, I am
running about 50 mi/wk at 142 lb and 12% while dropping about 2 lb per
week. The real bummer is that I don’t
seem to be adding lean muscle mass yet.
I’m not sure what is going on. I
do think that, for being in a training phase, I weigh too little and need to
pack on a bit more to my 6 foot frame.
More fat I guess.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The Role of Carbs in Racing</b>
– I am convinced that I can run a race while maintaining the keto diet. Supposedly the <a href="http://www.vespapower.com/" target="_blank">Vespa </a>supplement could help me,
but it is so dang expensive. Others
speak of using super-starch, like <a href="http://generationucan.com/home.html" target="_blank">U-CAN</a>, which slow-drips the carbs into your
system. Zach Bitter mixes his carb gels
and Vespa while racing for optimal performance.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am convinced that carbs will play a role in my races. I will start experimenting with U-CAN after
my long runs reach about 5 hours or so.
I’ll try some gels too, to gauge their effect. From what I read, I’ll want to avoid the <i>insulin response</i>. Hmmm.
At mile 90 I’m thinking the Expresso Express gel might be what the
doctor ordered. Or, I might drop from a
coronary. We’ll see.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Favorite Food</b> – Steak, duh. My second favorite is a shake though. Add the following to a blender, in this
order:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14pt; margin-bottom: 6pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> 1/4 cup blueberries</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14pt; margin-bottom: 6pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> 1/2 cup Greek
yogurt</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14pt; margin-bottom: 6pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> 1/2 cup cream or
half-and-half</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14pt; margin-bottom: 6pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> 1/4 cup whey protein
(peanut butter works too)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14pt; margin-bottom: 6pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Blend to consistency. Pour into
glass. Add the following to the glass
(this will gunk up your blender, so add it here):</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14pt; margin-bottom: 6pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Olive oil, or
fish oil to taste</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14pt; margin-bottom: 6pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> 1 TBSP chia seeds</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14pt; margin-bottom: 6pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is a wonderful blog written by three (now four!) keto-adapted athletes
called <a href="http://www.runketo.com/" target="_blank">runketo.com</a>, where I have found some great info to aid in my diet
adventure. There are many links to other
keto-friendly blogs there as well.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14pt; margin-bottom: 6pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I know I am an experiment of one, but the results look promising!</span></div>
stillwaterrunnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07185881704535781991noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-667817670522166935.post-20922717247642673642013-02-11T11:41:00.002-08:002013-02-11T11:41:47.739-08:00Running Willow River<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’d like to share with you a wonderful running location not
10 minutes from my front door in NW Wisconsin called <a href="http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/parks/name/willowriver/" target="_blank">Willow River State Park</a>. This 3000 acre gem can be reached
from the Cities by taking I-94 into Wisconsin, and heading north on Hwy 12 (exit
4) for a few miles. The swimming isn't much (unless you prefer your bathwater green), but the trails are great and getting better.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From spring to fall, I can get up to 15 miles of trail without
backtracking (much), allowing me to mix up my runs a bit. In the winter, you get about 6 miles, which I’m
not complaining about. The park trails,
like most up here, are limited to skiers only.
I struggle with the ethics of this: limiting park access to those with the
means, or only to those who chose to ski.
But heck, I’ll take the 6 miles. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here are some of the pictures I took on last weekend's run.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Falls is beautiful any time of the year. In the Winter, it is exceptionally so. You are greeted with a fully frozen cascade with fractal-like ice formations; to totally free running free, and anything in between. This is a great place to climb too!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieftL-KIs6iQU3QFm9bcLHQqus2w0sJcWpzke2F3Si0vkAqbvIZtAl_dyo54pippZDQhU42jr5WjngXL2tDwkNnA8P0xfAVxH0LWHBpPbQQsgz-Rz_kp0KHSvpWxxVStlbeisbvDolKyKs/s1600/IMG_0509_02.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieftL-KIs6iQU3QFm9bcLHQqus2w0sJcWpzke2F3Si0vkAqbvIZtAl_dyo54pippZDQhU42jr5WjngXL2tDwkNnA8P0xfAVxH0LWHBpPbQQsgz-Rz_kp0KHSvpWxxVStlbeisbvDolKyKs/s400/IMG_0509_02.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Willow River Falls - partially frozen</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What's nice about this falls is that you can scramble up and along (and even behind) it along both sides. This falls was reborn recently when a dam was removed. You can see the spillway along the right (southern) rock wall.</span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinAGP17MHp2NzVO3vR6-Yatb7CcogM0rQUM42cT04sbi14t-X_B7Z2dpW-AsdH4UwbI3h5kpxrHLlbMJBar0ixfIGwPAPpexlki9Qex_a5XWLcx_lgQSOL4xtdMl_9lbxH_DH5tgT4Is6a/s1600/IMG_0512_02.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinAGP17MHp2NzVO3vR6-Yatb7CcogM0rQUM42cT04sbi14t-X_B7Z2dpW-AsdH4UwbI3h5kpxrHLlbMJBar0ixfIGwPAPpexlki9Qex_a5XWLcx_lgQSOL4xtdMl_9lbxH_DH5tgT4Is6a/s400/IMG_0512_02.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Willow River Falls - a closeup of the runoff</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are many hills in the park, many exceeding 250 feet or so, with lots of smaller rollers. It doesn't take long to get 2,000+ feet of climb in an afternoon!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqr9a-AHRWWbzvMILkpyqdIF7gkDlA-oIBxARDmeuJx431Jpg6asz35DAOiTLHVxgDsIUH71LW3N_CTnHkBAMsE-GrIyI1X1shxy_JqBXkJwo8THqsIuL3JrOZpAF4OePlfhBy3vozsH8n/s1600/IMG_0518.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqr9a-AHRWWbzvMILkpyqdIF7gkDlA-oIBxARDmeuJx431Jpg6asz35DAOiTLHVxgDsIUH71LW3N_CTnHkBAMsE-GrIyI1X1shxy_JqBXkJwo8THqsIuL3JrOZpAF4OePlfhBy3vozsH8n/s400/IMG_0518.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Running along the bluff edge</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzuzAchiKoBCkFm5g2G922qq2MiRMvxc_a_Q4JZL9jxafnKR9nI7PU6WTf6oWXqX1KjJ8FrKrhDSG7LwYr6jkOTewmPdjSgj8c7Uweew03lg5geqR0vHUKFYBZ9t4GIFQ3Vh6JTlLXx9zo/s1600/IMG_0520.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzuzAchiKoBCkFm5g2G922qq2MiRMvxc_a_Q4JZL9jxafnKR9nI7PU6WTf6oWXqX1KjJ8FrKrhDSG7LwYr6jkOTewmPdjSgj8c7Uweew03lg5geqR0vHUKFYBZ9t4GIFQ3Vh6JTlLXx9zo/s400/IMG_0520.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the many hills to climb</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAnnViLnjAD1GTUA62gXHa7-NGupkJTBQs9McG_B-GNiNtZ5nFp7Ixg27vNJJSZJiZ-j29_rKnGS7tU-DiZI7VbA2cahiIDAcyRIWUueIzOtxbzujS9ruqZ8YlWE6FljKTrYqAP2FB2Zu3/s1600/IMG_0522_02.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAnnViLnjAD1GTUA62gXHa7-NGupkJTBQs9McG_B-GNiNtZ5nFp7Ixg27vNJJSZJiZ-j29_rKnGS7tU-DiZI7VbA2cahiIDAcyRIWUueIzOtxbzujS9ruqZ8YlWE6FljKTrYqAP2FB2Zu3/s400/IMG_0522_02.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A view of the river along the southern bluff...</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihkpLCRltzY0gfvj4dKBB9cymePrHCa2DxTDFpeETzYpJ8vKQWsgp6t5cj0Dgm7mF1DhSGR-TIBIWcuCz_UAvzFUwhuGhPFf9ZmqVgwmOOALGJ56nVi1cdJ6udPxXJfOGHbK_tlsndaPCD/s1600/IMG_0528.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihkpLCRltzY0gfvj4dKBB9cymePrHCa2DxTDFpeETzYpJ8vKQWsgp6t5cj0Dgm7mF1DhSGR-TIBIWcuCz_UAvzFUwhuGhPFf9ZmqVgwmOOALGJ56nVi1cdJ6udPxXJfOGHbK_tlsndaPCD/s400/IMG_0528.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">... and from the northern bluff</td></tr>
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<br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The park offers about 6 miles of trail for pedestrian use during the winter. The path varies from ski-grade groomed to lightly trampled singletrack. Fun!</span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXbJ8Ez1fDV6EEbCKWOXdWJE_j9VxfLIwW-RrGoElDEts1W6AJtsQDhziUf5wCNAws6CqvG06l1dHaTcpykKk3uBIpY8GJYFwM5hzLPHyED8M13gavCxUaPaS6OLpEgKqqvg3q1LsGT7f4/s1600/IMG_0521_02.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXbJ8Ez1fDV6EEbCKWOXdWJE_j9VxfLIwW-RrGoElDEts1W6AJtsQDhziUf5wCNAws6CqvG06l1dHaTcpykKk3uBIpY8GJYFwM5hzLPHyED8M13gavCxUaPaS6OLpEgKqqvg3q1LsGT7f4/s400/IMG_0521_02.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Miles of some pretty interesting running</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Run 1</b> – starts at
the River Road parking lot, and runs along the southern park boundary,
returning along the southern edge of Little Falls Lake. This will get you about 10 miles.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Run 2</b> – starts at
the same location, and runs north of Little Falls Lake. This is a new section of trail that is nearly
completed. It started out a single track
scout-trail, which was fantastic. Now
you can drive a jeep down the trail. Oh
well. Then return to the falls along the
lake, back along the southern boundary and then returning along the north side
of the lake. This will get you up to 15
miles.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU-qoErQxr17B9vphIjSkqWs6hcSaM4CcvRGwoQn3Y-0qIj6Qxq5toEtOjgZbF-9ajvOoWEdgfQ7p4yBS1ZvAsflPN3jT8GPAnCFGv8PoG3ycynCog3cRlALbp1MQk69yUbGJGBQ-IYNW7/s1600/park+map.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU-qoErQxr17B9vphIjSkqWs6hcSaM4CcvRGwoQn3Y-0qIj6Qxq5toEtOjgZbF-9ajvOoWEdgfQ7p4yBS1ZvAsflPN3jT8GPAnCFGv8PoG3ycynCog3cRlALbp1MQk69yUbGJGBQ-IYNW7/s400/park+map.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Park trail map</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I hope you all get a chance to check out this park during any season, it is well worth the visit!</span></div>
stillwaterrunnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07185881704535781991noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-667817670522166935.post-37790882956034451682013-01-10T09:10:00.001-08:002013-01-10T09:12:33.023-08:00Adventure 2013<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Happy belated New Year everyone! With the new year comes a transition between
introspection and family, into “The Grind” until spring. I’ve used a bit of that introspection time
off to catch up on blogs, and I’ve found a common theme: Why do I run (such
stupid distances). For me it is simple:
adventure and competition. I do get a
kick out of racing, but I will focus on the adventure portion for this post.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What other endeavor allows us to experience so much in a day
or a run, while allowing for the mental clarity to truly live that
adventure? What people might take 2-3
days to experience while hiking with their worldly goods on their backs, I can
live in an afternoon. True, hiking
allows for other types of adventure, but running allows for more of it. Running can be a feast for the eyes and mind.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The following describes some of the things I’ve learned on
my many adventures while running. But
first a couple of updates:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Kettle 100</b> – I’ve
signed up for my first <a href="http://www.kettle100.com/" target="_blank">Hundred</a>! I am
pretty pumped. The base training has
started, with hills and speed to start in February. Funny thing, I am not so worried about the
discomfort thing during this race, but more the bugs. It will be spring. I hate black flies. I need a plan…</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Diet</b> – The
low-carb diet has started with three weeks of mainly fruits and
vegetables. Things are going pretty well
so far. I will incorporate more protein
and fat in two weeks. My only craving is
really popcorn and chips. Potato chips
are vegetables, right?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">OK. Here are some of
the things I’ve learned on my many adventures while running:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Owls are cute</b> –
While in a forested section of the Southern Unit of the Kettle Moraine, on a
misty moisty morning, with two of my brothers, I was stopped by a commotion in
the trees above. After a bit of
searching, we found the source; two parent owls teaching two (ball of fluff)
owlets to fly. It was mesmerizing. Whenever the owlets tried to land on a
branch, they promptly did a 180, flipping underneath the branch, wildly
flapping their wings. The parents? I’ve never seen such indifference. They just watched as their chicks fluttered
and rotated from branch to branch, unfazed by the possibility of a 30 ft
plummet. We watched them for what seemed
like hours. They never did seem to get the
hang of it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Fawns are super-cute</b>
– Most visitors and campers at Willow River State Park in Wisconsin tend to
flock to a 2 mile section of trail between the campgrounds and falls. The remainder of the park tends to be
sparsely visited. I like that (selfish,
I know). In one remote forested portion,
the main trail winds through a thick stand of pines. On one cool, spring morning while rounding a
bend in that trail, I saw two enormous eyes staring back at me. After stopping cold, I worked out the tiny body
of a fawn lying in the center of the trail.
As it was not moving, it must have been born just moments prior. We both remained in place playing <i>don’t blink</i> for several minutes before I
figured the fawn was not going to budge.
Mom was nowhere in sight.
Finally, I chose to bushwhack around; the fawn was obviously
terrified. After my first loop I thought
to run an abbreviated second loop to check for the fawn. It was gone.
You just never know what’s around the next bend.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Turkeys are stupid</b>
– The Glacial Drumlin Trail is an east-west Rail-to-Trail in southern Wisconsin
between Waukesha and Madison. The trail
tends to be thinly lined on both sides by trees, with fields of corn, soy, etc.
outside of this leafy corridor. There is
a great 5-mile section just outside Lake Mills with nary a road crossing, and
opportunistic wildlife in the farm fields.
Once, on a summer long run, I was spied by a flock of turkeys in a
potato field wolfing down scraps. They
could see me through the thin line of trees bordering the trail. In true turkey-fashion, the alarm went up and
the whole flock ran for cover. Of
course, the only cover was that tree line along the trail; where I was. Running to the trail now, the stupid birds
led me perfectly such that, as they passed through the tree line and onto the
trail, they ended up directly in front of me and underfoot. I’ve never heard such squawking and gobbling,
all gigantic eyeballs and floppy neck things stumbling over each other. The alpha that got them into this mess
probably heard it after that! It is hard
to laugh and run at the same time. And
to think Ben Franklin was a fan of the turkey over the eagle.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Eagles are clumsy</b>
– Why do eagles try to fly through densely wooded areas? They are clumsier than turkeys when trying to
alight onto trees, and have no room to launch themselves. Talk about noisy too. Proud and graceful in the open, eagles are
anything but in the trees. Maybe Ben was
onto something. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Spearmint</b> <b>smells great</b> – Along the Glacial
Drumlin trail, there is a 200 yard section of wild spearmint. I often think of smell as the weakest sense,
but the smell of that spearmint is so captivating and almost overwhelming that
it can dominate the others. The
fragrance seems to last for about a week each year, with the remainder of the
year being a subtle background odor. I
can smell it now just thinking about it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Willow River
waterfall is a gem</b> – The falls along the Willow River in the Wisconsin
state park of that name can be quite beautiful.
I run past this gem many times each week, and it is ever changing
depending on the season and time of day.
On summer afternoons bathers can be seen filling the plunge pool, and
peeking behind the falls themselves under the overhang. On humid mornings, I can barely see the falls
through the mist that covers the trail.
It is in the winter, though, that the falls takes on a completely new
façade. Depending on how much freezing weather
we’ve seen, the falls can be seen partially to fully frozen over, with the
water still flowing beneath. A dichotomy
between the roar of the river and the motionless ice. The shape the ice takes is ever changing,
providing a beautiful break location for every winter run.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Geese, Ducks, Swans</b>
– The lazy waterfowl that choose to winter over in Wisconsin and Minnesota need
to compete for the limited open water space this time of year. And they don’t share nicely. The swans bully everyone. The geese need a runway from which to
takeoff, and barring the availability during a panic, just blast through
everyone else. And the poor ducks just
try to eke out some space. An idea for a
reality TV show?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Wildflowers</b> –
I’ll save the best for last. There is a
section of the Ice Age Trail in the Southern Kettle Moraine south of ZZ, where
a runner is far from roads and manmade structures. Seemingly endless prairie. If you hit this section at the right time of
year, the expanse of wildflowers is breathtaking, with a corona of pollinating
insects buzzing industriously throughout.
I think the Kettle 100 runners will experience this in June. I hope so!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I guess I can find adventure in the little things. Probably comes with advanced age. I
know, I need to get out more.</span></div>
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stillwaterrunnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07185881704535781991noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-667817670522166935.post-83625716651571490642012-11-20T08:31:00.000-08:002012-11-21T05:57:02.507-08:00End of the Old, Start of the New<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Running the last race of the season is a bittersweet event
for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve been truly blessed with a
great year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was injury-free and have
had only one race I would consider “bad”; and that turned out to be a 50-mile
PR, making “bad” a relative term.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My
2012 races:</span></div>
<ul>
<li>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.aftontrailrun.com/" target="_blank">AftonTrail Run</a> 50k</i>, 4:57, 33/199</span></li>
<li>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.thenorthface.com/en_US/endurance-challenge/madison-wi/?stop_mobi=yes" target="_blank">NorthFace WI</a> 50-mi</i>, 8:27, 28/222</span></li>
<li>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://surfthemurph.org/" target="_blank">Surfthe Murph</a> 50-mi</i>, 9:12, 11/51</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Three lousy
races.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am hardly king of the
trails.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is kind of weird, but I take
those races pretty seriously; fuel for my type-A personality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Afterward the transition can be kind of
abrupt:</span><br />
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Spring-Summer-Fall
schedule<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<ul>
<li>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">5:00 am: alarm goes off</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Calibri;">6:30 am: get out of bed</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Calibri;">7:30 am: endless miles, lots of hills and stairs</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Remainder of the day: eat like a horse, complain about my aches and pains, fight the dog for the best sun patches, take some vitamin-I and go to bed</span></li>
</ul>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">And then it ends: The
Winter schedule<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<ul>
<li>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">10:00 am: no alarm necessary, I can set my internal clock to “sloth”</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Calibri;">10:30 am: do a few squats and core exercises until I get bored</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Remainder of the day: eat like a horse, complain about my aches and pains, fight the dog for the best sun patches, take some vitamin-I and go to bed</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And plan for next season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I like to up the ante and then regret about it later, and am faced with
the choices of trying to improve speed, distance, or course toughness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I choose the first two for next year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll save <a href="http://fall.superiortrailrace.com/" target="_blank">Superior</a> for the following
season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chicken, I know.</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgepQqEigFw3-EK9EGmFocJuJbYSySO3enIzJ54g25JhEc1abYQDCqP2q2EgOqNic03dRs1wuu-ixfgN9_HrtNcoh4ZMYc0-ldCH6l5CiJ_goSgDsStzraugGzDG9HvcCtFipuGrCZtp25a/s1600/the+art+and+science.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgepQqEigFw3-EK9EGmFocJuJbYSySO3enIzJ54g25JhEc1abYQDCqP2q2EgOqNic03dRs1wuu-ixfgN9_HrtNcoh4ZMYc0-ldCH6l5CiJ_goSgDsStzraugGzDG9HvcCtFipuGrCZtp25a/s320/the+art+and+science.jpg" width="222" /></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">A New Diet</b> – To
help me to take it to the next level, I am considering a change in my diet from
non-existent, to low carb/high-fat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
intent is to convert myself into a “butter burner” after about a two week
transition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I read a great book called
The <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Art-Science-Low-Carbohydrate-Performance/dp/0983490716/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1353428524&sr=1-1&keywords=the+art+and+science+of+low+carbohydrate+performance" target="_blank">Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Zach Bitter introduced me to the concept on
his <a href="http://zachbitterrunning.blogspot.com/2012/10/high-carb-vs-high-fat.html" target="_blank">blog</a>; the science looks sound and the concept just makes good sense to
me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I may also start adding <a href="http://www.vespapower.com/" target="_blank">Vespa</a> to my
training and racing nutrition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll wait until <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">AFTER</i> the holidays though; fudge truffles will be impossible to
resist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My main purpose trying this
diet:</span></div>
<ul>
<li>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Steady flow of energy</b> by tapping into an “endless” source of
fat-based fuel, instead of the rollercoaster ride that is carb fueling.</span></li>
<li>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Better mental clarity by reducing central fatigue –</b> I’ve read that
bonking comes at a time of battle between your brain and muscles for your
depleted glycogen reserves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since you
need those muscles to outrun the lions, your brain attempts to perform at a
reduced energy level.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kind of like my
laptop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bonking may have something to do
with aromatic amino acid uptake as well (whatever that means).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve always felt that if I could eliminate
one challenge from running, it would be central fatigue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll take tired muscles and an upset stomach
before I start feeling like I want to pass out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Mental morass just sucks.</span></li>
<li>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Reduction of CO<sub><span style="font-size: x-small;">2</span></sub> in my bloodstream</b> – Seems that when
exerting yourself in strenuous exercise, C0<sub><span style="font-size: x-small;">2</span></sub> can accumulate in the
bloodstream as a byproduct of lactic acid buildup due to carb metabolization, reducing
your blood pH, and placing yourself in a state of hyperventilation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This has happened to me a few times and has
been incapacitating (<a href="http://stillwaterrunner.blogspot.com/2012/09/2012-north-face-endurance-challenge-50.html" target="_blank">blog post</a>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fat
burning causes less lactic acid to build up, and thus less CO<sub><span style="font-size: x-small;">2</span></sub> in my
bloodstream.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is my second choice
for elimination.</span></li>
<li>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Quicker Recovery</b> – Burning fat causes less metabolic stress than burning
carbs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I get older I am finding that
the tough runs are harder to bounce back from, causing me to reduce my training
volume immediately following.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m lucky
if I can do a 70 mile week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To do well
in a 100 mile race, I think I want to increase my training volume, which means
I need to recover quicker and more thoroughly.</span></li>
<li>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sour cream, butter, cashews,</b> coconut oil, bacon, eggs, cheese,
cream, lard, …</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Which gets me to the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">races
I want to do next year</b> – For some reason I get great comfort from running
the same races year after year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll try
to force myself out of this rut a bit next season with a race longer than I’ve
ever run, and one shorter (and hopefully faster) than usual.</span><br />
<ul>
<li>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.kettle100.com/" target="_blank">Kettle Moraine</a> 100m</b> – This will be my first 100 mile race, and I
think I’m ready for it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The race is run
in the Southern Unit of the Kettle Moraine in WI; trails I’m very familiar with
and love (<a href="http://stillwaterrunner.blogspot.com/2012/08/running-kettle-moraine.html" target="_blank">blog post</a>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The biggest
challenge, I think, will be getting in the long runs though the winter
months.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Training starts in February.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Brrrr.</span></li>
<li>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.aftontrailrun.com/" target="_blank">Afton Trail Run</a> 50k</b> – I just love this race and cannot fathom a
year without it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I did pretty well last
year (<a href="http://stillwaterrunner.blogspot.com/2012/07/afton-trail-run-2012-50k-race-report.html" target="_blank">blog post</a>) and hope to hit those hills even stronger next year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The big challenge will be recovering from
Kettle Moraine in time for this race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is
5 weeks enough time?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If not, this turn
into a fun run.</span></li>
<li>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.greatlakesendurance.com/wisconsin-races/hartman-creek.html" target="_blank">Hartman Creek</a> 25k</b> – This race has been on my radar for a few years
now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I took my kids camping here a few
times; very nice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The trails are nice
and flat and well maintained.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
should be a fast and fun 25k, and I can take my family camping to boot.</span></li>
<li>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.thenorthface.com/en_US/endurance-challenge/madison-wi/?stop_mobi=yes" target="_blank">North Face Endurance Challenge</a> 50m</b> – This will be my fifth time
running this race and I’m ready to be done with it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t get me wrong, this is a fun race, but
it is getting expensive and I think I’m outgrowing it a bit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is flat and fast and beautiful; and I have
some unfinished business (<a href="http://stillwaterrunner.blogspot.com/2012/09/2012-north-face-endurance-challenge-50.html" target="_blank">blog post</a>): namely a sub-8 hr 50 miler.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This race is at the same time of year as
Superior, with which I hope to replace the following year.</span></li>
<li>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Willow River 10k</b> – Just a low-key, fun and hilly race on my home
turf.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I train here every week and enjoy
my unfair local advantage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Plus it is
pretty cheap and supports a good cause.</span></li>
<li>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://surfthemurph.org/" target="_blank">Surf the Murph</a> 50m</b> – I really like this race, after I’ve (kind of)
figured out the course.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I can stay on
the course I can do pretty well here (<a href="http://stillwaterrunner.blogspot.com/2012/10/surf-murph-50-mile-2012-race-report.html" target="_blank">blog post</a>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Plus it is close by, relatively cheap and
becoming an end-of-the-season tradition.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Should be fun!</span>stillwaterrunnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07185881704535781991noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-667817670522166935.post-54067198245416917202012-11-12T09:20:00.001-08:002012-11-12T09:21:58.700-08:00How Does One Race a Phantom?<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4WwNTF9yPnKap3_6aUaAsu-_l7kNBjUSoUQkAagPKN3OVwtcOdQMLYxp9SXqijSOyq-TYOBn_Fdr2OD3yaAA8bkuEEBBDijpLRYwx7c7V-hfF3TMa2ZgKKtWPvxPeiaPciVeDuuIQuEGR/s1600/phantom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4WwNTF9yPnKap3_6aUaAsu-_l7kNBjUSoUQkAagPKN3OVwtcOdQMLYxp9SXqijSOyq-TYOBn_Fdr2OD3yaAA8bkuEEBBDijpLRYwx7c7V-hfF3TMa2ZgKKtWPvxPeiaPciVeDuuIQuEGR/s320/phantom.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">OK, let me start this post by stating <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">this is not about sour grapes</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Really.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, maybe <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">just</i> a little.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am usually not one to rant and I try not to
come across as pessimistic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even so, I
want to share an interesting experience from <a href="http://surfthemurph.org/" target="_blank">Surf the Murph</a> 50M this
year.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I am a competitive person, and I set personal race
goals for motivation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There really is no social aspect
to running a 50 mile race for me; I have a set of goals and I try to achieve
them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My social scene is saved for
before and after, usually racing
from start to finish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am not
particularly fast, but I don’t care about that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This year at Surf the Murph my goals were twofold: under 9:30 and top-10.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finishing well, I thought I achieved them both.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Leaving the last aid station (horse camp) on the last loop,
I was 4.5 miles from the finish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was
on pace for 9:10 and was told I was in 9<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> place; both goals
easily within grasp.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would take
disaster to not achieve them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course,
this is where I say “and then disaster happened”, but it didn’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I ran a very strong finish, actually pushing
hard to see if I could make ground on 8<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who knew, number 8 could have been
hurting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the last mile, there were
straight sections that allowed about a 50-100 meter view ahead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was alone both in front and behind, and
thus was not picking up or losing a spot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I crossed the line in 9:12 and (supposedly) 9<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We wife told me that the previous racer
crossed the line about 10 minutes prior; the next person crossed the line over
5 minutes after.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I really was racing
alone.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I was surprised after seeing the published results a few
days later:</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">9:06:52 9<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">9:12:28 10<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">9:12:54
11<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> (my time)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">9:18:46 12<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">That surprise eventually led to confusion regarding how this
could be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This did not deter from
satisfaction with my performance or enjoyment of the race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But still, I was perplexed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do remember people talking about some who
were allowed to start later than the official 6:00 am start.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This race has timing mats that record one’s
time when crossing at the start and finish, not gun time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If so, this may provide a possible
explanation.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’ve allowed this question to simmer for a couple weeks now,
and have ended up in a state a little less pleased than when I started.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is not boiling over really, but it is not
cool to the touch either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most larger
races in which I’ve competed count only clock time for the first three places
for male and female open divisions; after that, it’s chip time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is
there a limit to how much after an official start someone is allowed onto a
course?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a race with timing mats, are
cutoffs the only deterrence to the late starter?</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And how does one strategize against a late starter?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Take, for instance, someone who might cross
the starting mat 5 minutes after the official start.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In my point of view, they are at a competitive advantage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They know they need to hold a position of no
more than 5 minutes from the racer in front to maintain their position in the
race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The racer in front has no such
competitive knowledge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The front-runner,
of course, is (wrongly) assuming that they need to maintain about a 10 second
lead on the person behind (accounting for the mass start) in order to maintain
their position.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I’m that
front-runner, I am running a strategic race, and I am at a strategic
disadvantage; and I’m ahead!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In my last
leg of Surf the Murph, if I saw a racer 26 seconds ahead, I would have busted
my ass trying to hatch him/her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How
could I have done that when 10<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> place was a phantom?</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Is this really no big deal?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Should I just shut up and be happy with my 11<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> place and
quit being a crybaby?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Does anyone else
even care about this?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, I guess I
do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe races should have a period of
time in which one may start in order to be listed among the ranked finishers;
say 30 seconds for a race like Surf the Murph.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If you start after that timeframe, your time is listed as a finisher,
but you are not ranked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Might there be
other possible options?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Please share your input in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">comments</i> section.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thanks!</span>stillwaterrunnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07185881704535781991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-667817670522166935.post-27361347633032233652012-11-07T05:31:00.002-08:002012-11-07T05:31:11.846-08:00Mary's Javelina Jundred 100M Race Report<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This has
been kind of a crazy year for me because of my 94 year old mother’s health
situation. In April she was admitted to the hospital and then to hospice. I
returned to MN to help with facilitating aspects of the transfer, returned to
AZ and the next day ran the Mt <a href="http://www.mountlemmonmarathon.com/" target="_blank">Lemmon Marathon</a> here in Tucson, a beautiful
continuous uphill course from 2700 ft. elevation to approximately 8500 ft. It’s
an excellent, unusual event which I would highly recommend.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My goal for
this summer was the <a href="http://www.ultramongolia.com/" target="_blank">Sunrise to Sunset</a> 42K and 100K run in Mongolia which I wrote
about in an earlier post. </span></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I
returned from that trip our family had decided that it was time for my parents
to move to an assisted living apartment. This decision occurred right about the
time that I ran the North Face 50K in WI. During this run I fell and
landed on my left hand and discovered 4 days later that I had broken a bone. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m happy to report that I
was able to finish that event and it was a great motivator for how I could
possibly perform at the Javelina event in October.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After
running the <a href="https://www.tcmevents.org/" target="_blank">Twin Cities Marathon</a> for the 31<span style="font-size: small;"><sup>st</sup> time, we returned to
Tucson. Plans were in place for my parents move and we were just waiting for an
apartment to open up. </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was able
to do one good desert hike two weeks before Javelina. In the meantime I was
trying to determine if I should give up my race and return to MN to help with
the move. The gods were with me and my youngest sister was able to work it out
to go to MN from Denver.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Four days
before the race my parents' move went very smoothly and I felt a load lifted and
I was ready to run the Javelina Jundred.</span></span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfeQWtqbojloYBf_TT01QaEhoLmcGwW4JvUAMiIf1J5y_YFHad0-uVe_Ac46bmISDz7P3upYC1_bad30wKHnfIfUFagaF5fAFL1g3i-yYtrMpZIEWyLYdhZ5MJ2D95obqG2BPQJ6dnv9xt/s1600/Pam+Reed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfeQWtqbojloYBf_TT01QaEhoLmcGwW4JvUAMiIf1J5y_YFHad0-uVe_Ac46bmISDz7P3upYC1_bad30wKHnfIfUFagaF5fAFL1g3i-yYtrMpZIEWyLYdhZ5MJ2D95obqG2BPQJ6dnv9xt/s320/Pam+Reed.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pam Reed and Mary</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A week
prior to the race I was all set to go. I left early and picked <a href="http://www.runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=5383" target="_blank">Pam Reed</a> up at the airport in
Phoenix. She was planning to pace me and had informed the RD that she would be
pacing me an extra loop, because in some 100 milers runners over 60 are allowed
a pacer for the entire run. This was hardly necessary in this run. I have run
the loop as the Pemberton 50K in Feb. a number of times. But it was great to
have a pacer from the time it was dark.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We arrived
at the race headquarters without a tent reservation and were prepared to set
up a tent if necessary. Luck was with us and there were a couple tents quite
near to the start/finish available. So we paid our fee and were set to go.</span></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the past
it has been possible to park at the start of this event. But since it has
become so popular, the RD decided to institute a shuttle system, which
according to my pacers really worked quite well. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The host
hotel was a very nice Radisson which is associated with a very large and busy
casino. Lots of smoke in there, so probably not too many runners. But there are
also two hot tubs and a beautiful pool. Great for soaking in after the race.</span></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The race
started at 6:00 AM and most people were arriving around 5:00. A number of
runners had camped at the race site so there was lots of activity when we
arrived.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxPmbOOTZd_EJ7QWrWpLWi2oBnta-U2K1Y4lsz_J6j7k6Oi4eDKiSw-Er46FDE9tTkN9EelaKeJ696qOD72bi3dXVW3Q7cCuOv7BpfutaNNnyRpPfQYp9-D-2qEx3YwzxCPfPnMWO1TggB/s1600/skeleton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxPmbOOTZd_EJ7QWrWpLWi2oBnta-U2K1Y4lsz_J6j7k6Oi4eDKiSw-Er46FDE9tTkN9EelaKeJ696qOD72bi3dXVW3Q7cCuOv7BpfutaNNnyRpPfQYp9-D-2qEx3YwzxCPfPnMWO1TggB/s320/skeleton.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The <a href="http://www.aravaiparunning.com/javelina-jundred/" target="_blank">Javelina Jundred</a> is
a 15.4 <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>mile loop which is run 6 times,
reversing course after completing a loop. Then to complete the 100 miles there
is a final 11 mile loop, thus
giving you a final run of 101.4 miles. The Pemberton 50K always runs two loops
clockwise, so this is the route I am most familiar with. During the race I came
to realize why I like this direction. Somehow the rocky sections just don’t
seem as bad, which is purely psychological, but it sure played with my head in
the dark.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There was an
extra aid station added to the race this year </span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">which I
neglected to pay attention to prior to the race. This only became a problem in
the first loop, since I didn’t fill my water bottle at the 2 mile aid station
and then discovered it was 6 or 7 miles to the main aid station. Since it was
early in the moring this didn’t really pose a problem, other than I was
planning on an aid station in 3 miles. This change is an excellent one and was
clearly explained in the course description. I just was going on my past
experience.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before the
race I had filled out a race log provided on the website with my predictions
for each lap. I had done my predictions based on my time from my previous race
and added a bit of a cushion, since I felt a bit undertrained.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was pleasantly surprised to find that by
the last two laps I was over an hour ahead of my predicted time, and was ahead
for each lap by at least 10 minutes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Ironically, I was 10 minutes slower in the first loop, but that was
partly due to a very slow start, since I started quite far back in the pack and
we walked for about half a mile on the single track trail.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the past
few years I have become a big proponent of eating real food in ultras and try
to stay away from anything “sugary”. Thus I am limited to peanut butter
sandwiches, potatoes dipped in salt, potato chips, pretzels, soup, mashed
potatoes, etc. The exceptions I made in this race were to eat the cantolope and
water melon, which were very refreshing in the heat of the afternoon and during
the night I had some dates because the other food did not appear appetizing. I
carried gel packs only as a back-up in case I was stranded with low energy
between aid stations. I took only two gels the entire race. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The aid
stations were amazing and the volunteers were always very eager to help fill
our water bottles and help us eat as much as we could. Many of the volunteers
worked more than one shift and it was fun to see familiar faces as we kept
looping around the course. Each aid station also had a small ”mash unit” and it
was obvious that the runners in their care were being well taken care of.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4NSOgspKh1IZYuHqtfwU1XKia0Z1c8AGoP3oj7ZikJCzeilciI4mlzviMHW9k2nK1LtMRZKNYQO5ejBldbJpRl_p9gi4MEqsh256gvrfjYOJ3aZma2sU6qX1LCodC3_OBPdkyLn_cXtoR/s1600/pacers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4NSOgspKh1IZYuHqtfwU1XKia0Z1c8AGoP3oj7ZikJCzeilciI4mlzviMHW9k2nK1LtMRZKNYQO5ejBldbJpRl_p9gi4MEqsh256gvrfjYOJ3aZma2sU6qX1LCodC3_OBPdkyLn_cXtoR/s320/pacers.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mary (center) with her pacers</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It
definitely helped to have a pacer in this event. There is never really a
concern about going off course, but when one has tired legs, it is even
possible to lose your balance, especially in the rocky sections, and we saw
this happen a couple times. As I indicated, I broke bones in my hand in Sept.
and had not had a recent X-ray to determine how healed the break was. So I ran
with a splint in place and was more cautious, as I was constantly aware of
preventing a fall. I only fell once in a very rocky section in the middle of
the night, and landed right on my splint. The pain was immediate, but I took an
Advil and continued running, hoping I didn’t do any more damage. (I’m happy to
report that I got rid of the splint this past Thursday-no apparent re-injury.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This was
only my 4<span style="font-size: small;"><sup>th</sup> completion of a 100 mile run, and my most successful as
far as avoiding stomach issues and feeling fatigued. I never felt
hallucinatory, or over-tired. I had chocolate milk after the 4<sup>th</sup> and
5<sup>th</sup> loops. And during the 6<sup>th</sup> loop I had a half cup of
coffee at the midpoint aid station.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For
some reason I was able to hydrate myself adequately during the heat of the day
and I believe this contributed to my success during the later hours of the
race. This race has a fairly high DNF rate for one only moderately
challenging. It seems the mistake that many make is either going out too fast
or becoming dehydrated in the midafternoon when the temperature is usually in
the high 80s. The other challenge is a mental one and that is to believe that
the 100K will do if you are not feeling so well.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLlCBR6TJQJ-KRON30ajmaads_5B_vXGqFsBMS4IbxzqHwGXOkIGh61ReJfKxQTHBmxJcPztDG_DXVmXyoxze5zIOtUfvS77HKAdK3SLqo2_Dn9xF9baKITnSUCeT_O1g6gXJKEtG_tCDh/s1600/finished.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLlCBR6TJQJ-KRON30ajmaads_5B_vXGqFsBMS4IbxzqHwGXOkIGh61ReJfKxQTHBmxJcPztDG_DXVmXyoxze5zIOtUfvS77HKAdK3SLqo2_Dn9xF9baKITnSUCeT_O1g6gXJKEtG_tCDh/s320/finished.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finishd!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s been 9
days since I finished the race. I think I can safely say that I feel almost
completely recovered. I will find out if that is true in 2 days when I do a difficult
hike in the Catalina mountains near my home. It will be a continuous downhill
hike for 16 miles and will be a good test of the recovery of my quads. I’m more
worried about the residual effects of some nasty blisters I got<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>during the run.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Like Dave
said in his report of Murph the Surf, now it’s time to take a bit of a hiatus
from training and concentrate on healing mentally and looking forward to runs
for next year. I am very excited to say that I will be running the <a href="http://ultrasignup.com/register.aspx?did=17277" target="_blank">CalballoBlanco Ultra</a> in the Copper Canyon of Mexico. This is the event that was
featured in the book Born to Run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since
the death of Caballo Blanco (aka Micah True) last spring, there is more
interest in this event. And this year there will be a special tribute to him,
so I am very excited to be part of that celebration. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I
would like to thank those who show an interest in my crazy running adventures
and encourage all of you to explore what might challenge you to go beyond the
limits that you may have set for yourself. If you are still only running road
races, you would be surprised what joy can be found in running on</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">trails</span>.</span></span>stillwaterrunnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07185881704535781991noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-667817670522166935.post-2467073690593075212012-10-30T08:55:00.001-07:002012-10-30T08:57:16.769-07:00Surf the Murph 50-Mile 2012 Race Report<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Wow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What a
difference a year makes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This race went
from a total bummer last year, to my new favorite 50 miler.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The volunteers were fantastic, the weather
perfect, and the trails in pristine shape.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What a great way to end the season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And what fun it was.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiW6zLNcIHqqh6-jS0YouU1miiUKCkxh8HtVSr_xLEe1WDHgZYYcQRwVNpiYa-hf0gf1MRyW6MLMcr8jHDUWxiVJLMM751VV2vjP1HJyBIwLoqtWbhbk5_ROUTWK7nCKJif2jUebu170JN/s1600/murph2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiW6zLNcIHqqh6-jS0YouU1miiUKCkxh8HtVSr_xLEe1WDHgZYYcQRwVNpiYa-hf0gf1MRyW6MLMcr8jHDUWxiVJLMM751VV2vjP1HJyBIwLoqtWbhbk5_ROUTWK7nCKJif2jUebu170JN/s320/murph2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://surfthemurph.org/" target="_blank">Surf the Murph</a> is a series of three races set in the 2,800
acre <a href="http://www.threeriversparks.org/parks/murphy-hanrehan-park.aspx" target="_blank">Murphy Hanrehan Reserve</a> in Savage, MN.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A single loop of the park nets a little less than 17 miles, so we get races
at 25k, 50k and 50 miles depending on the number of loops you feel like
suffering though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The terrain varies
from dirt road to technical singletrack with about 2,000 of elevation for each
loop.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This race is a bit unique to the ones I tend to choose.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ignore the trail markers at any time, at your
peril.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You’ve got to pay attention.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On every loop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The RD’s worked a great, well-marked course,
and it is our job to follow it and not create our own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I tend to zone out on long runs, this
always proves a challenge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And as I
know, I can be attention-challenged.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">My goal for this race was a top-10 finish, under 9:30.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I find this course a challenge to move
through quickly, especially on the final loop, so I may have been a bit
delusional.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first loop was a planned
easy glide, the second a major push, and the third, well, whatever I had left in the
tank, if anything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, after getting
pretty dehydrated at North Face, I committed to drinking plenty and keeping the
electrolytes coming.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Before the race</b> –
I’ve been trying something new with pre-race nutrition: starting on the Monday
prior, I greatly reduced my starch intake (no pasta, no potatoes).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then on Friday I snacked all day on a trough
of mashed potatoes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>4:00 Saturday
morning saw a cup of oatmeal, a banana and a caffeine-free Gu about 20 minutes
prior to the 6:00 am start.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though
nutrition is probably my weakest link, this plan seemed to have worked well this
year.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The temperature at the start was upper 20’s and felt vastly
better than the 22° at last year’s start.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I was wearing a technical long-sleeve turtleneck with compression
shorts, gloves and a knit cap.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I brought
lots of clothes along though, because I knew the temps would be rising.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though the aid stations were close-spaced,
most people carried water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had mine in
the form of a single 22 oz bottle in a waist-pack.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The parking, check-in and pre-race brief went
very smoothly.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">And then we were off</b>
– About 50 bobbing headlamps trundled into the woods for the first of three
loops.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This initial portion of the loop consisted
of about 5 miles of wooded hills, which seemed like the bulk of the elevation
for the course.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My easy glide was
working fine for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I kept telling
myself to ignore the other racers and focus on my pace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know it sounds silly, but the urge to race
at mile 2 of a 50 mile race was so strong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Like being first into aid station 1 was the goal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Way to go.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I didn’t mind these hills in the dark when I couldn’t see them
approaching; so much easier to zen through.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Before we knew it we were through the cheerful aid station 1.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What a great group of volunteers; I drew on
their fantastic energy (and their orange gels, mmm).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The hills weren’t done yet though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Among the challenges f</span>ollowing aid-1 there was a series of three
step hills that gave you a steep 370 feet of slogging.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If someone has named these, I’d love to hear about
it; I like cursing them with their proper names.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Into Aid-2 – </b>It
was still dark when I met my wife Beth at the second aid station.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This station doubled as aid-4 as well, and had
room for crew.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I rolled in I was met
with a “Hey Hon”, followed by a chorus of “Hey Hon”s from the aid station volunteers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What a great group; they cracked me up.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Beth and I planned a quick pit stop and it worked pretty
well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I exchanged my (almost) empty
bottle with a fresh one filled with warmish water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That aid station water can get cold, and very
uncomfortable to drink.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Beth also warmed
up a gel in her arm pit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tasty
Tropical!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then I was gone.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Smooth and Flatish</b>
– While the first 5 miles of the course had some hills I tended to hike, the
remainder were mostly of the short or unsteep variety, and thus pretty
runnable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the sunrise was
gorgeous!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What a wonderful feeling to be
in the first 10 miles of a trail run, early on a clear Saturday morning, at
sunrise, among friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ahhh.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hmmm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Uhhh, I haven’t seen a trail marker in a bit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At about this time someone yelled “Trail!”
behind me, and saved me from a long, unplanned excursion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thanks.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">In and Out of Aid-3</b>
– The third aid station was a bit more business-like, really getting us in and
out fast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Great energy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I grabbed another gel, (tropical again) and
was out, down a mouse path through the woods, with a limbo tree thrown in for
free.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I knew that I would curse that
tree by the third loop.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Following some very relaxing trail running, we started the
first of two technical, wooded singletrack areas called Smurph Village.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I loved this section.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was like the snowshoe section at Afton,
only a bit more technical (and shorter).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The signs placed throughout were humorous, but I’d have to stop if I wanted
to read them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I needed to keep my eyes
on the terrain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At this time, three deer
came flying like missiles though the woods, toward a group behind me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The deer just put their heads way down and
turned on the turbos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yikes.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Final Bits</b> –
Into aid-4 (same location as aid-2) I did another bottle swap, along with an
S-cap and gel, and a quarter of a PB&J with a potato chip inside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This seemed to work very well at keeping my
stomach happy as I had no digestive issues throughout the race.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The final 4.5 miles of the loop had gentle hills and nice
flats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is, except for the second
technical, wooded singletrack, called the Fun Zone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Last year I missed the turnoff for this
section.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Twice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it really set my mood for the remainder
of the race. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was bound and determined
not to miss the turnoff this time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
RD’s placed what looked like a billboard at this turnoff this year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thanks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I guess I was not the only dork not paying attention last year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Fun Zone was pretty short, but had a nasty
climb and descent in the middle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> T</span>he
trail was covered with leaves the first time through, and thus traction was very
difficult to maintain.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And then the first loop was complete!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the temperature was climbing (mid 30’s I
think), it was time for a technical tee and a pair of running sleeves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After a gel (still caffeine-free), S-cap and
PB&J, I was into my second (and toughest) loop.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Loop-1 plan: 3:10, actual: 2:50</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Second Loop</b> –
After an easy glide on loop-1, this loop was to be the one where I pushed
myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But not in the hills.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tried to take the first 5 miles with an
easy perceived effort; I knew I would see these one more time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the flats following aid-2, I started my
push to about 7:30 miles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My legs were
not happy, and I went through my first difficult phase. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My respiration climbed and I was afraid I
would not be able to hold that pace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>After what seemed like about 5 miles (shortly after aid-3) my
respiration relaxed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I did go off-course
again in Smurph Village, though not very far.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I also cut back on the gels to about every 45 minutes; instead of the
every 20-30 minutes.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Following aid-4, I started with the Double Espresso-flavored
Clif Shots.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t stand the taste of
coffee, and these gels make me gag.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
wow, what a kick in the shorts they gave!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I loved those things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also
dropped the running sleeves, as the temperature was now in the low 40’s.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Loop-2 plan: 3:00, actual: 2:55</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Into My Last Loop</b>
– I was feeling great heading into the hills for the last time, and was very
optimistic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I knew that a sub-9 hr race
was within reach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, it was
easier to be optimistic <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">before</i> the
hills.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was trumpeted in to aid-1 by
one of the volunteers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Awesome!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The crew here was very energetic and
supportive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I heard that trumpet booming
for the next 2 miles or so, accompanied every so often by a drum.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I flew through aid-1 with a smile and a
thanks, unlike last year when I slogged up to the table in pretty sad shape. What a difference a year makes.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Following aid-1, there was a gate we needed to squeeze by followed by an immediate left.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was here that
I took my biggest off-course excursion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I went straight after taking the left correctly on the first two
loops.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Agh!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was almost exactly a 1 mile off-course
jaunt which cost me about 10 minutes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
was really upset with myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It took a
bit of self-phych to get myself back into the race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After getting back on course a guy with a skeleton
shirt on flew by me, racing up and down the hills.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think it might have been the first-place
50k racer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wow did he look fresh and
friendly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Way to go!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Following aid-2 my legs felt as useless as tree trunks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ugh.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>My respiration was fine, so I did what I needed to do and concentrated
on keeping my stride and pace consistent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Finally working though that, the flats went by quickly.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Out of aid-4 I was told I was in 9<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That felt pretty cool.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As this was the start of the final 4.5-mile
portion, I dropped my hat and gloves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The cold became my motivation to finish fast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I passed a racer who was looking pretty beat
up and tried my best to motivate her with encouragement, stating she was “very
near the finish”, and “as good as done”.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">And then I was Done –
</b>The best pace I could manage into the finish was about 7:00, but that felt right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My time was 9:12, well under my 9:30
goal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At first I was hard on myself for
the 10+ minutes I spent off-course, but not for long. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Paying attention is a big part of this race,
and those ahead of me did that well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I finished
in 11<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> place (vice the reported 9<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>), with the elusive
top-10 only 26 seconds ahead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Motivation
for next year!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Also, that racer I tried to motivate in the last loop bypassed
the finish mat and headed back out again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She was just starting her third loop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I can only imagine what she was thinking when I told her she was “as
good as done.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Way to persevere!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">What a great way to end the season.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I felt I ran a strong race and took from
it motivation to run stronger and smarter next year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Thanks to the RD’s and volunteers for a great race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thanks to God for the wonderful gift of
running and the freedom and peace it brings.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Now it's time to relax (a bit) and get fat (for
a bit). Until next year.</span>stillwaterrunnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07185881704535781991noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-667817670522166935.post-84494396047989495642012-10-22T13:33:00.000-07:002012-10-30T08:56:53.139-07:00I See Dead Turtles<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I get just a little delusional when really fatigued.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wouldn’t call these hallucinations, but I
have these weird moments that happen predictably, and in a preset order.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You see… I see dead turtles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And they don’t know they’re dead.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">More on that later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Surf the Murph is less than a week away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I am pretty pumped.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The weather
is supposed to be cold: 20’d to 40’s, but sunny.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m ready to make friends with pain in the
Fun Zone and Smurf Village again. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s
gonna be great!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am looking for a 9:30
finish; I’ll have a race report next week detailing my folly with unrealistic
race goals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Probably.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe not though.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">OK, back to the turtles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I have a unique (I think) tendency late in 50-mile races to see
things that are not there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nothing
exciting like lost ghost miners or phantom pacers; just little things that I have
come to expect to see when really fatigued.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They seem harmless at first, but I am
convinced they are phantasms out to ensure my death.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The turtles are the first to attack.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Roundish rocks in the trails become little reptile
monsters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t see four legs, a head
and a tail per se; my mind just tells me that there is a turtle on the trail,
and I should act accordingly, getting out of the way in case it’s a snapper.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At first it is kind of funny, but after a
while I get sick of the !@#$ turtles.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGEZq_lMI57rOwgO3FkIUIofAEXzo-KAw_hWSHSEqmCicPY7V7Bxoc5tTmMRK72oQ1KjVTSREhchrRezOtB9HUvpnd5A5xAYE2OVavB4FDRSLBUGwdBE_x3EzBH0IbY4t8O865bnOZXYzr/s1600/Funny+Turtle+Face.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGEZq_lMI57rOwgO3FkIUIofAEXzo-KAw_hWSHSEqmCicPY7V7Bxoc5tTmMRK72oQ1KjVTSREhchrRezOtB9HUvpnd5A5xAYE2OVavB4FDRSLBUGwdBE_x3EzBH0IbY4t8O865bnOZXYzr/s200/Funny+Turtle+Face.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">come closer...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I have a confession.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
know why the rocks become turtles, and not beach balls or banjos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is my dead pet from the 70’s
coming back for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Swimmer was a
painted turtle that I caught while swimming in a Wisconsin lake when I was
about 10, and kept for about 5 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
(/she, who knows?) died when I forgot to feed him (/her, whatever).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Ghost of Swimmer back from the
grave.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And (she) wants blood!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">After turtles come snakes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Sticks in the trails become causes for alarm, turning into snakes when
I’m about to stride over them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
causes me to over-extend, or stumble.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Again, no snakey tongue or markings; just my mind re-categorizing the
threat from stick to reptile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t
think I’ve ever been involved in snakeacide, and they really don’t freak me
out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe I’m just a dork.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Probably.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The coup de gras (or is it ‘fleur de lis’?) though is when
complete strangers become familiar; their identity being just on the tip of my
tongue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hate this!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I once stared down a guy at the finish of
last year’s Surf the Murph, waiting for him to recognize me and say hey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m pretty sure I freaked him out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Strangers on the trail become Ted from accounting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve learned to keep my mouth shut now, but
it can get pretty embarrassing. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I
ever have the fortune to meet you on the trail some day and I greet you as
a good friend, please just smile and play along.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll tell you all about the snakes and
turtles.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">All this from a mere 50 miles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Next year I run my first 100 miler at the
Kettle Moraine, and<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am just a bit
concerned as to what the next step in the delusion progression
is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My fear is that I’ll be found on the
trail; dead from a series of triangular bite marks before I find out. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> I think I need a plan. T</span>he snakes would make my death a
little quicker and less painful; if I can make it past the turtles that is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or maybe the snakes will be preoccupied with
the turtles and I will be able to skip right though to the next delusion.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Man, I hope it is not clowns.</span></div>
stillwaterrunnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07185881704535781991noreply@blogger.com0