slow runners

Superior 25K Training: Week 3

Last “big” week of training. My schedule and my resting heart rate are telling me I need to back off.

Monday: 5 mi, treadmill, 140 bpm
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: 3 mi (6×400 @ 10:00 pace), treadmill, 145 bpm
Thursday: 6.4 mi, treadmill, 131 bpm
Friday: 7.3 mi, trails (Hartley), 138 bpm
Saturday: 5.5 mi, treadmill, 144 bpm
Sunday: 13.9 mi, trails (Superior Hiking Trail), 152 bpm
Total: 41.1 mi

Monday I let myself have a nice workout while ignoring that aerobic threshold. My average heart rate still stayed below 143, and the highest spike was only 156 bpm. I was pretty wrecked all day Monday, basically in a fog at work, but I felt better after the workout.

Wednesday I did my first speed workout in months! It was a little ambitious (and actually I meant to do 8×400, but I had to cut the workout short to make it to the 7 PM showing of Purple Rain on time and not sweaty), but I always find it harder to hit certain paces on the treadmill than I do outside. I hope the weather cooperates and in 2 weeks when I’m doing my next set of repeats, I’m able to do them outside and can really gauge what my speed is. It wasn’t exceptionally cold out, but there were some strong gusts of wind, and I’d have stayed inside to work out even if I didn’t have time constraints. My heart rate was in the high 170s during the 400s, but for 4/5 of the recovery intervals (0.1 mi) I was able to get my it back down to aerobic. (I say 4/5 because the 6th was also part of the cooldown so of course it was aerobic.)

Thursday I did a nice easy run on the treadmill, testing out my new shoes. I ended up running at a 15:41 pace; contrast that to Saturday’s run (there was a cold, gusting wind so I stayed inside like a wimp), where I ran at a 15:51 pace and had a higher heart rate. A clear sign of fatigue, though obviously I’d be more fatigued the day after a medium-length trail run than I would be the day after a short speed workout.

Friday I had a nice run at Hartley. I was overdressed, but not significantly. I was wearing gloves, which I ended up carrying most of the time, but better safe than sorry. I ran the Fairmont Street trail, cut over to the outer loop, ran Root Canal, and then took the Fisherman up to Guardrail. I was concerned about how much daylight I’d have left, so I thought instead of doing the full Guardrail loop, I’d run Blue Pots, the inner loop. Well, it seems like no one takes that trail, because it was really hard to follow where it went, and I ended up rejoining  Guardrail the first chance I got. If I ran out of daylight, I’d rather do it on a familiar trail. I took the hills easy, but didn’t worry about my heart rate. Liberating!

Sunday I decided to run the Superior Hiking Trail, starting at Spirit Mountain. I followed the Harder ‘N Hell course until Twin Ponds, and then turned off on Skyline to go home. I drove out to Spirit Mountain and left my car at the trailhead, and picked it up later while running errands. It was convenient! The run was… ok. It was not at race effort (I ran Zumbro at an average of 162 bpm vs this run at 152 bpm avg), but it wasn’t exactly inspiring. I was overdressed again, but I didn’t know what the wind was going to do. I wish I’d worn shorts. I had a hoodie on but kept it tied around my waist most of the time, and kept my tissue-weight long-sleeved shirt on the whole run. It saved me from more sunburn, I guess. The back of my neck is burned, and my face is a little pink (I did put sunscreen on my face, but missed the back of my neck because it was covered by my hoodie. Poor planning.) I tried to take the hills at a less-than-maximum effort, and then run flats and downhills aerobically. I had 2 protein bars, one handheld with sports drink, and one handheld with water, which I consumed almost completely during the run. It looks like 14 trail miles might be my limit as far as liquids are concerned.

This next week I need to take things down a notch. I’m pushing too hard, and getting fatigued. My resting heart rate is up, I had a bit of trouble falling asleep last night, and my ears are ringing. All of these are signs that I need to relax, ramp down my mileage, and regroup for the race. I am traveling for work this week, so I will have one, maybe two rest days, maybe more, depending on how the trip goes. I’ll be prepared to hit the hotel gym in the evenings, but will see how I feel and how much work stuff I’ve got to get done. If I don’t run much on this trip, it’s not a big deal.

Summer Gear Wish List 2

It’s not warm yet, but it’s gettin’ there. I’m starting to plan out what new gear I need. Here’s last year’s summer gear wish list, and here’s my evaluation of it at the end of the season.

High Priority:
Bug repellent
New sports bra
Super lightweight jacket

I realize bug repellent is very easy to come by. What I need is a bug repellent that works, but isn’t something I have to worry about getting in my mouth or eyes if I’m sweating or I wipe my face. It doesn’t have to work perfectly, as I ran last year without any insect repellent at all, but it was also kind of like torture at times, swatting at my calves  every 5 seconds to fend off the hordes.

I still haven’t found a good sports bra since Under Armour stopped making the style I loved. I bought one from UA a year or so ago that has adjustable straps that threaten to fall down because they don’t stay adjusted where I want them, and soft cup inserts (not really padding) that migrate whenever I wash it. I also have one from Moving Comfort which is okay, but the eye hooks in the back gave out rather quickly.

I want a jacket that will protect me from rain when I need it, but won’t cause me to overheat and won’t be a nuisance around my waist while running.

Medium Priority:
Hydration belt or lightweight vest
Racing briefs
Body Glide alternative
Trail shoes

I have found that running with 2 handhelds can be a bit clumsy at times, so I’d like to be able to put them away. However, will 2 water bottles bouncing on my waist or chest be too annoying? I could go back to my hydration pack, but I also don’t usually need a backpack full of water, and it doesn’t have any front-accessible pouches.

I’m not insane, I don’t want the racing briefs for actual races. I actually want them for the treadmill. I don’t plan on doing too many treadmill runs this summer, but there’s always a chance that a hard rain’s a-gonna fall and I’ll be forced inside. I’m also getting hot on the treadmill right now, so I’d wear them sort of year-round.

Body Glide is ok for warm weather, but I’ve found in cooler temps it doesn’t work as well. Its coefficient of friction increases with cooler temps, and loses some of the “glide.” I’d like to find something with a better texture, as well.

I just got new shoes, but I would still like to try something trail-specific. My current Wave Prophecy pair has been going strong for 600 miles, but the shoes are starting to get a few holes (and they smell a bit). I will look to get the trail shoes some time after the Superior 25K.

Low Priority:
Prescription sunglasses
Shorts

I could use a pair or two of shorts so that I’m not cycling through the same 2 pairs, especially in the summer heat. I re-wear them probably more times than I “should,” so a few more pairs in the rotation wouldn’t hurt.

I need to go to the eye doctor, since I haven’t gotten new glasses in almost 3 years, and my current glasses are in rough shape (the lens coating started coming off in spots a few months after I got them, but since I got them at Macy’s and then moved away a month later to the land of no Macy’s, I couldn’t take them in to complain), but I hate making appointments. That is dumb and immature so I need to get myself together and do it, and since I’ll have a current prescription in hand, I should take advantage of the convenience to get a pair of sunnies for driving and for running. I may not use them on trails that are in the woods, since the visibility might be lower than I’m comfortable with.

I can’t think of anything else that I would like to try, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be impulse buying this season. I’ll try to add anything that’s not on this list, but that I chose to purchase, to the end of season wrap-up.

Superior 25K Training: Week 2

It’s never going to be warm again. Ever.

Monday: rest
Tuesday: 5 mi, treadmill, 136 bpm
Wednesday: 4.7 mi, trails/hills (Bagley), 143 bpm
Thursday: 5 mi, treadmill, 135 bpm
Friday: 6.5 mi, road, 139 bpm
Saturday: 7.1 mi, road (MAF test), 138 bpm
Sunday: 10 mi, treadmill, 151 bpm
Total: 38.9 mi

IT’S ALMOST FREAKING MAY AND I’M ON MY TREADMILL BECAUSE IT’S TOO COLD THIS IS NONSENSE.

Ok we actually did have a couple nice days this past week, but now we don’t have another high above 50 degrees until May. It is really getting to me, mentally and even physically. It’s tough to get motivated to do anything. Last weekend, it was warm, and I had the energy to come home after a trail run and clean my house. This weekend, I slept poorly both nights, got buffeted about by the wind on Saturday, and had to do my long run on the treadmill rather than get hypothermia from running 10 miles in a frigid downpour.

I discussed in my last post that I won’t be doing MAF training for awhile. I still plan to monitor my heart rate, so I’ll still give that stat in my wrap-ups, but I won’t be sticking to any set maximum. I’ve already had a couple workouts where I’ve had sustained periods above my target heart rate.

Wednesday, I decided to do the first real hill workout I’ve had in quite awhile. I went to Bagley, which ended up being kind of stupid since it was 4/20 and there were several groups of people smoking dope in the area. I felt like a tool running by them, but no one made any comments, so I felt lucky. I did get a few whiffs of smoke as I went by. I warmed up with the easier loop, and then attacked the hill 3 times, heart rate be damned. I recovered with another pass of the easier loop, and then 3 more attacks on the hill. It wasn’t so bad, although by the end my legs were feeling a bit wobbly.

Unfortunately, the hill workouts took a toll on my calves, and they felt as taught as violin strings for a few days after. I didn’t have any other muscular issues, which was surprising. I thought I would have felt something in my thighs, but I didn’t.

My weekday treadmill runs were as uneventful as they always are. There’s really nothing to report on any of them, which is why I skip over them. I can’t stand that I’m writing about treadmill runs on the regular right now, but I am trying to stay healthy and sometimes that means staying out of the cold. I’m such a weakling right now. I’m not sure what I’m going to do now that the Wild are knocked out of the playoffs, as I watched a lot of hockey while on the treadmill. It’s a lot better distraction than movies or TV shows, although I get easily frustrated when the game isn’t going well, which doesn’t help with treadmill running.

I got in a little extra workout on Thursday as I made a little pilgrimage to Enger Tower, which was lit purple in memory of Prince. I climbed to the top, which was a nice stair workout, but it was too misty to get a good picture of the view.

Friday I had an uneventful road run. I got stopped at almost every stoplight I encountered, so that threw the pace off a bit. Saturday’s MAF test was cold but I did enjoy the roar of the surf to the north of me, just out of view.

There’s a ship just barely visible on the right side of the photo. I think the waves were more dramatic on Sunday, but I didn’t venture out of my house beyond a coffee run. Sunday I slept late, since I’d had trouble falling asleep again, and I was wrapped up in the Wild game and the extra innings of the Twins game, so there wouldn’t really have been time to go down to the beach again. Plus, rain and gusting winds and cold and sloth.

So I ran my long run of the week on the treadmill. I probably ran at a bit of a higher heart rate than I should have, but I just wanted to give it a shot. I stopped twice: once to go to the bathroom, taking advantage of the proximity, and once when I had to start a new workout because I hit 100 minutes. I ate some of a granola bar at the second stoppage, and started up at a slower pace to let myself digest a bit. I’d forgotten to take the heart rate alarm off my indoor running mode, so my stupid watch beeped like mad the whole time.

I did try again to buy a new pair of shoes, but the store I went to (a sports version of a big box store) was completely out of Mizuno shoes, and that’s what I wanted. I ended up going online and finding a clearance pair of Mizunos which weren’t exactly what I wanted, but seemed suitable and were cheap enough that I was willing to buy them without trying them on. I really hope they don’t suck. I was trying to see if I could find another clearance pair of my Wave Prophecies, but they didn’t have any in my size at the places I looked online. The shoes should be here this week, and I should have time to break them in before my 5K. So much for instant gratification.

AfterMAF

Alternative puns included MAFtermath and MAFterthoughts. I’m sure I’ll get a chance to use them later.

After I did my final MAF test Saturday, I went home and downloaded the information from the run, and then deleted the MAF heart rate alarm app from my watch. I am done, done, done with this method for awhile.

Here’s the data from my final MAF test of this training cycle. For reference: MAF Test #1, MAF Test #2, MAF Test #3.

Warmup: 1 mile, walking and easy running, 17:29, 123 bpm

It was cool and windy as heck during the run. The gales of November came very, very early, I guess. I had one HUGE spike to 158 bpm during the warm-up, for absolutely no reason. I think it was equipment error.

Mile 1: 16:00, 142 bpm
Mile 2: 15:44, 143 bpm
Mile 3: 16:02, 142 bpm
Mile 4: 15:42, 142 bpm
Mile 5: 15:33, 142 bpm

What the fffffffffff.

Cooldown: 1.1 mi, 17:09 pace, 135 bpm

Ok, I get that it was windy, so that might have been throwing things of. And I had some heartburn and hadn’t slept perfectly the night before due to some minor stomach pains, but what is this? The fastest mile is the last one? That’s the opposite of what a MAF test is supposed to show.

Let’s compare my average pace and HR for my previous MAF tests (ignoring test #3, which had GPS issues).

Test 1: 16:02, 135 bpm
Test 2: 15:05, 141 bpm
Test 4: 15:49, 142 bpm

I have made no progress. I suspected this during my run, when I couldn’t hit the paces I thought I could without my watch beeping like crazy. I know the wind was a factor, but still. I feel like I should have been a little closer to the Test 2 numbers.

I find this frustrating. It feels like a huge waste of my time. I’ve done no speed work over the last 4 months, and I’ve slowed way, way down to try to stay aerobic climbing hills, and it feels like I’ve done it all for no reason. I know this training works, so I’ll give it another shot, but I guess I was expecting magical results.

As with any experiment, repeatability is essential to obtaining reliable results. Did the weather slow me down 44 seconds? Probably not. I wasn’t feeling the best either, but I also can’t remember how I was feeling on the other days I did the test. If I did it a week from now, would I get better results? Maybe.

I made two major errors during this training. I didn’t do enough to change my diet, and I didn’t change my target HR after I got sick. I made some changes to my diet, trying to get more fat into my diet as well as more fruits and vegetables, but I didn’t really make wholesale changes to how I ate. My cold was significant enough that I should have knocked another 5 beats off my target heart rate, according to Dr. Maffetone. I plan to re-read his book before I go back to MAF training.

I also don’t think I did a fantastic job of warming up and cooling down. It was hard to achieve the slow ramp-up recommended by Dr. Maffetone; I usually had to walk my warm-ups, and with the cold weather and the inevitable hills on most of my routes, I would even sometimes find my heart rate spiking up while walking.

This is the ideal time to take a break from the training, since I will need to do some speedwork once I start training for the Park Point 5 miler. I will also be able to get in a few major hill workouts before Superior, which will be a huge boon.

There were good and bad aspects of doing this training. I’ll never do it in winter again, at least not until I’m considerably faster or living somewhere milder. The weather has too much of an impact on my heart rate, and I have many times had trouble getting in a proper warm-up (as discussed above), or have had to run much more slowly than planned due to the cold or wind. It was also difficult to stay warm while running; a faster pace would have generated more heat.

I found my patience tried many, many times as my heart rate monitor beeped away. It drove me nuts, which I’m sure didn’t help lower my heart rate any. It was also kind of embarrassing  to beep as I ran by people. Even writing about it, I’m kind of annoyed.

I did find that I was less tired after workouts, which should be an obvious benefit, since they were all done at an “easy” pace. I wasn’t red-faced and huffing and puffing after my runs. I am much more in tune to my body now that I am paying attention to my heart rate, and I’m more conscious of what an “easy” run actually feels like.

It helped my ego a bit to have a reason for slowing down. I could tell myself I was really faster than I was going (which is true, but how much faster, I don’t know). I also felt better about how I looked to others; since I was going slowly, but I wasn’t gasping for air, I felt less embarrassed about my pace. I felt running slowly, but at a smooth and controlled pace, looked better than running a little less slowly, but beet-red and struggling. This training method also kept me from “racing my training.” I just wish I’d made some demonstrable aerobic progress.

I’m looking forward to some more unstructured runs! I will still be monitoring my heart rate on each run, and I don’t plan on doing more than one “quality” workout (hills, tempo, intervals, etc) per week, so there will not be significant changes to the structure or intensity of my workouts through the end of my Superior training. Just a heck of a lot less beeping.

Superior 25K Training: Week 1

Right back on the horse.

Monday: 3.5 mi, treadmill (walk), 118 bpm
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: 4.5 mi, paved trail (Lakewalk south), 137 bpm
Thursday: 4.7 mi, trail (Bagley), 125 bpm
Friday: 5.5 mi, trail (Bagley), 136 bpm
Saturday: 7.3 mi, trail (Hartley), 140 bpm
Sunday: 9.0 mi, paved trail (Lakewalk north), 138 bpm
Total: 34.5 mi

Since Zumbro was kinda/sorta a training run rather than a goal race, I jumped right back into training and treated last week like a step-back week rather than a true race week, where I’d take longer time off. I intended to take Monday as a rest day as well, but I decided to do some active recovery by walking on the treadmill, and I felt like that was a good choice. Active recovery on Saturday or Sunday would have been better, but I’ll have to remember that for next time.

Tuesday I got a massage. I had a gift certificate from Christmas that I’ve been saving for this occasion, and it was a great decision. My massage therapist is awesome, and I have grown really comfortable with her. My hips and legs felt significantly better afterward, and overall I felt a lot more relaxed. The only issue I had was a little head stuffiness, which was uncomfortable while lying face down. I asked her how long I should wait after a race, and she said that I’d waited a good amount of time; the day after a race, there is often too much inflammation to benefit from a higher-pressure massage.

Wednesday I was back at it, on the Lakewalk, taking it kinda easy kinda not easy. I ended up running aerobically at a 14:56 pace, which was unexpected. The massage, plus slightly warmer weather, plus easier terrain, must have all worked in my favor.

Thursday I ran at Bagley. I was passed early on by the Zumbro 50 mile open winner with ease; he really makes running look easy. I make it look extremely difficult. I was STARVING the whole time. I’m not sure why, but I was so freaking hungry that I had to quit early. I had no energy and my heart rate was unusually low, which was a sign that I needed to stop. It freaked me out a little, but I was fine after I ate something and relaxed.

Friday I ran Bagley again, and I felt normal. It was my first run of the year in shorts and a t-shirt, and it felt like heaven. There was a still a bit of snow on the trails, but it had receded significantly since the day prior.

Saturday I went to Hartley, where it was muddy in parts (so muddy that I felt guilty about being on Root Canal; I will avoid it for awhile and I hope they will close it until the trail can dry up), with a few patches of lingering snow, and some dry stretches. I felt decent, although I ran slower than I would have liked. Slogging through mud took a lot out of my legs and my heart rate was tough to keep under control.

Sunday I wanted to do a long-ish run, but keep it easy, so I did the upper Lakewalk. It was cooler, so I wore a lightweight long-sleeved tee over a tank top, and I was glad that I did. At first I was worried I might get a little too warm, but then the wind kicked up on the way back, and I was cold. I was also extremely frustrated. The wind started gusting after I’d turned around, so the second half of my run was into the wind, and I had been hoping to have a few slightly faster miles because of a couple of slight downhills. It was disheartening, to say the least, to have the wind gusts send my heart rate up just as I was expecting to be able to calm it down and cruise. I kept hearing the “beep beep beep” of the HR alarm on my watch, which was driving me crazy as sometimes my heart rate was only 144 or 145. I ended up ignoring it and letting it beep away for the last couple of miles, although I still tried to keep it down. The run itself was decent, with all my miles in the 16:XX range, but I am tired of being slowed down by external circumstances like wind or cold. I also got a bit of a sunburn, just on my neck and chest.

I plan to get a new pair of shoes and make a few other changes to my training plan in the next few weeks, so I’ll provide some updates once I’ve gotten the shoes and figured out what exactly I’m going to do.

Post-Mortem: Zumbro 17

A chance to think it all over.

Refreshers
Race Report
All Zumbro 17 Posts

Good Things
Pushing outside my comfort zone. I ran a distance I’ve never completed before, on a course I’ve never seen, in a town I’ve never been to, on less than ideal training. And a terrible night’s sleep and a slight relapse of my cold and a terrible attitude. It was a big confidence booster to know I can execute a race well without covering every inch of the course.

Resting when I needed to. I took 16 days off from running when I was sick. That’s about 1/6 of my total training, and it sucked to do it, but it was the right thing. I needed the rest. I didn’t wait til I was completely better (obviously), and when I had a little relapse, I did keep running through it, but I felt I rested enough. Running indoors more helped prevent me from getting chilled and fatigued.

Staying aerobic during training. I may have cheated a few times, but overall I was strict about staying under that 143 bpm HR. I will be doing another MAF test in a few weeks to see how things are progressing, with the warm weather and the cold entirely gone (which it had better be!) I wish I’d had a better way to gauge how I’ve progressed, but the illness in the middle threw everything off.

Memorizing key facts about the course. I knew where the climbs were, and how many there were. I also knew approximately the distance between aid stations. That was really all I needed to know about the course, and it really helped me plan as well as power through mentally. Knowing I was done with the big climbs when I was about 10 miles in helped me push a bit harder on the back end of the race.

Bad Things
Not warming up. I keep saying this and then I just end up farting around pre-race. Just doing SOMETHING would have been a good way to shake off my crappy attitude and my nerves.

Abandoning strength training. I keep saying this, too. I wouldn’t have so much hip pain if I did the lower body exercises I had planned on doing.

Avoiding the doctor when I was clearly ill. I kept thinking, oh, there’s nothing that they can do for me. But first of all, I don’t really know that, and second of all, it was worth a shot considering how long this stupid illness has lasted.

Planning pace based on my watch. The GPS added over a mile of distance to my race. What I should have done is planned out times of day for reaching each aid station in order to make my goal, and gauged my progress that way.

My gear wasn’t very maneuverable. I was wearing gloves, which were clumsy; I could have used some fingerless gloves to regain some dexterity. I also found the protein bars were very difficult to get out of my handheld pockets. I need easier access to my food and other supplies.

Sitting around on Saturday post-race. I should have gone for a walk or something, just to keep the legs moving, especially since I had a long drive on Sunday. Instead I lazed around in the hotel room.

I had better not have ANY of the bad things on my post-mortem report in 6 weeks, after Superior. I’m documenting these lessons, and still not learning them, which is pretty lame.

Race Report: Zumbro 17

zumbro

Takin’ it to the house.

Official Results:
Time: 4:47:58
Pace: 16:56
Placing:
Overall: 332/358
Gender: 168/186
Division (open): 107/112

App Results:
App: MovesCount
Time: 4:48:13
Pace: 16:07
Distance: 17.87 mi (LOL, no)
Heart Rate: 162 bpm

Goals:
A: 4:59:59
B: 5:29:59

Food:
What I ate the night before: Bagel with cream cheese, banana, pretzels
What I ate on race day: Banana, bagel
What I carried with me: 2 handheld water bottles (1 for water, 1 for strawberry lemonade Powerade), 2 protein bars

Gear:
What I wore: Long sleeved tech tee, tech hoodie, running tights, buff (as headband), baseball cap, gloves, short socks
Gadgets: GPS watch, fitness tracker

Discussion:
This is a tale of risk and reward. I have whined and complained and looked for any reason not to run this race over the past week. The weather annoyed me, but then I thought of the people tougher than me running the 100 and 50 races, and the volunteers willing to brave the elements. Then my cold returned, but I drove down anyway, because the room was paid for and I needed to fulfill my promise to volunteer. Then I slept horribly and decided in the middle of the night that I couldn’t race. I would sleep in some, and then go volunteer.

Nevertheless, I completed the race, felt mostly great during it, and even came in under my goal. A freaking miracle. Or something that was always possible, I just didn’t have the information to confirm it.

The last hour or so of the drive from Duluth to Wabasha (where I stayed) was gorgeous. I’ve never been past Red Wing in Southeastern MN. The bluffs were stunning, as was Lake Pepin, which is enormous. The drive took a little over four hours, including a quick detour to pick up bagels, which turned out to be my dinner and lunch.

I checked into the hotel and then drove out to the race start/finish area to volunteer. I was assigned to work in the timing tent with some friendly people, including last year’s winner. Trail people are the best: even the elite runners in the community contribute. We had a good time gathering data as runners came through for their laps. Most were finishing their 3rd laps as they came through, though the leaders completed their fourth laps while I was on duty. We had sufficient staff that I was able to leave a little early, which I didn’t want to do, but I wasn’t feeling well.

I went back to the hotel and did all the prep work I could. I set out my clothes, charged my watches, and ate some food. I thought I was being super prepared by opening up my protein bars and tearing them into small pieces, since their wrappers are hard to open and the bars can sometimes be hard to tear with teeth when it’s cold. And it was cold. It got down to 18 F overnight, which is I believe the coldest it’s ever been for a Zumbro event. The 17 mile race start was in the mid-20s F, I believe. I also put some mints in a snack-sized bag in case I was a little nauseated, and I had a pharmaceutical bag with a Pepto tablet, antacids, and ibuprofen. (I know ibuprofen is not recommended for distance running, I also didn’t want to end up with menstrual cramps ruining my race.) I turned out not to need anything other than the protein bars (of course), but my bite-sized pieces mushed into larger lumps, so it wasn’t a total success. It was easier than eating one out of the wrapper, I will say.

I went to bed at a decent time, after soaking in the bathtub in my hotel “suite” (a fancier single room), hoping to fall asleep quickly. I was so nervous about the race that I tossed and turned the night away and slept in fits and starts.

I got ready fairly quickly, since there wasn’t much to do, and drove to the race start, arriving at maybe 8:10 or so. I checked in and then looked around for my friend, who was also running the race. There is truly no cell service in the race area, so it was amazing I found him so quickly. We sat in my car while I filled one of my water bottles with sports drink and I pinned on my bib and took off my winter coat. It’s not great that a winter coat was necessary in April. I slathered some Vaseline on my nose and we decided to mill around at the start. There wasn’t much else to do. Probably should have warmed up, but didn’t. I never learn.

The race started around 9 after a short, funny briefing from the race director. The 17 mile race has a slightly different start than the other races, due to the large number of entrants. We followed the RD, who was on an ATV, up a road instead of hopping right onto the single track. That supposedly spread out the runners a bit. I’m not sure if that’s the case because I was in nearly last place at the time. There was plenty of room for me to run! I spent most of the race alone, which was fine with me.

I have to go with my GPS data when discussing the race, because I have no other splits, but it was off by over a mile. I thought by planning my average pace, I’d be in good shape, but that doesn’t help when the distance is off. I needed instead to calculate what time I’d need to be at each aid station in order to make my overall time goal. I had WAY less of a cushion than I thought. According to my GPS, I hit 16.7 miles in 4:33. Now that would have been incredible. I suppose it doesn’t really matter because I don’t have a very good recollection of this race, mile for mile.

I didn’t run this race at an aerobic pace. I barely paid attention to my heart rate at all. It maxed out at 188 bpm when I was climbing the second of the four big climbs. I noted when the climbs were coming (race start, 6.5 mi, 7.5 mi, and 10 mi, or so) as well as the approximate distances between aid stations (they were really close! The farthest distance between stations was 4.33 miles.) It was nice to have that information socked away, it made the race more manageable. It was also great not to have a big climb during the last 7 miles of the race.

I was passed by multitudes in the beginning of the race, as I expected/planned. After the first mile (maybe less), no one else passed me permanently. I was on the chase for the remaining 16 miles. One woman passed me heading into the first aid station, but I didn’t stop at the aid station, and she never caught back up. I caught up to a couple of 50 mile runners on their final lap after I left the aid station, and stayed with them off and on until they stopped at the picnic pavilion at the top of the 3rd climb. They didn’t finish too long after I did, so they must have rallied.

I started hunting people down on the hills. I am (comparatively) good at climbing hills, thanks to my experience running in Duluth. They really suck, and there were some STEEP climbs in this race, but I think hills defeat many people mentally before they do physically. I refused to be defeated by the hills and just kept chugging away slowly, heart rate be damned.

I whined about the sand when I found out about it, but it wasn’t terrible. It wasn’t like running at Park Point, where half the beach comes home in my shoes. There are a few short stretches of sand early in the race, but the longest stretch of sand is between the 2nd and 3rd aid station (it’s the same station, visited twice). I caught my foot on a branch and tripped in the sand, which was lovely. I wasn’t hurt and only got a little bit of sand on the tip of my water bottle, so it wasn’t a disaster. It threw me off, and then the sand stretched on a bit, so I was a little low, but I hit the third aid station pumped up again.

The final big climb began when I left aid station 3. It was really tough, and followed up by a VERY challenging downhill, with all kinds of rocks. I encountered a 100 mile runner on the way down. The poor guy was injured I believe, and was inching down the hill by holding on to the shoulders of his pacer in front of him. Rescue was on the way when I got to the bottom. *Update* He finished the race! Amazing. I came across this account from the fellow who was helping the runner down the hill; it turns out he wasn’t the runner’s pacer, but a spectator and a true Trail Person willing to help someone in need.

The reward for reaching the bottom of the hill is a flat gravel road and then the bridge to aid station 4. After that, it’s fewer than 3 miles to the finish, and just a few uphill battles to wage. The actual finish did seem like it would never come, but I was so excited to come down the long stretch of grass I’d seen runners come through the night before. I was really pleased that I was able to run it in to the finish. My friend and his parents saw me coming and literally had to yell to get my attention, since I wasn’t expecting them. I got a nice welcome from the race announcer in the timing tent; volunteering has its perks! I’m not 100% sure what he said, but it was more than just “here’s Runner XXX from City, State.” Or, “can we get a bib number on that?” Which happened a lot. I learned from the night before and had my bib positioned on the left side for easy viewing and easy scanning from the timing mechanism. “It read beautifully,” I was told after I checked in to say hi after the race.

I ate eggs and bacon and cookies and fig newtons post race and it was glorious. I didn’t feel barfy at all during the race and only had mild worries about stomach cramps. For the first few miles my head was a little fuzzy due to a little bit of congestion, but it mostly cleared up. I coughed plenty during the race and had a few rather painful coughs after the race ended, but I must have just had to shake something loose. My nose, on the other hand, was RAW. I had a runny nose for most of the race, and of course was being gross and just wiping it on my sleeve, because what else could I do? I’m not good at snot rockets. I had a lip balm with me and finally became so bothered I dug out the lip balm and smeared it on my mouth and nose. Heavenly. I need to find a better way to carry stuff than the pockets of my water bottle hand-holders. It’s challenging to get stuff out (because I jam so much in them) and moreso when I’m carrying both handhelds.

I would absolutely, without a doubt, run this race again. The course is challenging but I really enjoyed it! I’m not sure I would enjoy it 3 or 6 times, but maybe. It is well-marked (I did hear of some wrong turns though), although I did have a few “OMG am I on the trail?” moments, even though there was nowhere to take a wrong turn. I’d come across a “reassurance” marker eventually, though. Everyone was so friendly, the food was delicious, the swag was amazing (I was only deterred from getting a hoodie because I didn’t have cash to pay for it), and the scenery was heavenly. I can see how the trail could get extremely muddy, so while it was cold (and terribly windy for the Friday runners), we were fortunate for mostly dry trails. There was some mud, and it was a little tricky to navigate without slipping, but not impossible.

I hung around for a little bit post-race, and then went back to my car, intending to hang out in it for awhile before driving back, to make sure I wasn’t out of it. I felt pretty good though, and actually didn’t even feel cold, which surprised me. I went back to the hotel, drew a bath, and then lounged around for the rest of the day. I didn’t hurt physically, but I was worn out. I drank a couple of vanilla Cokes, ate some bagels and other snacks, drank some water, and rested. I need to bring some more substantial food next time; I really should have left the hotel in search of a real dinner, but I didn’t.

Sunday I felt ok. A little tired and cranky, and my hips were creaky, as usual. I desperately needed coffee and stopped for a latte in Red Wing, which was the closest Caribou. (I wanted to hold out for Sbux but the closest one was inside a Target in Hastings, and I wanted no part of that.) It took forever thanks to a billion people at the drive thru plus some annoying dude in front of me taking 11 guesses at the trivia question. This is irrelevant to the race recap but it annoyed me and kept me from feeding my addiction. I stopped in the Twin Cities as well, to break up the drive and move around a bit.

I am so glad I didn’t quit before the race even started. I got a nice dose of endorphins and a confidence-boosting result. And I only have to suffer through a few more days of cold weather before we get some 50 F days in Duluth! I’m ready to take a few days off and then regroup for Superior.