This update will mostly be a recap of the Ice Age 50K trail race I competed in 5/14. But first just a little catch up. The two weeks prior to race day were mostly just a taper period for me. I know not everyone who runs long distance agrees with the length or extent of the taper period. As I’ve gotten older I believe in more rest time than I had previously. My last long run was the 20 miler on the trails on May 1 with Dana and Chris. The following week I ran only 44 miles with the longest being 11 miles on Saturday. Half of these 11 miles were on the road and half on the trails. On Sunday I went out to Lapham Peak and was planning on an hour run. Shortly after I started, my GPS watch ran out of battery. I just kept running for what I thought was just short of an hour. To my surprise when I got back to the car I had already run 1.5 hours. This run felt easy and fun and gave me a little confidence for race day. I’ve run some at Lapham before, but I hit some new trails this time. What a beautiful park to run in. I definitely will have to do more running there in the future. The week of the race I took Monday and Friday off. On Tuesday I ran 6.5 miles, Wednesday 5, and Thursday 4. This is pretty typical for a marathon or longer race week for me. I read some time ago that you get no training benefit from the miles you put in from the immediate few weeks, and that in fact you can do more harm than good by overdoing it and not allowing recovery time for your legs to be strong heading into the event. No matter how you slice it the last few miles of a marathon or 50K are hard. I’d rather try to save a little strength in the legs and at least try to minimize the chance of injury. Sometimes I still wonder if I shouldn’t rest even more than I do.
Race prep actually started on Friday night. I got all my fluid bottles together along with all the race clothes and extras that would go into my drop bag. The weather looked like it would be pretty miserable on Saturday with rain and wind forecast for most of the day. With that in mind I packed more extra shirts, socks, and a pair of shoes just in case they would be needed. The layout of the 50k course allows you to pass by the start area where your drop bag would be, two times. This is great for a quick clothes change and also allows you to not have to carry a lot of gels or special fluids with you. Race morning went pretty smoothly. I slept pretty good for a pre-race night and got up around 4:30. This was plenty of time to eat my usual pre-race breakfast of pancakes and bananas and drink a few cups of coffee. I left the house around 6:15 which is the time I had intended getting out there, but it was still plenty early. Right after arriving I ran into Dana Schulz and Chris Ponteri, my friends I knew were running the race and training partners from a couple weeks earlier. After picking up my race packet we joined back up and shared some stories, talked a little strategy, and watched the first of the 50 mile runners come through on their first loop. They had started around 6am. Some of the fastest guys were going sub 7 minute miles at that time by our calculation. It’s hard to describe the feelings at about that point knowing the race start is not far ahead. There is nervousness, anticipation, excitement, and even some dread and fear knowing the difficulty of the task ahead and the pain that will come with it. About 20 minutes before race start I made the final clothing preparations and drop bag inventory and headed over to the start.
The race started right at 8:15. I'm in this picture in the blue shirt right center. Dana and Chris as expected took off well ahead of me. I started towards the front, but not right up there. Having done this race before I had hoped to run the first out and back (13 miles) in a little less than two hours. Ideally in about 1:50. What I tried to do was run 8 minute pace or slightly better when I could and then just take what I could on all the up hills. A couple miles in I ran into a guy named Todd. We were running a similar pace and talked a bit for a couple miles. I wasn’t real comfortable yet and found myself huffing and puffing more than I remembered heading up the hills. I did not walk, in that I used my arms and kept the running motion going. I’ve found that to be easier than actually walking the steepest hills like most people. Anyway Todd soon was out of sight and I fell into a no man’s land where there was no one either ahead or behind me for minutes. I was still a couple miles from the first turn around when the first place guy came screaming past going the other way. Several minutes back was a pack of 3 guys including Dana and again a few minutes back of that I saw Chris. It was good to see both of these guys running so strong on their first ultra events. Counting the people returning I was in about 25th place at that time. I hit the turnaround at about 57 minutes and took a decent amount of time to be sure I got a gel down and a good drink of water. I was a good minute into the return trip before I saw anyone else. On the return of the first out and back I started to feel more comfortable. I knew I wasn’t pushing as hard as I could, but at least I found a comfort zone and a pace I thought I could sustain. I ended up making it back from the first loop in 1:59. A little slower than I had hoped, but feeling strong yet. I stopped by my drop bag to get my special electrolyte drink and a couple more gels. I went without a shirt change and decided since it was cool enough I would forgo my fluid belt for the first loop. This stop must have taken longer than I thought. Looking at my watch a little down the trail I was already at 2:02. I knew now if I was going to equal or better my last 50k attempt I would have to run 1:20 or so for the first 9 mile loop and then still throw down a 1:30 or so second loop. I pushed on. I was still in a place where there were not any runners anywhere close to me. A few miles into the Nordic loop I ran into the place where the half marathon runners join the same trail. Most of these people were on their last loop and slower runners. It was nice to see people but I was continually running past all of them. Half way through the first loop, just past the aid station I ran into Todd again whom I hadn’t seen since early on. Apparently he had a cramp that had slowed him that he had worked through. We again started running together and were holding a pretty good pace. We decided we would try to stick together for the rest of the race and try to push each other to break the 5 hour mark. We finished the next 4 miles to the start area chatting and stride for stride. I was looking forward to finishing with someone. As we approached the finish of the first loop I was surprised to see Dana off on the side. He told me he had dropped out after taking a wrong turn. What a bummer this must have been after looking so strong in the beginning. This first Nordic loop took about 1:25 as the total time back at the drop bags was about 3:27. Now I know I needed a 1:30 final loop just to break 5 hours and that beating my last 50k effort was not possible. I grabbed a drink, took another gel, changed shirt and hat, and put on my fluid belt with one bottle of electrolyte mixture and another of flattened cherry coke. Todd and I met back up and headed off for the money loop. Within the first 50 yards Todd pulled up with a cramp, and encouraged me to go on. I wished him well and took off. This was 22 miles in. I was still doing pretty well considering, but knew the challenge this last loop brings. The hills on this loop are not overly long or steep but at least on part of the loop they are relentless. Up and down one after another. Here is an example of one of the hills (not me).
The second time over them, this many miles out they really take a toll no matter how in shape a person might be. About 7 miles to go I passed up a guy I thought might be my age group. Turns out I was right. Afterwards I found out he was last year’s age group winner. With about 5 miles left I started sipping on my cherry coke. I’ve done this a couple times before instead of taking another gel. The calories and sugar boost have helped get through the last few miles. Unfortunately not as much this time as before. With about 5 miles I figured I still had an outside chance to break 5 hours but was struggling. Not to mention it was about here the wind picked up and the rain started to fall. So now I had weather, my head, and tired legs to overcome to make my outside goal. I pushed on as best I could, trying to run a little faster downhill or when flat and still trying to run rather than walk up any hill. With no one around me to encourage or anyone in front to try and catch it was just one foot in front of the other. Finally I hit the last two killer hills just before the finish, turned the corner and could hear the finish line crowd. Giving all I could, I crossed the tape in just over 5 hours. 5:00:50 to be exact. I was somewhat disappointed I couldn’t break 5 hours, but some of that sting came out a little later when the results were posted. I ended up finishing 21st overall out of about 140 finishers (20 or so must have DNF’d) and 1st in my age group of 33 people. Let me tell you any time you can collect hardware, especially on a nationally known event such as this you had a good day.
After the race I quickly grabbed my bag and changed into dry warm clothes. I then met up with Chris who had a very good race for his first time at the distance. He finished 15th overall in 4:39 and 2nd in his age group. He told me had talked to Dana who had just left back for home. They have a really good post race spread with lots of good food and beer. Chris and I and several other runners spent the next couple hours sharing lots of stories and partaking in the food and drink. The award ceremony was a couple hours away so all this camaraderie made the time pass quickly. Somewhere around 3 the ceremony was to start, but it got off late. While waiting for the show to start I happened to run into Todd. He ended up finishing about 4 minutes behind me and ended up taking the 3rd place award in the same age group as Chris. One thing about these events is they are pretty laid back and there is an exceptional number of nice friendly runners and volunteers. After Chris left, Todd and I talked a bit longer over another beer like we were old buddies. Overall it was a good time with some old, newer, and brand new friends. When you first finish you wonder why you do it, but then after taking in the whole experience as it is, you wonder how you could not do it again.
I will need to decide by 5/31 if I will sign up for Grandma’s marathon which is 6/18. Today I feel pretty good except for a little tweak on my heel. If recovery goes well and I can get a couple quality runs in before the end of the month I will likely do it.
Recap of mileage totals through 5/15.
WTD 47.5
MTD 110
YTD 1057
ODO 28328
Hunting:
It's been a while since I posted anything about my favorite hunting shows or sites. Here are a few links to a some of my favorite hunting blog sites. I like these because they have good articles, good bloggers, good tips and advice, and good pictures and videos.
The first is from field and steam called whitetail-365.
Next is a site from Deer and deer hunting magazine deeranddeerhunting.com
The third is from bowhunting.com bowhunting.com/blog/
Gardening:
Last Tuesday I took the day off from work and got caught up with a few chores. I was able to get the lawn mowed and the entire garden rototilled. I was hoping to get some planting in, but it's done nothing but rain and of course the weekend was filled with the race on Saturday and a birthday party on Sunday. With lawn mowing season here I have recruited the neighbor kid to help me this year. He was looking to make some money anyway so this will free up a few hours a week for me and allow him to buy the mini bike he really wants to get. I may need a day or two off over the next few weeks to get caught up again.
