My New Second Favorite Holiday!

This has been a great weekend.  I have never really been a big fan of Halloween ever since I was a little tyke...until now!  I'm still not sure how this whole trick-or-treating thing works here in the big city, but when I was growing up in small-town Crookston, 99% of houses had their lights on and gave out candy.  the 1% of houses that didn't were definitely the "mean" houses.  And they weren't just mean on Halloween...it lasted all year long.  So needless to say, I have been determined this year not to be "that guy".  Too many little kids are in need of candy tonight.

So this afternoon I made a trip to the Home Depot and bought a new doorbell, since my old one never worked.  I stopped by Target and bought WAY too much candy...good thing since I've eaten as much as I've given out.  Then got two pumpkins to put on the steps.  And after a lot of anxious waiting with a really huge foam Texas hat on, these cute little kids in costumes have finally arrived!  Loving it. 

In other news, it's been fun getting back into some pretty good weeks of running the last few weeks.  Spent the day out at Surf the Murph yesterday watching a bunch of friends run the 50 miler.  It was great hanging around the race, and ended up with 22 or so miles of wandering around out there with the guys.  I was real excited for Jorge, Joe, and Dylan since I get to train with those guys a lot...was awesome seeing a bunch of other friends and familiar faces out there too.

Tomorrow is Day 1 of marathon training.  Still not sure which one, but will be something in February down south.  It'll be good to break up the Minnesota winter and change up the old routine a bit.

Volunteering and Cheering at TCM

Four years ago this past weekend was my first ever marathon.  Ever since then, Twin Cities Marathon weekend has never failed to bring some awesome memories and fun times.  Part of me was really jealous of all the runners on a perfect day, but I think a bigger part of me had a whole lot of fun watching and cheering them all on this year.

Volunteering on Saturday:
For the third year in a row now for me, the TCM excitement started the day before the Marathon at the TC Saturday Events.  My good friend and co-worker Irene and I are co-volunteer coordinators for the TC 5K, TC 10K, and TC Saturday Events at the Capitol.  If you've never been out to the Saturday Events, next year you definitely have to come over to St. Paul to experience the fun.  There is literally something for everyone here.  The day starts with the TC 10K and then the 5K.  After that comes the kids and family 1 mile, then the half mile.  Then everything finishes with the Mascot race, Toddler Trot, and Diaper Dash.  If none of that works for you, I will recruit you to volunteer!  It's a fun day and glad it could be so nice with the sun warming things up for the kids events.

Kids lining up on John Ireland Blvd for the 1 mile and 1/2 mile!

We had more volunteers than ever this year - about 200!  That's in large part thanks to about 100 college students from all across the Midwest from Students Today Leaders Forever (STLF) - the organization Irene and I both work for.  It's funny how our STLF Fall Conference this year just happened to be the same weekend that Irene and I needed to recruit a ton of volunteers...it helps to have a say in the scheduling.  We had a great group of high school students from our friends at Genesys Works out there again this year as well!  Overall things went really well...we seem to get a little better organized each year but always have ideas for the future.

Cheering on Sunday:
I met up with Joe and his mom at mile 2.5 at about 8:00, and we didn't have long to wait before the first wheelers and lead runners came by...and since it was so early on everyone else followed real quickly.  We had about a dozen friends running who we were looking out for, but was hard to see them all in the crowds of runners early on.  The next stop was the Team Ortho party at mile 19.5 where they were much more spread out.  It was so awesome seeing friends looking good going through here en route to great races - PRs for Nick, Dylan, and Jeff, a great first Boston Qualifier for Matt, and everyone else running steady and having fun.  There's something special about being with someone on so many training runs and knowing what the race means to them, then seeing them go out and get their goal.  Whether you're a runner or not, I couldn't imagine watching a marathon and not being inspired...so many great stories.

And the Recovery Continues...Still:
As for life after Sawtooth, it has been a very good lesson in patience.  All year I've been used to bouncing back from ultras and being able to run 80-100 miles the next week, but I have now learned 102.6 miles of the Superior Trail can really take a toll on a guy.  I think I've run about 75 or 80 miles in the three and a half weeks since the race and taken about 10 days off total.  I've been mostly working on getting the right knee to come around and the IT Band loosened up before running too much again.  It is gradually getting better so hope to get some good fall trail running in the next several weeks if all goes well.  In the meantime I will be cheering on the Twins!

Superior Sawtooth 100 - Race Report

Distance running is such a perfectly simple sport - we just put one foot in front of the other for miles and hours on end, day after day…  It’s a sport that rewards patience, hard work, and one in which you get out what you put in. On the surface, most people out there would probably think from this description that running is about as individual of a sport as there is. I realized more than ever last weekend that at least for me this belief couldn’t be farther from the truth.

You see, the story of finishing my first 100 mile race is not one that began at Gooseberry State Park on Friday morning; the race is just the culmination of much more. Throughout all of the training, ups and downs, and the race itself, I have been lucky to have great friends who have inspired and motivated me every step of the way. I couldn’t have imagined the race last weekend without three of them – Joe, Arley, and Dylan – who were there to keep me taken care of, encouraged, and moving forward. I felt like the luckiest guy in the world out there to have such great support from my crew and all the absolutely incredible volunteers and race directors who are truly unsung heroes of the race.

I realize that there is a whole lot that can go wrong in 100 miles no matter how hard you work, plan, and prepare. I am very fortunate that most things went right and couldn’t have been happier to have it culminate in a great race. I was the first across the line in 22:35.

The Play by Play - The Race is On:
The night before the race was a good time all around. After the pre-race meeting, Joe and Arley argued about Brad Childress during the miserable Vikings game while I did some final prep getting some food ready for the race. I was really optimistic about these PB & J mini bagels and my mom’s banana bread…turned out they just didn’t quite hit the spot the next day though. I got stuff organized, went over the gear and game plan one more time with the guys, and even managed to get a bit of sleep. 

The first few steps at the Gooseberry.  Sheryl on the left edged out
Val at the end as the first woman! Both had a great race!

After anxiously waiting for the start at Gooseberry State Park the next morning, Larry the race director finally said go and we were off. From the very beginning, it was always about getting to the next aid station. In the early sections this wasn’t so bad at all on fresh legs, but proved to be mentally much more overwhelming as the race went on. I couldn’t possibly wrap my mind around the whole distance at once, so just focused on one section at a time and putting miles behind me in the daylight. In hindsight maybe I went out a touch too fast, getting out of Beaver Bay at mile 19.4 in around 2:57 or so, but that was right according to the plan to the minute and the legs still felt pretty good. 

Running into Beaver Bay on schedule at 19.4.

Stocking up the Nathan I think at Tettegouche.

The next three sections through Silver Bay, Tettegouche, and into County Road 6 came with much more challenging trail and ended with a really low spot in the race for me there at mile 42 or so. I was a bit slow but felt real steady into Tettegouche, and then the dreaded 8 miles to County 6 once again took its toll on me. This section beat me up pretty bad on a training run back in August, and it was out to get me again in the race. Between a little accidental HEED debacle and much more so just letting that section get to my head again, I was in pretty rough shape coming into County 6. 

I'm happier than I look to be done with that section.

I got some fruit there, reloaded on water and Gatorade, and left that station frustrated with myself and still over 60 miles to go. It didn’t help that about a minute later I threw up, and about 30 seconds after that I tripped and fell down pretty hard. I laid there for maybe 20 seconds, calmed down a bit, picked myself up, and right then decided that would be a turning point of sorts. I knew I had Joe waiting to pace me at the next aid station at Finland (mile 50.5).  All I thought about the whole first half is that once I got to Finland I would be in the clear with the guys pacing the rest of the way.

Eating at the Finland Aid Station halfway.

No Longer Alone on the Trail:

The run into Finland and the next 12 miles with Joe was really great and I think the most encouraging point of the race for me. The trail was very runnable here and Joe was incredible at being positive and encouraging the whole time. I was feeling great, making good time, my head was in a good spot, and I was having fun. We cruised through Sonju and got into Crosby Manitou at mile 62 just in the final minutes before the darkness completely took over and the lights went on. 

I picked up Dylan as my new pacer for the next 22 miles here at Crosby Manitou. I knew all along this section was going to be really hard with one heck of a steep descent and even steeper climb out of the gorge there, so was mentally prepared. I’d have to ask Dylan again, but I recall the most challenging part of this 10 mile stretch going pretty well…it was actually the last few easier miles that took a toll on my mind and just seemed to never end. 

The Skies Open Up:

And then the rain began, and continued, and never did stop until after the race. And the fog! I thought for a while it was just me not seeing clear but the guys insisted that it was indeed unbelievably foggy to the point where the trail was a blur. We got through Sugarloaf at mile 72 and into Cramer Road at 77 without it all really bothering me too much. I still just had a t-shirt on and for some reason insisted I was ok when I left Cramer Road when I could have put on a dry shirt and rain jacket. I obviously wasn’t thinking straight, because within about a minute the real downpoor began and I was freezing cold and shivering. Maybe it was a good thing since keeping on running to the next aid station at Temperence was the only way I would stay warm enough. I was a bit of a mess coming into Temperence at 84, but that dry shirt and rain jacket made a world of difference and I felt like a new man heading out of there. 

Arley and I took off from there for the last 18 miles and soon I was feeling pretty good…it’s crazy how quickly things turned around once I got my core warmed up. On that section up and over Carlton Peak, we ran steady the whole gradual part of the climb until hitting the boulders on top where we hiked. The rain was still pouring down the whole time and the fog was getting so dense that we could hardly see the ground at our feet, but we kept it moving steady enough to the extent that they weren’t even ready for us at the Sawbill aid station when we got there! Most of that next section we spent trudging through ankle deep water on trails that became streams…but we kept on moving.

The Home Stretch...Kind of:

I had thought about what it would be like to run that last 7 mile section before and during the race…and it was nothing like I anticipated. I thought by then the adrenaline of nearing the finish would kick in and would be able to power through it. In reality, it seemed to never end. I remember telling Arley that one of the few things I could do to screw this up would be to fall down and injure myself…then I proceeded to repeatedly fall down probably 5 or 6 times in the next couple miles. It was so frustrating, and each mile seemed so daunting. I knew I had to get over Moose and Mystery Mountains, but those climbs just took forever to get there. For some reason I wasn’t taking anything for granted until I got off that trail. I was convinced that Adam Casseday who was putting together a great race behind me was right on my heals, and I knew that as long as you’re out there, the Superior Trail will chew you up and throw everything it has at you. I was looking forward so much to reaching the road and cruising in those last final steps. Tony told me before the race to cherish those last steps because they go by fast and before you know it they are gone. He was so right. In a flash it was over. 

Post Race with Friends:
I had a great day on Saturday. After a long shower, a delirious breakfast with the guys, and a few hours of sleep, I spent most of the rest of the day hanging around the finish line. It was a blast to see old friends and new friends cross the finish line after persevering through the tough course in all events – 100 mile, 50 mile, and marathon. There are too many great stories to cover them all here, but a good reason to go run or volunteer next year and see it all for yourself! 

The 100 Mile Awards were on Saturday Night at the Finish Line.

Thank you Volunteers:
One of my goals going into the race was to try and thank all the volunteers no matter how bad it got. Well, I think some of them maybe got overthanked (Joe said I told some of them I loved them), but I am sure some probably got shortchanged when I was in a rush.  You all were incredible and whether it seemed like it or not at the time, I truly appreciated all your endless hours of work to make it all possible. 

Race Director Larry Pederson watches over one of 13 amazing aid stations
set up and staffed by volunteers!

Strengths, Weaknesses, and Lessons Learned on the Trail:
I’ve decided that running in a 100 mile race is a really good way to learn a lot about yourself, running, and life. My strengths were mostly physical and definitely the result of the training volume, long runs, and hill repeats. To my surprise, another strength was also my biggest concern going into the race – Nutrition. I had enough bad experiences with nutrition this year to be paranoid about it and to have learned what works and doesn’t. I kept a good variety of sources of calories going and did a really good job of staying hydrated and getting at least very close to the goal of 300 calories per hour.

My biggest downfall out there was by far my weak mind. I am a bit disappointed in how negative I was getting for much of the last 30 or so miles. My good friend Tony has taught me a whole lot about running 100 miles when I crewed for him at Western States and Leadville, but I mistakenly failed to learn the valuable lesson from him of positivity and emotional steadiness…he is so good at that and I will be very focused on being much better next time. I’m thankful Dylan and Arley put up with all my illogical and I’m sure slightly annoying complaining out there for hours on end.

Overall, I realized that life should be filled up with great adventures with friends. I am lucky to have something I absolutely love in running, and luckier to be able to share it with great people. This is just one adventure of many more to come…some of the most amazing and challenging trails in the country await, and I can’t wait to get out there and explore.

August in Review

The State Fair has arrived, the Twins are making their playoff run again (this time I like our chances!), Labor Day is just around the corner, and I just got a little less Younger on Saturday when I turned 26.  All this means that my favorite time of year to run is finally here…definitely looking forward to nice cool fall running!

Training - Hitting some Milestones
Ever since Voyageur it’s been a great stretch of training and all in all the last push for miles and fitness that I was hoping for.  Sure there are always some runs that are better than others and I was getting real tired there a couple weeks ago, but kept it rolling and pretty steady.  Here’s a quick summary for August:

• Total Miles in August:  480
• Run Time: 70 hours, 29 minutes
• Highest Mileage Week:  131
• Lowest Mileage Week:  85
  - - - - - -
• Total Miles in 2010:  3,185

I was happy to have the month end with the legs feeling good after some hard training.  It’s been my highest mileage month, highest mileage week, highest mileage 7-day period of 151, and a couple days ago passed by my total mileage from 2009 of 3,144.  Been a lot of really slow running the last couple months, but hoping the hills, trails, and volume strategy pays off in my first 100 miler in a little over a week.

Testing – VO2 Max, Heart rate, Threshold Pace
So I hadn’t set foot on a treadmill since about mid-January, but a couple weeks ago found myself at OptumHealth Performance with Chris and Dan who runs the show over there.  Lundo and I talked about having me do some testing back in the spring, so was glad to hear from him that they just got some new equipment in there and we lined up a time.  It’s incredible what they can tell just based on what you are breathing and your heart rate. 

They had me running 2 minute increments at 6 mph, 7, 8, 9, 10, 10.5, 11, and 11.5.  I hit my lactate threshold around 11 – 11.5, then they increased the incline a bit and that was the end of all that.  It was a lot of fun and got some great info.  I learned I have a VO2 Max of 74.4, threshold pace of I think around 5:20 – 5:30 or so, threshold heart rate of about 190, and max heart rate of 203.  I’m still not sure exactly what it all means, but will help a whole lot when I train for a marathon next.  Definitely recommend doing it if you are interested in learning more, and I’m sure Dan would love to hear from you.

In Other News...
Last week I was driving along the highway minding my own business…then traffic slowed down and the guy behind me didn’t.  No injuries thankfully, but I did end up with one totaled car and one new one.  I was kind of hoping to drive the old one into the ground and save money, but I’m having fun driving around in a new car with a manual transmission!

Oh, and in perhaps my most notable non-running ‘athletic’ accomplishment in my young life, we had an STLF staff outing to the bowling alley last Friday and I bowled a 175!  I was totally on pace for over 200 until I blew it in the 9th.  Left me wondering if just maybe I should switch sports…

A Superior Weekend!

After this past weekend, I am now regretting not having found a way to go up north more often this summer. It was definitely a great couple days of camping and trail running with great people…who could ask for anything more?

I drove up Friday afternoon through the storms and rain, and met up with Helen, Val, and Dee in Two Harbors. Chris Scotch and his dog Cooper were just a few minutes farther behind. I followed them another half hour or so to Chris’s TOP SECRET and incredibly beautiful campsite right on the shore of Lake Superior. Just as we were walking out with our stuff onto the beach, the rain gradually stopped and it actually turned out to be an awesome night, campfire and all!

View of the sunrise on Superior from my tent...don't get that in Minneapolis.

On Saturday morning, Helen and Val gave me a ride to where the Sawtooth course begins at Gooseberry State Park.  I set out to head north from there to make Finland the destination – just over 50 miles up the trail. After I started running, Helen, Val, Dee, and Chris went to drop some water and food at a few spots on the trail, and a car at County Road 6 (mile 42) and Finland. I’m just real thankful they all set everything up so I could do this training run point to point…definitely would have been logistically impossible without them.

The first couple sections through Split Rock State Park and into Beaver Bay were a ton of fun and real runnable…will make for a fun start to the race for sure. The crew met me at Beaver Bay around mile 20 with some water and food, and then five miles later they joined in running at Silver Bay.

Overlook from the trail between Split Rock and Beaver Bay.

The sections before and after Tettegouche were beautiful, but I think the hardest of the first half of the course.  It had been warm, humid, and sunny all day, and by the time we were about halfway to County Road 6 around mile 38 or 40, I was totally drained on water in both my handheld and Nathan pack.  I was getting real dehydrated and definitely challenged my positivity to say the least.  The legs felt fine but the body was just shutting down...man it was rough out there.

After finally stumbling into County Road 6 and after a good break to re-hydrate and get some calories, Val and I headed off for the next and final stop at Finland. Chris and Helen are both running Where’s Waldo 100K in Oregon next weekend, so they along with Dee called it a day here. The last eight miles thankfully felt about a million times better and we kept a pretty steady pace into Finland to at least finish strong.

The run was overall slow going and definitely came with some major ups and downs, but I guess good training and experience nonetheless.  It helps to be reminded that things can get pretty bad and still turn around quickly.  Most importantly though, the weekend and camping was a blast!

Baptism River in Tettegouche State Park.

As for training over the last several months, I've now pretty much done what I can do, thankfully stayed healthy throughout, and learned a ton.  Just another week or so before really dialing it down and resting up for a bit before the race.

Change of Scenery

As much as I really do love to run at Hyland, I think it’s gotten to the point here late in the summer where that 7.5 mile loop is starting to wear on me a bit. It’s all the more reason to be excited about some change of scenery and a couple good adventures here in August!

First up was some quality time at Afton this past Saturday, which I think I enjoy more every time I'm there. That park is just far enough away that I always feel like its a little field trip going out there...waking up early, packing up my bag, and hitting the road while the rest of the world is still asleep. John Storkamp and I met up around 4:30 or so and he had 4 hours to run before heading out of town for a road trip to Milwaukee. I'm sure anyone who has ever run with John would agree that he sure helps the time go by fast. We both got in a real steady 27 miles in 4:00 with some good hills and good conversation along the way, and I tacked on a handful more to get to 35. He definitely left me with some really good advice to ponder in those last eight miles...just learning more every time out. 

I’m super excited for heading up north tomorrow for the Superior Trail with Helen, Val, Dee, Kami, Chris Scotch who I have yet to meet, and maybe a couple others. It'll be just the first and sadly I think the only camping trip of the summer, but it’ll come with some adventure and good stories for sure! Planning on running the first half of the Sawtooth course on Saturday and some more on Sunday. After Saturday I will have run on the whole course which will be encouraging, although I have a funny feeling the second half might seem just a bit different at night on tired legs than it has in the 50 miler the past couple years. 

Overall it’s been a good stretch of training since Voyageur. I'm definitely not getting any faster, but putting in a lot of steady miles which should hopefully serve me well in four weeks. I guess I'll find out soon enough...

One Month at a Time…

It’s crazy how fast the summer seems to be going.  I think I realized yesterday when I had to get the light out for the early Hyland loop that fall will be sneaking up on us before we know it.  While I’ll for sure miss the long days, I don’t think I’ll miss the humidity much.

I’ve been sort of taking this whole year on a month-to-month basis when it comes to running and training.  After each month that goes by, I’ve been thankful mostly to have stayed healthy, learned a lot, gradually gotten better, and enjoyed it all.

As for July, it’s been a steady stretch of training and happy to have the legs feeling pretty good.  It helped that I came into the month all fired up and inspired from being out at Western States to crew and pace for Tony Kocanda.   The two races I ran this month – Afton and Voyageur – were definitely the highlights of July.  For both I found myself pretty relaxed and having a whole lot of fun…which is the whole point, right?  Just keeping it rolling and enjoying the trail.

Here’s a summary of training for the month and year to date:

• Total Miles in July:  416
• Highest Mileage Week:  110
• Lowest Mileage Week:  82
  - - - - - -
• Total Miles in 2010:  2,705

I’m already looking forward to a good month of August, which should include some quality time at Afton and Hyland, and a trip up north to train on the SHT!

Enough about me…
In other exciting news, it’s always fun to see good things happening for some running friends.  First of all, it was great seeing Joe Z making progress and out at Hyland yesterday walking on that recovering broken leg during our 6 am loop…I’m pretty sure he’ll be beating us all on the trails again before we know it.  I was also excited to hear that Chris Lundstrom will be competing as a member of the USA Mountain Running Team in the World Mountain Running Championships in Kamnik, Slovenia in September!  Good things happen to good people…especially when they work really hard.

See you on the trails!