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!

Voyageur 50 Mile - Race Report

The Minnesota Voyageur has got to be up there with the best 50 mile trail races in the country.  Now I know some of you are probably thinking, "There goes Brian believing everything in Minnesota is the best again.", but this time I don't think it's just my excessive love of the state.  It's 29 year history certainly makes it among the oldest, the trail is beautiful, the people are incredible, and there's something about that course that leaves me wanting another shot at it as soon as I'm done.  

It was a great weekend and a really fun time on the trails on Saturday.  It's always fun to see and spend time with fellow trail runners, meet new people, and I even got to spend a couple days with my parents who made the trip over from Crookston to watch and crew (thanks Mom and Dad!).  I made a weekend of it and headed north to Carlton around mid-day on Friday to meet up with my parents that afternoon who were hiking at Jay Cooke State Park.  We hung out by the visitor's center and swinging bridge (around mile 3 and 47) which I knew would be a welcome sight a little under 24 hours later.

And the Race is On:

Saturday's race was all in all what I set out to do, finishing in 4th place with a time of 7:52 and change.  I knew quite well that there were faster runners than I am in the race, so I set out with a pretty good frame of mind and the focus on a steady race and enjoying the trail.  For a guy who loves the competition of the race, its hard not to worry about what place I'm in.  However, I also have just barely enough experience now to know what pace isn't sustainable, and what a second half blow-up feels like if I try to run that pace.  So in this my last race before Superior Sawtooth 100, the goal was a steady race, strong second half, and a good time.  While I was about 15-20 minutes off what I was hoping for a time, I do feel like I ran a steady race and finished strong.  And I definitely had a blast out there on the course which is what makes it all worthwhile.

The race started at Carlton High School right at 7 am.  The first half mile or so is on pavement where everyone sort of falls into the position they want to start before hitting the trail.  It was Dusty Olson and Chris Gardner who went out in front, and John Storkamp, Chris Rubesh, Chris Lundstrom and I who settled in relatively close to each other but quickly out of sight.  The first few miles of trail are quite rocky and rooty, much like most of Superior.  I'm wondering now since I tripped and fell in both the first two miles and last two miles, if that means I will fall down about 50 times during Sawtooth...sounds about right but hope not.  

After the first aid station in Jay Cooke though the trail really flattened out for a while and was really runnable.  For the next five or so miles it was Storkamp, Lundo and I running pretty close in 3-5 place.  It's always nice to have some company out there at least in the beginning.  Although after Storkamp asked me somewhere in here whether or not this was suicide pace, I thought maybe I would be best just letting those two guys keep each other company for a while.  I think we separated out a bit around mile 8 or 9, before the first trip though the powerlines.  

I really forgot how steep those powerlines hills are...man those are some tough ups and downs.  I was already starting to not feel quite right before I even got there, which worried me a bit since I usually start off races feeling great.  Between the powerlines at around mile 10 until probably a few miles before the turnaround, I had lost a lot of time off my planned pace.  The legs felt good, but the body just wasn't moving as fast as I wanted.  I told myself if I kept it steady things would come around...always does, right?

Coming to one of the aid stations between the Powerlines and the Zoo.

Picture: Gregg Robertson

I saw Gardner, Dusty, Lundstrom and Storkamp all real close together on their way back.  They were flying through the course and had a tough second half ahead of them, but it was looking like there would be some crazy fast times posted.  I started feeling pretty good by the time I got into the turnaround at the zoo at about 3:40 or so.  I was not too excited to be 10 minutes off the plan, but was feeling good and shifted the mindset away from the race and just focused on a steady run.  By now I was already 20+ minutes back and had a solid lock on 5th, so didn't have much to worry about in terms of place anyway.  

Other than crossing paths with the other runners and friends on the trail, I was pretty locked in from around 25 to 37 or so when it was back to the powerlines.  It had been cool all day probably in the 60s and rained for a while so knew it would make for some muddy climbs back up through powerlines.  It was slick and slow going, but the vegetation on the side was good traction and trees and bushes came in handy to pull myself up those hills.  

By around mile 42 or so, I was told at the aid station I was 8 minutes back from 4th place, which was some progress and encouraging since the legs still felt pretty good.  It wasn't too long after that I caught up with John, who sort of had the wheels come off a bit with some leg cramps.  He was still positive as always and told me to just keep running and I gradually moved on ahead.  

From here on to the finish, I knew the top three were way ahead, so I was just running for time.  I thought I had a chance at sub-7:50, but just couldn't move my feet quick enough over that rocky last few miles.  I hadn't been so excited to see a paved bike path since last year at Voyageur, which means the finish is about 5 minutes away.  I cruised into the finish line in 7:52:51.

Chris and I talking just after crossing the line. 

Picture: Gregg Robertson

Hanging Out at the Finish:
After showering up at the school, the few hours after the race were a blast, visiting with the runners and volunteers and seeing people finish.  Duluth got the best of us once again, with Gardner absolutely rocking it and tearing up the course with a 6:55 - I think the fourth fastest time ever and just 14 minutes off Jurek's record...incredible run and real happy to see things all come together for him.  My fellow TC Running teammate and friend Chris Lundstrom had a great race as well and came in 2nd at 7:13.  It was also great seeing Val come in 40 minutes faster than last year as 4th woman.  And perhaps one of the best highlights of the day was seeing my friend and training partner Jeff Denney finish his first 50 miler...and he even went a couple extra miles with three wrong turns!  Pretty impressive for a guy who signed up two days before the race.

Many thanks to Race Director Andy Holak for all the work in putting on a perfect event, and to the many volunteers who made it possible.  We missed Andy in the race, but I've got a feeling he will someday find a way to both direct and win that race at the same time.

Already looking forward to next year!

Time for Something New...

I can't ever recall really enjoying the few days before a race.  I usually seem to find myself with a little extra time on my hands, anxious to just hit the trail, always a part of me a bit nervous, and the mind somewhat distracted.  So now two days before the Voyageur 50, after five or six days of forcing myself not to run much, maybe a few too many episodes of Lost, and a bit too much pent up energy, I have decided it is time for something new.  I am joining the growing and always-interesting group of running bloggers!

Now for a guy who's stuck in a routine and doesn't usually stay up much past 10, this is already maybe too much excitement!  Seriously though, I'm not sure how well I will be able to keep up with it all, but I'm hoping this will be a place to capture some memories and share some stories of road trips, races and running adventures with friends, training, goals, or maybe the occasional random stories about life.  Hopefully I will be interesting enough to keep the handful of you entertained...

Other than starting blogs, another thing a few days before a long race does is put me into sort of a reflective state.  It's coming up on two years now since I ran my first ultra in the Superior 50 mile.  In a little over 10 hours of stumbling up and down that trail, I got hooked.  In thinking back on the time since then, I've found it absolutely amazing how tight-knit a community trail runners are.  It's a sport where if you run a few races and keep showing up, you can't help but become part of that community - and more often than not it will hook you into just running more.  It's also a sport where if you hang around, and especially if you are young enough to be nicknamed by your running friends "The Younger", you will most likely receive an abundance of really good advice.  

While I know advice only goes so far, the two things I have found myself hanging onto the most during races as of late is "enjoy it" and "keep it steady".  Sounds simple I know, but on Saturday when 50 miles is feeling like a really really long ways, those five words will come in pretty handy.  

So there's my no-longer-top-secret race strategy for Voyageur.  I'm going to enjoy it, keep it steady, have fun out there, hopefully run my own race, and learn a lot.  It should be a good time for sure and hope to come out of it feeling ready for the last month of training before my first 100 miler at Superior Sawtooth!