I ended up deciding to go for the Superior Trail 50 mile race this past weekend despite not feeling very well the last month or so. Have been trying to figure whether my respiratory problems have been from this summer's bad allergies, mold problems in my summer residence, or from signing up for too many races in the last few months(like to believe this is not the case). Anyhow, I did not find a time where I was ready to run my scheduled 35 mileish run as my long run like my training schedule Chris Lundstrom had wrote for me. Instead of going out for the one long run, I decided to try and hit 70 miles in a week, hoping this would be the easiest way to be able and finish the 50. With usually having pretty low miles compared to everybody else, 70 was an accomplishment for me and gave me just the tad bit of confidence I needed to attempt the 50mile race.
The prior few weeks to the race, I had not been running much, perhaps due to fatigue of the summer mixed with CA training and also maybe I was justifying my laziness with calling it an extended taper. Anyways, did few couple mile runs the week before and was curious how things would go down.
Initially Brandon and Jeremy planned on coming up with me to crew me through to the finish, but unfortunately I found out on the website this was not allowed so plans ended up changing last minute. It was the day before the race and I was still not sure how I would be getting there, until by Miracle, Steve found me by facebook and offered me a ride up there. I ended up leaving class early and he picked me up to head towards Lutsen. We got to Caribou Highlands and ate a pasta dinner which was very satisfying. I initially planned on sleeping in some public lounge area at the Highlands but was not able to find anyplace that I would be able to get away with being a bum for a night. Luckily, I ran into Steve after he found a parking lot he was planning on sleeping in. He offered for me to crash with him in his tent, but not wanting to keep him up during the night, I decided to try and crash in his car. This was not working for me so I went out in the back on Caribou Highlands and fell asleep in the back courtyard. It was pretty cool hearing wolfs howling at night. Ended up getting woke up by a drunk guy at about 1:30am and was freezing my butt off in the cool night air so decided to go scrunch back up in the car and try to sleep til 4:00am. Woke up with the alarm on time and was feeling very anxious. I had not completely processed what I was about to do and it was slowly starting to hit me. Steve and I saw the northern lights flashing over the Caribou Highland lodge and across the sky and the combination of hearing the wolves the previous night and the northern lights that morning was pretty magical.
Ate an unplanned breakfast of a bagel with pb and downed it with a little coffee and muscle milk. We got on the bus and headed to Finland which took around 40min. At this point I was getting to nervous to really talk with people so just sat with my headphones on trying to relax. It was a funny feeling being in a bus with 60 other people at 5:00am and the bus noise level was noisy as a cocktail party. It was still dark out and it was beginning to hit me more would I would be doing soon. Thinking about the guys who had been running the 100 mile since 6am the previous day, eased my mind a little bit but still my stomach seemed to get more tight. It seemed pretty bizarre that those 100milers were out there with their headlamps running around their 50th mile. In an odd sense, there were jealous feelings in my mind for those runners who had been running for almost the past 24 hours.
After checking in Finland and waiting around for about 15min we lined up on the road and headed out. We started out just trotting down and took a left turn into the woods. At this point, I was towards the end of the group and tried to hop in front of a pack of people before hoping onto the single track trail. Once getting on the trail, it felt like I needed to go faster being stuck behind a huge group for the first 5 minutes or so but figured if I was going to be running all day, better off to just chill now. Was able to hop in front of a big pack of people following another guy named John who was also doing this for his first time. We ended up running around 10 miles or so together until we caught up to the guys I would be running the next 40 or so miles with later. Ended up hanging out behind Jared and Joseph for a bit before we started chit chatting and getting to know each other. With all of our names beginning in J we found it funny to call each other J1, J2, J3 depending on our position in the single track trails we were running. Think we were together when we got to the 1st aid station and I remember eating alot of food. Had pb and J sandwiches, banana slices, coke, and just tried to stock up as to refuel my legs which were sadly already fatiguing. I knew if I didn’t consume a ton of calories at the aid stations, the race wouldn’t be possible to finish. Looks like my eating Taco Bell before long runs helped out as I didn’t experience much GI problems the whole day. I think our second stint on the trail was 9.7ish miles and this was pretty tough with just carrying 1 handheld with the 2 gels stuffed into the pocket. Finally made it to the next aid sation and plowed through some food again. Tried a canned potato dipped in salt and nearly gagged. Other J's and I were able to laugh about the bad stuff we ate. After this aid station I think we began doing a system where we would run 10 minutes and walk 1. I remember the J train experiencing a group low around 20 as knew we were still 30 from the finish. The final destination of the race was unbearable to think about so we just focused on the next aid station to get us through in steps. It really helped having the other J's around to talk to about whatever. The trails were super challenging and was tripping all over the place. At the aid stations, I had been eating warm mashed potatoes and chicken noodle soup because could not stomach any more gels. Surprisingly the soup was a miracle worker for me and really made me feel revived. I had also taken advil and antihistamines because my throat was swelling up. They seemed to help out a ton. It was crazy to start going by some of the people who were running the 100mile race. They were distinct by wearing a red race bib different from our blue ones. Seeing the red bib made me instantly respect and admire those who had it and I would genuinely try and give encouragement to them. Woww Good job to all of them!
Sadly the race kinda meshes together in my mind about which aid stations were where and what miles we were at during specific times but I just remember cycling the J train in intervals of 10 minutes running followed by a minute or so of walking, which changed to 8 min running and 2ish minutes walking. It was soo nice having the other J's to swap out of leading. It broke our waiting time to the next aid station into more manageable sections. Instead of having to think about the next aid station for over an hour, we were able to focus on following another J, or leading the other J's while the others followed. What was also inspiring was complimenting each other after a J finished a lead session. Really crazy the camaraderie that can be created between a few guys after knowing each other for such a relatively short time. I guess you really learn a lot quickly when you are out in the wilderness fatigued and on the same mission together. Finding out more often that these are my zone moments where nothing else is in my mind. Feel like I should have been born 500 years ago!
More vivid memories start to pop out in my mind again towards the end of the race. I remember coming into the last aid station which was headed by TC running Co and feeling super excited to arrive at it. This was definitely one of my highs of the race, coming out of the woods ad seeing the big TC running Co bus and Paul H. at the aid station. Seeing his big smile and sporting the same TC running co shirt I had was so awesome. Shortly after, I noticed Kurt who had graciously given me the shirt to wear for the race so this was also satisfying showing him how good morale I was in. Brian P. also just woke up from a nap inside the RV and was hobbling down the stairs from his 100mile race followed by helping crew the winner for the 100 mile. People who have done these races before really know the right things to say at the right time and with their words of encouragement the J’s were out for our final stretch. This was our last aid station and we only had 7ish miles to the finish.
After about 3 or 4 minutes I realized I forgot the headlamp that we were required to have at Oberg aid station after 5pm. Although it was not dark out yet, I needed to get the headlamp to give back to Adam from who I had borrowed it from. Telling the J's to keep running and I'll catch up, I flew back to the aid station and grabbed my headlamp. Turned back around and started trying to catch them. Feeling more energy than I had then compared to the last 6 or so hours, I was really pushing it to try and catch up to them. I kept thinking that I should be seeing them shortly and was getting more and more worried that something had happened. I continued going on the trail that I didn't see any orange flags or blue Superior Hiking Trail signs on the trees and was beginning to get super worried. I saw some tourist taking pictures at a million dollar view and asked if they had seen 2 runners come by recently. They told me no which made me increasingly worried. I contained on a path that I was almost certain was the wrong way, in a dumb stubborn attempt to find something I knew wasn't there. Now hoping to see even anybody, I luckily found another tourist couple taking pictures and again asked if they had seen 2 runners and again the other couple said no. I asked if I was on the Superior Hiking Trail and not to my surprise they said I was not. My stomach sank as I knew after my ballstothewall attempt to catch the J's that I was only further from them and the finish. I was fortunate enough to have them be able to tell me how to get back down to the trail I needed to be on. It was super deflating at the time running back down the hills that sucked my limited remaining energy out. I kept hearing screams back from the TC running co aid station probably for the support of the 100milers passing through. Finally I got to a V in the trail and seen where I had took a wrong turn. I knew Oberg sounded familiar so in the rush of trying to catch up to the J's I followed a signed for Oberg loop rather than the little orange markers on the trail that we were supposed to follow. My high that I had experienced just 30 minutes or so ago quickly turned into a deep low. Seeing another runner on the trail, I asked how far to the finish and found out I still had 5 miles to finish. It might not have seemed difficult an hour ago, but at this point it seemed dang near impossible. At this point I was walking more than any other time during the race. I remember a runner passed me and after I thought he was out my audible range I let out a loud sign and he turns back to me and says “that’s a pretty sad moan”. I couldn’t help but laugh a little because of what he said but still was feeling completely exhausted. I couldn’t stop from thinking how I wasn’t able to finish with the other J’s and worrying about how much time I added overall. I almost considered walking to the finish, but knowing that if I had done this, I would look back in regret so I tried to run as much as possible. Another runner went past me during one of my walking sessions and I made a deal of myself to not let him get to far away from me. I was trying to leach of his energy and so would run when he did and walk when he did. This made things a little easier and definitely made me run more than I might have if I didn’t make that deal. The last few miles I felt a little dizzy and my vision was getting slow. There was many negative thoughts in my head, wondering if I should stop and lay down on the trail, and even stop running after the race. Prior to this race, I saw myself doing a 100 mile race sometime in my life but at this point, I could have bet my life that I would never be doing one. I imagined prior to the race that I would be mentally handling these moments more maturely than I was with all the negative thoughts in my head at the time. Even as I crossed the finish, there wasn’t an exhilarating feeling that I had been anticipating there would be. Jared and his family that had kindly supported us at each aid station were there and it was relieving to see him again but I still felt embarrassed for the mistake I made and was letting the pessimist inside me grow. As I was sitting eating a sandwich afterward, I realized how immature my thoughts were and how I needed to restructure my thoughts about how the race went.
When some of the first people asked how the race went I felt the need to describe all the bad things that happened to justify how hard it was, but now I see myself just wanting to describe the good things. On the car ride home with Steve, I still had negative thoughts in my head, probably from exhaustion. These were similar thoughts to the first marathon I ran when I promised myself I would never run another again. I ended up signing up for another marathon later that night after my first marathon wanting that growing experience again. As I thought about the 50 mile race the day after, I was able to see the race in a different view, and realized how much I loved that vulnerable/fatigued state and realize how much I really learn about myself. Now as I sit here a couple days later, I see this race as a more extreme version of my first marathon: thinking I wasn’t going to be able to accomplish something, somehow managing to get it done, and then craving that feeling again. Looks like I will be signing up for a 100 mile race.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Chisago Lakes Half Iron-man
Well this post should be one of my longer ones, considering how new this experience was to me and how I would like to remember it. Also I received feedback saying my blog read like a foreigner had written it, so this attempt I will try out my good old American Engrish.
Things kind of started out with Tavis and Shanna signing up for the Sprint portion of this race pretty early on and the summer, and me not quite sure if my bike would be in riding condition, I held off registering until the last day (expensive as a mo). Jeremy had also signed up for the half and we decided to go up there together. We slept at his house in Stillwater the day before after a little bit of car trouble and a tow from Crystal out to his house.
Arriving at the site and check-in was pretty surprising seeing the people rolling their bikes to the equipment check in. It was actually intimidating seeing how nice their bikes were and fearing how fast they may be, but it was pretty comical to roll my bike up to my slot (774) and put together my equipment. Once organizing my backpack that I planned on carrying on the bike,I went over and talked with Jeremy for a bit. I was walking around in my spandex which I would be swimming in shortly. To my surprise, pretty much everyone had wetsuits which supposedly takes a good chunk of time off your swim. As I was standing in my little spankys waiting for my heat (16 and they were two minutes apart) I seen Tav and Shanna waiting across the beach for their race. We spent a little time talking together and then a few minutes before my heat was up I hurried over to the small line left of people waiting to hit the water. There was fog over the lake so we only could see the first few buoys before they disappeared into the middle of the lake. This definitely added more mystery to the longest distance swim I was about to do.
When it was our turn to get into the water, I was very ready after sitting in the cold morning air with just my spandex for almost an hour. The water was very warm due to the super hot week we had earlier and we slowly got into our swimming strokes. The first couple minutes, I was shocked by how effortless the swim felt. If I could have continued at that comfort level, the swim would have been very enjoyable but of course things had to change. Swimming with others around wasn't as bad as I had imagined. Initially, I pictured myself getting kicked and slapped all over the place, but people swim pretty conservative when they are out for 1.2 miles I guess. Started to get out of breath probably half way out to the turn around point and stuck my head up and heard another guy ask "is this the turn-around point?". This got me very excited thinking that we were halfway done but after I continued swimming to the real turn-around point, I think he was just joking to the lifeguard. :( Once reaching the turnaround point, I checked my watch and seen 00:00:00 and think I swore underwater realizing that I didn't hit the start button once getting in the water. At that point, I just figured I'd hit it at the start of the bike. Swimming back to the shore, I was super excited to just get out of the water and do something else besides clumsily swim through the water anymore. I remember at probably the 3/4 mark of the swim hearing the announcer on the shore and that giving me some energy to get my butt there quicker. Finally, finally, finally reaching the shoreline I was very happy to be done with the first leg of the triathlon. Breathing pretty hard as I got out of the water, I ran up to the transition area even attempting to pass a few people to make up for my poor swim performance. I dried off my legs and threw my shoes on socks on, put a shirt on, put my strap backpack that contained my 2 waterbottles, 2 ClifBars and a few gels and I was on my way.
Knowing there was 56 miles ahead of me, I knew it would be stupid to start out fast, but I couldn't resist trying to pass people in the first few miles. I remember looking at mile marker number 3 and being seriously worried what I would feel like at 20 miles, nontheless 56 if I made it there. A few more miles after seeing mile 3, I decided to eat a ClifBar and down some Accelerade Jeremy had graciously hooked me up with. It felt good to get some calories in me and thought it was time to try and get in a rhythm since there was still 50ish miles left. From the start, I was able to pass many bikers because of starting in the last heat of the race. This meant that all the slower people would be trailing on the bike course, and even more on the run later which kind of gave me a false sense of accomplishment. Contiuing on the bike, I was just hoping that nothing would happen to my tires not being able to fix them, or also my chain that had fallen on 3 times earlier on in the week. It felt pretty funny to be riding with my oldies bike compared to all other peoples expensive looking things. Although I can't think of how I could be more happy knowing I was passing people who's front tire cost more than my entire triathlon equipment. This thought was what continued to push me on the bike and want to pass more people. It was kind of tricky to keep a steady pace because the Sprint Tri was also on the same course and those guys were flying. I ended up hooking up with a few guys who were throwing down a pretty good pace until we separated into respective courses. I noticed myself waiting and anticipating the turns which took the monotony out of going along the loooong straight roads. Also I feel that most of the bikers were timid going around them, so I made sure to throw down even harder on then. It was funny receiving comments from people that took the time to actually say something about my goofy presence on the course. One guy asked me while I had been fooling around in my draw-string backpack if I had my lunch inside. I thought it was funny just because I had been keeping up with him riding no hands as he was in arrow position with his fancy helmet. It was nice getting waterbottles and gatorade from the volunteers but without having much room in the backpack I would just slam whatever I was able to grab and then get back to pounding the peddles. The miles went by pretty slow and I remember just waiting to get to the 28 mile marker and be able to think that I was halfway done. As I got closer to the finish, I found myself to keep putting the remaining miles left in marathon terms, for example, I remember at 40 miles thinking that there was just a marathon left. I'm not quiet sure if this was helpful or not. Getting even closer now, I began getting worried how I would be able to run after completely frying my legs and trying to show off to all these people on fancy equipment. Putting blind faith into my running endurance, I continued to burn what energy I had left for the remaining miles of the bike. It was awesome coming out a tunnel at the end of the bike course and seeing Tav and Shanna cheering me on. T-bob said it was pretty funny seeing me come around the corner with a chicks helmet, a bike from the 80's, a backpack, and wearing tennis shoes and makes me happy that my dysfunctionalness could bring smiles to others. I wouldn't have it any other way actually.
After hopping off the bike, emptying out my backpack to take the things that would help me out on the run, talking with Tav a bit about the race earlier, I started heading out for the run. Accidentally, I started running the wrong way, but quickly turned back to the run exit end of the transition. It was super exciting seeing Tav and Shanna and the bike transition and they definitely helped bring out some energy that I didn't know I had left. I remember Tav saying something about how this was my part of the race, and knowing that this was the part of the race I was most comfortable with, I tried to not think about what I had done earlier and just head out and do the part I had been thinking about 95% of the previous 3 or so hours. Jokingly, I told Tav I was gonna get sub 1:30 as I headed out, thinking that it would be impossible to get considering how tired my legs had been. It definitely took some time to switch my "biking legs" back over to legs that felt comfortable running again. Even at the start, I was surprised at how many people I was passing. It felt like I was fishing with dynamite, reeling them in by the dozens mile after mile. Again this is largely attributed to starting off in the last heat, but heck I was enjoying it still. Mile 1 and 2 I remember seeing 6 and 12 minutes on my watch and I wasn't sure how this was happening. I figured I better try and slow down before I burn the only energy left up in my legs that was there. Around mile 3 or 4 I seen Cody Schultz pass by me and I couldn't believe the caliber of people that had passed by me just before him. Nice work! Jeremy would also pass me not much after Cody did. Also, it was pretty surprising to see how fast the miles went by on the run. In some ways, it felt like they went by even faster on the run than bike which is pretty odd. I think just being comfortable running and knowing that I was capable of the distance help keep me relaxed. The sun had come out for this portion of the race and the heat from the sun started to beat down pretty hard. The aid-stations were helpful cooloff spots always dumping a couple cups of water on the head. People also had set up their sprinklers right at the edge of their driveways so that we could run right through it(thankyou!). My pace started to slow down quite a bit around mile 11 as I didn't have much energy left. I was too worried to try and stomach anymore gels so I just stuck with gatorade at the aidstations. It was pretty relieving getting the finish line. Post race food was super good and the sun was shining. Hmm
After race went to Famous Daves for some ribs and beer.mmMm
I'm not super sure why I write these post-race reports. Mainly, I think because I look back at old races on Athlinks and almost forgot everything that happened at the event. Pretty boring typing it out though and I def struggle at writing.
Things kind of started out with Tavis and Shanna signing up for the Sprint portion of this race pretty early on and the summer, and me not quite sure if my bike would be in riding condition, I held off registering until the last day (expensive as a mo). Jeremy had also signed up for the half and we decided to go up there together. We slept at his house in Stillwater the day before after a little bit of car trouble and a tow from Crystal out to his house.
Arriving at the site and check-in was pretty surprising seeing the people rolling their bikes to the equipment check in. It was actually intimidating seeing how nice their bikes were and fearing how fast they may be, but it was pretty comical to roll my bike up to my slot (774) and put together my equipment. Once organizing my backpack that I planned on carrying on the bike,I went over and talked with Jeremy for a bit. I was walking around in my spandex which I would be swimming in shortly. To my surprise, pretty much everyone had wetsuits which supposedly takes a good chunk of time off your swim. As I was standing in my little spankys waiting for my heat (16 and they were two minutes apart) I seen Tav and Shanna waiting across the beach for their race. We spent a little time talking together and then a few minutes before my heat was up I hurried over to the small line left of people waiting to hit the water. There was fog over the lake so we only could see the first few buoys before they disappeared into the middle of the lake. This definitely added more mystery to the longest distance swim I was about to do.
When it was our turn to get into the water, I was very ready after sitting in the cold morning air with just my spandex for almost an hour. The water was very warm due to the super hot week we had earlier and we slowly got into our swimming strokes. The first couple minutes, I was shocked by how effortless the swim felt. If I could have continued at that comfort level, the swim would have been very enjoyable but of course things had to change. Swimming with others around wasn't as bad as I had imagined. Initially, I pictured myself getting kicked and slapped all over the place, but people swim pretty conservative when they are out for 1.2 miles I guess. Started to get out of breath probably half way out to the turn around point and stuck my head up and heard another guy ask "is this the turn-around point?". This got me very excited thinking that we were halfway done but after I continued swimming to the real turn-around point, I think he was just joking to the lifeguard. :( Once reaching the turnaround point, I checked my watch and seen 00:00:00 and think I swore underwater realizing that I didn't hit the start button once getting in the water. At that point, I just figured I'd hit it at the start of the bike. Swimming back to the shore, I was super excited to just get out of the water and do something else besides clumsily swim through the water anymore. I remember at probably the 3/4 mark of the swim hearing the announcer on the shore and that giving me some energy to get my butt there quicker. Finally, finally, finally reaching the shoreline I was very happy to be done with the first leg of the triathlon. Breathing pretty hard as I got out of the water, I ran up to the transition area even attempting to pass a few people to make up for my poor swim performance. I dried off my legs and threw my shoes on socks on, put a shirt on, put my strap backpack that contained my 2 waterbottles, 2 ClifBars and a few gels and I was on my way.
Knowing there was 56 miles ahead of me, I knew it would be stupid to start out fast, but I couldn't resist trying to pass people in the first few miles. I remember looking at mile marker number 3 and being seriously worried what I would feel like at 20 miles, nontheless 56 if I made it there. A few more miles after seeing mile 3, I decided to eat a ClifBar and down some Accelerade Jeremy had graciously hooked me up with. It felt good to get some calories in me and thought it was time to try and get in a rhythm since there was still 50ish miles left. From the start, I was able to pass many bikers because of starting in the last heat of the race. This meant that all the slower people would be trailing on the bike course, and even more on the run later which kind of gave me a false sense of accomplishment. Contiuing on the bike, I was just hoping that nothing would happen to my tires not being able to fix them, or also my chain that had fallen on 3 times earlier on in the week. It felt pretty funny to be riding with my oldies bike compared to all other peoples expensive looking things. Although I can't think of how I could be more happy knowing I was passing people who's front tire cost more than my entire triathlon equipment. This thought was what continued to push me on the bike and want to pass more people. It was kind of tricky to keep a steady pace because the Sprint Tri was also on the same course and those guys were flying. I ended up hooking up with a few guys who were throwing down a pretty good pace until we separated into respective courses. I noticed myself waiting and anticipating the turns which took the monotony out of going along the loooong straight roads. Also I feel that most of the bikers were timid going around them, so I made sure to throw down even harder on then. It was funny receiving comments from people that took the time to actually say something about my goofy presence on the course. One guy asked me while I had been fooling around in my draw-string backpack if I had my lunch inside. I thought it was funny just because I had been keeping up with him riding no hands as he was in arrow position with his fancy helmet. It was nice getting waterbottles and gatorade from the volunteers but without having much room in the backpack I would just slam whatever I was able to grab and then get back to pounding the peddles. The miles went by pretty slow and I remember just waiting to get to the 28 mile marker and be able to think that I was halfway done. As I got closer to the finish, I found myself to keep putting the remaining miles left in marathon terms, for example, I remember at 40 miles thinking that there was just a marathon left. I'm not quiet sure if this was helpful or not. Getting even closer now, I began getting worried how I would be able to run after completely frying my legs and trying to show off to all these people on fancy equipment. Putting blind faith into my running endurance, I continued to burn what energy I had left for the remaining miles of the bike. It was awesome coming out a tunnel at the end of the bike course and seeing Tav and Shanna cheering me on. T-bob said it was pretty funny seeing me come around the corner with a chicks helmet, a bike from the 80's, a backpack, and wearing tennis shoes and makes me happy that my dysfunctionalness could bring smiles to others. I wouldn't have it any other way actually.
After hopping off the bike, emptying out my backpack to take the things that would help me out on the run, talking with Tav a bit about the race earlier, I started heading out for the run. Accidentally, I started running the wrong way, but quickly turned back to the run exit end of the transition. It was super exciting seeing Tav and Shanna and the bike transition and they definitely helped bring out some energy that I didn't know I had left. I remember Tav saying something about how this was my part of the race, and knowing that this was the part of the race I was most comfortable with, I tried to not think about what I had done earlier and just head out and do the part I had been thinking about 95% of the previous 3 or so hours. Jokingly, I told Tav I was gonna get sub 1:30 as I headed out, thinking that it would be impossible to get considering how tired my legs had been. It definitely took some time to switch my "biking legs" back over to legs that felt comfortable running again. Even at the start, I was surprised at how many people I was passing. It felt like I was fishing with dynamite, reeling them in by the dozens mile after mile. Again this is largely attributed to starting off in the last heat, but heck I was enjoying it still. Mile 1 and 2 I remember seeing 6 and 12 minutes on my watch and I wasn't sure how this was happening. I figured I better try and slow down before I burn the only energy left up in my legs that was there. Around mile 3 or 4 I seen Cody Schultz pass by me and I couldn't believe the caliber of people that had passed by me just before him. Nice work! Jeremy would also pass me not much after Cody did. Also, it was pretty surprising to see how fast the miles went by on the run. In some ways, it felt like they went by even faster on the run than bike which is pretty odd. I think just being comfortable running and knowing that I was capable of the distance help keep me relaxed. The sun had come out for this portion of the race and the heat from the sun started to beat down pretty hard. The aid-stations were helpful cooloff spots always dumping a couple cups of water on the head. People also had set up their sprinklers right at the edge of their driveways so that we could run right through it(thankyou!). My pace started to slow down quite a bit around mile 11 as I didn't have much energy left. I was too worried to try and stomach anymore gels so I just stuck with gatorade at the aidstations. It was pretty relieving getting the finish line. Post race food was super good and the sun was shining. Hmm
After race went to Famous Daves for some ribs and beer.mmMm
I'm not super sure why I write these post-race reports. Mainly, I think because I look back at old races on Athlinks and almost forgot everything that happened at the event. Pretty boring typing it out though and I def struggle at writing.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Voyager Marathon-Duluth
Went up to Duluth this weekend to run the Voyager Trail Marathon. This event was set up to raise money for the Voyager Ultra 50mile race which is two weeks later. Was able to run this for $10 committing to volunteer at the Ultra. What a deal! That's how much these events should be costing. Only thing that has held me away from Tris so far(although might be doing Chisago Lakes half-ironman this weekend).
Drove up with Kayla and got iPod hookup so we could jam the whole way up. Stayed at Kyle's house and got little Ceasar's pizza, icecream and beer the night before. Watched Harry Potter Deathly Hallows pt 1 and ended up going to sleep around 1am. Woke up just before alarm went off and got ready. Weather wasn't too bad, although a little humid.
Felt like was running this race on a whim, without having a watch, gels, or any idea of where the course went and what it was like. Seen Brian P. at the start, watching a buddy of his and had come up to do some training runs.
Was fun starting out not worrying about pace and mile splits. Just kind of guess what kind of pace I could hold based on what the runners around me looked like.(kinda shallow?) Trails started out not too bad and was taking it super slow on the hills knowing how much they can burn you out early. Tried to keep pace down because Chris Lundstrom who wrote my 50mile training plan specifically wrote "TRAINING run" on the notes for this race. Was nice to keep HR down more than usual and just take deep breaths and relax. Was cool to run right through the Spirit Mountain ski resort that I had gone to earlier on in the year for snowboarding for the first time. Nothing too excited until was gunning it down a pretty steap hill with legs spinning quick until my left shoe got caught in the muddy pit and the bottom of the hill and ended up sticking in place while my momentum keep me rolling and was not able to stop left foot from squishing into the muddy mess. Had to put shoe on over mud-filled sock which felt pretty nasty but couldn't help but laugh over it. The more I do these runs, the more I realize that the unexpected things are the things I actually look forward to and make these events what they are.
The course had 6 aid-stations with little goodies at them. Had a few pretzels at each one. Hardest part of the race was running through the powerline sections of these giant hills. Was pretty hilarious to see a monsterous hill ahead of us and being pretty worried, only to find out that there was a huge dip in the land right ahead of us which made the hill almost double in size. Hiked alot of the hills and calfs would be on fire at the top. Heartrate would spike quite a bit during these climbs but felt like the legs would get a semi-break from the quicker cadence of the flatter sections. Was an aid-station handing out popsicles, frozen grapes and ice right after the powerline section which was rejuvenating. Was about a 3/4 mile stretch of bike trail path that we ran after that hilly mess which gave me a chance to stretch the legs out again and gain some ground on the others. (makes me wonder if I'm more of a road-runner than trail-runner) Caught a guy who was doing a funky climbing style on hills. He would almost shuffle sideways and I asked what kind of climbing style that was. He said that it was a style he adopted a few years back after reading about how it takes stress of the same muscles and activates the lateral gastrocs and other muscles that aren't used as much while doing the same running style. Tried keeping up with him in some other climbs only to get burnt out and falling back. Ended up catching him in another straightaway though. Ran with a few other guys here and there but also had some stretches of trails where I was running solo for over a half hour. Got to final aid station and was told there was just a 5k left. Was super excited to hear that and decided to start trying to catch some people. The surroundings were just insane and I remember running across a rope bridge in those last few miles and just screaming like an animal. There was rapids rushing down on either side and ahh man, gotta make it back to the spot sometime. Heard the last 5k was super technical and I got a little big headed running the first 10 minutes of it thinking this wasn't bad at all. Felt like running the the BW's trails with the rapids on our left. Trail seemed to get more technical as it went on and found myself crawling down rock ledges and wondering if this was the actual path. Wish I could have been a volunteer and sat out and watched some people maneuver through some of those last few sections.(kinda sadistic, I know) Finished on a bike path and was sure nice to be done with those last few miles. Met up with Kayla and Kyle right after and drove back to D-town. Of course had to eat at Burrito Union after. Almost no cramping though which is a good sign!
Drove up with Kayla and got iPod hookup so we could jam the whole way up. Stayed at Kyle's house and got little Ceasar's pizza, icecream and beer the night before. Watched Harry Potter Deathly Hallows pt 1 and ended up going to sleep around 1am. Woke up just before alarm went off and got ready. Weather wasn't too bad, although a little humid.
Felt like was running this race on a whim, without having a watch, gels, or any idea of where the course went and what it was like. Seen Brian P. at the start, watching a buddy of his and had come up to do some training runs.
Was fun starting out not worrying about pace and mile splits. Just kind of guess what kind of pace I could hold based on what the runners around me looked like.(kinda shallow?) Trails started out not too bad and was taking it super slow on the hills knowing how much they can burn you out early. Tried to keep pace down because Chris Lundstrom who wrote my 50mile training plan specifically wrote "TRAINING run" on the notes for this race. Was nice to keep HR down more than usual and just take deep breaths and relax. Was cool to run right through the Spirit Mountain ski resort that I had gone to earlier on in the year for snowboarding for the first time. Nothing too excited until was gunning it down a pretty steap hill with legs spinning quick until my left shoe got caught in the muddy pit and the bottom of the hill and ended up sticking in place while my momentum keep me rolling and was not able to stop left foot from squishing into the muddy mess. Had to put shoe on over mud-filled sock which felt pretty nasty but couldn't help but laugh over it. The more I do these runs, the more I realize that the unexpected things are the things I actually look forward to and make these events what they are.
The course had 6 aid-stations with little goodies at them. Had a few pretzels at each one. Hardest part of the race was running through the powerline sections of these giant hills. Was pretty hilarious to see a monsterous hill ahead of us and being pretty worried, only to find out that there was a huge dip in the land right ahead of us which made the hill almost double in size. Hiked alot of the hills and calfs would be on fire at the top. Heartrate would spike quite a bit during these climbs but felt like the legs would get a semi-break from the quicker cadence of the flatter sections. Was an aid-station handing out popsicles, frozen grapes and ice right after the powerline section which was rejuvenating. Was about a 3/4 mile stretch of bike trail path that we ran after that hilly mess which gave me a chance to stretch the legs out again and gain some ground on the others. (makes me wonder if I'm more of a road-runner than trail-runner) Caught a guy who was doing a funky climbing style on hills. He would almost shuffle sideways and I asked what kind of climbing style that was. He said that it was a style he adopted a few years back after reading about how it takes stress of the same muscles and activates the lateral gastrocs and other muscles that aren't used as much while doing the same running style. Tried keeping up with him in some other climbs only to get burnt out and falling back. Ended up catching him in another straightaway though. Ran with a few other guys here and there but also had some stretches of trails where I was running solo for over a half hour. Got to final aid station and was told there was just a 5k left. Was super excited to hear that and decided to start trying to catch some people. The surroundings were just insane and I remember running across a rope bridge in those last few miles and just screaming like an animal. There was rapids rushing down on either side and ahh man, gotta make it back to the spot sometime. Heard the last 5k was super technical and I got a little big headed running the first 10 minutes of it thinking this wasn't bad at all. Felt like running the the BW's trails with the rapids on our left. Trail seemed to get more technical as it went on and found myself crawling down rock ledges and wondering if this was the actual path. Wish I could have been a volunteer and sat out and watched some people maneuver through some of those last few sections.(kinda sadistic, I know) Finished on a bike path and was sure nice to be done with those last few miles. Met up with Kayla and Kyle right after and drove back to D-town. Of course had to eat at Burrito Union after. Almost no cramping though which is a good sign!
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Grandma's Marathon and other updates
Well this past weekend was Grandma's Marathon. Was pretty excited to run it because this is the marathon I grew up as a kid hearing about from my Aunt and Uncle who would run it every year. Unfortunately developed a sinus infection the week leading up to the marathon so was a little nervous as to how the race would be. Drove up there with Jin and another guy Evan who my mom connected me with through her work. This was his first marathon so was pretty exciting. Slept Friday night up in Duluth at some on-campus apartments with some of Jin's friends. Was a new experience staying with all Koreans for a night. Woke up the next morning a bit late (40 min) because my alarm was set wrong and we both slept through Jin's multiple times. Scrambled to pack stuff up and a bit unorganized because with both Jin and I feeling under the weather the night before, we just went to bed without really planning the morning out (mistake).
Was able to get to the parking area we needed to and hop on one of the last shuttles from Duluth to Two Harbors. Was pouring rain in the morning but luckily by the time we reached Two Harbors it seemed to have drizzled off.
Race: Ended up seeing Jake Pittman at the start and we decided to start out running together. Both of us went and wished Chris Lundstrom good luck on his race and waited for the start. The start was exciting with over 6k people there. Many international (Kenyan) athletes were there for the large payout to 1st place ($10k I think).
Beginning miles felt pretty good. First couple miles we ran at about 7:08 making our way to about 7:00 miles. Felt a little more fatigued than usual at around mile 7 and worried how the later miles would feel. Was nice to run with Jake because he had is GPS watch and would give up mile splits that we needed to hit. He was in charge of our splits and I was in charge of where we ran on the road and also when to take our Gel's which we did every 45min. We ran together until mile 11 when Jake decided he was "going to drop" which I initially thought he meant out of the race but he actually meant his shoes. From that point on I was solo running with a pretty steady group older people. Slight tailwind on our way to Duluth really helped keep cool and feel light. Went potty (#1) at mile 20 after holding it in a little longer than comfortable. Put me down about 30-45 seconds but tried to catch the group of guys I had been running with slowly as to not burn out the legs too much before the tougher miles came up. With the increased crowds and college students support, felt pretty good in the later miles. Lemon drop hill was pretty tough and was feeling a little heavy legged at that part was still had a little energy left to pick it up in the late miles. Felt like I was passing many people from mile 21-25 and near the last mile didn't have to much to give. Compared to previous marathons though, this one I had cramped the least and was able to push it the most later towards the end of the race. Ended up finishing at 3:06:something AGAIN, and was not too disapointed. For a bit during the run, I had my hopes up of getting 3:05 and felt very excited for a bit (was a math miscalculation though :( )
After the race had a chocolate milk and headed to the massage tents to wait for a massage. Met a guy named Eric who was a runner for Minneapolis who had run Tokyo marathon before! Was a fun chitchat with him. After becoming freezing cold and searching for Jin for some time without bringing a drop bag, was happy to meet him and receive a blanket that he had been carrying around from the rest of the day. Went back to Kayla's roommates house and then went to Burrito Union and enjoyed eating there for the second time.
Overall, was a beautiful race and I look forward to running it next year. Have felt the least sore after this marathon than any other which is a great thing. The thing that hurt the worst though was having feet crammed into my Aasics Trainers and having been accustomed to running in my Aasics trail shoes to not wear out the Trainers. Bad idea.
Have a 10k next week (Time to Fly) that will be doing with Tavis and maybe a few others. Kind of bummed not to have any long distance events scheduled until the 50mile. Am trying to find a back to back Sat/Sun marathon duo as preparation for the 50mile. Haven't been able to find any at the time I need so might be doing some high milage on my own. Thank god for Japanese podcasts that I can zone out and listen to.
This have been a little rough with the McNair program so far, not having as much direction as I imagined and feeling a little lost in the research paper process. Might sadly be switching to another mentor and different topic if I cannot meet up with my current mentor by tomorrow. Am a little excited to start progressing though with summer project.
Well am in the BioMed library so should probably pretend to get back to work.
Sorry didn't proofread
Was able to get to the parking area we needed to and hop on one of the last shuttles from Duluth to Two Harbors. Was pouring rain in the morning but luckily by the time we reached Two Harbors it seemed to have drizzled off.
Race: Ended up seeing Jake Pittman at the start and we decided to start out running together. Both of us went and wished Chris Lundstrom good luck on his race and waited for the start. The start was exciting with over 6k people there. Many international (Kenyan) athletes were there for the large payout to 1st place ($10k I think).
Beginning miles felt pretty good. First couple miles we ran at about 7:08 making our way to about 7:00 miles. Felt a little more fatigued than usual at around mile 7 and worried how the later miles would feel. Was nice to run with Jake because he had is GPS watch and would give up mile splits that we needed to hit. He was in charge of our splits and I was in charge of where we ran on the road and also when to take our Gel's which we did every 45min. We ran together until mile 11 when Jake decided he was "going to drop" which I initially thought he meant out of the race but he actually meant his shoes. From that point on I was solo running with a pretty steady group older people. Slight tailwind on our way to Duluth really helped keep cool and feel light. Went potty (#1) at mile 20 after holding it in a little longer than comfortable. Put me down about 30-45 seconds but tried to catch the group of guys I had been running with slowly as to not burn out the legs too much before the tougher miles came up. With the increased crowds and college students support, felt pretty good in the later miles. Lemon drop hill was pretty tough and was feeling a little heavy legged at that part was still had a little energy left to pick it up in the late miles. Felt like I was passing many people from mile 21-25 and near the last mile didn't have to much to give. Compared to previous marathons though, this one I had cramped the least and was able to push it the most later towards the end of the race. Ended up finishing at 3:06:something AGAIN, and was not too disapointed. For a bit during the run, I had my hopes up of getting 3:05 and felt very excited for a bit (was a math miscalculation though :( )
After the race had a chocolate milk and headed to the massage tents to wait for a massage. Met a guy named Eric who was a runner for Minneapolis who had run Tokyo marathon before! Was a fun chitchat with him. After becoming freezing cold and searching for Jin for some time without bringing a drop bag, was happy to meet him and receive a blanket that he had been carrying around from the rest of the day. Went back to Kayla's roommates house and then went to Burrito Union and enjoyed eating there for the second time.
Overall, was a beautiful race and I look forward to running it next year. Have felt the least sore after this marathon than any other which is a great thing. The thing that hurt the worst though was having feet crammed into my Aasics Trainers and having been accustomed to running in my Aasics trail shoes to not wear out the Trainers. Bad idea.
Have a 10k next week (Time to Fly) that will be doing with Tavis and maybe a few others. Kind of bummed not to have any long distance events scheduled until the 50mile. Am trying to find a back to back Sat/Sun marathon duo as preparation for the 50mile. Haven't been able to find any at the time I need so might be doing some high milage on my own. Thank god for Japanese podcasts that I can zone out and listen to.
This have been a little rough with the McNair program so far, not having as much direction as I imagined and feeling a little lost in the research paper process. Might sadly be switching to another mentor and different topic if I cannot meet up with my current mentor by tomorrow. Am a little excited to start progressing though with summer project.
Well am in the BioMed library so should probably pretend to get back to work.
Sorry didn't proofread
Sunday, May 29, 2011
After Semester updates +beginning of summer
Well, haven't updated as much as intitially planned but here we go.
The Superior Trail 50k was absolutely gorgeous and thanks to Paul H. and Brian P. (thanks to Chris L.) I was able to finish the course without too much suffering. Went to Fitger's the night before the race, then went to a burrito place for post race. Will definitely be looking forward to signing up for more trail races and have a better idea of what the Superior 50 mile will be like. Course was so amazing to be on and constantly reminded me of the portages in the Boundary Waters. Whenever felt a little tired, always had to remind myself how nice it was to not have to be carrying a canoe and a pack.
Time has been going pretty quick that the semester wrapped up. Starting out the few days of just sleeping in a tad, going down to Caribou and studying some Japanese (sometimes w Longen-san) and playing catch here and there w Stones. Have done a few short distance (recovery) runs since after the race.
Just got back from Oshkosh and some members from Team 4 Japan got to say goodbye to Heather who is leaving in 3 weeks to teach fulltime there! After getting back from Oshkosh, Jeremy and Jin and I went to volunteer at Rochester Med-city marathon and watched a couple buddies partake in it. Look forward to being able to be part of many more marathons and also with getting creative it. (costumes/music/themes/ect)
Tomorrow will be moving back into Middlebrook for the start of the McNair Scholars program. Am pretty excited but would like to get a set schedule for the summer so can jam pack it with other enjoyable things that are happening.
Next race is Gma's June 18th. Today technically should have been my long run but with still feeling fatigued from the 50k and running on 4ish hours of sleep in the last two days, might hold off until tomorrow. Also time to get a specific training schedule for Gma's. Diet has been pretty pathetic lately (today having BK for breakfast at the marathon :(, very large portion of cake/icecream at Granpa Vernon's Birthday party, followed by chipotle with stones, followed by 2 homemade cinnamon rolls freshly backed by ma) Need to start having more discipline with my impulses...Anyways, will finalize a training schedule leading up to Grandma's and start figuring out how to train for the 50miler w the help of Chris L. in the upcoming days.
Will try to write something in Japanese when there is a little more cognitive energy left to give.
Can't forget to start practicing Kanji! 口！
The Superior Trail 50k was absolutely gorgeous and thanks to Paul H. and Brian P. (thanks to Chris L.) I was able to finish the course without too much suffering. Went to Fitger's the night before the race, then went to a burrito place for post race. Will definitely be looking forward to signing up for more trail races and have a better idea of what the Superior 50 mile will be like. Course was so amazing to be on and constantly reminded me of the portages in the Boundary Waters. Whenever felt a little tired, always had to remind myself how nice it was to not have to be carrying a canoe and a pack.
Time has been going pretty quick that the semester wrapped up. Starting out the few days of just sleeping in a tad, going down to Caribou and studying some Japanese (sometimes w Longen-san) and playing catch here and there w Stones. Have done a few short distance (recovery) runs since after the race.
Just got back from Oshkosh and some members from Team 4 Japan got to say goodbye to Heather who is leaving in 3 weeks to teach fulltime there! After getting back from Oshkosh, Jeremy and Jin and I went to volunteer at Rochester Med-city marathon and watched a couple buddies partake in it. Look forward to being able to be part of many more marathons and also with getting creative it. (costumes/music/themes/ect)
Tomorrow will be moving back into Middlebrook for the start of the McNair Scholars program. Am pretty excited but would like to get a set schedule for the summer so can jam pack it with other enjoyable things that are happening.
Next race is Gma's June 18th. Today technically should have been my long run but with still feeling fatigued from the 50k and running on 4ish hours of sleep in the last two days, might hold off until tomorrow. Also time to get a specific training schedule for Gma's. Diet has been pretty pathetic lately (today having BK for breakfast at the marathon :(, very large portion of cake/icecream at Granpa Vernon's Birthday party, followed by chipotle with stones, followed by 2 homemade cinnamon rolls freshly backed by ma) Need to start having more discipline with my impulses...Anyways, will finalize a training schedule leading up to Grandma's and start figuring out how to train for the 50miler w the help of Chris L. in the upcoming days.
Will try to write something in Japanese when there is a little more cognitive energy left to give.
Can't forget to start practicing Kanji! 口！
Saturday, May 7, 2011
First blog
Decided to make a blog for some reason during finals..Maybe just another excuse to not study or to justify why I didn't do so well on the final tests..Anyways, thought this would be a cool place to just record feelings/pictures/memories.
Tomorrow we are having a floor BBQ outside of Middlebrook which should be exciting if the weather holds up. Upcoming week is final exams and then will have a week until the Superior 50k and starting the research program with Professor Ingraham.
Kind of have a little tweak in the hamstring after Eau Claire Marathon so have been babying it a bit (except for running around at the Undie Run last night) which was pretty fun. Need to heal up in order to be able to train this summer and do the Superior 50mile in the fall. Don't want to be not able to finish that.
このブログで時々日本語で書くつもり。日本語をもっと練習したいから、これはいい練習かもしれない。ここに全部コンピューターは日本語書けないから、よく日本語で書かなければ、すみません。もう、たくさんまちがえるから、それをすみません。
明日MBHでBBQするけど、雨がふるはずです。（です）を使ったら、へん（ですか）。まあー、じっさいけいごのほうが使うのが好きです。どうして、しりません。
後で
(Wondering if this will evolve into a diary type of blog, or more of a summary of events and activties blog.) Guess I will find out.
Tomorrow we are having a floor BBQ outside of Middlebrook which should be exciting if the weather holds up. Upcoming week is final exams and then will have a week until the Superior 50k and starting the research program with Professor Ingraham.
Kind of have a little tweak in the hamstring after Eau Claire Marathon so have been babying it a bit (except for running around at the Undie Run last night) which was pretty fun. Need to heal up in order to be able to train this summer and do the Superior 50mile in the fall. Don't want to be not able to finish that.
このブログで時々日本語で書くつもり。日本語をもっと練習したいから、これはいい練習かもしれない。ここに全部コンピューターは日本語書けないから、よく日本語で書かなければ、すみません。もう、たくさんまちがえるから、それをすみません。
明日MBHでBBQするけど、雨がふるはずです。（です）を使ったら、へん（ですか）。まあー、じっさいけいごのほうが使うのが好きです。どうして、しりません。
後で
(Wondering if this will evolve into a diary type of blog, or more of a summary of events and activties blog.) Guess I will find out.
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