2013 Eau Claire Marathon

Rode out to Eau Claire, Wisconsin with Molly Watkins, Brittney, and another one of their friends who was running in the U of M Marathon Training Class class. This year, the class had 96 students making their way from the U of M to run in the Eau Claire Marathon. Initially planned on spectating but after getting caught in the hype and seeing everyone in their pre-race buzz, in addition to this being the last Eau Claire Marathon before going to Japan, couldn't help but signing up. I credit this class for getting me so interested and passionate about running and am super thankful to Stacy Ingraham and Chris Lundstrom for creating it and allowing me to be involved in so many different facets of the class.

U of M Marathon Class previous year recaps:

2009 Rochester Med-city Marathon (First marathon) (3:29:40)
2010 Eau Claire Marathon (3:28:53)
2011 Eau Claire Marathon (3:06:32) Trained w/ Pitty and Tommy
2012 Eau Claire Marathon (Went to spectate the race w/ Adam and Tim)

Photo Collage of first three years with the class:

Went to the pre-race banquet and had pasta and pizza at the Green Mill with the other U of M students. Watched a video put together by Stacy Ingraham's son and listened to both her and Chris Lundstrom speak. There was a quick tribute to the Boston Marathon victims and we would be wearing 3 pieces of tape on our shirts during the marathon to represent each one of the victims who died that day.

It was so cool seeing all of the students at the dinner and knowing how much training each of them had been through. This was one of the longest winters I can remember and they sure had to battle the elements on the Sunday runs. The coolest thing was overseeing a parent come up to Professor Ingraham and sincerely thank her for creating the class because it helped her daughter get back on track with things in school. I NEED a job where I can get that kind of satisfaction..

Slept in Mack's hotel room on the floor and woke up after falling asleep pretty quickly (had been worn out the week before). It was excited staying in the hotel with three people who would be running their first marathon! Had a blueberry muffin, granola bar and a coffee at the continental breakfast in the hotel which is a bit different from the special oatmeal setup I usually have.

Started off the race and recognized someone named Jack Burdick who is registered to run the Western States 100-Mile race. Was able to guess who he was because Stacy had told me about him earlier on and he seemed to have an experienced composure going on. After running and chatting for a bit, we ran into John Taylor who had also just run the Chippewa 50k the week prior to Eau Claire Marathon. I was excited to officially meet John because I had seen his name on race results and heard about him, and now I was running with him! (ultra-community keeps feeling smaller and smaller) As we ran together John gave Jake and I some words of wisdom about the ultra-world (he did 10 100 races last year including two races 100+..).

John, Jack and I ran together until around the half-marathon mark until John had to take a bathroom stop. Jack and I continued running and slowly began to pick it up.

Felt like we both were running pretty conservatively as both of us were using this as a training run. The miles went by extremely fast, and before I knew it, we were in the back woods/trail area that was "oh, so familiar" from previous years. Legs started to feel a bit tired towards mile 22 but nothing that really slowed our pace.

We finished and congratulated each other and I walked around so the legs wouldn't get stiff. Enjoyed watching many of the other U of M Marathoners and especially my friend Caitlyn who was in tears at the as she crossed.

Hung out with Cody Schultz at the finish, whom I had met in this class 4 years ago. Was nostalgic sitting there thinking of all the races we had seen each other at the last 4 years and seeing all the U of M students making their way across the finish. Crazy to think about the majority of my close friends who I hang out with today, are people who I met in this class..Just another reason to be grateful for this class. It's exciting knowing I will soon be running with my buddy Brandon in Asia (Japan/Korea) whom I also met in the marathon training class.

Watched the last two finishers from the U of M finish and just like that it was all over! It was for some reason, comical watching Chris Lundstrom walk to his car in the now empty parking lot of the park and drive away. Thinking of all of the students he just helped get to that finish line, and just like that, he walks away from it..hard to explain but was a pretty vivid memory for me.

Hopefully I will be able to be more involved with the class in the future and I need to start creating experiences that I get satisfaction out of.

Sad to think about not being able to make it to the Eau Claire Marathon, which will be the first time not attending the U of M PE 1262 Marathon in the last four years. Guess it just means I will be that much more eager to get involved when I return from Japan.

Chippewa Trail 50k 2013

artwork Marcel Uttech

Chippewa 50k

I heard of this race before and my buddy Cody had done it the few years prior. Initially, I planned on going out to volunteer and watch the runners this year because knowing it was only two weeks after Zumbro 50, I decided not to sign up for it on the black-Friday special for $15 or whatever ridiculously cheap price it was. Drove down to Chippewa Falls on Friday w/ Edward, Alicia, Andy and Jake and stopped to eat at a restaurant with Tony O. and a couple others. After eating a super-cheesy Calzone and having some having some local brew, we headed to Jake’s cabin which was just 15 or so minutes from the race start. Once arriving, we illuminated the cabin with kerosene lanterns and everyone got situated for bed right away. It was a nice homey cabin and it felt good to lay down. While I was quickly falling asleep, Tony and Edward were talking about Arrowhead 135 and it reminded me of the Ultra Podcasts I listen to before going to bed at home, only the people were right there! Woke up in the AM and had a bagel, banana and a cup of coffee. Drove to the course with Tony and got to hear some cool stories about how he grows and cans most of his food..living up in International Falls. So cool. While listening to him talk about all the fresh fruit and veggies he grows, I found myself wondering why the heck I’m not doing that right now. It’s convenient to buy the food I get now from Cosco, but it would be much more rewarding growing it yourself, and eating food that you understand how it came to be. It seems kinda late in my life to start wanting to do that but got to start somewhere.

We got to the course and Jake and I registered for the race for $70(ouch!). Saw Cody with one of his buddies getting ready for the race, along with many other of the usual faces of people who show up to all these events. Pretty cool how small of a community it is of people who do these events and each time I get to meet more of them. However for this race, there seemed to be more people than usual at an ultra event with 181 finishers.

The course was an out-and-back on the Ice Age Trail in Wisconsin. It was my first time being on that trail and hope to make it back out there soon. Found out the Ice Age Trail actually runs 600 miles through Wisconsin.

After a quick race briefing, we started the race. Jake and I began to run together and it was coincidentally comical how much we have ran together (in race miles) the past couple weeks (beer mile, Zumbro 50, and now the Chippewa 50k). Started things off super slow and had to hop around people on the single track trail. Probably could have started a bit closer to the front but we were just chillin’. Became amused at some of the people complaining already about how “bad” the trail was. The course was surprisingly still pretty snowy but worlds apart from what Zumbro was like. Had I had fresh legs, it would have been fun to see what kind of pace I would have been able to keep. Because it was getting warm already, we took our shirts off just a couple miles into the race and the weather felt just perfect, however later on it began to heat up quickly.

Jake and I ran the first 8 miles together until he got a kick of energy. I expected to not catch him as my legs were not how they should be feeling at mile 8 of a 31 mile race. Thankfully, many of the sections of the course were still covered in snow so I was able to grab handfuls of it and put it all over me quickly cooling things off.

Running through the course, I kept having giddy moments from how beautiful the scenery was. Thankfully, I was by myself during some of these moments so I could wiggle my arms and let out noises to express the excitement and gratitude of being able to experience what I was.  Some vivid memories on the course were running through half frozen streams on wooden boardwalks and seeing multiple lakes quickly icing out as the fast warming sun beating down on them. This might be the first time I’ve ever embraced having wet feet in a race before. Most times in the past, I’ve gone entirely out of the way to keep my feet dry, but with this course not leaving any option but to get your feet wet, just accepted wet feet and even began to look forward to the sloppy parts. Feet were feeling hot during the sections that didn’t have ice puddles so it would be nice to get the cold water back in the shoes again (never thought I’d say that before). It was actually pretty warm and without the snow everywhere to cool off, it would have been a much tougher race. Didn’t carry a handheld for this race although the aid stations were getting close to a distance where I might have benefited from having one. Ate Nutella sandwiches at the aid-stations and grabbed 2/3 gels to consume on the trail (another function of the snow that day was it made it possible to get a little bit of water when eating the Hammer Gels). Counted 10 gel wrapper tops in the pocket of my spandex after the race.

Getting closer to the turn-around, kind of got confused which way to go and started running the wrong way up a pretty steep dirt road. Saw another person coming back from where I was supposed to head and thankfully was able to reroute myself before losing much time/effort. The course had us jump over a wooden fence thingy which was fun. Towards the turn-around I began to have a second wind of energy and tried to conserve it as much as possible. It was cool seeing the faster people run past us as they were on their way to the Start/Finish. Surprisingly, many of them said words of encouragement and even attempted to get out of my way on the trail. If only bikers on River Road could take the same selfless attitude…

After the turnaround, I began to see many others making there way towards it, which got me excited. Still was feeling pretty good but tried to not waste too much energy with still nearly 15 miles left.  Tried to keep whatever pace I thought was manageable and the miles went by pretty quickly. Got to see the same beautiful sites again and slosh through the well ran trail.  Came up to Jake who was unfortunately having stomach problems. Was slowly catching people which was fun and for a few miles was trailing a guy with long leg protectors. Think he heard me sloshing behind him so he sped up a bit. Was fun to hang out at his pace and watch how often he grabbed snow to cool himself off. Talked with him for a bit and told him we needed to keep reeling people in. We did pass a few more people and I began out ahead of him. Passed a few more people that apparently had crashed and were slowed to either a walk or a slog. Was in good spirits for the remainder last miles and although the legs were pretty tired, didn’t feel like I was slowing down much. Tried to conserve a little in the legs even towards the end because didn’t want to feel crippled like right after Zumbro. Had a little mix-up near the end when I couldn't tell which way to go in the open field area. There was a 1-mile sign with a little orange flag next to spot we could turn left. Went left for a bit and didn’t see any flags so turned back and headed straight. Saw the 6-mile sign for the 10k runners and a orange flag on the right side, so though I was going the wrong way again..getting a little frustrated but just to the point where it made me laugh. Waited for another runner who I had passed probably 5 minutes earlier to come and we debated which direction we thought we should go. Continued straight and ran together for a bit until I started giving a little more effort. Made the loop around the open field area and got to the final hill. “Jogged” up the last hill and with the legs fried and heart pounded finished the sucker up. It was surprising how many people were cheering at the finish.

Had some wild rice soup, chips, cookies, a sandwich and beer at the finish. It was such a cool hang out spot at the top of the hill watching the other 50k runners loop around below us and finish coming up the hill. What a feeling hanging out w/ spectators and other finishers in the warm sun. The sun was beating down and think it was above 70 degrees. Saw many friends finish and caught a ride back to the cities with Edward’s friend Rigel. Forgot my keys in Edwards Suburban and hung outside the apartment waiting for a roomy to get back and open the door. Went back to Crystal for James’ bonfire and caught up with some friends from high school while over indulging in adult beverages.

Enjoyed the weekend and I keep having second thoughts about going to Japan for a year. Just had a bad dream yesterday that I was miserable over there. Trying to enjoy the limited time to fullest now so if anybody is reading this, I expect invites for a run soon!

<3

Zumbro Midnight 50-mile 2013

artwork John Storcamp

Trying to write the blog quickly after the race because I want to be able to write down many of the details!

The Zumbro 50 was my second 50-miler and it’s crazy to think it’s already over. The last relatively long race I did was back in December at the Honolulu Marathon which I was still burned up from Twin-Cities Marathon in October. Having January-mid April to recover/train for this race seemed like heaps of time, but the weeks came and went and suddenly the Zumbro weekend was here.

For the last 50 I did, my training consisted mainly of doing other marathons/trail races that year which was convenient but wasn’t really as specific of training as would have been helpful for a trail 50.  This time around for Zumbro, I tried to put in relatively higher mile weeks (70ish) and was just generally running more often. Made it out to the roads at Afton for 1 long run on the roads with some good climbing.

courtesy Edward Sandor

  It’s been fun running to and from Caribou in the mornings for work, getting 8 miles in by 10am and still being able to get an afternoon run in. Now that I am working at the Running Room in St. Paul, that will be another 8 miles of commuting to get on the feet.

Even though I was able to hit higher mile weeks than before, I wasn’t completely confident in my training because my longest run was just a marathon distance that I had done in Chicago, and I didn’t really do any long back-to-back days or much hill-work.

J1 and I drove down to Zumbro Friday during the day and arrived at the Zumbro Riverbottoms around 3pm. We got to hang out at the last aid station (start/finish) and watch the 100-milers come in and out.  Saw Edward pass through when we got there.

Trying to save a caffeine boost for later in the evening before the race, I had not had any coffee throughout the day, however ended up have a caffeine withdrawal headache around 5:00pm so had a half-caff cup to take the edge off before trying to nap (admitted addict). Hung out by the fire place and got pretty cold from not bringing warm enough clothes to sit outside for 9+hours before the midnight start of the race. After warming up 3 sweet potatoes by the fire and eating them, went and napped in Edward’s suburban with his golden retriever Tucker. It was tough getting to sleep because my hands/feet were so cold from spending all the time outside. Woke up from Jake opening up the trunk and letting me know there was a hour until the start of the race. Switched into race gear, heated up another sweet potato and drank a cup of coffee rushing over to the start where everyone was. Since the aid-stations are spaced so close together (longest one being 4.3 miles apart) I wouldn't be needing to carry any water/fuel on me which I was excited for.

The Zumbro 50 mile run started at midnight and ran 3 16.7 mile “loops” around the Zumbro Riverbed area in Theilman MN.  There was 9200ft of climbing at Zumbro compared to 12,500 at Sawtooth.

It had snowed the previous day and the trails were pretty sloppy from the 100-milers running 16 hours on the trails prior to us starting.

John Storcamp gave us the GO and I hollered for Jake because I didn’t see him in the mass of people running through the dark with headlamps. Little did I know, Jake and I would run the next 45 miles together.  We started off chit chatting and were enjoying the trails and hiking the uphill climbs. I was using a Coleman headlamp and a small handheld flashlight for when I needed to illuminate the ground when the cheap headlamp didn’t do the trick.  It was super cool after the first steep climb, looking down and seeing a line of people’s headlamps making their way up. I get giddy just thinking about it again! Despite how bone-chilled I was prior to the start, after running for just a few minutes, I quickly heated up and realized I would need to shed some clothes at the first aid station. Once arriving to aid station 1 (TCRC), I gave my long-sleeve compression shirt and a cotton-tshirt I was wearing to Kurt, along with a headband and a set of gloves (definitely was overdressed but was freezing at the beginning).

Think I didn’t even grab anything at the first couple aid-stations because of not being very hungry or thirsty and not wanted to start to get things sloshy in the stomach yet.  Realizing it would be pretty stupid to see how long I could continue to not eat/drink much, started to try and have real food such as grapes/bananas and hydrate with water at the aid-stations.  Knowing this “natural” fueling strategy wouldn’t last long either, started to eat PB&Js, quesadillas and other foods at the aid stations. Thankfully, my stomach can tolerate just about anything at relatively low intensities.

For the first loop, I stayed behind Jake the entire time and would sometimes feel myself wanting to push faster. It helped staying behind him because instead of running by feel and burning up the legs too quickly, I was able to conserve energy much better than the Superior 50 in 2011. The footing throughout the first loop wasn’t too bad because being it was Midnight, the temperatures dipped below freezing, hardening up the footsteps of the 100-milers. Lots of portions of the trail were completely covered in snow and other parts patches were combos of ice/water. It was difficult trying to keep the feet dry and several occasions on the first loop my feet sunk into spots that wet the feet up pretty good. Just before getting to the TCRC aid-station 4, there is about a 1.5 mile stretch of gravel road which is surprisingly super tiring. After all the climbing and descending in the trails before getting to the road, the legs are pretty beat up and it is hard to get the legs into a road running groove.

We finished up the first loop and it was semi-exciting knowing we only had two more loops to go, however also seemed too daunting at the time to think about doing two more loops. Ripped through a pair of SmartWool socks so changed to a Fitsok and headed out for the second loop.

Just into the second loop at around mile 18, 19, and 20 my legs were feeling pretty dead and my left hip flexor was being tricky and sensitive. Decided to try and start eating more at the aid-stations to see if that would help out. At one aid-station,  I remember having a fried egg, PB&J, a Hammer Gel, hot potato soup and washed it down with coffee. Thankfully I broke out of the fatigue slump I was in and felt quite a bit better. It was crazy to be thinking at like mile 30, I was feeling better than when I was at mile 18.  You sure do have high-highs and low-lows in these races and can only imagine what they feel like during a 100-miler.

My Garmin GPS watch had unfortunately died at mile 25 while we were in the second loop. However, by this point, it had began to get light out and we were able to turn our headlamps off which was super nice. Stashed the headlamp and handheld flashlight with Jake’s drop bag and didn’t have the headlamp band constriction on the head and both my hands were free. The course now seemed totally different, being able to see the scenery around us instead of being restricted to the small space lit up by headlamps.

(Took a week away from trying finish writing this race report because felt like I wasn't able to express as much as I wanted with writing..grr)

Can’t remember much of the middle miles except taking in some awesome views along the course, and rolling into the Start/Finish area with one last loop to go. Jake and I would randomly sing songs ranging from “Palmdale” by Afroman to the trail only knows..
Finished the second loop and switched from Scott Eride Grip to Brooks Cascadias. It was nice finishing up with tough climbs and difficult sections of the trail on the last loop.knowing that would be our last time passing through. We passed several other 50-milers and towards the end of the last loop we were going back and forth with another guy who Jake and I called “Blue Shirt Guy”. With about 5 or so miles left we hit the flat dirt road section that was 1.5 miles long and Blue Shirt Guy was coming up behind us again. I told Jake I was going to try and stick with him and not let him pass. Blue Shirt Guy started passing from behind and I starting speeding up to maintain his pace. We exchanged brief greetings and kept along the dirt road as our legs slowly adjusted to the change of footing. It was still a super tough section to run because of all the puddles/mud that I tried to avoid and how fried the legs were from the earlier miles/terrain. We stayed side-by-side for 5 or so minutes and there was a silent competitive aura between us as we both continued to pick up the pace. Decided I had enough of that and wanted to see what kind of pace I could maintain for the rest of the race. Started gaining a lead on him as we had about .5 miles left to the aid-station. Gained some solid ground and wanted to look back to see where Jake was in all of this but stubbornly didn’t want the Blue Shirt Guy to see me look back. After finishing the long stretch of road and crossing a little bridge, got to the last aid-station.  Made it a goal to try and be in and out as fast as possible in attempt to have the guy not even see me when he reached the aid-station.  After slamming some water and grabbing a couple orange slices for the way, I ran out of the aid-station and began power-hiking up the pretty steep climb. After ascending for a bit, looked down towards the aid-station and saw Blue Shirt Guy in the distance walking towards the aid-station. Think I remember saying out loud, “Yeah baby!” and was excited for Jake to pass him shortly.
The last 3 miles of the race were the quickest miles throughout the whole race, as we had been doing a lot of conserving and maintaining throughout the previous miles.  The first place 17-miler girl started cruising by and I attempted to stick with her but that lasted less than a mile. Tried to use whatever energy was conserved earlier on the last 14:00 hours out on the trails and I’m very curious what my pace was for the last section of the race. It felt like running less than 8:00min/miles but then again who knows..it could have been 10:00min/miles. Got to the last straight flat section before the open field and looked back to see Jake was not too far behind.  Was excited to see he was able to pick up the pace too and was surprised how much energy he had in his legs at this point for his first 50-miler. Ran through the open field and was greeted at the finish line by John Storcamp followed by Misty and Jeanine. Crossed at 11:45:52.  It felt awesome to be done and I was surprised and how different this race was than my first 50. Jake finished like a minute around me and we were relieved to finish. Felt like we hunted down Blue Shirt Guy together for the kill and now we were rewarded with the finish line. 

courtesy Jordan Hanlon

courtesy Jordan Hanlon

With it being a week after the race, I’ve looked back and had mixed feelings of how I ran it.  For me, a 50-mile race is super tough to pace and I credit Jake for leading such a rocksteady pace for 45 miles. A part of me wonders what it would have been like if I attempted to run it solo. I know I would have started out quicker and crashed later on but sometimes it’s nice to learn lessons the hard way (in many cases, I’d much rather learn a lesson through experience than through other people warning or telling me) so I’m a little disappointed in myself for choosing not to struggle pacing myself in the race and using Jake’s pace as a crutch.  Also it is a bit embarrassing how vivid the last few miles with the Blue Shirt Guy were because I don’t think I should base how good I feel about something that is determined by beating another person but competition has always been an easy way for me to take things to a level I might not have been able to without it.

After the race I sat down for a bit eating warm food generously crafted by Misty and Vickie while quickly becoming stiff/sore/cold just sitting around. If I hadn’t really pushed it the last 5 or so miles, I probably wouldn’t have been half as sore as I was. Went to change into some dry/warm clothes in J1’s car and after 10min of struggling to switch out of my clothes, made my way back to the fire and hung out with a bunch of the others as we watched other 17, 50, 100milers come across the finish. It was so fun and comforting sitting next to the fire after the race with such a cool group of people. I keep thinking how much I will miss this group of people as I’m about to be in Japan for a year :(

Took a full week off of running after the race and am slowly getting back onto the road/trails. After my 50 in 2011, ended up running too much too soon and feel like that definitely prolonged the recovery. Was pretty cranky towards the end of this week without running but thankfully for me (and my friends/roommates/co-workers/people I interact with..) am back and running again :)

Signed up for Kettle Morraine 100-mile race June 1st and am 40 days out from it. Plan on doing a week of Core Power Yoga and some strengthening exercises to keep the legs/body balanced. Feel like my stomach and bum are pretty weak now and need some work.

Maple Lake Irish Scamper 5k 2013

As the middle of March arrived, it was time for our 5th year of doing the Irish Scamper 5k. This year for the Irish Scamper was definitely the smallest group of people that we went out with. Back in high school (2006) we started going out to this 5k stemming from Kari Jo's Mom Patricia Langum. This race was Ryan, Tav, Kayla and my first running race and despite it taking place 45min+ away, we still find ourselves going back when we can.

Prior year recaps:
2006: my time (22:08) Group: Ryan, Patricia, Tavis, Kyle
2008: (20:16) Ryan, Tavis, Kayla, Kyle
2009 (19:11) Ryan, Andy, Kody, Tavis, Kayla, Chin, Kari Jo, Patricia
2010 (18:24) Ryan, James, Tavis, Chine Jaime
2013 (16:58) Ryan, James

I didn't have many expectations going into this race because lately, I have been trying to log more miles rather than get in much speed work. Ideally, it would have been helpful to do more interval training shorter distance runs but I am currently three weeks out from the Zumbro 50m trail race.

Traditionally before the race, we've had pizza and beer at Tav's, but this year with it being just Ryan and James, we had pizza at Broadway Pizza in Crystal and brews over at James house.

 Played some knee-hockey at James and Erin Haefs stopped over for a bit. Went to bed pretty late and got up with just enough time to wake up, eat breakfast and head towards Maple Lake.

Without having much of an idea of a pace I could sustain for a 5k, just figured I would start out running and adjust from there. I was a bit nervous before because of how different a 5k is from a longer race and how quickly you have to adjust your mindset.

 Wore the Nike Waffle shoes I bought in Hawaii as part of the Lance Armstrong costume because they are the only lightweight shoes I have.

*minus the spikes

Lined up at the start-line and the director gave us the go. Started off to the side of the main people up front and as usual people started out pretty quick and chaotic. Within 30 seconds a guy wearing a full green spandex suit was well ahead of everyone else (later to win the race) and probably 5 guys staggered in front of me. I remember looking down at my watch and seeing 5:14m/miles and not knowing if it was an error or not. Things felt fast so decided to slow down a tad into a pace I could realistically try to hold onto. There were two guys cruising pretty close together ahead of me and around the first mile I caught up to them and passed them after making a remark about the green guy in spandex. I was breathing pretty hard which wasn't something I was used to and was trying to keep the legs spinning. Could see the 2nd place guy about 15-30 second ahead of me but didn't dare try to speed up and try to catch him. Seeing the 1.5 miles on the GPS, I was a bit scared of not being able to hold onto the pace and at 2 miles, started to get a little burpy (perhaps from the "nutrition" from the night before). Made the second lap around town and tried to speed up a tad towards the finish line. Finished and in hindsight, feel like I could have left more out on the course, as there was no dry heaving after the race like previous years. Was pleasantly surprised with my times/splits and am excited to try and drop time on the 5k later on, perhaps another year at the Scamper.

*forgot to turn off for about 4 seconds after the race

 Saw Ryan/James finished and sneezed probably 25 times on the way back to the high school (always do that for some reason). Had the usual after race snacks and headed out after the awards.

Just the 3 of us this year

This race has been a fun tradition and always is something to look forward to in March.