Chippewa 50K and Sylvester

Well,

I am resting after the Chippewa 50K race this last weekend. I was lamenting the cancellation of this race in January when I was informed that it was picked up by another group.

First, the positives:

1. The weather was great. It was cloudy and cool at the start with plenty of sunshine.

2. The trail was nice and soft with lots of moss and leaves.

3. Great Race - I had a good time once again and thanks to all the organizers and volunteers

Negatives

1. I had a crappy race. The first half was good and fast. The last third was a death march. I am not sure what happened but a list of likely suspects would include: under training, hip injury, stomach problems, going out too fast.

2. The nice and leafy trail covered up a lot of root and rocks so I took about 4 falls. None too serious but more than my average.

My wife Geri ran the new 10K and we had another good weekend up in Chetek. Reds Tavern was definitely the best dinner we have had in town. This area is really nice and the lakes around Chetek are beautiful.

Anyway, back to the race. I have been suffering from a nagging hip pain for over a month that I was suspecting might even be a stress fracture so I had stopped running for the two weeks prior to the race. Good for my hip but bad for me. The first 10 miles of the race were sweet. Lots of singletrack up ridges and around countless lakes. Add a few boardwalks and bridges and it is as nice a run as I have ever participated in. The last 5 miles to the turnaround are a bit less spectacular but still pretty nice. I was dragging at the turnaround at about 2hr 25 minutes but I thought 5 and change was possible but things wend bad pretty quick. I got lost after a mile or two and added about 1/2 mile or so but mentally that hit me right when my body was rebelling. Stomach pains, calf pains lack of energy plagued me the rest of the way in. I would get passed and get a bit of energy trying to keep pace but I always dropped back. I kept waiting for the second wind but it never came. Anyway, the last mile is great because most of it is downhill except for the evil hill in the last 1/4 mile which I managed to stagger up.

Its weird how crappy you can feel but then feel OK about an hour later. We headed to the hotel and a shower and rest for an hour made me fine to go out for a few beers and dinner.

The other tough thing is that we had to put our cat Sylvester to sleep this afternoon. We have had Sylvester since we lived in San Jose and he was about 17 years old although we don't really know because he showed up in our driveway 15 years ago in bad shape. He was a good soul and he shared out life in Singapore, San Francisco and finally Madison. He joins our cat Maya who passed away two months ago as well. The photo I found of them made me smile. They were buddies but also competitors for food even though they never went hungry living with us.

Rest in peace friends!

John Dick and Turkeys

Well, the first long run of the year - the John Dick 50K - was last weekend (Feb6th). I have been doing this run for three years in a row now. The race/run is held on the trails around Scuppernong near Oconomowoc, WI. Since it is early February in Wisconsin, that means you are running on snow/ice/slush or a mixture of all three.
This year, the conditions were pretty good. We had gone a stretch without fresh snow so I was worried it would be too icy but we got a few inches of fresh stuff on Tuesday before the race so it worked out pretty good (although there were sections where the ice slick was showing through the snow). It was about 20F if I remember correctly and we had sun shining through a light cloud cover. It never got too warm or too cold. I started running with my buddy Tom Schlaefer and got a few laps (the course this year was 5 laps of a 10K course) in before I started struggling. The course has one aid station manned and an unmanned water/gatoraid station at the other end of the loop. I have always had trouble getting a base of sufficient miles over winter here in Wisconsin so this race is always a bit of a struggle. At the same time, it is fun to see all the local runners: Robert Wehner (RD), Tom Bunk, Mary Gorski, C. Crawford, Julie Treder, etc.. Great job to Robert and the Badgerland Striders for the event.

Anyway, the last few miles were a struggle but I finished in 5hrs and change.

I had a bizarre experience last week on a morning run. I passed a group of turkeys on a city street and I turned around to look back and saw one of them jogging after me. Another turkey flew out of a tree and joined his pal in chasing after me. I wasn't near any females or chicks so I was unsure what they were doing but sure enough, they started catching up to me. I stopped and faced them but they had no intention of stopping. They were looking at me with these dead eyes and I proceeded to try to back away and wave my arms to scare them off. They were not the least bit afraid of me. I was kicking snow and ice chunks with little effect. This went on for about 100 feet and I was wondering what to do about this. I know turkeys have pretty sharp spurs so I didn't want to turn my back and run for it. Finally, I was able to create about 15 feet of space by throwing ice and I sprinted down the road and lost them. That was pretty weird. I have run by group of turkeys for years and never seen them act aggressively in the past????

Winter Still

I went out for a run this morning. The thermometer read -2 when I headed out the door and the wind chill was about -15. I decided to do the run to the UW Arboretum which is about 4 miles one way and then see what I felt like doing. I actually did not feel too cold starting out. The layering I had on helped alot. When I got to the Arb. I decided to try a turnaround at 9 miles and then back to the barn. This ended up being about 18.75 miles for the day. For some reason (probably because it was cold as hell) my 'member' was chilling up at about 15 miles. I had some hand warmers so put one of those in my wind briefs which did the job. Anyway, it has been a pretty good week for mileage. I will end up with 52 or so after tomorrows run. Next week is the John Dick 50K which it looks like might be good this year. The run the last two years has been on snow so we are supposed to get an inch or two over the next week which should soften the icy crust that is currently on the ground - no snow for two weeks or so but no warm weather either.

Still bummed about Chippewa 50K cancellation? WTF?

I am still unsure what to set for goals this year. I would like to do the Mad City 100k in early April. The Ice Age 50 and Kettle are always good races. Maybe I should look for something out of the state??

Happy 2010

Well...... Its been a while. It has been a pretty slow fall for me running wise. First, I suffered through some calf strain issues starting in late October. Then I ran a half marathon (Tyranena) in early November which was a beautiful day and run but I pulled my calf muscle again at about 3 miles and ran through it only to severely aggravate my injury.

This is the first day of 2010. It is a typical January day in Wisconsin. It is partly cloudy with a high around 10F and a morning temp around 2F with a breeze making the wind chill about -10. What do you do on days like this? Well, you can run. And that is what I did. This is the day for the New Years Day dash - a local 5 mile run. It is started from a chicken wing joint in Middleton, WI so you also get to run against a chicken as well as the other runners. The problem is that the chicken is pretty darn fast. I beat the chicken this year and finished first in my age group (34'50" or so) so I got a cheesy mug. Running in the cold requires a few modifications including:
1. Wind briefs - these are magical underwear that keep your organs from freezing. This is not something to snicker about. A run at 10F or so with a slight breeze can result in some serious chilling that can be pretty frightening. The briefs eliminate the problem- period.
2. Long underwear
3. Tights
4. Long sleeve shirt (coolmax or something like it)
5. Glide for the nipples due to the rubbing of all the layers
6. A wind proof top (windstopper fabric)
7. A balaclava (sp?) to keep your ears and cheeks from freezing
8. Hat
9. Gloves or mittens
10. Yak tracks on shoes to keep from falling on your ass

I know it sounds weird to run like this but you can actually do OK once you get used to it. I will not even start on carrying water(which tends to freeze after about 30 minutes).

I am thinking about my running goals for this new year. I will jot them down soon.

PS- I heard that the Chippewa 50K has been cancelled this year. I am not sure why or what happened but this is a huge disappointment. This race is one of the most beautiful runs I have ever done. This throws a serious wrench in any plans for my Glacial Trail Series for 2010.

What Happened to Summer

I am sitting at the computer watching the tail end of a pretty good rainstorm and realizing that next week will be October. I feel like I had a pretty good focus early in the year. For running that was true. I had a race plan and I stuck close to it (close is a stretch). My original goal was to complete my Glacial Ultra Series. What is the Glacial Ultra Series you may ask?

The Glacial Ultra Series of races encompasses Five Races:
1. The John Dick Memorial Crusty 50K in Feb.
2. The Chippewa 50K in April
3. The Ice Age 50 Mile in May
4. The Kettle 100 Mile run in June
5. The Glacial Trail 50 Mile in October

Why these races? I guess my logic was that each of these races traverse sections of the Ice Age Trail in Wisconsin. Of course there are a few other races along the trail but since I made up this series and can define it the way I want!!

Well, I made it through the first 4 races with decent results (for me) and then got invited to a wedding in California the weekend of the Glacial Trail 50. I could either backslide and change my definition of the Glacial Series or just wait until next year.

Since I am probably the only person in the world who is likely to run the series this year (or any year) what difference does it make? Let me think about it. I could claim success for completing the 4 race series this year and then expand it next year but I am leaning to just say that I did not make it this year and set the series as a goal for next year.

July Update

Not whole heck of a lot going on running wise. I have dropped off my mileage in the last few weeks since the Kettle 100. I am a bit worried about that because it is tough to pick it up quickly. I am looking at the calendar over the next two months and I am not seeing alot of opportunities for races. I am planning on heading out tomorrow to the Kettle Moraine for 20 miles or so. Hope to meet up with Tom at 9AM.

Saw that Zach Gingrich came in third at Badwater. I get a sense that he was looking to take that race. I saw him run in the last few months and I think he was really close. He said he had been doing 200 mile week training! As a 50+ year old, I cannot even imagine that. My body aches when I do 50+ mile weeks.

Had a great trip to Kauai with friends; didn't get much running in but did manage lots of swimming, snorkeling and hiking.

My sister, April and family also visited Madison. April was my crew chief when I ran Western States in 2007. If I ever do that run again, she will be my first choice. She was much more organized than even I was. I do need to figure out hydration and calorie intake for 50 mile and longer races. I have had problems at both 100 mile races I have run with vomiting, etc. I know that I am not getting the fuel needed to stay strong.

Kettle 100

It is Monday morning and I am resting up from the Kettle 100 mile race last weekend. Let me start off and say that I finished in a good time (21:01) and I am pretty happy with that.

It was a crappy looking day, cloudy and cool and looking like rain in the afternoon and evening. Bad weather for anything but running. My wife, Geri and I had planned to camp out at Whitewater Lake the race weekend. We met up with Tom Schlaefer (my running buddy and pacer) and his partner, Cindy. Friday night was great and we had a fire, good food and company before turning in.
The morning came soon enough and the start was cool (low 50's?) and we all headed off. The Kettle 100 is basically two out and back loops. The first loop heads north to Scuppernong at 31 miles and the return makes the 100k course. The second loop is out again south to Rice Lake and back. The loop is mostly single track and since it is run at night my hope was to be able to get a piece of this in before dark.

My plan was the same as always: start reasonably (5 miles/hr), hydrate well and try to eat enough to keep my body moving. I headed out on towards Tamarack station along the roller coaster of hills. Since this section must be covered 4 times in 100 miles, I knew that the up and down hills would be a pain later in the race. The run up to Emma Carlin aid station went fairly well. I was keeping my pace and feeling a bit leg tired but still strong. After Emma Carlin you go through about 4 miles of open prairie and I felt pretty good and passed a few people there. The rain was still holding off and the thick overcast sky protected the runners from the sun. When I got closer to Scuppernong, I saw the 100k and 100 mile winners fighting it out along the single track. Wynn Davis was leading Zach Gingerich but I guess they fought it out over the first 100K. I met my crew (Geri, Tom and Cindy) and had some food at the turnaround and quickly headed out. I started having stomach problem at the next aid station. I think it was a coke and salty potato combination but I burped my way onward.

The rain started about 45 minutes out from the turnaround but it was not too bad. I noticed running through the prairie area that I was feeling more tired that I had hoped and my feet were getting wet from the wet grass but I caught up with Scott Meyers who I had run with about a 1/4 of the Ice Age 50 race 4 weeks ago. Scott was struggling a bit but he was still powering. At Emma Carlin, I saw my crew again (a bit of a surprise) but I was thankful as I could change my socks before heading out. The rest of the first loop back to Nordic passed uneventfully except for the last 5 miles from Tamarack through the rollercoaster which played a mind game on me as there were countdown mile signs which seemed to always took longer than I had hoped. I made it to the welcoming 100K finish at about 6:15PM and hooked up with Tom, changed my shirt and grabbed by headlamp and headed back out.

Tom and I pushed it pretty good for a while. I really wanted to get as much of the trail under my belt before dark which normally would have been around 9PM but because of the clouds would be around 8:30 (unless you were in the thick woods). We made it out to the open area before HW12 aid station around 9 and got in around 9:30 if I remember right. I downed a cup of soup and some crackers and about 50 feet from the station, everything came back up. I decided to head back and try to get something in my stomach so I grabbed a few more saltines and put a sandwich in my pocket and we headed out again. Its funny how you do feel better after barfing so we pushed on through the tough rocky section. This last 4 1/5 miles to Rice Lake is really three parts: the first rocky and hilly, the second pretty smooth and the last a rocky section with stairs down to the Rice Lake turnaround. We made it to Rice Lake around 10:30PM and after lounging around for a few minutes, headed back. It is a bit dreamlike to be running through the woods at night and seeing lighted runners approaching from the distance. Glow sticks at road intersections also added to the dream elements. There also seemed to be alto of moths that would light up in the glare of the headlamp and fly towards up. I will admit that this last bit was a bit of a plod. I tripped and fell a few times but I think that is normal.

I knew we were doing well because we saw runners coming towards us most of the way back. By the time we got to Duffin Road, I knew it was less than 10 miles to the finish. At Tamarack, it is only 5 miles to the end and even though it was the dreaded roller coaster, I knew That it was doable. We were still running the flats and downhills so I was surprised to be passed about 2 miles from the finish (turned out to be a 38 mile 'fun runner'). Anyway, the finish came soon enough. The crowd of 4 people cheered us in and Tim Yanacheck gave me my kettle and a surprise 2 place plaque in the Senior Masters division.

Anyway, that's the raw race report. It was a good run. It was well supported and my thanks go out to all the volunteers who made it possible for me and the other runners.

Now to deal with the soreness and pain.....