Running Chick

The first race of the season is over. It was a lot warmer & hillier than I remembered, but I ended up with a new (and unexpected) PR, so I’m happy.

The course starts in Conover, WI and meanders it’s way down several country roads which probably don’t see much traffic other than fishermen and the few local residents who live out in the boonies.

Josh and I and around 400 other half-marathoners were bussed to the starting line, which was literally a line spray painted on the road.  The road wasn’t closed to traffic, so every time a car had to go through, somebody would yell Car! and people would move to either side of the road to make a path through. I’m pretty sure the parting of the Red Sea happened the same way.  Surprisingly, for that many people milling about, we never had to wait more than a few minutes for a porta-potty. I think we have the trees to thank for that.

The course is pretty quiet and desolate.

The county was doing some ditch work, so that just added to the post-apocalyptic vibe.

This turkey was also out doing some course checks.

The very small Eagle River, WI airport had some activity when we drove by, but it was quiet on race day.

We got to do some off-roading on the final stretch to the finish line.

The finish line at Riverside Park.

Race day weather was sunny and warm. The course didn’t have much shade so by the mid-way point, I was feeling pretty toasty and eventually ended up with a zorched nose & shoulders. 

Even though this was my third time doing this event, I’d completely forgotten how hilly it was.  There’s a couple of larger extended hills around miles 7-9, but the rest of the course is full of rollers that didn’t seem like much of a bother, until I hit mile 10 and wondered why my quads felt so trashed.  However, I will proudly admit that all the hill training I did this winter paid off because while most people where walking up those larger hills, I was zipping up them without any problems.  I guess I’ll just have to remind myself of this achievement during this summer’s hill sessions when I’m doubled over at the top, gasping for breath and feeling like I’m about to toss my cookies.

The last mile is through a residential area and lots of people were out offering encouraging advice, which was nice, but I swear, if I heard You’re almost done! Keep going! The finish is just around the corner! one more time I was going to have to kill someone.  One lady told me that I had a quarter mile to the corner, then a few more corners and I was done.  It’s really funny now, but then? Not so much.  Anyway, I finished feeling pretty wasted, and I had absolutely no clue what my time was.  Of the twelve different fields I have on my gps watch, I didn’t think to set one of them to elapsed time.  Pretty smart.  Fortunately, my watch does have a history and I was shocked to find that it read 2:17:45.  That’s a completely unexpected 2 minute PR for me, so I was very pleased.

I slammed a couple cups of Gatorade, crammed a few bananas into my mouth then headed back up course to find Josh.  He had about three-quarters of a mile to go when I found him.  I didn’t want to confuse the finish volunteers by coming through a second time, so I stayed with him as long as I could, then ran ahead and met him at the finish line.  It was pretty awesome to see him cross. He put a lot of work into his training and has improved quite a bit in the short time he’s been at it. He laments about how slow he thinks he is, but I predict that before long it’ll be me struggling to keep up with him. Good job, Josh!

Looking forward, I’m planning on taking a short running break for the next week, maybe two, to tackle some projects around the house and possibly spend some quality time with my road bike.  We’re registered for the Fox Cities Half Marathon in Appleton, WI in mid-September and are contemplating doing the Canal Run in mid-July, but that’s about it.  I’m glad to be done with training!

Remember the song “The Final Countdown” from way back in 1980-something by Europe? They were a hair band from Sweden and pretty typical of all the other hair bands in the 80’s – big, teased blonde hair & tight leather pants. I never really liked the band or the song, but I heard it on the radio the other day and it’s been annoyingly rolling around in my head ever since.  However, it’s conveniently apropos, so here’s hoping that using it as the inspiration for my title will purge it from my brain.  Or, at least pass it into yours. Ha!

My first tapering week has come to a close. Thanks to a bout of food poisoning (thanks a lot Pilgrim River Steakhouse), I was only able to complete two of my runs – Monday & today.  Oh well, I suppose the extra tapering can’t hurt.

So, weekly recap: Monday,  @ 10:08; Saturday, 5 @ 11:08.  Monday’s run finalized the month of April where I logged 77 miles.  That’s my highest monthly running mileage ever, which is pretty major milestone for me.  Usually at this point in my training, I’m usually injured and looking at the upcoming race with a “fingers-crossed I hope this works out” mentality.  But today, I’m healthy and injury-free.  Oh, and looking for some wood to knock on. Or, as Josh mentioned, a bubble to walk around in.

Next week, we have two very short 2 mile runs and that’s all until race day.  Feels good to be (almost) done!

Random, we used to have a dog that slept with his legs straight out behind him, but I’ve never seen a cat do it until Pippen.

He also chews on sticks, plays fetch and makes “barooo” noises like a hound.  Maybe he really is part dog?

I can now officially say that I ran from Calumet to Houghton.

Josh and I were doing our final long run together and we picked up the railroad grade, which is actually the old Mineral Range Railroad, in Swedetown around 9:30 Saturday morning.  It was sunny, but windy and cold. My poor nose didn't stop running until the half-way point.

The trail is also known as Trail #17 - Jack Stevens Trail to the snowmobilers.

The trail was in good running condition, being mostly hard-packed gravel/stamp sand. There were a few sections around Boston Pond that were full of golf ball sized rocks, which made things a bit unpleasant, but still manageable. 

Just outside of Swedetown, we came across a quarry (gavel pit?) run by Moyle Construction.  There were a few folks poking around with metal detectors, I think they were surprised to see us.

There were points where I was certain I could see all the way to South Range. It was neat & depressing all rolled into one.

I believe there were three bridge crossings along the route, which surprised me. And also made me realize that it would probably be fairly miserable in mosquito season.

Clearly we were heading in the wrong direction.

This is where things got interesting. We knew that the Sisu Shuffle was happening on Saturday morning, but neither of us knew when it started or where the route was until we came around a corner and found their turn-around point.  Good grief what a quagmire of strollers, wheelchairs, dogs, people walking 6 abreast and kids running amok. I think we added an extra mile to our run weaving and bobbing through that mess. I was so glad to leave them behind at the fairgrounds.

I told Josh to stand by this sign & I’d take his picture (his long run was 12 miles), but he was running on fumes and he had all he could to do keep his feet moving. I believe he responded with a grunt and that was that. Photo opportunity gone.

After 11 miles on gravel, I was so happy to see pavement.

Josh’s run ended at 12 miles and I continued on, finishing up at the bridge with 14 miles.  Since we didn’t have the foresight to leave a car at our end point, we had to hoof it across the bridge and up the hill to get home. Let me just say, oof.

And with that, the bulk of my training is over and now I get to taper into race day.  I ended this week with a couple of milestones: highest weekly mileage ever (24) and highest run mileage (14).  Whew!

My goals for the next two weeks are to eat healthy (which includes cutting our beer GASP!) and remain injury-free. Fingers crossed!

* Myles, Joshua. Long Run. Mile 4, Jack Stevens Calumet-Hancock Rail Trail. 28 Apr 2012.