Trail Running is a Tough Sport

Some see the sport of running as a frivolous folly skipping along the roads or thru the woods for skinny, nerdy types.  Even I'll admit to poking some fun at the Cross Country Team from the Gridiron back in the glory days of high school football.  But for most of us endurance athletes, with time and wisdom we finally come to realize just the opposite, that maybe football and hockey are not the tough sports we thought they were, and running is up there at the top of the list of physically and mentally tough sports.  And I'm not just talking physically tough on the lungs, heart and muscles, but actually full physical contact tough for some of us.

As usual, goals for a 50k trail race: no falls, no injuries, sub-5 hr, PR for the course.  It was less than an hour into the race before the first goal was in jeopardy.  This portion of the Superior Hiking Trail, like most of it, is super technical with a tangle of cedar and pine roots, rocks, 2-3 foot steps and drops, and plenty of prolonged lung-busting climbs up Moose MTN and Carleton Peak.  Constant focus is a key, and all it took was a glance down at my watch to catch a root and go down the first time.  Luckily, like a lot of times, my hand-held water bottle cushioned the blow, and at first I tried to tell myself it wasn't a true fall as I caught myself in a Barry Sanders type fashion, but after extensive review, it was ruled my knee was down, goal failed, and I moved on.  Out and back, thru the 2 aid stations, excited to get thru the 2nd station this year before seeing the leaders flying down Carleton Peak on their way back.  Nearing the turn on Carleton Peak, or so I thought, I glanced down at my watch showing 2:19, good split for my goals of sub-5 and PR for the course, the smile suddenly shaken by another face/kneeplant against granite, which granite wins every time, not even paper can cover this rock.  After rising and dusting myself off, I glanced back up the trail and saw the runners in front still climbing up, straight up, past the usual turnaround, Storkamp had us going all the way to the top this year.  Happy to be half way, I wasted no time with even a quick look around from the 2nd highest point in MN and headed home.  The day was heating up with sun in the open stretches and humidity in the trees and I was sweating hard, especially any time I had to walk a steep hill, trying to keep up with HEED and Endurolytes, but the 12 ouces wasn't lasting me for the ~1 hour legs between aid stations.  I thought of jumping in a couple of the stream crossings, but most of the bridges were too high it would involve too much effort to climb down and back up.  My legs were starting to cramp up and getting pretty tired, especially on the forever climb back up Moose Mtn with the Stairway to Hell.  Surviving it all with only a couple mild stumbles and one near rocket launch down a steep hill saved by a trailside tree at pretty much the expense of my left pectoralis and bicep muscles, I was on the final downhill stretch back down Mystery MTN.  I came to the 2 1/2 foot downed tree over the trail, my mind told me to simply jump up on the tree with one foot and over with the other, but the body in it's state couldn't quite perform as the mind intended.  The foot plant was quite shy of the top of the tree, and as my momentum carried me over, the planting foot slipped off the backside, I did an attempt at a tuck and roll, and as I hit hard on the other side, the downhill side, I heard and felt the pop of my lower left rib freeing itself once again from it's cartilage casing, the last time back in a college rugby match when an opponent decided to put the top of his noggin in my ribs in my attempt at tackling him.  This did in fact take a little of my wind away, but I was luckily able to finish the mostly downhill 10 minutes of the race without too much difficulty to save at least 2 of my goals, a sub-5 hour race and my PR on the extended course.  As I looked around in shame of my dirtied body, bloody knee and distorted chest wall, I noticed I was not alone, most of the other participants had similar findings; lots of dirt, some blood, a taped ankle or two.  What a tough sport. 

Simply Running

I do love the simplicity of running.  Superior 50k.  Friday night, throw shoes, socks, shirt, bandana, nipple bandaids hand held water bottle filled with 2 scoops HEED, and 3 gels into a bag.  Roll out of bed at 4am, eat bagel and coffee, fill water bottle, fill coffee cup for the drive.  Drive to Lutsen, arriving at 6am, park in lot right by start line.  Walk 15 minutes to shake out car legs, take 30 seconds to check-in to get number, timing band and race shirt.  Talk to friends for 30 minutes.  Change in car.  Pee next to car.  Walk 30 feet to Start at 6:56, listen to John Storkamp's jokes for 4 minutes.  Start running at 7:00am.  Refill water bottle and take a gel at each of the 4 Aid Stations.  Finish, eat chili and drink water/lemonade, talk to friends for an hour.  Stop at gas station to get beef jerkey, trail mix and Diet Mtn Dew.  Home by 2:30pm.  Throw clothes in washer and shoes in corner.  Wash single water bottle.  Done.

Running on Empty

One final trail running race for the Spring season, the Superior 50k Trail Race in Lutsen, MN, a very punishing up and down, technical 50k/5+ hour effort.  I signed up for the Chippewa 50k and Superior 50k races last Fall after I committed to Footing the Arrowhead 135, thinking I'd be able to ride my leg fitness thru the Spring with some running races.  But I should have known.  After the Arrowhead hoopla was over, the running has been a bit of a mental struggle for me, my Activity ADHD Syndrome has been running out of control and I'm just not feeling it.  I'm excited for biking now, feeling like my bike fitness is way behind, trying to train both running and biking, and just getting burnt out and tired.  I love running trails and still occasionally find that euphoria and plan to run hard tomorrow, but am ready to be done  with the racing/training for awhile.  I still plan to do some running over the Summer for the joy, cross training and stay in shape, maybe even do a race, but I am not going to sign up or commit myself to anything.   

opening day

AGING?!

I've never been one to think too much about another birthday or getting older.  It's just a number, right?  It's how you act, the friends you keep, and what kind of shape you're in that really matters.  Sure, I'm a bit stiffer now in the morning than I once was, and I have to get up and pee every morning at 4AM, and having a bowel movement every day matters.  But I do weigh about 40 lbs less than I did after college, have run and biked farther, faster and stronger since turning 40, have won a couple races in the last couple years, and not just my 'age group', and just PR'd my 50k trail race last weekend.  But it still did take A LOT to go into Walgreen's this morning to buy my first pair of 'CHEATER' glasses so I can actually tie the fly onto my line this weekend.  It was kind of like buying condoms as a teenager.

Anxiously Waiting

As my blown-out quads and calves recover, I'm anxiously awaiting the Trans Iowa participants to rest, regroup and recover enough for the stories to appear.

Chippewa 50K

Beautiful conditions Saturday AM for the Chippewa Moraine 50k trail race, 42 degrees, overcast with a slight breeze in the woods near New Auburn, WI.  Near perfectly dry rolling singletrack on an out and back course, perfect conditions for the fast guys being fast, and us mammoths being mammoths.  One of the first big trail tests of the season had a stacked field, with legends like Storkamp, Dusty Olson, Ramacier, and the young upstarts like Rubesch and Hertz, and a whole field of fast guys and gals.  It was going to be a battle.  My goal was to run the whole race, push myself the entire race, and test my fitness.  If there was a recorder in my mind, it would have sounded something like this:

It's freezing out here, let's get this thing going.  Start out slow, but don't get stuck too far back, it's a big field.  This pace feels pretty fast, you better slow down.  Mile 1, 8:00, way too fast, that's going to hurt later.  There go a bunch of fellow Masters but it's still a long race.  this trail is awesome, so nice bening on dry singletrack again.  this would be a perfect mtn bike course.  remember this bridge, 45 minutes from the finish.  gel every 1/2 hour, keep drinking.  the calves are feeling all these rolling hills, still a bit tight from the beach running 2 weeks ago.  leaders flying past me already, it's only 2 hours in.  1/2 way turnaround in 2:11, see if I can negative split for the first time ever.  I wish this was only a 25k, the legs are starting to feel it.  I wonder what the weather's like at Trans Iowa.  I think I'd rather be biking right now.  My calves are killing me.  Why do I do these races, this is the last one ever.  only 3 more checkpoints to go.  maybe I can catch jim reed at the next hill, I've been following him for 20+ miles. 4 miles to go, 40 minutes, that's like amity creek trail and back.  how can all these guys fly by me still running that fast.  that hurt, glad I had my water bottle to cushion my fall.  my left calf is so tight I can barely lift my foot over the roots and rocks.  1 mile, 10 minutes.  I hate this finish, you can see and hear everyone partying from a mile away.  this hill is huge, and I hurt so bad.  4:40, 17 minutes faster than 3 years ago! glad that's done, I guess it wasn't that bad.  next one in 3 weeks, then the 12 and 24 mtn biking starts this Summer.  then...