To say I was excited for this race would be quite an understatement.
I took some time off after the Superior 50, eased back into running, followed by several weeks of normal training again. I was feeling great heading into last weekend knowing I’d be spending some time out in the woods on some of my favorite sections of trail around Duluth – not to mention my backyard.
The game plan was to run nice and easy for quite a while as longer races like this can get challenging following an aggressive start…at least for me! Good news, I actually stuck to the plan đ
The bad news – even after executing exactly how I intended, somewhere between Ely’s Peak and the Magney aid station my stomach began giving me trouble. I remained positive knowing how I was able to come out the other side of a similar experience back in September. However, this has to be one of the worst feelings when it creeps up during an endurance event.
My legs/lungs/mind were all feeling incredible. I was cruising along efficiently and starting to reign in quite a few fellow competitors. But an unruly stomach causes issues and I wanted to deal with it right away if possible.
I slowed down a bit and forced in some additional calories, followed by more water while still on the trail before getting to Magney. I knew I would need to get some of those trusty pickles and salted potatoes in my system to have any hope of recovering from this.
I met my crew person and training partner Greg Hexum at this aid station and got to work. We chatted briefly while I ate some of those aforementioned pickles/potatoes and I hiked out of the aid station for a while to give things a chance to settle.
Two miles to the next aid station (water only) at the base of Spirit Mountain.
Luckily it was nearly all downhill and I was able to move decently well again, even with an uncooperative stomach. I got to the water table, filled up my bottle, and headed back into the woods.
The climb up Spirit was not my friend. I was starting to overheat (come on mid-to-late October, you’re supposed to be cold), my body needed more calories I wasn’t able to give it, and the constant climbing in these circumstances took a toll mentally. I was getting passed by quite a few people, when by this stage in the race, I was supposed to be doing the passing (at least that’s how I drew it up in my head)!
I will say, knowing what I was able to push through and gut out for the better part of 50 miles during Superior gave me confidence that I was going to finish this race if I wanted to. So I kept on plugging away.
I met some nice people along the way (par for the course in the running community) which helped pass the time. My family was also waiting for me at the Highland aid station, so of course I sat down and hung out there for a long time. No matter how crappy I’m feeling they always manage to cheer me up and put a smile on my face!
Side note: I’ve also learned that I can’t have a time goal in mind and I should be hesitant to give estimated times of arrival at different points along the course during these long races. For one, I’m almost always off. So I start feeling bad while I’m racing knowing others are waiting on me. Second, I run way better when I simply focus on maximizing fun and leaving expectations aside. Someone smack me if I start reverting back to this for an upcoming race!
My stomach never ended up settling down and allowing me to feel good again, but I was able to rip down Enger really fast, picking off some people in the process. The final runner I caught was just after exiting the single-track and crossing over to the pedestrian bridge over I-35. Following a fun little battle, and much to my final-stage-kick chagrin, I had to let them go as my legs were starting to seize up really bad. So much so that by the last 50 meters I could hardly move forward. Eilee and Isaac hopped out and ran in with me…Isaac was really excited because he beat two people (me for sure, and Eilee was nice enough to stay with me in my rough shape)!!!
I was able to finish the race in 5:58:33 good for 18th place out of 199 runners. All-in-all it was still a good day to be outside getting a 30 mile run in – I am definitely thankful for even being able to attempt something like this. It also makes things fun when your stomach does decide to come around again…time to load up on calories đ
Congrats to all who participated in the weekend’s events (especially Mike Ward – who took home the 100k AND 10k titles on Saturday/Sunday!!!), and thanks to all of the volunteers who make a weekend like this possible!