This is the seventh edition of The Duluth Runner Interview Series, where I get in touch with (mainly) local runners and athletes to share a bit of their story while inspiring others to pursue an active lifestyle.

Intro

Although he was more into skate/snowboarding in high school and college, today’s guest is no stranger to the outdoor endurance scene. After giving the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon a try in 2009, he was instantly hooked to running. This led to consistent training and an increase in races, including training for triathlons (finished Ironman Wisconsin in 2015!!).

Add in some backpacking, trail/ultra-marathon running, and even a little gravel bike racing, and you have someone with a lot of experiences/knowledge to share! I should also mention he held the unsupported SHT thru-hike Fastest Known Time (FKT) in under 9 days, and is now going after the supported FKT next month. You can read about this and much more over at his website.

He is currently the race director for Duluth’s wonderful Inline Marathon, along with co-owning Duluth Timing and Events…today’s guest is Mike Ward!

Interview

Why is running important to you?

Running is important to me because it checks a lot of boxes for me. I use it to burn off excess energy and it seems to provide me more energy actually. I like the planning aspect of training and running provides structure in my life that I like.

Racing is my favorite aspect of running, and I love the excitement and nervousness, fear, joy, so many emotions of toeing that start line and crossing the finish line. It’s not a big factor but the health and social aspects of running are pretty great too.

What are the top two or three things that you do to prevent injury? Have you been susceptible to certain injuries in the past?

Injury prevention is a touchy subject. It’s funny how nobody wants to talk about whether you are injured or not. This is my ongoing joke: I am so fortunate to have never had a running injury. Wait, no, I’ve literally always been injured the whole time. I feel that it’s always something, especially when training is ramping up.

But to prevent, I think the first thing that I think of is to just listen to your body. Everyone says that and it’s hard, but you have to walk the fine line between optimal training and a debilitating injury and know when to pull the plug or not do that workout or cut your long run down. Obviously, fitness suffers, but better than a DNS.

I call that “fringury”, when you are on the fringe of injury. That is where you wanna be when you are building up for a race! I am a huge proponent of strength work. I don’t really like it, but have noticed how much more I can push my body when I have a long term strength work routine and be consistent. I do planks and core work, hip exercises, and really focus on my feet and ankles. I’ve had tough injuries all over the place but none have really taken me out: hamstring, plantar, ankle, calf, knee pain. It’s always something.

What keeps you motivated when you don’t feel like heading out the door for a run?

What keeps me most motivated is having a training plan. I like to keep a calendar-style sheet of paper and I cross off the scheduled run or workout for the day once it’s done. The feeling of crossing that off is my motivation. I kind of become a slouch if I don’t have a plan, and it keeps me consistent.

Other motivating factors are running friends, especially when it comes to getting out the door early mornings. I am also motivated by my dog Diamond. When I adopted her 5.5 years ago, my running volume took a big leap because she likes getting outside and on the trail and barks loudly in my ear if we’re not running.

Who is in your running support group (training partners, people to bounce ideas off of, etc.)?

Duluth is such a fun running community and there are so many people interested in all different “disciplines” like trail, ultra, road 5ks, road marathons, triathlon, anything. Plus any speed, distance… you can find anyone to run with in Duluth. I worked at Duluth Running Co. for years and that was instrumental in meeting people and expanding my running network.

In my immediate network, my girlfriend Emily comes first. She supports me at races and is typically the voice of reason as I use her as a sounding board constantly on how training is going, future races, ideas and stuff. I also really enjoy running with her when she’s up for it.

My mom and dad are huge supporters of me as well. My mom is an avid runner, perhaps it runs in my genes, and we register for a lot of races together and she’s “sponsored” a ton of races I’ve done, which is super helpful financially when you add up registration prices. My dad has a sixth sense for aid stations and he is about the best race crew person you can get. He’ll travel to a race and support me without question.

I have a few circles of friends that I try to run with a couple times a week or so, my most consistent running buddies of late have been Dr. Kyle (Kyle Severson), Schuney (Dave Schuneman) for long runs, and Nick (Nick Nygaard).

When/what is your next race?

I have a few really exciting races coming up that I’m looking forward to. On April 12 is Zumbro 100 miler. That is a slingshot to a thru-hike attempt of the Superior Hiking Trail. I am going fully supported, which entails pacers and a full support crew for meals, clothes and stuff. That has been a focus for about a year and really what I am focusing on.

After that are a few races that I want to compete at but all holds are off after the SHT because my legs may fall off after. I will go back to Last Runner Standing and am registered for Grandma’s Marathon. Then I am done for the year. And I do Brewhouse Tri sprint in August every year no matter what.

Do you prefer roads or trails and why?

I like trails better in every regard. Trail racing is extremely fun, and the trail race community is not only burgeoning, but one of the most inviting and laid back, fun group of people that you’ll find anywhere. Training on trails is ideal, especially in Duluth, and I can find nearly endless trails from my house in the middle of Duluth. Does it get better than that?

Although I don’t hate on the roads. This time of the year in March and April, trails are closed and you have to embrace the roads. I think it’s fun to explore the nitty gritty city and run down Downtown Duluth alleys and stuff. Road running is really fun in a new town, too, to explore on foot. Road racing is also fun and a different vibe than the trail scene, definitely more competitive up front.

What is your most memorable race or running achievement?

I think my favorite race is Superior 100 Mile. I’ve had a lot of memorable experiences, some unpleasant, some funny, some just great like an ego boost or whatever. But Superior was just epic. I hate that word, it’s played out, but true. The race went really well for me and my crew and pacers were on lock. It was unique and fun to share that experience with my crew and I really felt that they were key in my success in the race. There’s never really been any event or race where I felt that teamwork aspect.

Name one racing experience you would like to forget (please describe).

Oh man. Hmm… I want to say that the worst racing experience has already been forgotten and so I can’t repeat it! That’s not true. Let me think… I think a racing experience I’d like to forget was at Park Point 5 Miler. It was a hot year and I had a fine race but at mile four or so I felt “the clench” as I call it.

I had to poop and it hit me like a ton of bricks. I held on enough to not have an accident but my pace slowed quite a bit. I thought I’d maintain my place but was passed twice in the finishing stretch on the bike path and there was nothing I could do about it. I kept running through the finish line, straight to the porta potty.

What is something non-running related you would like to share with readers?

There is not a whole lot that is non-running related in my life. Well, non-racing related anyways. I am the race director of the NorthShore Inline Marathon as my day job, and I also co-own Duluth Timing and Events and we do race timing and put on the Mustache March Run and Chester Park Trail Race here in Duluth. So both of those are kind of running related but not for me.

Also, I like maintaining a website as my hobby and invite anyone to check it out at www.mikeward.cool. That is definitely running related though. It sometimes seems like my life revolves around racing but I love it and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Closing

Many thanks to Mike for agreeing to stop by The Duluth Runner and share some of his knowledge/experiences with everyone. I hope you enjoyed this edition of the Interview Series – stick around for more to come!