Spring Superior 50k 2017

Date: Saturday, May 20th 2017, 7am start

Distance: 50k, 32% female (up from 25% the previous year)
Weather: Earlier in the week, it looked as if weather might become a serious issue. Not the high heat of last year! Rather, very cold and very wet. Fortunately, the rain held off during the day (although not in the days leading up to the race which resulted in a serious amount of mud). Most of the day it was in the 40's with a strong breeze and lots of clouds. It really was quite perfect!
Runners: Courtney and Alex Stephens, Reid Plumbo and their friend Rolf.
Crew: Marcus, Finnley (age 11, although she turns 12 on Tuesday) and Juniper (age 7). Mom and Dad drove down from the cabin, too and spent the day at the aid stations!
Gear: Nathan hydration pack, VS bra, L/S black zip-neck hoodie, Athleta black/gray crosshatch capris, TNF pink thermoball vest, Dirty Girlz gaitors, smartwool socks, Altra Lone Peak 2.5's, Suunto Ambit 3 GPS, buff.
Fuel: String cheese, hard boiled eggs, gingerale/coke, sport beans.

Training and Preparation: Winter training went well. Early last fall I had actually toyed with the idea of signing up for the Zumbro 50 (after being at the race last in 2016, I was super excited and really wanted to make this my #1 spring race). But once winter hit, I chickened out. In hind sight, it was a very mild winter and would have been a great year to train for Zumbro! 

I started training for Superior mid-January and hardly missed a mile! In fact, I ended up running 15% more miles than I did training for this race last year. So, going into today's race, I felt great. The temperature was perfect and I felt strong. I knew I'd finish and I was really hoping for a PR! 

Race Weekend Preparation: Marcus worked a half day, picked up the girls at school and bought Chipotle for dinner. We headed out around 2pm, stopped for coffee and made our way up to Lutsen for packet pick-up. This year, we rented a condo about 7 miles south of Caribou Highlands. We settled in, had our dinner, watched a movie, put the girls to bed and I tried to get to sleep myself. Per my usual, I did not sleep a wink all night long. I forced myself to lay there with my eyes closed, hoping to at least rest my brain and my muscles. I'm honestly getting very frustrated by my lack of ability to sleep prior to races. How is it possible for one to literally be awake all freaking night long?! I don't know if it's the fact I'm not in my own bed or just pre-race jitters. Regardless, I hate it. I'm kind glad the 50 mile starts so early. The sooner I can get going, the better!

I was out of bed before 5 in the morning. Unfortunately, the inability to sleep was likely nerves as I also couldn't eat (I always eat breakfast). I barely got two bites of toast in me before we headed out around 6:20. This is unusual. I'm definitely a breakfast person and I'm very used to running on a full stomach.

We met up with everyone in the parking lot.
Rolf, Reid, Alex, Courtney, Tanya

And we were off!
I can't believe it was cold enough for me to want mittens, even if it was only for a few minutes!

Start to Oberg (Miles 0 to 7.75 - 7.75m):  Storkamp gave his usual pre-race briefing. I knew the weather was going to be great (and I even jinxed the rain by taking my raincoat out of my pack and leaving it with Marcus), but I hadn't heard much about the trail conditions. Two years ago when I ran the 25k, it was a mudpit. Last year, it was bone dry (but in the low 80's towards the afternoon). This year, Storkamp claimed there was only about 1000' of mud and he expected us to preserve the trail and run right through it (and not around it). Okay, 1000' doesn't sound like much, right? 

Coming fast into Oberg. Pretty sure this is:
Marcus, "what do you need?"
Tanya, "I have to pee! Can you open this string cheese for me, please?"

This section went well. I felt pretty good and came into Oberg ahead of where I thought I would. Took about 1h40m. I had to pee and I drank a bunch of gingerale. Traded out my down vest for my orange vest (wind was strong). Ate some string cheese and quickly headed back out. 

Three cups of gingerale, I was thirsty! That should have clued me in...

Oberg to Sawbill (Miles 7.75 to 13.3 - 5.55m): I knew this next section was my least favorite. It feels like it's mostly uphill, but without a lot of serious inclines. It's just a constant "up". This was when I started calling "fake news" on the 1000' of mud! Um, no...more like 10,000' of mud, if not more! I gave in right away and decided the quickest way from point A to point B was a straight line. Instead of picking my way through the mud, I just went for it. Ran straight through, chanting "do not fall, do not fall" every time. I got kudos from my fellow runners for doing this. It was a blast, the mud felt great and kept me cool!

Somewhere between Aid Station 1 and 4!

I really don't like this section and was exhausted by the time I got to Sawbill. After being with quite a few people up until hitting Oberg, I saw very few people during this section. Which I love, by the way! Nearly all of my training is run solo so I'm very used to being in the middle of the woods completely alone. In fact, my main dislike of this race is the fact that it's an out and back and there's a lot of "passing" throughout the middle of the race.

At this point in the race, I remember telling my family that I just wanted to close my eyes and take a nap. My body felt good, but the lack of sleep the previous night was really setting in. I'd had nothing solid to eat and no caffeine and I was tired. Everyone started telling me I had to get some caffeine in me and I was confused. I didn't know where I was going to find an espresso machine in the woods! When Courtney and my mom mentioned Coke, I was like duh! Coke has caffeine! So I stopped drinking Gingerale and solely moved onto Coke for the rest of the race.

Just before getting to Sawbill, I ran past Reid! This means he was a good couple of hours ahead of me. He was just flying! He's expecting baby #2 shortly and this is his only race this year so he was making it a good one! 

I hadn't seen Alex and Courtney up until now, but they came in just after me. A quick hello (Courtney seemed strong and her back wasn't bothering her much which was awesome) and I was off to Carlton. 

Several miles of mud this year!

Sawbill to Carlton Peak (Miles 13.3 to 15.5 - 2.2m): Last year, this section was HARD. The heat was really starting to get to me and I was done by the time I got to the peak. This year, I felt slightly better, but this section felt much longer to me. Good news is that even though it's pretty much uphill the entire way, it was almost completely dry! My feet had a chance to dry out a little bit. 

Heading up to Carlton.

Lots of people coming back from the peak were talking about "fireballs". Um, what? That can't be good! Sure enough, when I got to the top, there was a party going on! Complete with twinkies! Eeesh! I passed on all and was so glad I did when I noticed the pile of puke at the bottom of the peak on my way back down! 

I tried to get the view in the background.
I'm not a very experienced selfie taker!

Shockingly, we had some very serious deja vu going on.
One year ago, we also met at the top of Carlton Peak, at the EXACT SAME TIME: 10:45 am!!

Carlton Peak to Sawbill (Miles 15.5 to 17.7 - 2.2m): This section I actually enjoy! It's almost completely downhill and only a short distance to the aid station. I shaved 10 minutes off my 2016 time in this section. 

Heading back down Carlton. Every step now is one step closer to the finish!

Sawbill to Oberg (Miles 17.7 to 23.25 - 5.5m):  Going into this aid station, the good feeling I had immediately vanished. The exhaustion set back in and I was really not looking forward to the mud between here and Oberg. My family got some more caffeine in me (Coke, a few sips of coffee and Marcus dug out my caffeinated sport beans). Clearly, I did not look good to them! Having not seen Alex and Courtney since the top of Carlton, it was great to have them roll right in behind me! It's so much easier on our crew when we're all so close together!

Before leaving Oberg, I changed my shirt and put my pink down vest back on. I was pretty sweaty and was going to be running into the wind for a lot of this section so I was glad for the dry/warm clothes.

My lovely brother making fun of his very tired older sister.

A better photo after I had perked up a bit!

Oberg to Finish (Miles 23.25 to 31 - 7.75m):  Rolling out of Oberg, Courtney and I were commiserating together. She had started today's race with some serious back issues and wasn't even sure she'd be able to start. Even with my great training and the cool weather, I was also having some serious issues. Not sure what was going on. There wasn't one thing I could put my finger on, but I just didn't have much energy. My right knee was bugging me a tiny bit and I was getting a headache so I took 3 Advil at Oberg (the headache should have been another warning that I was dehydrated). My legs felt fine, but my overall energy was low. I realized later that my 70 oz bladder was nearly half full after 31 miles of racing and no re-filling. This means I was averaging less than 1 ounce of water per mile. Yes, I had some pop at the aid stations, but it clearly didn't make up for the lack of water. I was seriously dehydrated and didn't recognize it. Adding some caffeine to my diet wasn't helping with the dehydration, either. I'm used to drinking 3-6oz of water per mile during training! The only explanation I have is this trail took a lot of concentration (mud, rocks, roots) as I really didn't want to fall. Trying to drink required me to lose concentration and I stumbled a few times. In an effort to not fall, I guess I stopped drinking. NOT GOOD!

We left this aid station about 1pm. Courtney stopped quick to grab a cough drop. It was safe to run with headphones now (being at the end of the pack is nice that way as there's no longer people to pass you) so I put my headphones on and some music and was looking forward to being done. I lost sight of Alex and Courtney quickly and started catching up to some runners ahead of me. As I did last year, I passed 12 people and was passed by no one during this section. I think this section likes me. I was even halfway up Moose before I realized "oh, this is Moose!" 

Coming into the finish!

Getting my "medal"!

Final Time: 7:54:11 (15:16 pace), 54/73 women, 11/15 age group 40-49, 200/229 overall. Technically a PR for me, beating last year's time by 15 seconds!!!

Yes, that beer tasted amazing!

Didn't know this had happened until I was spraying the mud off! My trusty Altra Lone Peak's 2.5's (the only shoe to provide me with ZERO blisters) gave me 2 races and nearly a year of training. Time to buy a new pair!

After showering, we all headed over to Alex's place for dinner, company and stories. Reid and Rolf told us about an incident they came across on their way up Mystery. Devastatingly, we lost a fellow trail runner this year. Jon Mathson was 41 years old, married with two kids. A science teacher at Eagan high school. He died between Moose and Mystery Mountains while racing the 25k for what would have been his 5th time. Hearing Reid and Rolf talk about the scene they came across was chilling and my heart goes out to Jon's family. 

Here are some quotes from my family members that I wanted to highlight (and remember) as we all work through this.

Alex (my brother): I have been reflecting a lot since I finished.  Particularly on the drive home in the pouring rain. Questioning whether or not it is a good idea to do this type of thing.  Thinking through it I am about 100x more healthy training for and running these races than where I was almost 7 years ago.  As Marcus says, "life is for living ya'all".  If I die during run, know I was doing what I loved.  There are worse ways to go.  

Sandy (my mom): We're not questioning what you do or why you do it. Or worrying about it. We too take risks, not willing to give up the adventure because something "might" happen. 

Marcus (my husband): The thing that the runner's death put in perspective for me is to respect what we are doing. Respect the challenge and respect the training. This has made me reevaluate that. I agree with Sandy, I want to be able to finish in a lot of pain but with a smile on my face.  Respect the challenge, respect the race, keep every thing in perspective, and appreciate all we have together and how lucky we are.

Recovery: I wasn't very hungry, but I made myself eat some chicken and chips for dinner and a Kempswich for dessert! Unlike the night before, I fell asleep easily and slept well. Woke up around 7:30, enjoyed a couple of hours at the cabin (ate 4 enchiladas for breakfast) and left around 10. Stopped down by the lake, listening to the waves crashing (just about put me back to sleep). Lunch at the Duluth Grill, stopped at the Outlet and home around 4pm. I tried to drink fluids all day today and finally by evening my pee had turned from a bold orange back to its normal color!

Monday morning my legs were still stiff, but once I was up and moving, I felt pretty good. Just hard to get going after sitting for awhile. Wednesday I ran 5 miles, slow and steady and it felt great! In fact, I pulled out my maps and elevation charts and started thinking ahead to the Superior 50 mile in September! 

I've been thinking a lot about this year's race compared with last year's race. The #1 thing people say when I explain how drastically different the weather and trail conditions were this year vs. last year, yet I finished within 15 seconds both years, is: "well, you're consistent". Hard to argue with that! But, it does give me pause. In 2017, I ran 84 miles more over 18 weeks and averaged 37 miles/week (instead of 32 in 2016). Did I need to do that just to compensate for being a year older? Or could I scale it back a bit and still "do fine"? So, looking ahead to the 50 mile, I'm going to continue following my modified RPF training (building off of the 50k training and averaging 39 miles/week), but if I miss a day (or even a few days) here and there, I'm not going to let it bother me. I think now that I have a solid 5 years of running under my feet, my body is just getting more and more used to this running thing. And, yes, while I'm clearly a turtle, for me, winning the race is simply finishing the race. I think I can do it. I think I can finish a 50 mile race. Please don't let these words haunt me in 4 months!

Last, but not least, I want to thank my amazing crew! Thank you Mom and Dad! Thank you Marcus! Thank you Juniper and Finnley! I truly would not enjoy these races nearly as much without your smiling faces, your helpful words and your physical care. It means so much to me that you're willing to take the time off work, the time to drive and the time to spend the day (in the heat, rain, cold, bugs, whatever the day brings) just to see me for a few minutes every couple of hours.

This is family.

Mom, you must have been the one taking the photo!