Distance: 26.2 miles
Weather: We were watching the weather closely as Alex was running the 100 mile which started a day earlier. Unfortunately for him, it was the warmest and most humid day expected all week! Fortunately for me, the weather cooled down Friday night into Saturday morning and the race started in the low 50's and really didn't warm up much more than the mid 50's. Some sun at the beginning, wishing I'd worn a hat and not a buff as I had to use my hand as a "visor" quite a bit during the first two sections. After the 2nd aid station, though, it clouded up and was no longer an issue.
Runners: Alex, Rolf and Reid were running the 100 (Brandon didn't get in this year). Courtney, Ally and I were running the Marathon.
Crew: Marcus, Kylah (her first!), Juniper and Jax (his first!), Mom and Dad (driving from the cabin for the day).
Gear: Nathan hydration pack, VS bra, black Old Navy tank, VS bikers, Dirty Girlz gaitors (the smiley face ones my family hates, but I got many compliments from runners), smartwool socks, Altra Lone Peak 3.5's (I love these shoes), Suunto Ambit 3 GPS, RSR buff.
Fuel: I brought along some string cheese and the rest of the cheese sandwich I'd partially eaten for breakfast. I ended up eating the rest of the sandwich, a piece of string cheese and some sport beans before getting to the last aid station. There I picked up 2 more pieces of string cheese, some pickles, half a banana and some gummy bears. Ate it all heading out of the last aid station!
Training and Preparation: The last race I ran was 2 years ago when I ran the Fall Superior 50 mile. While it had been my favorite race to date, I also had a very lengthy recovery as I had injured my left calf/ankle somehow and never really figured out what was wrong and why it wasn't getting better. As I slowly transitioned into running again (immediately following the race, I was having serious thoughts of signing up for the 2018 100 mile), I wasn't able to run without ankle pain. When January came around, I did sign up for the 100 mile, but chickened out before the lottery period was over and signed up for the 50 mile again instead. Fast forward to summer 2018 when we decided to adopt our first puppy! Unfortunately, the weekend we had to travel to pick up the puppy was the same as race weekend so I had to give up thoughts of running (as my ankle was still bothering me regularly at the time, it was probably a good idea). When the 2019 lottery rolled around again in January, I knew I wanted to be part of the race, but knew I really should go for a shorter distance this time. Since I'd never run an actual marathon distance (road or trail), I thought I'd give it a shot!
In addition to having not raced in 2 years, I'd gotten very little mileage in over the last year. I had run throughout the winter and spring somewhat as I had planned on running Zumbro in April (which was cancelled due to a blizzard). Then summer brought us heat, humidity and some major construction projects at our house. I had only made it to Afton a few times and I still hadn't run once in two years without experiencing ankle/heel pain for hours (if not days) after every run. I guess I felt confident enough to finish the race as I knew I had 14 hours and could likely hike the entire race in that amount of time! But I had little confidence that I would do well. My training stats: having averaged 33-35 miles/week leading up to my last 3 races, I averaged only 17 miles/week for this race (measured over the 18 weeks preceding the race). I knew it had been bad, but I didn't know it was this bad!
Weather: We were watching the weather closely as Alex was running the 100 mile which started a day earlier. Unfortunately for him, it was the warmest and most humid day expected all week! Fortunately for me, the weather cooled down Friday night into Saturday morning and the race started in the low 50's and really didn't warm up much more than the mid 50's. Some sun at the beginning, wishing I'd worn a hat and not a buff as I had to use my hand as a "visor" quite a bit during the first two sections. After the 2nd aid station, though, it clouded up and was no longer an issue.
Runners: Alex, Rolf and Reid were running the 100 (Brandon didn't get in this year). Courtney, Ally and I were running the Marathon.
Crew: Marcus, Kylah (her first!), Juniper and Jax (his first!), Mom and Dad (driving from the cabin for the day).
Gear: Nathan hydration pack, VS bra, black Old Navy tank, VS bikers, Dirty Girlz gaitors (the smiley face ones my family hates, but I got many compliments from runners), smartwool socks, Altra Lone Peak 3.5's (I love these shoes), Suunto Ambit 3 GPS, RSR buff.
Fuel: I brought along some string cheese and the rest of the cheese sandwich I'd partially eaten for breakfast. I ended up eating the rest of the sandwich, a piece of string cheese and some sport beans before getting to the last aid station. There I picked up 2 more pieces of string cheese, some pickles, half a banana and some gummy bears. Ate it all heading out of the last aid station!
Training and Preparation: The last race I ran was 2 years ago when I ran the Fall Superior 50 mile. While it had been my favorite race to date, I also had a very lengthy recovery as I had injured my left calf/ankle somehow and never really figured out what was wrong and why it wasn't getting better. As I slowly transitioned into running again (immediately following the race, I was having serious thoughts of signing up for the 2018 100 mile), I wasn't able to run without ankle pain. When January came around, I did sign up for the 100 mile, but chickened out before the lottery period was over and signed up for the 50 mile again instead. Fast forward to summer 2018 when we decided to adopt our first puppy! Unfortunately, the weekend we had to travel to pick up the puppy was the same as race weekend so I had to give up thoughts of running (as my ankle was still bothering me regularly at the time, it was probably a good idea). When the 2019 lottery rolled around again in January, I knew I wanted to be part of the race, but knew I really should go for a shorter distance this time. Since I'd never run an actual marathon distance (road or trail), I thought I'd give it a shot!
In addition to having not raced in 2 years, I'd gotten very little mileage in over the last year. I had run throughout the winter and spring somewhat as I had planned on running Zumbro in April (which was cancelled due to a blizzard). Then summer brought us heat, humidity and some major construction projects at our house. I had only made it to Afton a few times and I still hadn't run once in two years without experiencing ankle/heel pain for hours (if not days) after every run. I guess I felt confident enough to finish the race as I knew I had 14 hours and could likely hike the entire race in that amount of time! But I had little confidence that I would do well. My training stats: having averaged 33-35 miles/week leading up to my last 3 races, I averaged only 17 miles/week for this race (measured over the 18 weeks preceding the race). I knew it had been bad, but I didn't know it was this bad!
Race Weekend Preparation: Kylah has really wanted to come crew a race for awhile and had hoped to go to Zumbro last April. So when fall rolled around, she took a half day off of work and joined us. Finnley (finishing her first week of high school) stayed home with Griffin (who had an orchestra retreat) and Jonah. Juniper went to school for a half day and Marcus picked her up on his way home from work. We got out of town around 1:30pm and headed up north. Shortly after, I got a text from Mom that Alex had to drop at Beaver Baby (mile 20). Same issues as last year. So, instead of stopping at some aid stations on the way up to see him, we just headed to the place we had rented in Tofte. Unpacked quickly, passed off Mom and Dad's Chipotle (they were headed up to the cabin for the night and would return Saturday morning to meet us at the first crew-friendly aid station), ran up to Lutsen quickly to pick up my packet and then we settled in at the cabin to enjoy our own Chipotle. I wasn't terribly nervous for this race (a rarity), but the bed was awful (way too soft and squishy) so I didn't sleep well and got up with a back ache.
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| My most awesome crew - Kylah (23), Juniper (11), Jax (1) and my husband Marcus! |
Cramer Rd to Temperance (Miles 0 to 7.9 - 7.9m): I was a bit turned around at first as the other two times I've been at this aid station, I'd come from Sugarloaf. The marathon starts a bit differently, heading us in the "wrong" direction only to turn us around onto the SHT where we eventually come through the Cramer Rd aid station before continuing on. It's not easy getting a massive group of runners onto a single track trail! In fact, there was quite an intense conga line for nearly half the race! It was virtually impossible to pass during this section, but I thought that this wasn't all bad, that a slow-ish pace early on was probably a good thing?
Temperance to Sawbill (Miles 7.9 to 13.6 - 5.7m): Crew wasn't allowed at this aid station and since I was pretty fed up with the crowded trail, I grabbed a coke, swallowed it down quickly and headed right back onto the trail without missing a beat. The crowd lightened up somewhat during this section, but I was always running with some sort of group of people. Carlton was fun! I kinda like having to use my arms to haul myself up over boulders and it seems to use different leg muscles which is always good (note to self: next time, cut all your nails short so you don't have to deal with broken nails at the top of the peak). I was super excited to get to Sawbill. The people I had been running with were all talking about their dogs and I was excited to see not just my puppy, but also my family! Most of the run after Carlton is downhill on boardwalks so it's a pretty easy coast into the aid station.
Sawbill to Oberg (Miles 13.6 to 19.1 - 5.5m): One of my least favorite sections of trail. Not what I'd call "easy", but it's not hard and it's pretty boring. Really nothing of note here, but the crowd had really thinned. So much so that I put a podcast on for the last 40 minutes before getting to Oberg.
Oberg to FINISH (Miles 19.2 to 26.2 - 7.1m): It's weird to run such a short race that there are only 3 aid stations! I stopped a bit longer at Oberg as I wanted some more food than what I had left in my pack. Picked up a banana, some pickles and gummy bears along with some more coke before heading out. Moose Mountain seemed to take forever to get to this time around. But I knew as soon as I started that this was it (it gets eerily dark at the base as there's a ton of woodland coverage). I had told myself two things - "don't look up" and "don't stop". I had music on at this point and was hiking with just a random guy behind me. He lives in the area and likes to hike this section a few times a year (I don't think he realized there was a race going on). I made the mistake of looking up once, bad idea. But, I didn't stop! It seemed longer this time, I don't know why. But those sweet steps at the top finally came and the last little hike to turn the corner was over and I was at the top. Headed over the ridge, down the other side of the mountain and started the climb up Mystery (for as long as Moose felt, Mystery felt shorter). I had it in my head that it's about an hour to the finish from the top of Mystery, but that must've been from when I was pacing my brother during the 100 mile a few years ago because it wasn't long before I was suddenly at the river! I had been the leader of a small pack since before the base of Mystery. No one seemed in a hurry to pass me up and I think that motivated me to keep a really steady pace going. I hit that nasty asphalt at the end, though, and boy did that hurt the soles of my feet! I really hate this section. It's so lonely and the finish still seems so far away. I looked at my watch and saw it was about 2:45. I couldn't believe it as I had estimated a finish around 3:30. I wondered if I could make it before 3:00? How long does the road part take? I couldn't remember, but I picked up my pace and made it across the finish at 2:49!
Final Time: 6:49:35 (15:38 pace), 62/158 women, 26/66 age group 40-49, 149/315 overall. As the results were still coming in on Saturday night, it began to dawn on me that I might've finished in the top 50%! I've never done that before as I'm almost always a "back of the pack" runner! Pretty cool!
Recovery: Fairly uneventful! A little soreness in my calves and quads, but nothing unexpected! The biggest shock? That ankle pain I've had after every run for the last 2 years? Didn't feel it once after the race and haven't since! I think my foot just really liked running on such a nice soft trail! Wish I had more than just asphalt to train on around home! Ran Jax to the groomer for a quick 3-mile run on Wednesday and felt great. I signed up for the Wild Duluth 50k, while Marcus signed up for the Half Marathon and Jonah and Kylah both signed up for the 10k!
Temperance to Sawbill (Miles 7.9 to 13.6 - 5.7m): Crew wasn't allowed at this aid station and since I was pretty fed up with the crowded trail, I grabbed a coke, swallowed it down quickly and headed right back onto the trail without missing a beat. The crowd lightened up somewhat during this section, but I was always running with some sort of group of people. Carlton was fun! I kinda like having to use my arms to haul myself up over boulders and it seems to use different leg muscles which is always good (note to self: next time, cut all your nails short so you don't have to deal with broken nails at the top of the peak). I was super excited to get to Sawbill. The people I had been running with were all talking about their dogs and I was excited to see not just my puppy, but also my family! Most of the run after Carlton is downhill on boardwalks so it's a pretty easy coast into the aid station.
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| Two of my awesome daughters made me my first sign! I love you! |
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| Coke and a quick catch-up on the 100 milers still running before heading out of Oberg. |
Final Time: 6:49:35 (15:38 pace), 62/158 women, 26/66 age group 40-49, 149/315 overall. As the results were still coming in on Saturday night, it began to dawn on me that I might've finished in the top 50%! I've never done that before as I'm almost always a "back of the pack" runner! Pretty cool!
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| Juniper held great responsibility for Jax all day long. I hear he was super chill and enjoyed meeting lots of people! Jax is our Mini Goldendoodle. |
Awesome job!! And I'm glad your crew took care of you! Makes me look forward to my next race after more than a year of just 'training'.
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