2022 Fall Superior Moose Marathon

Date: Saturday, September 10th 2022, 8:00am start 
Distance: 26.2 miles
Weather: Heading into the weekend, it looked like a lot of rain  might hit the 100 milers (spoiler alert, it did, for about 9 hours). While the parking lots were flooded, the trail was surprisingly dry! The weather was going to be in the 60's for most of the race. I really wish the race had been 10-20 degrees cooler as it was pretty warm and humid for me during the entire race. I saw people at the start in pants and long sleeves and thought that was crazy! I was dressed as lightly as possible and was never cold!
Runners: Rolf was running his 5th 100 mile. Alex pacing at night, Reid from Cramer to the finish. 
Crew: Marcus and Jax (this was Jax's first race back in 2019, he's been to a few more since then). 
Gear: UD hydration pack, VS bra, black Athleta strappy tank, VS heart bikers, Dirty Girlz gaitors, darn tough heavy wool socks, Altra Lone Peak's (womens size 8.5, might be too big), Suunto Ambit 3 GPS (which died after 5 hours even though the setting was set to 10 hours), RSR buff, pink hat.
Fuel: Caramel/honey waffle, Speednut, sring cheese, starbursts, coke, lots of water, salt pills.

Training and Preparation:

Waiting for Rolf at County Rd 6

 I feel like my notes are almost a repeat of when I ran this race in 2019. The major difference, though, while I thought I'd run very little in 2019, cut that in half and that's how little I ran this time, averaging only 10-11 miles/week and that's with some weeks of zero running at all. Only made it to Afton once the Sunday before the race. Warm, had the pup, ran 10 miles and I was done (although not very sore after which was good). I really had no right to run this race, definitely had not "earned" it, but I'm glad I did. I mean, I paid for it so I should run, right?

Race Weekend Preparation: This was the first time we were going to stay at the cabin before and after the race. Marcus was able to leave work at lunch and come home to finish his day with video visits so we could leave as early as possible. Stopped at Chipotle in Forest Lake. On the way up, it seemed as if our timing would match up with Rolf so we stopped at the County Rd 6 aid station for Alex and Reid for waiting for him. So far, he'd been having a great race and was well ahead of any previous time. Alex was all suited up and ready to take him into and through the night. He had hiking poles which he was using for the first time. He joked he'd pass them off to me tomorrow (little did we know he was NOT joking). Reid came in, seemed in high spirits. Alex and he took off while Marcus and I drove up to Lutsen to pick up my bib/hat and then the extra hour to the cabin. Rolled in pretty late (I think it was about 9), ate dinner, watched something (don't remember what) and I went to sleep. Slept on and off, mostly towards the later half of the night (helps to be in a familiar bed). Alarm went off at 5:30. Got up and dressed. Drank some coffee and ate a cheese sandwich. While yesterday I was having a hard time eating and was fighting nausea most of the afternoon (I think I was nervous), by morning I was fine. First time I've actually ate something substantial before a race. Got out around 6:25, race start was about an hour and twenty minutes so we were good. Wasn't sure where Alex and Reid were at this point, but I was able to watch Rolf throughout the night. I had in my head that he would be to Cramer after me, but I was wrong! He'd gotten there well before race start. Alex had paced him to Sugarloaf and then dropped out. 

Don't know why I'm already muddy?!

Cramer Rd to Temperance (Miles 0 to 7.9 - 7.9m):  All right, so the exact same experience as last time! Hundreds of people starting out on a gravel road only to bottleneck onto a single track road. This equals not just a conga line, but an absolute stop for several minutes while inching forward. Ance once you're on the trail, unless you want to be a dick and pass tons of people, you're just kinda stuck in the line at whatever pace it is. In this case, a hike. Not much running at all for the entirely of this section. Which is kind of a bummer because legs are fresh and I'm much more motivated to run! I kept telling myself I only had two goals this race - to finish without getting injured. So keeping a slow pace would help achieve these goals. But it was still frustrating. 

Temperance to Sawbill (Miles 7.9 to 13.6 - 5.7m):  No crew here, wasn't sure if I'd see Alex waiting for Rolf/Reid (I didn't know they were actually ahead of me). So grabbed some coke and left, hoping to pick up my pace. Was alone for literally just a couple of minutes before I caught back up with another line of people. To be honest, I was shocked at the number of people still together! Climbing up Carleton was a "wait your turn" kind of a thing! However, there was also the first 50 mile runner coming up fast. He was up and over Carlton before I even knew what was happening. It's mostly downhill into Sawbill. I was really watching my feet as I'd been stumbling quite a bit. I was now past my "max Afton run" of 10 miles and my legs weren't behaving as I wanted them to. I also think it might be time to start running with glasses just to help improve my vision (I had them in my pack, but didn't pull them out). Out of the blue I heard my name as I was passing a 100 miler. I turned around and realized it was Rolf! Big bear hug from Rolf and I saw Reid up ahead a bit. I was thrilled to see them as I had no idea they were ahead of me. Caught up with Reid a bit, found out Alex had dropped at Sugarloaf, but was fine (just sweaty and crampy). Reid was booking! We were almost to the aid station, I got in just a couple of minutes before them. Marcus and Jax were waiting! My hydration bladder was almost empty so I had a guy completely fill it. Drank too much coke, couldn't really find anything to eat so I quickly left again. Pulled out a Speednut and ate that while hiking this next section (wanted to let the Coke settle). NOTE: Took approx. 20 minutes longer than in 2019.

Somewhere around Carleton Peak

Sawbill to Oberg (Miles 13.6 to 19.1 - 5.5m):  Last time I had this section to myself for a good 40 minutes. This time, not quite alone, but it was quieter and I was able to put on a podcast for a bit. It was during this section that I realized I was mostly hiking with very little running. I was stumbling a lot. Hadn't fallen yet, but I was one stumble away from either a fall or a massive cramp (I could feel them starting behind my upper calves. I'd seen a lot of runners with poles and remembered that Alex had a pair so about halfway through I started calling both him and Marcus so they could have them for me at the aid station. Of course, zero service through here so I never got through. Ironically, before all of this, I had to answer the phone after Juniper's cello teacher had called me 3 times! I wanted to make sure there wasn't an emergency (lost cat, cat was found, lesson didn't need to be delayed), so I answered. She thought she was calling Marcus and apologized when I said I was in the middle of a race, haha! I ran into this aid station miming "poles". Alex picked up on it right away. They're both like "is this why you were calling?". They could see missed calls, but also couldn't get through to me. Alex said he didn't have them! But then remembered they were in his car. By the time I'd refueled and gone to the bathroom, we met him at the end of the road and he got them ready for me. I'd never used them before, but they're just like ski poles so I got the hang of it quickly! NOTE: Took approx. 33 minutes longer than in 2019. Hiking without poles and very little running really slowed me down. Couldn't blame traffic this time, the crowd had finally thinned by now!

Oberg to FINISH (Miles 19.2 to 26.2 - 7.1m):  Shortly after beginning this section, I came up on a 100 miler. She was speedy! I didn't think I could easily pass her to the point where she wouldn't just pass me up again so I decided to just hang back a bit. She had a pacer and poles and she knows how to hike. Seriously hike! And run when she can, it was incredible! So I stuck behind her until we got to the gravel road before the Poplar River. Then I was able to pass her and run into the finish. NOTE: Took approx. 11 minutes longer than in 2019. Sticking with this runner really kept my pace up. The poles also saved me from falling numerous times. I was still stumbling, but the poles kept me from going down. 

By the way, Rolf wasn’t far behind me at the finish line as he shaved more than 3 hours off his fastest finish!

Final Time: 7:53:10 (18:04 pace), 86/149 women, 44/64 age group 40-49, 198/294 overall. Slightly smaller field this time (318 in 2019) and my results were much poorer. I can typically run a 50k in this amount of time or faster! Training...does...matter.

Recovery: As expected, I was quite sore. More in my upper calves and hamstrings, though, than my upper thighs. And the next day I had a swollen sore spot on the top of my left foot. Forgot I had arnica with me at the cabin, but remembered when we got home on Monday. Used it Monday and Tuesday and it helped a great deal! Walking pretty much normal by Tuesday, too. At the cabin, I stayed as active as I could. Walked up and down the lake steps numerous times, walked through the woods and in the neighborhood every day, too. Even got in a kayak ride with Jax on Monday before heading home!

Adventure Puppy!

Next Time: Buy my own hiking poles! And train upper body because my upper arms are sore!

Since I'm guaranteed entry to the Spring Superior 50k, I'll likely run that. The big question is the fall. While somewhat disappointing to run the marathon so slowly, I'd be thrilled with this pace for the 50 mile! If I can find someone to run with me, I might very well sign up for the 50 mile! If only I could order cool weather for next summer and fall! Also, really liked staying at the cabin! Especially for race recovery. Let's plan for a longer stay next time!