With my lack of miles this spring, I wasn’t expecting much from Grandma’s this year. What happened last Saturday, though, was really something else. Talked into this race by my colleague Shannon, I was hoping to keep up with her for at least the first half. She followed a real training plan, though, and I had only one long run in the last month (and only 162 miles for the year).

The forecast looked warm (again), with clouds and a strong chance of rain. We rode the train to the start, which amazingly had no line to board this year. One last bathroom line wait and we were off. We stayed in front of the 4:15 pacer for a few miles, then I told her to take off (which she did, finishing in a strong 4:17). I crossed the 10K mark in 1:02:29 and was hoping to hold on to a ten minute pace. Unfortunately, a mile later I experienced a pain behind my right knee that I had never felt before. I tried the walk/run thing several times, but ended up basically walking the next 19 miles to the finish.

I believe last year was the first year they expanded the official race limit from six to seven hours, so I kept doing the math in my head to make sure I could walk and still get an official finish. When I finally got downtown, I asked a police officer when the streets re-opened and found out I had 30 minutes left to walk the last mile. No problem, right? I hobbled on and crossed the finish line after 6 hours and 36 minutes (nearly three hours slower than my PR – full stats here).

During that time, the green flags turned to yellow, the sun came out (frying my neck and face), it rained twice and the temp surged past 72F. Walking that long created large blisters on both feet, which caused me to walk crooked (and hurt my ankles). Most of the food was gone at the finish line, but I still got the coveted finisher shirt and medal. The music tent had a nice merchandise stand, so I was able to keep the race poster tradition alive too. The long walk from Canal Park up the hillside to the car was a struggle, as was the shower at my sister’s apartment. Hopped in the car and drove back to the metro right away to get to the Pantages for the Seu Jorge Bowie tribute show (which was amazing – story to come).

Not really sure what my running future holds now. I did sign up for the Donut Run in August (and am still registered for the Get in Gear next year). I’ll leave my name in the London lottery (since I didn’t have to pay anything and there’s like a 2% chance I’ll get picked). To be honest, it’s rather nice to not have any pressure to train right now – plenty of other stressors these days…

A week ago Thursday was my fifth TC 1 Mile (and second as a captain in the Corporate Team Challenge). We had a small team this year, but I found it funny that the U.S. Bank Stadium team was larger than the U.S. Bank team (we also had more people than Best Buy, Cargill, Medica, Buffalo Wild Wings and HealthEast). This qualified us for the fastest team competition, which required a minimum of five participants (with at least one woman and one person 40 or older). Our combined time of 1:02:46 was good for second to last place, but I’m extremely happy with our group. The winning team from 3M was amazing: a blazing 25:30, which included a 4:38 by a 46-year-old (!).

Our two fastest runners from last year did not return to defend, so I was just trying to stay in the sixes (while not getting injured before Grandma’s). My PR was set in 2013 (6:10) and I’ve been all over the map (6:20, 6:28 and 6:47) before trotting to a 6:58.4 this year. This was good for 726th out of 1,962 overall and 52nd out of 103 in my age group. I still really like the new route by the Guthrie, but could’ve swore we turned left at Izzy’s and not one block further down. That was a tough one mentally, but the bigger problems were my lack of training and the extra weight my doctor wants me to shed.

Thanks to Shelly, Liz, Erin and Sarah for joining me this year – well done!

The 2017 edition of the Get in Gear 10K is in the books and I knew it was going to be a slow one for me. I’m not really sure how to explain it, though. I’m usually undertrained every year for this race, but had been able to turn in decent times the past seven years. This was my 16th in a row (17th overall) and GiG remains one of my favorite running events on the Minnesota race calendar: very well organized, beautiful course and huge turnout of “my people.”

The weather this year was a bit brisk, with a cold wind at the start. The sun came out, though, and I felt OK during the second half. I decided to start towards the back this year, so my first mile was slower as I wove through people. If I could throw out that mile, I would’ve just barely been at a sub-9:00 pace (far, far from my PR pace of 7:12). The rest of the race was fairly consistent, as I really didn’t want to force anything after all my heart tests. Here are the Apple Watch splits: 9:22, 8:43, 8:56, 8:55, 8:59, 9:04 (55:57 chip time – 9:01 Minute Miles). The results page showed me at 950 out of 2530 overall, 609 out of 1117 males and 70th out of 130 in my age group.

Seemed like there were a lot more half marathoners this year. Found out at the Lake Street bridge that they had a new course, so that probably explained the renewed interest. Looks nice, but Get in Gear will always be a 10K event for me.

A few other random notes:

• Took the train from our new house, transferring at the stadium from green line to blue. Took an hour overall and worked out fine.
• Great Harvest raisin bread and Pearson’s salted nut rolls both made a return appearance this year.
• It looked like they were giving medals to finishers of all four events (2K, 5K, 10K and half). Hoping this was just for the 40th anniversary and that they don’t go overboard with bling expense like some people in town.

Up next: TC 1 Mile on May 11th

When the first Apple Watch came out, it didn’t appeal to me due to the lack of built-in GPS. The only way I could really justify spending that much on a watch would be if I was replacing my Garmin for running. The thought of requiring your iPhone to be close in order to get accurate mileage defeated the whole purpose of having a watch, in my mind. Then Apple announced the Apple Watch Nike+ right around the same time my Forerunner 610 died. A colleague offered to pick one up for me to try and I’ve been wearing it daily ever since.

Likes:

• The animated Mickey Mouse watch face makes me smile (every single time).
• Battery life is better than expected – I recharge nightly, but have never used more than 25% in a day.
• Unlocking my laptop when the watch is nearby works well and saves time.
• The personal tracking features (pulse, daily “circles”) are handy and should help me improve overall health.
• Once fine-tuned, the notifications between the phone and the watch are generally useful and reliable.
• The Nike+ watch band is easy to put on and is more comfortable than my old Garmin.

Dislikes:

• Just don’t like wearing watches every day (but don’t want to lose tracking data).
• Haven’t had a lot of outdoor runs yet, but the Nike run club app doesn’t seem very accurate for pace, sometimes doesn’t draw the on-screen route and has had issues synching with the Nike website.
• Indoor treadmill runs are way off – I manually add miles to my run log and just wear the watch to earn the exercise circle time.
• Speaking of the circles, right now it just creates anxiety about filling or not filling all three daily – don’t really need something new to remind me all the time about how I’m falling behind in my health goals.
• The special exercise awards are a great idea, but when you fail to award them when earned, people will get pissed off (looking at you, Thanksgiving award that is still missing).
• The watchOS seems to be a little flakey, restarting at odd times.
• Siri is Siri – I’d even take 50% accuracy at this point.

Looking at the latest Garmin products, I probably would’ve spent more and had less in terms of total features and future growth options. The reduction in features might actually be a good thing, but the Apple Watch should get better over time via software updates. I don’t really use any third-party apps right now (outside of the Nike app), but new ones get released all the time. Once I start running and biking outside again, I’ll report back…

The (not so) new job has wreaked havoc with my running plans this year. My overall year-to-date mileage is the lowest it has been since I started the run log (barely 450 miles), work meetings have conflicted with almost all the weekly WeRunMpls runs and the first Vikings game meant I had to break my streak of nine straight Milk Runs at the Minnesota State Fair. It’s a minor miracle I finished Grandma’s Marathon in June and the Afton 50K in July with semi-decent times. Unfortunately, those two races gave me false hope that I could still run the Superior Fall 50 while being significantly undertrained.

While I have lots of experience with marathons and two difficult 50K trail races under my belt, this jump to 50 miles was a much bigger challenge than I expected. I mean, really, look at this course elevation graphic – 25,000 feet of total elevation change. Portions of the trail are more like rock climbing than running. The winner had a pace of 10:22 Minute Miles. Only 75 people out of 174 starters finished the 50.

Brutal.

So on top of my work/training issues and one of the toughest courses in the country, I had logistical problems, rain and a whole lot of mud to make it even more challenging. Since I neglected to reserve a room closer to Lutsen, I stayed with my sister in Duluth. This meant a 1:30am alarm to get on the road by two so I could catch the 4am bus to the starting line. It rained that entire time, peaking just when we arrived in Finland. I checked in, pinned on my number and waited for the always excellent John Storkamp to lead us out to the start.

This was my first race that required a headlamp, so I picked up one of these from Mill City. We started in the rain at 5:30am, running down a gravel road to the actual Superior Hiking Trail. Once there, it was a big bottleneck and many people walked for quite a while. The first aid station, Sonju Lake, is 7.5 miles in and it seemed to take forever to arrive. My stomach felt terrible and I was experiencing some extreme G-I pain (thankfully not the usual disgusting runner problem you always hear about, though). When I got to the aid station, my heart sank when they said there were no bathrooms until the next one (in 4.2 miles).

I filled up my hand-held water bottle and headed off to the Crosby Manitou checkpoint. The trail was extremely muddy in spots – just like last year’s Spring 50K race. My shoes nearly got sucked off when my right leg sank a foot and a half into the muck. My left ankle got twisted (and still feels off now). At several points, I had to stop and nearly doubled over from the stomach pain. Don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to see an aid station. Visited the bathroom, cleaned up some unexpected bleeding, restocked on water and felt a lot better.

The third checkpoint, Sugarloaf, was 9.4 miles away and had a cutoff time of 11:45am. Since my Garmin died, I haven’t been running with any timing devices and didn’t know how long I had been on course. I knew there were a lot of people going slow because of the mud, but I really didn’t think I was close to getting swept so early in the race.

The rain stopped and the sun came out, revealing some amazing views of Lake Superior and the beautiful Minnesota Northwoods. The Caribou River brought big elevation changes and I quickly used up my water supply. This, of course, started dehydration problems that lead to cramping in both legs and stretched that 9.4 miles for what seemed like forever.

As I trudged to Sugarloaf, I was already trying to decide if I would drop out there or attempt to make it to one more checkpoint (Cramer Road, the halfway point and start of the marathon). When I finally got there, the volunteers had already broken down most of the food and I was asked to turn in my timing chip.

Too slow. No options. First-ever DNF.

Disappointed, but it just wasn’t meant to be this year. Mark it down as a learning experience:

• Spend the money and buy a Camelbak
• Spend some more money and get a new watch
• Rent a room near the start
• Do the miles

The DNF experience was harder without a support crew – there are no shuttles back to the finish, so you are on your own to find a ride. I had a race official take me to the next aid station, then found another group that offered to drive me back to Lutsen. It felt terrible going to the finish line to pick up my bag – everyone there was so happy, while I just felt…out of place.

So what’s next? I need to take a little time to recover, then make running a priority again. Get back to the running club, get back to runs with Megan. Run in the stadium this winter. Do more cross-training. Ski. Bike. Golf. Run Get in Gear 2017. Maybe run Zumbro.

And the Superior 50? Definitely…

Founded in 1994, the Afton Trail Run 50K is one of the premier trail races around, held annually on the Fourth of July weekend over the (very) hilly trails of Afton State Park. Part of John Storkamp’s excellent Rock Steady Racing series, I decided to add this one to the list for 2016 after handing out finisher medals there last year with Megan. Talked with John at the finish Saturday, but I never knew his full story – so inspiring (and makes me want to support his races even more).

Couldn’t ask for better weather for this race – it was around 60F at the start and never broke 80F. The sun was an issue towards the end, but a lot of this course is in the trees, so my sunburn wasn’t too bad. It did feel warm when I finished, but I know I was very, very lucky compared to prior years. The old “wet sponge tucked in my shirt” trick was quite handy and many thanks to the volunteer at the final aid station who poured ice water on my shoulders. Low humidity and a light, cool breeze also helped things immensely.

This course is quite challenging: two loops of 15.5 miles, 11 aid stations, a net elevation change of 9,340 feet and a 9 hour time limit to finish. Afton State Park wraps around Afton Alps ski area and borders the St. Croix River (both of which I know well), but I was constantly getting confused as to where I was during the race. The race map shows we ran all over the place – up and down the river valley, around the Highlands and Alps areas of the ski area and along two different stretches of the river.

I love race day packet pick-up: saves time (and fuel) and is just way more convenient all the way around. The race started at 6:30am and I got there around 5:30 to check in and pick up my number, the beautiful T-shirt and a race swag bag. Ran into WeRunMpls co-founder Kaitlyn, who was running the 50K with her dad. Hung out in the car for a bit, then we were off and running (one hour before the 25K start).

Completed the first loop in 3:15:35 (12:36 Minute Miles) and was passed by a million 25K runners towards the end. Since I decided to walk every hill on both loops, I was OK with that split. In my mind, I decided that even if the second loop took four fours, I’d still be way under 8. It took me 4:22 to complete that second lap, but I’m still fine overall with that time – I hadn’t run at all since Grandma’s and the weather was definitely warmer the second time through.

Speaking of two loops – I really prefer the out and back style of the Superior Spring 50K compared to this format. At Superior, each half seems different, since you are running up one way and down the other (even if it’s the same trail). At Afton, you get to the end of the first loop and all of the 25K runners are finishing right there, while you have to start all over again. Mentally, a tough image to process. John and I talked about the other differences between the two courses: Superior being much more technical and Afton usually having brutal weather.

Many props to 50K winner Kurt Keiser of Jordan, who at age 42 managed an overall pace of 7:14 over those hills to finish with a 3:44:27 (full results here). My pokey 7:37 was good for 191st out of 210 overall and 30th out of 33 in my age group. I know ultra trail racing isn’t all about the times for most people, but it would be nice to be a little closer to my road marathon performances. Still, this was a 52 minute PR at 50K, so there’s plenty of room for future improvement.

Big thanks to the wonderful group of volunteers, many of them trail runners themselves. The aid stations were delightful – just like a full service filling station. Every time I hit one, someone would run up and take my water bottle to refill while I visited the food table. My most frequent items: peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, pretzels, gummy bears, Coke and multiple salt tablets (I had recurring cramps in all four leg sections all day). The burger picnic at the end was very nice too (although I couldn’t manage to down the whole thing so soon after finishing).

Next up: State Fair Milk Run 5K