29 April 2009

Does it get any better?

That's the thought that has continuously crossed my mind after my run at the Chippewa 50K. Seriously, folks, I'm close to driving Ellie NUTS with the constant re-hashing of memories, "hey, look at these photos of Adam almost falling off the board walk," "isn't this a cool trail?," and "I think you'd like to meet Helen and Steve," and "Yeah, what I said for Matt's camera was pretty lame."
Wait, have I told Ellie about SCaps, and the Leinie's at the finish, the "TFH?" brb...

...

Oh. Apparently I did. Sorry, Ellie.

So what if I'm still on a "runner's high" from my first ever trail race? Does it get any better than that? I don't think so. Reasons why (yes, I'm reverting to bullet points):

  • I NAILED the nutrition. A bag of Sport Beans early, then a bit of nuun and mostly water and SCaps any time I felt even the slightest bit queezy. I also sucked/chewed on a shot blok of varying flavors non stop. It worked perfectly. For the first time, my stomach didn't give out. With 2 miles to go my legs were simply done. I couldn't lift them any more, and was stuck with the push-your-legs-into-the-ground walk. But my stomach wasn't the issue! That in itself made my day.
  • I'm not sure what to say, being very, very new to trail races, about the course markings. The ONLY place I had any trouble was on the return trip, not far from the turn-around, when I almost took the newly-cut logging trail instead of the IAT. To me, though, THAT'S exactly what I was hoping for in a race. I WANT to be looking around for more trails. It's totally about a 2-way relationship between the trail and yourself. Don't just expect to be let home. One aspect I LOVED about the return run is that I hardly saw anyone. I didn't have an iPod (Adam). I simply listened to my breathing and my inner conversation, and enjoyed every step of the run. Doesn't get much better than that.
  • I could have maybe run the first half faster, but I'm glad I didn't. This left me legs to run the 2nd half at a higher heart rate, pushing it the majority of the time, and I got to spend a decent amount of time with Steve in the first half. I have about a dozen (okay, maybe 3 dozen) more questions to ask him about (whether or not he wants to converse...he shared later he didn't really care to talk books with me...but then he still managed to bring up Glaven...who works in a LIBRARY) plenty of other topics. In addition, I'd love to get him in the same room with my brother-in-law, who's an East side St. Paul native and (I thought) knew more about the city than anyone. I'm still relying on him to find the "Mystic Trail" for me though.
  • I probably will run Boston next year. It would mean a lot to me, to my favorite marathon running buddy (my older sister) and to my parents. When I told my parents about how amazing the Chippewa 50K was, my dad reiterated to me how "great" it would be to have TWO children running Boston together. Being a huuuuge race face, he compared it to the Indy 500. I'll be there. So will he. I just may not run it that hard...Chippewa will be less than a week away :)
  • The course photographers were AMAZING! Here are some pictures of me working the boardwalk (wearing "arm panties," nonetheless) across one of 110 lakes we'd pass. Literally...110 lake isn 31 miles. Hit "next" for the entire sequence. Truly amazing country.
  • Again, special thanks to Matt, for sending me on my way at the 25K mark, Wynn, for a great race, and Adam, Helen (by the way, who runs 13 miles 3 days after a 50K?!), and Steve, for really sparking my interest in the event.
  • For me, the 50K is a perfect distance. Especially on trails. When training for my 50 miler, I ALWAYS felt like I NEEDED to be running. This run was based on only 3 big days of running a week...something I can definitely manage and still continue to develop my real job and business.
  • In less than 2 weeks I'm running Journeys Marathon, and I'm gonna run it hard. I'll let the chips fall where they may at that point. After that, it's speed work galore in preps for Grandma's. I really, really, really want to break 3 hours there. If so, beers are on me for Helen and Adam!
  • This fall is shaping up well. After proposing a lock-tight itinerary, the Wife has agreed to the following schedule...Twin Cities on October 4...then I go back to the trails and enjoy them with Glacial Trail 50K October 11, followed by a nice taper and the North Face 50K on October 24. The North Face 50K will be my main event, and if the excitement of my Chippewa experience holds on, look out!

13 comments:

Jess said...

I'm glad you enjoyed it so much, and I think spouses of runners just tune us out anyway, so Ellie probably hasn't even been listening to half of what you've been saying :)

Adam said...

We've pulled another one to the dark side! Remember though that you started with the best trail race in the world, so it all goes downhill from here;) Next year I won't be running so I get to stand on top of the hill and bark at you for walking. It's a bit frightening how excited I am about a single hill...already counting down the days to next year.

Glaven Q. Heisenberg said...

Glaven...who works in a LIBRARY ...

If you can call this work, brother. I mean, I'm here and I'm like touching stuff (mostly with my hands, I swear, but so what if not? It's not like there a strain of N*ts@ck Flu going around out there, and even if there were, there are instructions on how to wash to prevent it on SteveQ's blog ... just, wherever he writes "hands", you mentally change that to "n*ts@ck", is all, and hum the Jeopardy music) ... but work?

I'm as amazed as anyone else that they pay me for this.

So you're gonna run Boston then Chippewa after it next year? Why not just waterboard yourself in the intervening two weeks while you're at it.

Man, you're a masochist. And I mean that in the best possible sense.

(Full disclosure: There is not "good sense" of "masochist".)

Hey, look at that! I managed to write a lot of words and didn't have to use one single bullet. Proving it CAN be done if you put your mind to it.

But here you go:

† I'm making a dagger point just to eff with you.

Unknown said...

Nice job at Chippewa Nic. Helen converted me to trails last year :) and I'm never going back to the roads. Sorry I didn't get to meet you personally; next time for sure.

Carolina John said...

holy crap, 2 ultras in one month? i love october too, but that's crazy.

Danielle in Iowa in Ireland said...

I'm kind of excited to move to Seattle because there are actual trails to run on there. In Iowa, you kinda run out of trail pretty quickly.

(and next time you are at sea world, make sure to spit in Shamu's tank. bastard.

Matthew Patten said...

What the camera does not show is your skirt was about to blow up over your face.

With that said....

Keep your wife, sister, pets, and questionable medical devices as far away from Steve as possible!

He does like extremely rare Belgian Lambic Yeast strains, though....

C said...

Dang, you are definitely on Cloud 9, huh. I'm happy for you. And my sympathies to Ellie. :)

SteveQ said...

Glaven in a library - all I can picture is his complaining that Dewey Decimal and Library of Congress aren't really systems, but conspiracies.

And is Matt suggesting I do inappropriate things with single celled organisms? I do, but that's my own business.

Two ultras in October... sounds like a vacation to me!

Oh, and ask your three dozen questions. You'll get three hundred answers, some printable.

B. Kramer said...

Wow, I wish I had a high that lasted as long as your runners' high ... that's good stuff.

Runner Tammy said...

Congratulations on a great Chippewa 50 km!

It sounds like you had a wonderful time and your negative splits are to be commended.

Regarding signing up for 2 ultra's in October, someone definitely needs to take away ultra runners credit cards and internet access immediately following ultra events because with a little bit of excess of endorphins every running event sounds like a great idea...I have signed up for more 50's, 100's and doubles while hopped up on endorphins. And even though I tell my husband to restrict my credit card and internet use apparently I make a compelling argument while hopped up on said endorphins:-)

Savor your victory!
Tammy

Helen said...

You should definitely do Boston next year. In fact, I think you should RACE it really HARD. And then you can take it nice and easy at Chippewa and enjoy the views :)

Marcy said...

LMAO at Jess. Fo reals. That's why I've had a bloggy for so long. Try and spare Mr McG all the details HAHA