Run Like Monkey

Short Version

I finished the Superior Trail 50 Mile race in 13 hours 48 minutes (according to my GPS, no published times yet).  The race was a total blast, I loved it and will do it again.  My family was there to crew me and I loved seeing them at the aid stations, and running with my boys when they came to meet me on the trail.  It was crazy hot and muggy for me, but I think I was able to stay ahead of food and hydration enough that it didn’t bring me down.

Long version

I just had a blast with this race.  By rights, I was bold even toeing the starting line and frankly had no business finishing.  My training this summer was nowhere near what I wanted.  I had a few injuries that lead to 2-3 week breaks in running, and I only did 2 runs over 20 miles (26 and 30).  To top it off, I only got 4 hours of sleep the night before the race.  Before going to bed, I discovered that I had forgotten the bladder for my Camelback, and my 2 Nathan handhelds were with my crew and showing up at Crosby-Manitou (11.7 miles into the race).  So I started with my Camelback as a backpack and had to carry an REI water bottle for the first couple hours.  I knew it was going to be warm, so decided to take an S! cap every 45 minutes, much more frequently than I did in training.

For the first sections of the race I just really took it easy with the pace.  I started towards the back of the pack and a lot of people passed me.  No worries.  I kept telling myself to go slow and do my own race.  I started eating at mile 2 with Clif bloks, and planned to steadily eat all day.  I drank HEED at the start and filled my water bottle with HEED there and again at Sonju and was downing it like crazy.

By the time I got to Crosby-Manitou (mile 11.7), I could really tell it was going to be a hot and muggy day.  I dropped my Camelback and picked up my handhelds.  Mom had mixed my custom ultra fuel (rice milk, soy protein, chia seeds, honey – 620 calories) in one and I put water in the other.  I ate a bit at the car, then chatted with Maria Barton and John Storkamp at the food table while I ate some more.

I hit the trail still feeling great and ready for this section, which I love and know.  The massive gorge didn’t seem as bad as the first time I went through and I finished this section with a surprise.  My two boys had hiked in to meet me!  They filmed me coming down the trail and then wanted to run with me to Sugarloaf.

At Sugarloaf (mile 21), I had some Ramen noodles and a bit of breakfast burrito along with a lot of HEED and other aid station snacks.  I realized there that I was going to be able to eat a lot more at the aid stations than I had planned, so wouldn’t have to eat as much on the trail.  My goal was about 350 calories per hour, or 4900 calories for a 14 hour race.

My older son ran with me out of the aid station for a bit, then we said goodbye and I walked while I finished eating.  During the sections I usually ate a pack of Clif bloks and a gel.  I tried Lara bars, but they were just a bit too dry.  I don’t remember anything notable about this section terrain-wise, but I did start to realize that I was feeling absolutely great.  The heat was starting to get to me, but fortunately it absolutely poured rain during this section for a mile or two.  I loved it!  I mean poured-cats-and-dogs rain.  It really cooled things off and I loved it.  I did feel bad for the 100-milers getting their feet repaired at Sugarloaf.  I imagined how great it must have felt to get blisters fixed and put on dry socks and shoes, and how disenheartening it would be to have them get soaked less than a mile later.

I just kept cruising along the trail, running when I could and walking when I had to.  I had done some math while planning and found that the average finish time for last year ended up being around a 16 minute pace.  Note for anyone not familiar with this trail, that’s a statement of how tough it is and how much walking is required!  So I was shocked to see a lot of my miles ticking by at 12 and 13 minutes – I’m getting some in the bank!  A mistake of the day that didn’t turn out catastophic was that my S! caps had melted in my pocket during the rain.  I managed to smear one last one into my mouth in this section before they were scrap.  Have you ever eaten an open S! cap?  Don’t.

At Cramer Road (26.7 miles) I picked up my empty mini-M&M bottle filled with S! caps and ate, ate, ate.  I drank a bunch of HEED and filled one handheld with HEED and one with water, which I did throughout the day.  I was drinking and peeing like crazy trying to stay ahead of hydration and it was working.

I had also picked up a bandana at the last aid station and it was a godsend.  Honestly that was the most valuable piece of gear I had on the trail that day, a cheap REI bandana  (actually not cheap it was $3.50, which I thought was kind of a ripoff for a bandana at the time – the day before the race).  It was still wet from the rain and kept me really cool in the heat.  I used it a lot just to wipe away sweat and cool off, and stopped to dunk it in rivers and cool myself down – awesome.

I cruised along to Temperance River (33.8 miles)  and was still feeling just awesome.  I had a very slight headache that I was tracking, but really could figure out any food or hydration reasons behind it.  So I chalked it up to heat and did what I could to cool down.  I was passing a lot of people on the trail, surprisingly.  At Temperance I ate a bunch again (thanks for the turkey wraps, gang, those were great!) and hung with the family a bit.  I think one reason for my picked up pace was that a couple miles out I would start thinking “If I just pick up the pace a bit, I can chat with my family longer!”.  They really kept me in the game.

I had never run this next section, and it was absolutely beautiful along the river.  I passed a lot of day hikers, who politely moved off the trail for me which was very nice.  I wondered how many of them knew what was going on.  There were a lot of backpacking campers in this section, and their campfires all smelled so inviting!  I wondered why no one ever mentions how challenging this section is.  There is a long but 900 foot ascent to the foot of Carleton peak, then a 600 foot scramble over a rock fall – it was a sick joke.  That is a crazy section at the end, one of the toughest spots but very beautiful views.  I signed the guestbook at the top and kept booking onto Sawbill, where I volunteered last year.

At Sawbill (39.5 miles) I hung out for awhile and chatted with my family and with Dale and Steve.

I chowed again on more Ramen noodles and other snacks.  I heard about Matt and Adam dropping and felt bad about that.  I was still just amazed that I was feeling great.  I knew the last section was hard, but I was feeling like I had the race in the bag as long as I didn’t do anything stupid (certainly not out of the question).  I also showed my geek colors – I was determined to get a full GPS track from the race.  I plugged a USB charger into the base for my 205, then strapped the watch hugely around my wrist and tied the charger to my forearm with the bandana.  Totally geeky but it worked – I recharged all the way to Oberg where I dropped it off again.  For some reason I thought Sawbill to Oberg was a fast, runnable section – not so.  This was way slower than I thought, and finally at mile 43 something changed.  My quads started to bark and I was finally feeling the race.  It wasn’t awful, but I just really reset expectations to take it easy.

At Oberg (45 miles), I drank and ate a ton and really tried to hydrate since I knew the last section was going to take me awhile.  I re-lubed to prevent “ring of fire”, put on my headlamp and hit the trail.  I had arrived here way ahead of schedule.  I didn’t really set pace expectations other than knowing the averages from last year so my crew could roughly plan, but I had been ahead of them since Crosby-Manitou.

This section was grueling as usually.  By the time I got to the top of Moose Mountain, I was really feeling my quads.  I was doing a lot of walking and just doing anything to not fall and screw things up.  I remember the overlook towards Caribou Highlands and thinking, yikes that’s a bit farther than I want.  Every time I have run this section I have confused the small dip at the end of Moose for the descent of Moose and the ascent of Mystery.  So I was sorely disappointed to be reminded of Mystery mountain of the end.  It’s not the biggest, it’s just killer when your gassed.  At long last I could hear the welcome sound of Poplar River, and knew I was close.  That’s such a great sound to hear.

As I popped out onto the road, I couldn’t believe it but there were my two boys standing in the dark waiting for me.  We ran together all the way to the finish, and it was the best race finish I’ve ever had.

I’m sore and hobbling around like an old man, but nothing too serious.  I had a fabulous day out on the trail and will definitely do this race again.  That is one tough trail, but the reward is all of it’s beauty.  I still don’t know how I had such a great day out there, but I did.

My family was a phenomenal crew, and there was no way I would have done this well my first time out without them.  Thanks you guys for chasing me all day and giving me something to run towards.  Larry and all of the volunteers put on a great race.  I also couldn’t have finished this without help from the mn-drs list and all of the local ultra bloggers I read, you guys are a great source of information and inspiration.  More than others, I want to thank Adam and Matt for advice and encouragement along the way.  I really appreciate your posts and thanks for letting me bug you with email questions along the way – your responses were invaluable and I wouldn’t have done this well without your input.

GPS details
52.44 miles in 13:48:30
Overall average pace 15:48
5600 calories burned
Map at RunningAhead

This past weekend I participated in my first relay – the Ragnar Great River Relay.  The course this year was 195 miles from Winona to Minneapolis and I was runner #2.  I really had no idea what to expect for this race, and never really had a good picture in my mind of how it would all work.  But what a blast it turned out to be.  We had a 12-person team in two vans and a 10:00am Friday start time, so loaded up our vans and hit the road at 6:00am for the drive down.

The starting area was a quick intro to what we were in for.  This race is dominated by costumes, decorated vans, hilarious slogans, and a party atmosphere.  We had to check in and show our headlamps, vests, and tail lights for the night segments.  This would also turn out to be probably the longest chance we had to hang out as an entire team.  I didn’t realize the vans would be so separated.  I was in van #1 so we got our first runner started and began this exhilarating madness.

Our team at the start.

Leg 2 – 6.2 miles outside Winona

I picked up my first leg just outside Winona right along the river.  We had a really, really laidback team which I loved.  We had a 9:20 overall average pace estimate and no one really cared what we ran, we were all in it for the fun.  Having said that, I don’t know quite what came over me but I got really caught up in the pace.  I was feeling good and the weather was great for running.  I ran this segment at a 7:29 pace, which just shocked me.  I netted +2 in position, but was passed like I was standing still by a few runners.  Both vans cheered me at a couple of points on the route and its just a blast to see my new buddies on the course like that.

Our van finished our first segments somewhere around 4-4:30pm and got our first break.  We watched Rob tackle what I think was the single toughest hill that I saw on the course right after the van exchange.  Then we dropped in on Nelson, WI to find a bite to eat.  We happened upon Nelson Cheese and Creamery and it couldn’t have been better.  We had a nice dinner, some ice cream, and got to cheer 2 of our runners as this was right on an out-and-back segment with an exchange at the turnaround.  We also got to hang out with van 2 for another while and relaxed on the patio laughing about the good times so far.

Leg 14 – 8.3 miles over Maiden Rock on Lake Pepin

We took over again around 8:00pm.  This leg was rated Very Hard and on paper seemed like one of the most difficult segments.  I don’t think that’s true after running it and seeing what some of my teammates had to deal with, but it was a ton of fun.  I was feeling just gassed after my first run going way too fast for me.  My quads were tight and exhausted and I was telling everyone I had no idea what was going to happen.  I even decided to carb-fuel the run with Hammergel right before the exchange and Clif shot bloks along the way.  As it turned out, this was literally my most dialed-in run of this year.  Again, I have no idea how it happened but I ran this at a 7:40 pace – with 1.5 mile climb up Maiden Rock.  I did one mile on the downhill at  a 6:40 pace, and ended up +6 on position.  I just couldn’t believe how great this run felt.  I was firing on all cylinders and having a great time.  I got to watch the sun finish setting at the beginning, and ran most of it by headlamp which I really enjoy.

Waiting to cheer Erik by, right before my run up Maiden Rock.

Everyone else had great runs through the evening.  Diego finished another segment that I thought looked like tough hills and we ended at Prescott High School around 1:30am to hand off to van 2.  We had been really looking forward to this exchange as it’s a major exchange and advertised a spaghetti dinner, warm showers, and a place to sleep.  We had all dreamed our way through these last runs by picturing that spaghetti.  So imagine how we felt to find spaghetti crossed off the menu when we got into the high school.  Dinner turned out to be a big plate of iceberg lettuce, dressing and garlic bread.  I think two of my lucky friends also had bits of onion in theirs.  The hot shower was great and overdue after 2 runs.  We paid $2 each to grab some sleep on the high school gym floor on wrestling mats, which were surprisingly comfortable, for only about 1.5 hours.  We were up again at 4am to make the drive to Stillwater and take over for van 2.

Leg 26 – 4.4 miles near Bayport, MN

I was complete groggy when we got up, thank goodness Diego drove.  We got some hot chocolate by the bridge in Stillwater and cheered in Tim.  Erik from our van took over and we had to cruise because he only had 3 miles before I was on.  My brain was still goo.  I changed on the side of the highway while everyone else cheered him.  We drove to the exchange point in Bayport and I was fumbling with gear, Gatorade, etc. knowing that I was cutting it short.  I started walking to the start and suddenly heard Tim A. shout my name – Erik was on his way in, and I was a block or two from the exchange!  So I hoofed it to the start and met Erik exactly in the chute, just barely in time to make a clean handoff.  I took off and picked up my handheld from Diego on the way and then realized I had never even looked at my route.  It turned out to be easy to follow but I was feeling slow most of the way up the first hill.  My legs started kicking in and feeling better and I hit a good stride.  The rising sun was nice to watch, and I didn’t need my headlamp on.  I started hearing footsteps behind me, and was thinking no big deal if I was passed.  But I must have subconsciously kicked it in because he hung right behind me for probably a 1/2 mile up a hill.  I finally turned around laughing and told him he had to pass me so I could loosen up the pace!  He laughed back and said he couldn’t quite do it, but would run with me.  So thus I met Jacob and we ran the last 2 miles chatting up about marathons, training, and the race so far.  It was a great time and a nice way to finish my runs.  We ran this segment at a 7:16 pace – I have Jacob to thank for that one, again not my body!

Another highlight of these finish segments was pure serendipity.  Paul called me around 7-7:30am on a training ride with his wife around Manning Avenue in Woodbury saying he saw Ragnar vans.  We compared notes and found that we were only a couple miles away, and Tim was running towards him.  So they did their loops and eventually caught up with us for a chat, which was a lot of fun.  We cheered them as we passed them again while trailing Tim.  Everyone had great final runs, and Terry had hills that I think were literally the hardest and longest I saw and the end of his route in Afton.  Crazy and cruel, they were.

Finish and bonus miles

Our van finished around 8:30am and handed off to van 2.  We decided to head back and empty the van and then find breakfast.  We dropped vehicles at Boom Island, the finish, and walked up to Elsie’s for a great breakfast and Bloody Mary.  We got to talking logistics about dropping the van and getting back to Boom, and Diego came up with the idea of dropping the van and running back to Boom to get a few more miles in, so we did that.  My legs were shot – my hamstrings were as tight as piano strings from running way outside my pace zone.  But I toughed it out on the promise that we would only run 10:00 miles, which we did.  We then decided to walk back to the Stone Arch bridge (about 1 mile) to wait it out for Tim and run the final mile with him.  He came through and we ran the victory lap with about 5-6 of our team members and finished sometime around 1:35pm.

We hung out very briefly at the finish, but people were ready to get going.  We got bottle-opener medals for finishing, which we all laughed about – finally a useful medal.

Not our van, but a typical snarky slogan on a race van.  This one was tame compared to many.

This race was a total blast.  This race was a bit of running sprinkled here and there during an all-night Gonzo road trip.  My total miles for the day were somewhere around 24, 18 of which were official race miles.  We had a lot of laughs and saw beautiful scenery.  I had great runs and good times.  Thanks Diego, Terry, Tim, Erik, Traci, Mel, Rob, Tim, Liz, Dawn, and Mark for all the fun and Diego especially for organizing everything.  Maybe an ultra team next year?  Or maybe a 12-person double Ragnar?