Run - Ice - Roll - Repeat

I have kept up pretty good on my icing after runs as well as my rolling almost every night. The rolling is getting easier. My IT band is not a tender when I roll on it as well as the quads, hammies, and calves. I think my arms are getting stronger too since I have to hold my body in some interesting positions to roll properly.

Saturday I ran 7 miles with no pain. I went to the Trailbreaker Marathon close to my home to cheer on a few of my friends before they set out on the marathon. I found my friend Dana who was running the half marathon as a training run and we ended up running 6 miles before the half together. It was an easy pace, especially for him, but it was nice to go that far. So far so good on the IT front.

We finished about a half hour before the half marathon started so I was able to see Paul and wish him well. I could not find Amy but ended up seeing her about 200 meters into the race. About a half hour later, I was able to get on a bike I brought and I rode the course to find my friends. It is a mostly out and back course so I would be able to see them on the trail easily. First I found Dana who was running easy. Then I found Paul and then Amy both running well. I continued on and saw Chris who was running the full marathon on his way back. He was running very well. Then I saw Robin who was taking it easy on the course.

After biking ahead for awhile, I turned around and tried to find everyone again though I had gone up the trail pretty far. Suddenly I saw a train on the track that parallel the path about 20 meter off. I knew the tracks crossed the course with just over 2 miles to go so I knew there would be trouble. Turns out Paul was stopped for 6 minutes and Amy for a couple minutes bu they train. Chris got off lucky by a minute or 2. So there was a large bunch of runners stuck including the top 2 runners in the full marathon. I know I would be totally pissed if I was stopped by a train, especially if I had a good time going. After looking at the results of the half, it looks like the train was about 7 to 8 minutes long. There is a gap that big in the results. Let's hope the race director gets that fixed for next year. Every year I ran this event, there was not a train, so maybe this was an unscheduled or off schedule train.

I did find Chris on my way back when he had about a half mile to go. He was feeling good and I cheered him on to the finish. He finished in 4th place overall in 3:18. Another friend of mine, Gerry, finished in 5th overall. I didn't even know he was running. Unfortunately I was unable to stick around to see Brandi finish. I hope she did well. I saw her time but do not know if she was happy with it or not.

Today was a whole different story with my run. After work, I went 5 miles with Mike and felt like I was totally out of shape. I could barely keep a 9:20 pace and felt crappy. This shall pass (I hope).

Keep on Running!!!

Baby Steps

I have now gotten in 3 runs of 2 miles each. Doesn't sound like a lot but after 8 weeks basically off, it is something. No pain either which is good too. I have a PT appointment tomorrow so maybe she will allow me to bumpup the miles some. I hope so.

I can tell you I have lost some fitness. I feel more winded at the end of a run that I normally would feel. I assume this will go away in a week or so of regular running, but I guess we will see.

I will be missing a marathon that I have run the last 4 years. It is the Trailbreaker Marathon only about 12 miles from my home. It is a cheap race with not many thrills and it is a pretty tough course for about 6 miles (rocky, muddy, and hilly trails) so in the past I have always run this one as a training run. I do have some friends planning on running (Mike, Paul, Chris, Brandi) so i will be there to cheer them on as well as advertise the new Heatbreaker Half Marathon taking place this summer at The Pettit Center.

So the latest report is low miles but no pain. Let's hope this continues, well, not the low miles part, but keep the no pain!

Keep on Running!!!

Race Report - Trailbreaker Marathon

Yesterday was the Trailbreaker Marathon in Waukesha, WI, about 12 miles from my house. This isn't one of your huge or glamorous marathons, it is a low key, no frills marathon. It is also a tough marathon as far as a course. It is for this reason that I like to run it as a trailing run, and not as a race.

Here are some of the Pros from this years race: The registration fee is quite small. I signed up the morning of the race and it was only $55. By signing up the day of, I also saved on the Active fees. The race is quite small with only 120 finishers this year. The staff is very friendly and helpful. Again this year, they had the "Bag Drop" option which allowed you to fill a bag with whatever you wanted to have and they would bring to the 11 & 16 mile mark of the race. This came in handy this year for me. Also, they again had a medal for marathon finishers, something they just started last year. The return of the bell as well.

The Cons were that while the mile markers were accurate for the first 11 miles, after that, they were off about 1/4 mile each. They used a come to mark the miles on the way out and on the opposite side of the cone was suppose to be the mile marker for the way back, but it was off 1/4 mile. Another con is that they have too few mater stops. In the entire race, there are only 7 and some about 3 1/2 miles apart. Quite a few years ago, this race was ranked in the top 25 of the toughest marathons in North America. While it is a tough race, I am not sure it is a top 25. The course is actually not hard at all for 21 of the miles, it is the middle 5 that are quite tough, especially if you are not a trail runner as it is off road, on grass and wet slippery rocks, and this year, a ton of mud. Also unique to this marathon, at 13.5 miles, you climb a 40 foot observation tower at the top of a hill that is the highest elevation in the entire county. That is where you ring a bell and head back the way you came, more mud!

This year, I had a few friends joining me in running. Mike, Paul, and Chris came out for good training runs. The weather turned out to be really good as it was in the mid 30's for the start, overcast, and a touch of wind, but not too bad. I knew Mike and Chris would be running faster so Paul and I stayed together for the first 2 miles until he took off. I would be able to see these guys again on the off road trail since the course is almost a complete out and back.

Paul running along the bike trail. As you can see some snow is still around.

A mile in the race, suddenly I realized I forgot to put on my band aids to protect my nips. I was suddenly worried and hoping there would not be a problem. Luckily I did not have any issues.

Chris is in his final few miles of the race.

Paul took off at mile 2 just when I was joined by a guy named Jay who just wanted someone to run with. He was on a training run as well and we paced good together. I found out he was a principal of a local school and even invited his school to join the WELS Kids Marathon. He said to email him after the race and he would see what he could do but was interested. We clipped mile after mile off at an easy pace. Experience of running this race told me to take it easy until after the off road trail as that can really zap all your energy if you run it wrong or too fast.

Jay and I ran about 15 miles of the race together talking and helping each other out.

Before the off road trail, the course climbs a little more than 200 feet in a 2 1/2 mile stretch on the bike trail that used to be a rail bed so it was gradual but your legs start to notice. By the time Jay and I got the the start of the off road portion, we were averaging just over 9:15 per mile. We hit the grass and the first part feels OK. There is a notorious spot early on the trail that is always muddy and you can't go around it was it is surrounded by thorny bushes. This year, it wasn't too bad here so the shoes were not too heavy yet. Once in the woods, the trail gets very hard to run. Not only do you have to watch for rocks that are wet, but this year, the course was super muddy with a couple spots where snow/ice were still on the trail. Also, the trail is very narrow so single file is the only way to run and now other runners were on their way back from the tower going the other way.

This is where I saw that Mike was in 3rd place over all. After a high five, he was on his way back. The trail slows us down A LOT as not only our shoes are full of heavy mud now, but we begin to climb in elevation toward the tower. I get to see Chris and Paul and high fives again and I finally see the tower. But before we get the privilege of running up the tower, the trail climbs about 75 feet of steps first. Once up those, you have to climb the 40 foot tower to ring the bell before heading back to Waukesha.

Mike was running extremely well the entire race.

Jay and I are still running together pointing out muddy areas and trying to avoid the pitfalls of the dangerous course. The tower is at about 13 1/2 miles into the race and since I had my new garmin on, I was able to see my 13 to 14 mile split. This mile 14 split was a whopping 15:25! That as the mud, hills, and tons of steps and that back down all that. By this time, it was extremely difficult to run the steps so in order to conserve energy, most walk them. And then it is wet and slippery, so most end up walking down them too. The trail is just as hard on the way back to the bike trail.

Jay and I get back to the bike trail and 1/4 mile later, we were at the bag drop. I planned ahead and had a fresh pair of shoes in my bag so I stopped and changed into clean, light, non muddy shoes. Jay's parents were there cheering him on so he talked to them some as I said he could catch up to me. By this time, I looked at the garmin and the average pace went from 9:15 going into the mud, to 10:20 when back on dry pavement.

With new shoes on foot and a portion of a PB & J sandwich in me, I am able to really pick up my pace. It helps that now I get to run the 2 1/2 miles of railroad grade downhill to get me moving. It feels fast as I clip off an 8:37 & 8:48. I finish the gradual downhill with an 8:15 and know that my legs are tired but not enough for me to slow down. I look back and see Jay behind me by not too much and gradually catching up. He has changed to a 5 minute run/1 minute walk but he is running 7:30 pace when running. I am also passing a few runners who are now struggling from the muddy trail & hills. This is where I like to see a few runners ahead of me that I can use as goals to try to pass. I am also passing a few half marathon walkers who are still on the course as their race started a hour later.

A Gu or 2 keeps me going as I continue with an 8:46 & 8:17. I am trying to calculate what I would need to run to beat my time from last year which was a 4:16. I think I need to run 9:00's the rest of the way so I try to keep the pace. Jay now has caught up to me for a bit but takes his break and I don't see him again.

With only 2 miles to go, I was still feeling strong.

I keep the pressure on my pace and while tired, feel like this can only help me in later races giving me confidence later in future races. Mile 25 was a 8:19 and mile 26 was 8:08. the final 0.2 at a 7:30 pace and I finish the fasted I have ever run the last 9 miles of a marathon averaging an 8:30. My finishing time was 4:13:37 good for 57th out of 120. Considering this was only a training run and the course was extremely muddy in spots, I am very happy with that time. It was a great training run!

I feel like I could have kept going another few miles, but I didn't.

Shortly after I finish and see Jay finish, I find Paul and Mike. Turns out Mike ended up in 4th overall and was the first Master Finisher. He somehow ran 3:24:45 even after running 20 miles with me last weekend and doing a good hill workout on Tuesday. He was extremely please with his race. Paul ran pretty good finishing is 3:55:13. We found Chris who also ran this as a training run in 3:35:46. In a month, he will be running his first trail 50K.

Paul ran pretty well as well.

After the race, Mike, Paul, and I partake in another big Pro for this race. The free beer for runner! We watch the awards for the half marathon and hope that the full marathon awards are right after so Mike can pick up his Masters Winner award. Now a Con, we waited and waited and waited and finally, 6 hours after the start, the give out the awards. Why did they have to wait so long???? In fact, they gave out awards for the top 3 in all age groups and the only female still there, was the overall winner. Now they will have to mail out all the certificates, they could have saved close to $20 in postage if they just had done the awards earlier plus made the winners more appreciative.

All in all, this race has improved over the years (I have run the full 4 times, and the half and 5K once each) but there are still some simple improvements that can be done. But for only $55, I can't complain too much and do like the race. I'll probably run this again, but only as a training run.

Keep on Running!!!

Another "Training Run" Marathon

Another 2 days of good runs. Monday was 7 miles and today was hills again with Mike. This time 6 reps. Not exactly the type of training runs you do the week before a marathon, is it? Saturday is the Trailbreaker Marathon that I plan on running. I plan on running the same as I have the last 3 times, strictly as a long training run. The course doesn't lend itself to a fast time but I like the course for a training run. The first 11 and final 9 miles are all on a paved bike trail with little, gradual elevation gain/loss, but the middle 6 miles is on a grass trail, over some muddy area, through some woods on a skinny dirt trail fill of large wet stones and a gain of about 250 feet. Oh, did I forget that when you get to the top of the hill, you have a 40 foot observation tower to climb? It is definitely a unique race. My friends Mike, Paul, and Chris also plan on running so I will have a few people to see as I pass them on their way back. The course is almost a perfect out and back except for the first mile so I will see all of them somewhere. I don't plan on running fast as these middle miles can take a lot out of you. Maybe between 9:00 to 9:30 pace on the way out. Super easy on the trails to the tower and back and then see how I feel after I get back on the paved trail. The past 2 years I have run 4:16 each year so I assume I will be somewhere near there again. Sounds like a good training run to me. Keep on Running!!!

Race Report: Trailbreaker Marathon

Today was the Trailbreaker Marathon in Waukesha, WI and I ran a good 26.2 mile training run.

I ran this race the past 2 times they had it in 2007 and 2009 (they skipped 2008) and last year I wrote a not so great review of the race. One of the guys on the race committee contacted me and asked for details on my opinions of how they could improve. I was very interested in see what they did improve on and what they did not. I am happy to say that they did improve on a few things and not on others.

The race started in Waukesha a Frame Park at 8:00AM with sun and in the lower 30's. The wind was blowing a bit bit not bad at all. There were a little over 100 starters in the race. Before the race, I decided to wear shorts and a long sleeve technical shirt as well as a singlet. I also wore my WELS Kid's Marathon tshirt over this and was planning on dropping it off at mile 10. I actually made 2 contacts with other runners about the Kid's Marathon because I was wearing the shirt. That was fun. The plan was for me to run this as a training run and relax as much as possible and if I felt good at mile 20, then maybe see what I could eek out for a time. I was suppose to go out at 9:30 pace until the extremely hard trail and just make it through the trail. I am glad to say I stuck to the plan and it worked well.

The first 8 miles were sunny then the clouds came out. At mile 10.5, they have a unique feature in this race. There is a "Bag Drop" where runners can give the committee a bag full of whatever you want and they will bring it out there along the bike trail for you. You pass this location at mile 10.5 and at mile 16.5. By the time I reached my bag, I was right about at 9:30 pace. I took some salt and off I was to the Ice Age trail portion of the race. This is an off road portion with about 2.5 miles of grass and slightly muddy conditions and then 3.5 miles of rugged trails though the wood with lots of loose rocks and many hills. This is where the pace slows considerably.

I decided that when the hills were steep, I would walk up them instead of wasting energy running up for very little return. Right before the turn around is a very steep hill that has been converted to railroad tiled steps. At the top of this, you are required to climb the 40 foot observation tower and ring the cow bell at the top. It may be minor, but for the past few years, they have advertised a bell at the top of the tower but they didn't have it. I suggested they put it back and they did, so suggestion 1 taken!

With all the walking up the hill and tower steps and the walking down the loose rocks hill, I managed a very slow mile split of 15:04 but this was expected and not a big deal. I did manage to find one root with my foot and almost took a digger at mile 13.3 and got my hands dirty but at least I did not go fully down.

I got off the rugged trail and stopped at my bag again to refill my pockets with a couple GU packets and another packet of salt. I looked at my watch and the average pace was all the way down to 10:20. That is how tough the trail was. 11:27, 15:04, 11:43, and 10:44 were all on the trail and 2 other miles partially on the trail. Now it was time to go back and run on the paved bike trail and have 2 1/2 miles of railroad grade downhill to help. The next 2 full miles after to bag drop stop were 9:05 and 8:55. The legs were stiff but not too bad. The next 3 miles continued to be fast at 8:30, 9:00 and 8:57 so now I wanted to run the fastest time I could, plus I wanted to see if I could bring the average pace back to under 10:00.

I was passing a few runners on the trail which is always a fun thing and was only passed by a lady at mile 24 that I had been running with or near since mile 12. I was taking my usual 30 second walk breaks every 2 miles and that worked for me. I had brought along my fuel belt so i carried my own water. This was a good thing since they did not take my suggestion of more water stops. They had them at 3.5 miles, 7 miles, 10.5 miles, 13.5 miles, 16.5 miles, 20 miles and 23 miles. 7 water stops is not enough for a full marathon. so it was good of me to bring my own. Suggestion 2 not taken!

At mile 25, I rewarded myself with 1 last walk break and I found out later, this gave the guy about 75 meters behind me hope he could pass me. With 3/4 of a mile to go, i could hear his foot steps closing in and that is when I decided that this was not going to happen. I picked it up and gave all the effort I could so he did not pass me. It really wouldn't have been that big of a deal if he did pass me since this was only a training run but the competitive runner in me won out on that decision. I ended up running mile 26 is 8:38 just to keep in front of him. I ended up beating him by 20 seconds but I did not catch the lady who passed me at mile 24 by about 10 seconds or so.

I crossed the finish line in 4:16:09, a full 26 seconds faster than last year with an average pace of 9:47 per mile. I was happy with this time considering the course and my goals. Most people I talked to said the course make them 15 to 20 minutes slower (all on the Ice Age Trail) than a regular marathon so that means I did a bit better than expected. And right after the finish line, I received my first Trailbreaked Marathon Medal. In past years, they did not give the full marathoners a finishers medal and I suggested they change this and they did. Suggestion #3 taken. It is not a great medal by any means but it is also not the worst either. It is 2 inches by 1.25 inches and has the Trailbreaker logo on it. Hey, at least they got the medal, Kudos for the change.

After the race, I was able to get a free leg massage from the Lakeside School of Massage Therapy who was at the post race area. Tiffanie did a great job working out some of the knots that I got somewhere in the race. I may have to now make an appointment and get a full massage. I kept telling her it "hurt so good". She would work areas and it was painful but I knew it would help afterwards and it did. The post race area also improved their selections of food. They did not have chocolate milk :( but did have water, some flavored drink, bananas, apples, bagels and cinnamon rolls. Those were really good. And they had beer. And for the second straight marathon, I enjoyed a beer after and it was good. They also did not have an overly loud band blasting music not allowing anyone to talk to anyone else. So they took some of my advise on improving the post race area. Suggestion #4 taken.

The last thing I suggested they tried to do but did not do well at all. I suggested mile markers the entire race. In the past they has them at miles 1,2,3 and 4, and then the last 3 miles. This year they added a cone at mile 6, 7, 8, and 10, as well as 17, 19, 20, and 21. The problem is that the 6 mile cone was really at 6.2 miles. the 7 at 7.3 and all the way to mile 10 cone at 10.5 miles. This according to my garmin and since the race is on a bike trail and fairly straight during these miles, I knew it was not off. My garmin seems to be pretty accurate. On the way back, they used the same cones with a different number of the other side so the 17 mile cone was the other way off at 16.5 miles and then getting closer as we went along. Suggestion #5 not taken. It would be so easy to put these markers out accurately but they did not. Maybe next year.

I have now done this marathon 3 times and may do it again, maybe not. It is not a great marathon and it a tough one. I really have no desire to "race" this one but a training run may happen again. I am happy with my performance today all things considered. I am sore now but that is usual.

Just Signed Up For The Trailbreaker

I just signed up for the Trailbreaker Marathon about 15 minutes ago. Nothing like waiting until the last moment, registration closes in 45 minutes. This is the first time they have had a registration deadline. The last 2 times I ran this race, I drove in and signed up 45 minutes before the start. I would have preferred this way, but oh well, no complaints. Now I have no reason to wake up and say I am not doing it.

So a nice long 26.2 mile training run on Saturday. I found this YouTube Video that someone posted following them along the Trailbreaker in 2007. That was the first year I ran the full here. (They have a half marathon and 5K, both I have done in the past). The best part of this video is you can see some footage of the tower (Right at the 1:44 point in the video) that is required for us to climb and the nice stairs and hill we have to climb just below the tower. It is pretty brutal but all for fun.

I will tell you all how it goes on Saturday or Sunday.

A Few More Thoughts On The Albany Marathon

Some more quick notes on the Albany Marathon. I just checked some of the posts on MarathonGuide.com and agree with most of them. Someone wrote how they thought it was a hilly marathon, I am not sure what route they took but it wasn't at all. One guy mentioned it was hilly compared to Chicago, well, what other marathon isn't? (Besides the indoor ones?) Otherwise the posts were right on. A really good smaller town marathon that I recommend.

Here is a photo of the Finishers Medal. I would say that this one is a above average. It is a nice size and has some weight to it. Plus the design is nice. The date on the lanyard is also a nice touch. If you like medals, there is no reason to skip this one.

Here is a photo of the shirt. While it is a nice technical short sleeve shirt, and I like short sleeve as apposed to long sleeve, the design and color are awful. OK, maybe awful if you are a guy. I can't see myself wearing this one too often while out on runs. The guys in my group were making fun of it so I would definitely give it a thumbs down. Maybe your taste is different that mine and like it. Well, we can chalk it up to opposing opinions then.

I have not run since the marathon. This is the longest I have taken off of running in a long, long time. I was going to run with Mike on Saturday morning but I woke up to wind and rain and thought the bed seemed like a better choice. This morning I just wimped out. I will get back to it tomorrow though.

I am planning on running another marathon is just 2 weeks. The Trailbreaker Marathon in Waukesha, WI. I live only about 12 miles or so from the start/finish area. In any defence, it is only going to be a long training run marathon. No goals on time, just get out there and have a good run. It is a race I gave a lot of my opinions on to one of the guys on the race committee. I am curious whether they took some of my opinions and used them. They did use one already and are giving a finishers medal to the half and full marathons. I have run this one twice before, both as training runs, and this is the ONLY marathon I do not have a medal from. I also suggested mile markers since the only had them for the first 4 miles and the last 3. I also suggested a little better food after the event instead of popcorn. Who wants popcorn after a race?!?!

This race is considered one of the toughest in the US and I said not to change the course at all. It really is only difficult for miles 9 1/2 to 15 1/2. At just over halfway, you do have to climb an observation tower about 60 feet high. That is a lot of steps that are difficult but I don't like always running easy ones. And again, it is only a training run.

A Few Shots of the Race

I didn't run today, but I did get some pictures from the race on Saturday.

Looks like I am in the lead group, doesn't it? No, this is about 2 1/2 miles into the race with plenty already ahead of us.

I think this is with about 5 1/2 miles to go. I am not doing too bad, I am in mid air (barely). Looks like I need a haircut.

Glad to finally be done. My legs have had it.

Looks like Paul has a huge lead here. Paul did really good in the race. 3:49:01 for 23rd place.

Chaz ran really smooth as well. He ran the last 4 miles in with a friend and both basically tied for 6th place in 3:14.

A Few More Thoughts on The Trailbreaker Marathon

A few more thoughts on yesterday's marathon. While this was the 17th Trailbreaker Marathon, it was not held last year due to the director or others not being able to put time into it so it looked to me like there were new people running things. Hopefully they will take some advise and make some suggested changes to the race.

I know this is a low key race and did not cost much ($40 on race day) but most people I talked to agreed that they should have at least given a medal to the finishers. You heard that right, no medal to the finishers! No certificate of completion either. I guess I should be grateful for the long sleeve T-shirt I received (which is not bad though). I would have gladly paid an extra $10 to insure a medal at the finish.

Someone wrote 2 years ago on MarathonGuide.com that this marathon was a joke. And I can see why he/she would think that if you were looking for a top quality marathon. There were only 7 water stops on the entire course. Not enough if you ask me. There was no food available (except for some orange slices at one stop) and there was virtually no fans along the course. Maybe 2 or 3 out to the tower and then maybe a dozen at the tower. There were definitely more police at road crossings than fans and the police were very friendly so that helped. I knew this coming into the race so I was not surprised at what was there. I wasn't expecting a high quality marathon.

The after race area was poor as well. There was Popcorn to eat! Just what I want after 26.2 miles of running. There was cold water so that was a plus. But they had the festivities in a small (1 basketball court sized) gymnasium and they had a band playing WAY TOO LOUD!!! I couldn't stand it so I went back outside.

I don't want to complain too much here, just hopefully the people who run the race will make improvements is all. $40 isn't a lot for a marathon but they can improve. The course was safe and barely ran on any roads and only crossed a few streets so that was nice. It was also nice to have the bag drop, so I hope they don't lose those features.

Will I run this again? Depends if I need another long run at this time next year again and if the weather is good. If either of those is a "no", then I will not run it. If both are a "Yes", then I will see if a friend wants to join me and enjoy the scenery and not worry at all about running a good time while I do have a good time.

I hope I didn't sound too much like a complainer. Just want everyone to know what they are getting into if they run this race.

Race Report: Trailbreaker Marathon

Let me start by apologizing and explaining to you why I didn't tell I was running a marathon today. I am sorry I did not tell you recently of my intentions but I really didn't fully decide to run this until Thursday. I did hint that I was going to run this one a month or 2 ago but like I said, no decision until 2 days ago. Also, I did not "race" this run, I used it as a long training run. If I felt good at mile 18 to 20, then I would decide to pick it up for a time, otherwise it was just a long run.

The Trailbreaker Marathon took place in Waukesha, WI and started about 15 miles or so from my house. It is ranked by Marathon and Beyond as one of North America's 25 toughest marathons. For the most part, it is a pretty easy marathon except for miles 11 to 16, those are a different story.

I woke up at about 6AM, ate some oatmeal and then travelled to the starting area. I signed up for the race (Yes, signed up "Day of") and then met Chaz and Paul who were also running the race. It was sunny in the morning and the starting temperature was in the Mid 30's, I LOVE IT! Chaz's plan was to run 7 minute pace, Paul was to run with me for 2 miles or so and then take off and try to break 4 hours. My goal was to practice my marathon strategy of easy for 6 or so miles (Just over 9 minute pace) then pick it up.

The race starts and runs along the Fox River for a mile, very beautiful scenery, then a little sidewalk running and road running until we hit the Glacier Drumlin Trail at about mile 3. This trail is a paved bike trail easy to run. The first mile I ran a little fast (8:46) and then slowed it down some and was at an average pace of just over 9 through 7.

The race has under 200 people but there were plenty near me on the way out. I talked with a few guys who run lots of marathons and even are "Streak Runners", runners who run everyday. One guy had run over 9000 days in a row before he had surgery to stop his streak, the other was over 4000 I think. I stopped at mile 7 to use the facilities then continued on. Average pace now was 9:09, perfect. I now picked up the pace some. The trail now went uphill at railroad grade. The next 2 miles gained 200 feet. I ran these 2 miles under 9's.

A neat part of this race is that they have a bag drop at miles 10.5 and 16. This is mostly an out and back race except for the first 1.25 miles so we could get stuff from our bags twice. I put in my bag a banana, some AccelGel, Accelerade Drink, and an extra pair of shoe and sock (I will explain more later). I stopped and picked up my bottle of Accelerade and kept moving. A third of a mile past the bag drop is where this race get interesting and hard. We leave the comfort of the bike trail and start on the Ice Age trail, a grass, dirt, rocky, hilly trail.

The first 1/2 mile o the trail is wet but not too bad until we cross a little bridge, then we encounter about 200 meters of muddy, sloppy trail. I run as close to the edge of the trail as possible to avoid the major mud but there are bushed blocking my way. It gets a little dry for a few feet them gets muddy all over again. After 200 meters, the mud is done (until we come past it on the return trip). Now my shoes feel very heavy as they are full of mud on the bottom but my feet are still dry. I see the first place runner pass going the other way and I look at my watch to guesstimate how far back my friend Chaz is. I see him in about 5th or 6th and let him know he is about 2 1/2 minutes behind the leaders. I now enter the woods and the trail gets very tough. Lots of roots and rocks and leaves block them some. The hills prove challenging as we climb higher toward the signature spot of this marathon. I walk up some of these short hills as they are so steep, I don't want to waste energy to only save a few seconds. I see Paul pass me and wish him luck as he continues. I finally see the turn around which is at the top or a bunch of trail stairs (too steep so they built stairs into the hill), I walk up these stairs as it is very hard to run these, especially after 13.5 miles.

I reach the signature turnaround, but before I go back, I must climb it. It is a 40 foot observation tower. Everyone in the race must climb the tower and then come down and run back. Now I am on my way back down the hills, rocks, roots, leaves, etc. You really have to pay attention to the trail otherwise and sprained ankle is easy to come by. Plus other runners are coming toward you and the trail at times is narrow. My time up the stairs and up the tower, and back down slowed me to a 14:03 mile, that is how difficult this trail is. After this, my pace picks up down the hills and back to the bike trail I a look forward to the paved trail for stability and hopefully an increased comfortable pace. I have to run through the mud again (remember, I have extra shoes, I knew there was gong to be mud), and I get to the bike trail.

My legs took a real beating on the dirt trail and hills and they are tired. I am also very warm and sweating good so I decide to drop my long sleeve shirt at the bag drop when I get there and just run in a short sleeve shirt. Little did I know that I accidentally pinned my number in one corner to both shirts. I must have looked really funny doing a weird dance taking off both shirts, unpinning and re-pinning and getting my short sleeve back on. I stop at my bag and refill myself with AccelGel, eat half a banana, and grab my Accelerade bottle but decide my shoes are OK. A lady passes me at the bag drop and I run behind her for a few miles as no one else is close behind. I run the next 3 miles at under 9:30 even though my legs are tired and then the next 2 under 10. I begin to try to calculate a finishing time in my head but also remind myself this is a training run. The final 4 miles are over 10 but under 11 and I can't wait to finish.

A few runner have caught up to me and passed me and some I passed. I see the finish line ahead and finish in a time of 4:16:35. I think I ended up in 48th place, my 3rd top 50 place this year. It really helps when you run small races tp lace high :) I am happy with the time considering a few things. I was at 9:00 pace until we hit the difficult rocky, muddy, hilly trail. My only 2 miles over 11 minutes are the tower mile and the mile I stopped at the bag drop too long. It is the fastest of the 4 marathons I have run this year so that is also good. If I compare the times of my friends and how they normally do in a race, this is a race about 15 minutes slower than a normal race which would put me right near 4 hours and on a training run. Chaz ends up running 3:08 (or close to that) and takes 7th or 8th place overall. Paul finishes in 3:49.

It is funny all the things you think about during a race. I had lots of miles all by myself so the mind goes everywhere. I do recall thinking of my friend Karl and the good times we had. I also was thinking of a few of my Blog friends and reminding myself they were cheering me on, even if they didn't know I was running. I kept thinking how fun it would be if they were next to me running. Maybe someday I could meet some of you, that would be a lot of fun.

It is now in the evening and my legs are still tired (duh!) I have to wake up early as my oldest princess is singing in church with her class at the 8:00 service. It is always a treat to hear little voices singing. Hope your weekend is going great!

I will post some pictures from the race when I see them.