Ice Age Trail Ultra Weekend

On May 14th Meg and I traveled to La Grange WI for the 30th annual Ice Age Trail ultra. The race hosted a 50 Miler, 50k, and half marathon and attracted over 600 runners from all over the midwest, several states, and 2 countries.Our day started early, as Meg was running her first 50 miler and the race started at 6:00 AM. She was feeling good, and her training had been going well, but she really did not know what to expect. She started the race with big smile on her face, which is the most important part.

Race director Jeff Mallach giving runners final instructions

I went back to the car and got a bit more sleep before the 8:15 start of my 50K race. The weather was perfect at the start, 50 to 55 and partly cloudy. The weather held throughout the day with only a little mist and rain later in the day for the later 50 miler finishers.

I started off my race with the lead pack. After only about one mile Scott Gall, a top midwest marathoner and snowshoe racer, took off and none of the rest of us were to see him again. I ran with the the third place runner for the first out and back section of about 13.1 miles.

Running in 2nd and 3rd on the first 13.1 out and back stretch

When we came back to the start/finish area to begin the first of two nine mile loops two other runners passed me, dropping me to 4th place overall. I held that position going into the second and final loop of the race, and gained about 1 minute on the 3rd place runner, but after going out a bit hard in the first section of the race I did not have my usual second half strength. I finished 4th overall and 1st in my age group. Scott Gall won the race in a blistering 3:18, and the 2nd through 4th place finishers were separated by only a few minutes - it was a very competitive race!

With my 1st place age group award (and 4th overall) in the 50K

After my finish I was able to head back out and see Meg a few times before she finished the 50 miler. She had a great race, also finishing in 8:34 and as 4th woman overall and 3rd in her age group.

Overall it was a good first race for me, and I am looking forward to improving on my endurance and strength for my coming races. Thanks to my crew who came out to support Meg and me in our races, all of the great volunteers who were out there for the runners, race director Jeff Mallach for putting on a great race, and to my sponsors for the great shoes/nutrition/and training products that helped get me there.

April Training

As the month of April drew to a close my training focus started to shift from base endurance work, to racing. In April I had my longest training week and long run of the year with a 20:00+ hour week and a 4:00 run. I also increased my threshold workouts doing several workouts with 1:00 to 1:30 of threshold zone work between 5:25 and 5:35 per mile pace during April.

Something else I have taken up again is geocaching. I did some geocaching early in college, but had lost touch with it in the past few years. It is a really fun activity using GPS units to find hidden caches in the woods or city around you. I have even started doing some geocaching on my easy or long runs as they are often placed right along the trail or in the parks that I frequent on my runs. I don't have the benefit of stopping long to search, but it can be really addicting none the less.

I'm now just a few days away from my first race of the season, the Ice Age 50K. I am excited for the race, and a bit anxious to get the first one out of the way. I feel like my training has been solid and I am more fit now than I was at this point last year.

Meg and I are also excited about our partnership with Montrail this season. We have had great runs in our Montrail shoes over the past month. The new Rouge Racer is a nicely designed light weight, lower profile shoe that will suit trail running and some light road running too.