Superior Trail Spring Races and Training Weekend

Last weekend I had the opportunity to volunteer and crew for the Superior Trail Spring 50k and 25k races.  The races are held at Lutsen resort along Lake Superior's north shore.  I camped Friday night at Temperance River State Park, just south of the aid station that I was volunteering at the next day - the Oberg Mt. aid station.  

Oberg Mt. Aid Station - Pre Runners

I arrived at 7AM to help set things up and meet the people I would be working with in runner tracking.  As the day heated up runners started to come through.  Oberg Mt. is the turn around point for the 25k runners and the 1/4 point and 3/4 point for 50k runners.  The heat took it's toll on runners and in my hours working at the aid station more than a half dozen runners dropped out of the race.  I saw a lot of strong runners from the DRC team and the TCRC team from the Twin Cities too.    

Some runners starting to come into the Oberg Mt. aid station

After the race I went to Lutsen to do my run on the SHT, and I also found my self doing some challenging hill climbs on the down hill ski runs.  Later that evening I camped at Cascade River State Park with Eric and Tony. 

Running along the Cascade River

On Sunday the three of us ran from Cascade State Park to Grand Marais.  The weather was a bit windy and rainy, but we powered through the run.  It was a great weekend of training, camping, and volunteering.  Kudos to everyone who raced all around the region last weekend!

Fitgers 5K

This past weekend I joined over 1800 runners for the Fitgers 5K.  The wind and light rain and snow shower did little to deter the mood of us on the starting line.  Not even a 10 minute delay could reduce the energy of the record crowd. 

When the gun went off we took off on the slight down hill towards canal park.  Aided by the down hill I went through the first mile 5:12 but still felt relaxed and in control, even exchanging words and encouragement with my fellow DRC team member Eric Nordgren and a racer from Thunder Bay, Canada. 

As we approached the second mile the wind picked up and met us head on, and we would have a slight up hill and head wind for the remainder of the race, and the slower conditions showed in my 5:28 last mile split.  I finished in 6th place in a gun time of 16:44 - my fastest certified 5k time for several years. 

I have not yet started doing a lot of speed work, and have been focusing on base work recently, so I did not have high expectations in terms of time or place at Fitgers.  I was really happy with the race and surprised myself with my turn over and higher end capacity.  I think this is a good sign for my first ultra of the season this weekend at the Chippewa Moraine 50k and for the rest of the season. 

Best of luck to everyone racing this coming weekend and in any of the great spring races coming up.  Enjoy the great spring weather we have been having!

Last Week Training and New Shoes

So far this year's training is off to a good start for me. Things have been coming together much better with sleep, nutrition, and recovery, and my workouts have been showing it. Last week my total volume was the highest since the end of last season at over 15 hours and about 100 miles. In addition to my regular runs and a great long run I did two excellent ANT workouts and saw just how well my anaerobic threshold is developing. This week will pail in comparison to the weeks to come this spring and summer, but for this time of year it was great!

Sundari and I post long run at Bagley. It was a great long run with Erik Nordgren.

The trail conditions at Bagley were still sad for skiing and snowshoeing, but great for trail running. Even the single track was not too icy!

My new road Minimus's

I also got some new road shoes at the beginning of this week, and I decided to try something new and go with the New Balance Road Minimus. I have really liked my New Balance trail shoes including the 101's and my new 110's, so I thought these might be a good fit too. The heal to toe drop is much lower than the Mizuno Precision and it is lighter weight as well. The fit and feel of the shoe is very similar to the 110 trail shoes. So far I have no complaints about this shoe, or my 110's. New Balance has really been doing some good things with their shoes lately! I think I am becoming a New Balance running shoe guy!

I hope training and life goes as well for us all this week as mine went last week!