Ice Age 50 Mile

Camping the night before the Ice Age Trail races

On May 11th I traveled down to southern Wisconsin for the Ice Age Trail races.  I made the trip with some fellow Duluth ultra runners who were also running in the 26th annual race.  The race is now part of the Montrail Ultra Cup, so it has now become one of the most competitive ultras in the mid west.  I was running the 50 Mile, my first of the year.  We camped at a near by unit of the Kettle Moraine State forest the night before the race.  The weather held for us and would provide not only good camping but good racing too.   



Racers starting to come to the start area.  Over 800 runners raced at this year's Ice Age races

The 50 Mile race started bright and early at 6 AM.  The race attracted some of the best ultra runners the country including Zach Gingrich, Tim Olson, and the current US 50 Mile trail record holder.  I was excited to test myself against this great competition.  The race started at a fast clip, and I went out with a chase pack of 4 runners.  The lead pack had about 8 to 10 runners, and I knew that some of those runners would be falling back as the race progressed.  That would leave an opportunity for strong second half runners like me to move up in the field.  

Nearing the half way point

At the half way point I was in about 15th place and still feeling strong.  I was moving up in the field taking by advantage of some of the longer climbs between the aid station at Horse Riders Camp and the far turn around.  My nutrition proved well balanced.  I again used Honey Stinger gels but also used Honey Stinger chews as my stomach began to get tired of the sweetness and consistency of gels later in the race.  I also used Mountain Dew at a few of the aid stations in the second half.  Mountain Dew is one example of a food that I don't ever use in normal life, but in an ultra the sugar and caffeine can really bring you back from the edge.   


Top of a climb at about the 40 mile mark

With 10 miles to go I was still feeling strong and did my best to put as much of a gap on the runners behind me as I could.  I was pleased with how little of the race were "dark times" for me, and how even my energy level stayed through out the race.  I finished in 7:14 and 12 place, only 15 minuets behind some of the biggest ultra runners in the country.  7:14 is also a new 50 Mile trail PR for me by almost 27 minutes.  This result showed me that by the end of the season I think I can run a sub 7:00 trail 50 Mile.  Next up for me: the FANS 12 Hour.  I had a great race there last year with a gutsy finish, and I am looking forward to using my experience from last year to see if I can get a second PR this season. 

Congrats to all the runners at the Ice Age trail races and any other races out there this past weekend! 

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.