Miles and Miles at the FANS 12 Hour

Last week I joined a few other crazy, and by that I mean crazy cool, ultra runners for the FANS 12 Hour race at Lake Nakomis in the Twin Cities.  The race is in it's 23rd year and is a fundraiser for the FANS association, which is an academic support program for Twin Cities students.  Last year I had a great race in tough conditions with temps over 90 degrees!  I was hoping for better weather this year.

Crew area at FANS about 45 min before the start

As the race started I went out with the leaders, but after about 2 hours I decided to slow down just a bit.  Some of the other runners in the lead pack were shooting for PR times and distances in the 50 Mile and 100k to try to earn a spot on the US National 100K team.  I ran for about 4:00 with Carolyn Smith and we ended up closing the gap with some of the early race leaders as their strong pace started to ware on them. 

Just after the 50 Mile mark of the race, almost 7 Hours in

The weather was much better this year, with highs of about 72 degrees.  I felt much stronger this year and was able to run a much more even pace throughout the race.  During the course of the race I was running in second and third, and ended in third place with 75.2 miles - a New 12 Hour PR for me.  I also got a new 50 Mile Road PR at 6:50:00.  I know that my coach Jason, as well as my former teammates Tyler and Anne's visits and pacing during the race really helped me and pushed me to both my new PR's - so a big thanks to them and my always awesome crew!  

Listening to "Stuff You Should Know" Podcasts

 After the race, I felt much better then I did last year.  I felt like my race pacing, nutrition, and post race recovery was dialed in really well.  A big thanks goes out to all of the volunteers and the massage therapists who helped me after the race too.  Congrats to all of the runners at FANS and who raced at other weekend races, including my friends and teammates at the Minneapolis Marathon and Half Marathon. 

Recent Happenings

Recently, preparations and training for the upcoming ultra season have really picked up. My training has been solid with many great threshold workouts and some solid weekend long runs. My weekly volume has continued to climb hitting 19 hours, my highest so far this year. I have been connecting with lots of training partners for workouts too. I have been training with Dave H, Dave S, Tony, Eric, Craig, and of course Sundari recently. I have really enjoyed having other people to train with and to push each other.

This past week, Feb 27 through March 4, was my 19 hour training week with 6:30 of that volume coming in my back to back weekend workouts. I also did a cross training workout as well as some strength and a threshold workout with 15 minute reps. So far my build up is looking good and I am feeling great. My resting heart rate is showing that I am recovering well and getting even more fit.

I have been having lots of adventures in other areas of my life as well. A few weeks ago the Duluth Running Company had their 2011 team party across the bridge at the Thirsty Pagan. It was a great chance to meet up with lots of team members that I don't see very often. I was also honored to be named the 2011 Duluth Running Company Team Runner of the Year and Team Points Champion. It was a great cap to one of my best ultra seasons yet and the celebration with the team.

Some of the DRC team at the 2011 team party

Another bit of excitement came with the snow that we received this past week. I got a 4 season tent (the REI Arete 2) back in December of last year, and with no snow was not all that motivated to test it out. But the blizzard provided a great opportunity to see how it performed in snow, cold, and high winds.

My 4 Season Tent

I was really happy with the way it performed. The first night I noticed some dampness on my sleeping bag and some condensation on the upper inside walls near the top vent. The following night I changed the position of the vent and unzipped part of the side door vent and woke up to almost no condensation. The tent was really warm, even becoming too hot for my zero degree bag, and it felt rock solid under the weight of the fresh snow and the high wind gusts. The floor stood up to Sundari's nails and it was a flash to set up - even the first time in high winds and blowing snow/blizzard conditions. If you are in the market for a good all season tent the REI Arete 2 is a good option.

Under The Fresh Snow

Keep on keeping on, and have a great week!