Weekend Workouts

This weekend I had some really great workouts on and off the snow. On Saturday Sundari and I went over the Hartley and meet up with Gregg, Tony, and Erik Nordgren. I know I am spoiled when I head out the door and am dissappointed that it is ONLY 25 degrees. What great weather for a JANUARY long run. We headed out for a long run - I was going for a bit more than 3:00. We did a loop in Hartley before swinging back to the parking lot to refuel and then continue on to Hawk's Ridge and the Lester snowmobile trails.

Sundari and I going to Hartley for a long run

When we got to Hawk's Ridge we met up with Dave S. and did a nice loop in Lester. The trails were great for running, but I think skiing or snowshoeing would be a bad idea. There was a a little coating of ice in some places, and all of us took some awkward dives at some point, but we all came out unharmed!

We then headed back up the Lester Amity trails to Hartley and Erik and I finished up at 3:15, with Tony going on for a bit more. He is doing the Cold Water 50K in Arizona in a few weeks so he is getting ready for that. Good luck Tony! It was a great run!

The trail head at Hartley. This is the most snow we ran on all day

Then on Sunday I went down to the North End trail head in Cable WI for a snowshoe workout...on real snow! What a concept! I did a workout with 10 minute ANT reps and a long warm up and cool down. I started the workout on the dedicated snowshoe trails, but most of them are more tree covered and so the snow is a bit thin. I headed onto the Birkie trail and the snow was perfect. I had a great workout and was again the beneficary of great weather in the low 30's! I just hope this snow sticks around for the Boulder ski and snowshoe race this weekend.

This week I will have one mid-long run and two speed workouts, one mid week and one at the Boulder Snowshoe race and USSSA qualifer. My only real goal for the race is to qualify for the USSSA National Championships and get a good ANT workout. All the best to the other racers and anyone racing someone else this coming weekend.

Keep exploring the limits!

Lester Park and Pine Valley NMTC Races

On October 29th and November 5th I ran in the final two NMTC fall trail series races of the year. 2011 was the 30th year for the series, and the community enthusiasm and turn out at the runs continues to grow. This year also marked the last year with Gene Curnow as the series race director. The Curnow family has been instrumental in the Northern Minnesota Track Club, the northern Minnesota running community, and both the NMTC trail series and the Voyageur ultra marathon. Our local trail running community has been very lucky to have the Curnow's leadership and organization for literally decades!

The strting line at the Lester Park NMTC Race

The Lester Park trail race was the longest of the series at 10.7k. It was a three loop course on the Lester Park ski trails. The course was hard packed and dry and included several challenging hills with a long down hill finish. I again ran most of the race with a chase pack behind race leader Eric Atkinson. On the third and final lap of the race I found myself in 6th place, and put on a slight surge to move into 5th place, which was where I would finish the race.

Paul closing hard at the Lester Park NMTC run. I finished 5th, and Paul just behind in 6th

Cooling down after the run with Sundari and some other local runners

Pine Valley Ski Area in Cloquet

The series finally was held at the Pine Valley Ski area in Cloquet. Pine Valley is a beautiful trail system that has running, biking, skiing, and snowshoeing trails. They also have still operational ski jumps that you can just see in the photo above.

The race was a 5.7k single loop course. I started the race with a small lead pack and we ran together for the first 1.5k. At that point Eric and two other UMD runners just done with the cross season opened a gap and Craig Hertz, Paul Kimpling, and I formed a chase pack. We ran together until about 4k when Craig and I pulled ahead of Paul. The two of us ran neck and neck until 400 meters to go, when Craig beat me in the sprint. I finished the final race of the series in 5th place. My finishes in the races of the series ranged from 2nd to 5th. I was really pleased with how well I did this season at such a wide range of distances - from winning a 12 hour race and setting a course record at a 100k to placing very well at these 5k to 10k races. A big thanks to my coach Jason Kask for guiding me through that great season.

After the race there was a potluck and celebration for the Curnow's "retirement" from being the series race director. To me these trail runs and events are a prime example of what I love about our endurance sports community. As some of you know, I have been going through some really difficult personal struggles recently, and my friends and training partners here in northern Minnesota have been a huge support. I really appreciate all that they have done for me.

The post NMTC series potluck

I am now taking a few weeks to train at a lower volume and intensity - in the 12 to 14 hour a week range - and will race one last time this year at the Gobble Gallop. Then in December I will begin to build up my training and focus to start snowshoe racing in January. I have a tentative race schedule for 2012 that I will post on my blog when I start to refocus my training in December.

I hope you all had great 2011 fall races, and I hope to see you out on the roads and trails this winter. Keep exploring the limits!