But before I go any further, I need to say some thank yous.
First, thank you to my wife. While she isn't always thrilled on the surface when I say things like, "I gotta go for a run. It'll take around 5 or 6 hours," She continues to support me in these endeavors and for that I am truly grateful. (And shhh....a week or two ago she said that this year, she thinks she might start running these trails a little bit this year instead of walking them. So...yay for her!) Also, thank you to Jack and Jordyn for sometimes biking along with me, running with me or - most of the time - not really noticing that I'm gone, thus lessening my personal guilt.
Next, thank you to Steve and Jeff who sucked me into this and continue to inspire me to this day with their own pursuits. When I find myself contemplating if and/or what I can accomplish on the trails, I often think of those two and say, "Well if they can do ________ I should be able to do________."
For those who know them, this probably isn't the must sound decision-making strategy for me to utilize, but so far it's led me to more places than I ever thought possible so I guess I'll continue to roll with it.
Finally, thank you to those of you have offered your words of encouragement, your support and - for some of you - your own valuable free time to keep me company on the trails. One of the most rewarding aspects of the past year has been spending time with good people, carrying on good conversations about whatever comes up while we're moving through the woods. I really feel I've gotten to know some of you a whole lot better over the past year and I hope that continues into the future.
Now, on to what has transpired since my last post.
As mentioned in my last post, on February 23, Jeff, Travis and I knocked out a 10-miler with temperatures of -3 and a windchill of -25. I was scheduled for 16, but because I was battling a head cold at the time I figured 10 miles was good enough and I probably shouldn't push it. (Turns out that running in those temps was good for my cold as it just sort of disappeared over the next few days after that run.)
Then our sudden warm-up hit soon after, and on Sunday, March 15th - a scant 20 days later - I went for a 13.2 mile late-afternoon run in temperatures of 64 degrees. Jack and Jordyn joined me on their bikes for that one - at least for the first 8 miles. That run was also supposed to be 16 miles, but during the first of my two planned 8-mile loops I smelled no fewer than 5 outdoor grills fired up with all kinds of aromas coming from them, so I decided to shorten it to a half marathon and zip over to B & B, pick up some steaks, and grill them before it got too dark. All said and done, I made the right choice!
Next, if you look back at my posts from last spring, you'll notice that during most of my long runs I usually ended up with some sort of knee pain and/or having to walk the last 3-5 miles due to lack of energy. I've been looking forward, with a bit of nervous anticipation, to my first long trail run to see how my changes in training this year would manifest themselves on the trail. I was more than pleased to find out that a.) aside from the usual leg soreness from running, I never felt any pain close to what I felt last year and b.) I still had enough energy to run most of the entire 22 miles with the exception of my usual walk breaks on steeper hills and/or the icy Carlton trail sections. In fact, when I got back out to the Munger Trail and ran the last half mile incline to my car, I had to text Jeff and fill him in as he would always try to get me to "finish strong" on that section last spring, and rarely - if ever - was I able to do so.
I don't know if it's the shortening of my stride, my new found patience with pacing, my hill workouts, my Hokas or any combination of whatever elements, but I can honestly say that I enjoyed all 22 miles and am now starting to think about setting time goals in future races instead of "just finishing" goals. I'll have to see how the next few long runs go to be sure, but I'm starting to really, really, REALLY look forward to the Superior Spring 50K in Lutsen on May 16!
Between now and then though, there's a pretty big race coming up for some of our crew April 10th and 11th in southeastern Minnesota. As part of the Zumbro Endurance runs, Jay will be entering his first official trail race at the 17-mile distance, Steve will be entering the Midnight 50-miler as one of his training runs for Western States and Jeff will be attempting to knock off another 100-miler! For info, see: http://www.zumbro100.com/
As of right now, I'm planning on joining Jeff for the last 20 or so miles of his race as a pacer. Hopefully things will go as well as they did last fall when I did the same thing and I have no reason to think that they won't! If any of you aren't busy that weekend, come on down as I'm sure Jeff, Steve and Jay wouldn't mind a little crew support. (Plus it's run on a 17-mile loop course, so there's not much traveling for crew to do. However, there might be some hiking to aid stations involved. See the above link for details! Also, from what I hear, a pretty laid back camping scene on the premises as the race starts and ends basically in the boonies! )
In closing, I'd just like to say that at this time last year, I had never run farther than a 5K. Now, one year later I regularly use phrases like "I'm going for a quick 5-miler" or "gonna knock out 10 miles" or "can't wait for my 20-miler." That, to me, is absolutely ridiculous. Further proof that if my bloated 44-year-old carcass can do this, anybody can do anything. Start slow, stay positive, and over time you'll be amazed at what you can accomplish!
That's about it for this post. Until next time, enjoy the rest of the photos below and, if you haven't done so already, get out there and explore!!!
--Stu