With Javelina Jundred just 48 hours away, I am deep into my taper and thus deep into the ‘taper funk’.  It happens every time but each time, it takes me off-guard.  First it feels great to have more time, sleep in, start to recover, and run when it feels good rather than because its “on the schedule.”  But soon, it turns to something else…funk.  And, I feel a little extra funky this time.  Of course, that makes sense - I did more training than I have ever done, raced more confidently than I have in the past, and now I’ve tapered more aggressively than I’m used to but what that has left me with is a more complete feeling of funk. I wake up in the morning with stiff legs.  I go for a 30 minute run and feel like its all I can handle.  My hamstrings are tight.  My ankles ache.  As I am reminded by Paige and Jim, all of this is how I know I am in the middle of the perfect taper.  This is always how it goes, the legs feel rough, the body feels thick, and the confidence wanes.  While I know they are right and I’ve told others the same thing on many occasions, I still have my doubts and insecurities which, I’m hoping, will encourage me to run a smart race.

If everything goes as it has in the past, the funk will pass and leave in its place, a fun weekend with friends in a warm sunny place doing what I love to do.  The race will have live updates at the following link for those who are interested in following along.  The weather forecast is for sunny skies with 80 for a high and 56 for a low with 20% humidity and just less than 11 hours of daylight.  Best of luck to all my fellow CHUGS, I’m looking forward to spending the weekend with you all!

Me And Paige In Grant Park

It was a perfect fall Sunday.  We slept in until we woke up without an alarm, then we had coffee, then we lounged around until we walked over to the Field Museum for the final day of the Real Pirates exhibit.  I had been wanting to see it for a while but when I realized this was the last weekend, I called and got us tickets.  My fascination with pirates is odd considering I am such a “rule follower” … or perhaps that is exactly why I am so fascinated??  The walk down was wonderful.  Paige was a little stiff after her race on Saturday but thought the walk was helping to loosen things up.  The weather was amazing with bright blue skies, high 50’s, and a slight breeze.  We meandered through Grant Park and finally ended up on the museum campus.

After picking up our discounted tickets (one of the work perks that hasn’t been eliminated), we headed straight for the exhibit.  I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it was different than that ambiguous expectation.  It started with a history on slavery in the United States and then started the tale of a slavery ship that was taken over by pirates.  It was fun to read about how pirates came to be pirates, what it took to be a good pirate, how they modified their ships, and what they did with their booty.  The other thing I was struck by was the strict code that pirates lived by, albeit completely different than the code that the rest of society lives by, it was a code never-the-less.  After an hour and a half of living among the scurvy ridden decks of the high seas, we headed to get a snack and explore the rest of the museum.

By the time we left, the clouds had rolled in but the day was just as glorious as before.  We walked back through Millennium Park, stopping to enjoy the day.  We had decided to get sushi for dinner.  Sushi is one of the foods (along with ice cream and burgers) that I crave on a regular basis.  It had been over a month since I’d last had sushi and it was long overdue.  Dinner was great and I couldn’t have planned a more perfect day.

Ben And Sarah

We met up with the CHUGs at Mamma Mia’s on Friday night as planned and had a delicious (and extremely abundant) meal with some of our favorite people.  Despite the nerves I’m sure a few were feeling about the race the next day, the atmosphere was relaxed and fun.  Just like the “Fat Bastard” character in Austin Powers, we got just a little more than we bargained for … only in our case, it was with the food portions.  Ben ordered a small pizza and got a large, we all ordered garlic bread and got a loaf.  After dinner we said our good-byes and headed to our respective hotels.  We were bunking up with Brian and Kelly in Delafield.  It was just a Holiday Inn but it felt much nicer - the staff was friendly, the building was nice, and the beds were comfy.  While the girls readied things for the morning, Brian and I just lounged around laughing at the fact that the roles would be reversed in exactly one week when we would be preparing for Javelina while the girls took it easy - what fun!  We called it a night pretty early.

Paige And Ed At The Start

Saturday morning started at 4AM and we were on the road by 5AM.  It was misting but not raining and breezy but not windy - better than forecasted.  It took us about 25 minutes to get to the start of the race at Ottawa Lake.  When we pulled in, it was still pitch black with little spots of light where they had set up temporary lighting.  We got Paige’s bag checked and located some of the other CHUGs.  They had propane heaters set up and people were gathering near them to help fight off the chill of the morning.  It was exciting to be there and I had the itch to race.  We met up with Ben and Sarah - this would be her first 50 miler (she totally rocked it) and his first 50 miler after recovering from a broken toe (he rocked it too).  One of Ben’s co-workers, Michael, was there to run his first 50 miler as well and his fiance Blair.  My plan was to drive from AS to AS to crew for Paige.  Blair was there to watch Michael but didn’t feel all that comfortable driving from place to place so she opted to ride along with me.  I had some reservations because I didn’t want to be tied down but it worked out great.  She got to see Michael at several spots along the course and I great company for the day.

Paige was having a good race and came through the first three aid stations in good form.  By mile 20, she mentioned that it was lonely out there.  Ed Kelly rolled in just as Paige was heading out, he had started the day feeling less than great and the fever he had in the night was playing out during the race.  At mile 20, he decided that it wasn’t worth pushing it and pulled out; Blair and I took him back to his car.  Anyone else, I would probably have pushed them to keep going but Ed is an accomplished dude and I trusted his judgement.  I dropped Blair off at the 35 mile AS and then headed out to mile 28 to see Paige.  I got there in time to see Ben and Sarah come through and Torey and Jim were there.  They had driven up to cheer the CHUGs on and were making their rounds trying to see everyone.  It had been a while since I’d seen them and it felt good to hang out for a while catching up.  There was also a hilarious interaction with Jim and random runner (RR), both whom thought each other looked familiar.  I won’t be able to describe it adequately but I was convinced that they did actually know each other and that this was just a hilarious little thing they did when they saw each other:

RR: “You look familiar.”

Jim: “Yeah, so do you.”

RR: “Do you run too?”

Jim: “Yeah, I run.”

RR: “Are you an elite or something?”

Jim: “Nah.”

RR: “You from the East coast?”

Jim: “Nah, I’m from Chicago.”

It was hilarious.  Come to find out, they really didn’t know each other but the interaction was just like a scene out of a movie where in the next scene, they would give each other a one-armed hug and start talking about how long it had been since they’d seen each other.

Somewhere shortly thereafter, I decided that I was going to run the last 15 miles with Paige if I could find someone to drive my truck back to the start.  On the first try, Blair said she’d be happy to drive the truck back for me - bam, I was running.  I changed clothes and waited for my girl to get there.  Soon enough, she came rolling in and took one look at me in my shorts and said, “is this a joke?”.  It was no joke.  She was so excited to have the company and I was excited to be a part of her day.  We got her things from the truck and sent Blair on her way so she could get back and see Michael finish; we headed out on the trail toward the finish.  The afternoon had turned absolutely perfect - the morning had been cold and rainy but the sun had made its appearance in the afternoon and I was happy that I’d decided to run.  The miles went by quickly and before long, we were within sight of the finish.  Several CHUGs were there to greet us - it was a great way to end the run.

Paige After The Finish

After chatting a bit and changing clothes, we were off to Eagle, WI for some dinner with Kelly, Brian, and Tony.  We decided on the Coyote Canyon Grille and everyone was happy with their selection.  The drive home felt long but was completely worth it once we had showered and were laying in our own bed with an alarm set for 10AM, just in case - a fun weekend to be sure.  Congrats to all the CHUGS who ran but especially to Kelly, who ran her first 50K and to Sarah, who ran her first 50 miler!

This weekend is the North Face Endurance Challenge (Madison) and with one week till Javelina, I won’t be running.  But, I will be there supporting Paige and the other CHUGs.  We are leaving early from work and heading up to meet the group for a prerace pasta dinner at Mamma Mia’s.  It should be a good sized group and lots of fun, I suspect.  They have several distances, Paige is doing the 50 mile distance.  So far, the forecast is calling for 40 at the start with a slight chance for rain then clearing through the day with a high near 47 degrees - nearly perfect conditions.  Good luck to Paige and the rest of the runners!

Me And Paige With Our Mugs

A few months ago, I was looking for a race that would serve as my last long run before Javelina Jundred on October 31; I came across Glacial Trail 50 Mile - it was three weeks out and close to home, perfect!  Paige decided that she wanted in on the action and signed up for the 50k race.  We got a cheap hotel room in Sheboygan and it was set, we were going to Wisconsin.

Paige and I headed north on Friday after work.  We met up with my dad and Andrea for a Brooks Williams concert and then hung out at their place until mid-afternoon on Saturday.  It was a relaxing morning of cup after cup of Andrea’s delicious coffee, followed by meeting my niece Madeline for the first time, and hanging out.  Casey is getting married next weekend so she, her friend and Andrea were putting together some treat bags for the tables - Paige did a little taste testing but I refrained, somehow.  It was fun to see everyone and Madeline was great but eventually we got on the road and headed for Greenbush.

The drive over was very relaxing.  It was a gorgeous sunny afternoon and we made leisurely stops along the way for lunch and coffee.  We made it to the hotel and checked in, then we got our things together for the morning.  The forecasted temperature for the start was 30 degrees, warming to 45 through the day.  That’s not a bad temperature but its about 15 degrees colder than anything I’ve run in for nearly 8 months so I couldn’t quite remember what it felt like and thus how much clothing I would need.  I quickly decided that I was wearing shorts regardless but then the decision making process slowed.  We recently got our new CHUG shirts and I wanted to wear one in the worst way, but they are short sleeve and I was having a hard time putting together a combination that would be appropriate for the temperature.  Paige laughed at me as I struggled with one of life’s tough decisions.  Eventually, I cut loose the idea of wearing the CHUG shirt and went with the right choice all along.  Next, we went to find some grub.  The hotel recommended a place called Nino’s Steak & Seafood, I wouldn’t.  It was the worst steak I’ve ever had, on the upside, they had one of my favorite beers, Spotted Cow.  I vowed to Paige that we would get a good steak soon to erase the unfortunate experience.

We got to bed around 10:30PM with a 3:45AM alarm set, morning came all too soon.  We suited up and headed for the race start at the fire station/community hall in Greenbush, WI.  The air was cool but didn’t feel all that bad.  When we got to the start, it was a buzz with hearty looking folks.  I immediately saw Sylvan.  Sylvan is from Iowa City and one of the first ultrarunners I ever met.  I had seen his name on the list of registered runners and was looking forward to saying hello.  We checked in, talked to a few others and readied ourselves for the day ahead.

At 6AM, I was off.  Paige’s race started at 7AM so she had a little time to kill.  It was dark and the trail was tough.  The leaves had started to change colors and fall to the ground which covered up the trail including the obstacles and there were plenty of obstacles.  I had nearly left my headlamp at home thinking I could piggy back on someone else’s light for the hour that we would be running in the dark but boy was I glad I had grabbed it at the last minute.  I ran with Dominic for the first couple of miles and then lost him somewhere in the dark.  The first aid station was at 7 miles and came up fast.  I had been so focused on trying to keep my feet out of trouble that I hadn’t even taken a sip from my water bottles, so I blew through the aid station and took a drink from my handhelds.  Cool temps can lull you into a thinking you need to drink less, I was going to need to pay attention to make sure I drank enough.  The next 6+ miles went by fairly quickly and I rolled into the Butler Lake AS (mile 13.3) feeling pretty good.  I quickly filled my bottles and headed out.

The course was a steady supply of hills and single track trail.  The sun was up now and it revealed the beauty of the area we were running through.  The trees were brightly colored and the views from the tops of the hills were awesome.  I started to feel a bit rough, not horrible but just a little off.  I lost sight of the two guys in front of me and by the time I got to the next AS at mile 20.5, I got passed by two more.  It was too early to worry about time or place but it still didn’t feel good.  I ran with a guy named Brian on-and-off until we got to the turnaround point.  The day had warmed up some but the wind was beginning to pickup so it still felt cool.  As I left the AS at 4 hours and 29 minutes into the race, I felt good and decided to push it a little.  I quickly passed the two guys I’d been running with early and then the racing juices started flowing.  My previous “whisper goal” was to finish in 10 hours or less which I thought was reasonable considering the tough course (10,555 ft of elevation gain and tricky footing) but now my sights were shifting.  I decided I wanted to improve my personal best of 9:05:58 set at Ice Age 50 Trail Run back in May.  To do this, I was going to have to stay focused and not linger at the aid stations.  I slowly reeled in runners who were feeling the effects of the late stages of the race.  Other than my ankles, I was feeling pretty good.  I had twisted both of my ankles more than once and it was taking its toll on not just my ankles but all the small muscles/tendons in the lower leg.  I moved quickly through the aid stations, stopping just long enough to fill my water bottles.  Based on the times I was hitting the aid stations, I could tell it was going to be close if I was going to finish ahead of my goal time.

I ran nearly the entire return trip by myself crossing other runners only at the sparsely placed aid stations.  When I hit the last AS, the guy who was taking our race numbers announced that I was in seventh place.  Even though it was a small race (39 runners), it felt kind of fun to be in the single digits.  It probably wouldn’t have felt as good except that I felt I was having a good race which made it seem a little more legitimate.  With seven miles to go, I was confident I was going to finish beating my new time goal.  What I had forgotten was how tough the next section was.  The whole trail was littered with softball-sized rocks and tree roots - not unlike most of the day but for some reason, I remembered it differently from the morning.  I twisted each ankle one more time before hitting the pavement of town.  The last half mile through town was fast.  As I crossed the finish line in just under 9:04, I felt quite happy about the day.  I had run nearly even splits for each halves of the race.

Glacial Trail 50 Race Swag

The race director, Robert, walked over and congratulated me on the finish and gave me my finisher’s medal.  He also had mugs for the first ten finishers so he gave me my seventh place finisher’s mug - it was totally awesome!  He told me Paige had finished 5th in her race (BAM!) and that she was inside the firestation; she wasn’t expecting me to finish so soon and looked completely shocked to see me.  It was good to see her and hear about her race (she set a PR by over 45 minutes!!).

I got some food and then changed into dry clothes as we waited for some of our friends to show up.  Senator Brett had a whole clan there to cheer him on and he was not about to disappoint them.  Soon enough, he came striding down the road to finish his first 50 miler in style.  The next person we were expecting was Dominic, I’d seen him shortly after the turnaround and he had looked good.  Brett mentioned seeing him later on and that he wasn’t feeling too great at that point.  We checked with race officials and they reassured us that he had left the last AS in plenty of time to make the cutoff.  It wasn’t long before he joined us at the finish line.

Glacial Trail is a small “old-school” event and I loved it.  The race director was awesome and was clearly passionate about his race.  His passion could be seen in the little touches - a great sweatshirt, the finisher medals, and the cool handmade mugs.  It was a fun weekend and this is definitely a race that will be on my radar come next fall.  A huge congrats to Paige on an awesome race and PR!

Our Very Cool Mugs!

Last night, Paige and I met up with my dad and Andrea for a Brooks Williams concert and it was AWESOME!  The venue was Cafe Carpe which is a cozy little place that makes you feel right at home as soon as you walk in the door.  Paige loved the mismatched furniture and random artwork which reminded her of Portland, Maine - probably her least favorite place on the planet (joking, of course).  We got there a few minutes after the opening act, Ann Hills, got started and promptly ordered a couple of Spotted Cow beers which they offer on tap.  Ann was a lot of fun and great in her own right but when Brooks got started, that’s when the concert really got going.  Both my dad and brother had mentioned how much they like him but I had never heard his music before - I was absolutely loved it!  Normally, it takes me hearing music a few times before I really get into it but this was instantaneous!  We were all rocking out!  If you haven’t had the chance to hear him, below is a link to a YouTube video, it is definitely worth taking a listen.

It has been a very productive couple of running weeks.  The week before last, I had my highest mileage week to date and survived it unscathed.  I’m not sure what the correct number of miles is for my body but I have been curious to try a few more this time around.  I can’t say that I feel much difference in my fitness level at this point but we’ll see if it translates during the race.  My body definitely has some regular aches and pains particularly when I wake up in the morning - my right ankle feels “jammed” up which is causing one of the tendons behind my right ankle to get overworked, everything is tight, and my leg muscles are tender to the touch.  But, I feel good running and have nothing that feels injury prone.  The whole point of running further is to push the body beyond what its used to and then during the taper, let it rebuild itself.

There is very little science to my training.  I sort of pay attention to what I’ve done in the past and borrow some things from others but for the most part, I just wing it.  The one thing that I firmly believe is that step-back weeks are important.  And, the more miles I’m running, the more frequent and dramatic the step-back weeks are.  Last week was a step-back week.  It worked out well timing wise too since it was also a busy week at work and we were in the process of moving.

This week will be my last hard week before I begin my taper for Javelina on October 31.

Week Ending September 27 (Total - 127 Miles):

• Monday - 10 Easy (AM), 7 Easy (PM)
• Tuesday - 10.5 Fartlek (6 X .75 mile, 1 X 1.5M) (AM), 10 Easy (PM)
• Wednesday - 12 Easy (AM), 4 Easy (PM)
• Thursday - 3.5 Easy
• Friday - 6 Easy
• Saturday - 40 LR
• Sunday - 24 LR on Trails

Week Ending October 4 (Total - 71 Miles):

• Monday - 10 Easy, 7 Easy
• Tuesday - 10 Tempo, 10 Easy
• Wednesday - 12 Fartlek (7 X .75M), 8 Easy
• Thursday - 3 Easy
• Friday - OFF
• Saturday - 20 LR
• Sunday - OFF

I left work early on Friday to begin packing for a move that would start just two hours later.  I realize this wasn’t the best planning but it is just the way that it worked out this time.  The good thing was that we were moving within the building so it wasn’t as though we needed to do much packing but a little more planning wouldn’t have hurt either.  By the time Paige got home, I had picked up the luggage cart and my boxes in storage and packed part of the kitchen.  It wasn’t much but it was a start; then the real moving began.  Paige is a mission oriented machine and once she locks her teeth into something, she’s not gonna let up till its done - a great quality during a move.

The good thing about moving within the building is that it is much easier than having to load things on a truck and transport them elsewhere but what I failed to calculate was that it is still moving.  You still have to physically pick everything up and find a place for it in the new apartment.  On top of that, it makes you evaluate everything that you have moved multiple times and still haven’t used (i.e. a bread maker among other things) but still can’t quite let go of.  By 8:30 PM, we had everything in the new place and were working on organization - Paige’s specialty.  I let her do her thing and began sorting through things and keeping myself busy unpacking.  By 9:30 PM, we were devouring a pepperoni pizza.  After a couple more hours of putting things away, we called it a night.

Saturday morning started with coffee in bed before getting down to business.  I started sorting through all my stuff deciding what could be donated, what needed to go to storage and what got to stay; I’m still working on it but good progress was made.  By 2:30 PM, we were both getting a little antsy and decided to head out for a run.  It was raining but we decided we’d see how it would go and were hoping to get 20 miles in.  We waited for about 10 minutes and the worst of the downpour passed and then it was nearly dry for the next 40 minutes.  It did eventually rain on us but it is much easier to get wet once you are already running rather than just starting out.  The run went amazingly well and we finished quicker than expected.  We used our extra time to clean the old apartment and put my bike in the storage room.  By 8:00 PM, we were getting ready for Paige’s class reunion.  We got there and met up with her friend Erica and her husband Jason.  It was good to see them and meet some of Paige’s high school buddies but the music was so loud that we were struggling to hear each other.  After a couple of hours, we headed home.

Today, we will get the rest of Paige’s stuff, make a trip to Wal-Mart, and hopefully get things all put away.  It is exciting to be in a bigger place, have a bedroom, have a living room with lots of space, have a tremendous view of the lake, and to have a wonderful girl to share it all with!