Training Log Archive: Ari-o

Okay, before I start here, let's not call Ari dumb. Or you can.

I'd planned for a while to go up and visit Jakob in Duluth for a weekend of trail runs, and to meet mini-Jakob (Henry) and also because Duluth is a pretty fun place. At one point I was considering the Voyageur 50 miler, but he was going to be in the Twin Cities on Friday night so I backed off of that; I'd fly there (cheaper) and then we'd drive up. Looked like a chill weekend.

On Thursday he said "hey let's go run the 50." I was to fly in to MSP, get in at 10, we'd wake up at 3:30, and drive north. Then on Friday, we had storms in ORD (when don't we?) and it looked like all the flights were going to be borked, but it meant they instituted a fee waiver so instead of a 10 pm arrival (that would have been delayed an hour) I IRROPed on to the earlier flight and got in on time, and we were in Duluth by 10.

So the next morning, we went and ran. I was not trying to win or anything; I wanted to finish, but mostly I wanted to get a long run in. Perfect weather (for summer, anyway): started at 50 and crept up in to the 70s by the middle of the day. I went out moderately (7:30 mile, half on pavement, to start) with a group but my balance was off; I should have taped my ankle still. I then fell twice in the first three miles (rocky and somewhat technical) which was bad, rolled my ankle a little, but then it turned to ski trail and was easy running.

The power lines were interesting (every good race has power lines, right?) straight up and down, and then lovely views down towards the lake and the turnaround. I wasn't trying to go super fast, but made the first 25 miles in just over 4 hours, which would mean an 8 to 9 hour finishing time, probably. I was hydrating well (stopped twice to pee!), eating well (fig bars, pickles, M&Ms, etc) and legs felt pretty good. I mandated a 15 minute walk on the hill out of the turn (fast hiking, 4-5 mph).

I was still feeling good around 50k when my right leg started to act up. Back of the knee/top of the calf, not IT band like last year, but not good. About half a mile in to the power lines, it really went twang. I bummed a clif meal replacement off someone (sodium/potassium) and hoped maybe it would help, but it was probably way too late. I made it through the power lines which was mostly hiking but couldn't really muster a run. After the next feed were two benign miles of single track, and I figured I'd give it half an hour to see if it would work itself out.

It didn't. I could walk fine, but didn't want to walk another 3 hours just to finish. It was not fun: these were lovely, very runnable trails and I felt great nourishment/stomach-wise, but couldn't muster a run because of one leg. Harrumph. I also was favoring the other leg enough that I didn't want to actually injure something if I hadn't already. So, 41 miles and I got a ride back. Which is still not a bad day!

Preparing would help a lot. For instance, stadium stairs every week would help my legs. So would actually running on trails from time to time. Still, I was pleased with the first 50k, and glad that I'd started. Next time I'll, you know, decide to do a 50 miler more than a day in advance.

C • cool 4

Find a partner, do 100 (combined) of whatever the exercise is. Push ups, sit ups, bench dips, and "speedskaters" which are a dumbed down version of skate hops. I did skate hops. My partner did 60 skate hops and I did 40. But I hopped six feet each time and he only hopped three.

Ride up to NP Chi

PR day. Warmer than last time, and I was tired and dehydrated from last night. Oh, and I left my shoes at home so I had a choice between bike shoes and bare feet, so bare feet it was. Made it through 8. Lots of sweat.

Bike ride home. They renamed Halsted north of Addison so I took a little detour by Wrigley. Whoops.

Countdown

Oohwee! Took the South Shore out to the Indiana Dunes. This was about 50% about running and 50% riding the South Shore Line to Michigan City, the last of the Interurbans. Train runs right down the middle of street. I may have taken a video. Not nerdy at all.

But first, the Indiana Dunes. They're really nice! And have hills. And trails and stairs and sand. Lots of sand. Running up hills on sand is wicked hard (but down hills is fun). I took a lap across the dunes, ran up the stairs once, and then off on one of the longer trails. Idea was to maybe run to Michigan City, but I took some roundabout routes and wound up dodging my way away from horse flies for a bit before I finally hit the beach (breezy) and decided that was enough. Lots of 15 minute miles, totally earned.

Dunes were gorgeous, and the views superb. You can see the Chicago skyline across the blue lake.

C • Interurbans 3

Swim in the lake, jog to the train, then off to Michigan City for dinner, and late train back to Chicago.

I found stairs. Basically half a stadium, but with a lovely view of the Chicago River. I don't think there's anything like the river anywhere. In any case, I lost count of how many repeats I did, and Strava in a tall building canyon does not exactly work, so I'm guessing from HR data about 20. Then ran a bit.

More countdown core. Feeling a little easier, maybe. Should have started this sooner.

Another blazingly hot day. Another countdown core day.