Running Plans for 2011

...are still very much up in the air. Had some BIG TIME changes at work back in January which basically turned my schedule upside down. Things are still falling in to place, but my training has been haphazard and as a result, there is no way I will be running Chippewa 50K next month, even though I'm registered. The only race I've currently committed to is Afton (and I noticed - to my horror - that I am now in the "Senior Master" division).

Having a "big birthday" has created some other havoc as well. Being self employed, I have to purchase my own health insurance. So, imagine getting a "Happy Birthday" letter from Blue Cross letting me know that since I'm now 50 years old, my monthly premium will be going up more than $100/month, and....get this... it will now cost more than my mortgage (this is with a high deductible plan, by the way)! I wish I were kidding. And I have a clean health history. I tried to explain to them that it wasn't really my 50'th birthday, but the 21'st anniversary of my 29'th birthday. They didn't see it that way (those people have no sense of humor at all).

Anyhoo, between work changes and health insurance premiums, I need to cinch down the check book and stick close to home. I'm considering the MDRA Mudball 4 mile (I actually won my age group the only other time I ran it - when I was simply a master rather than a grand master). Fun race at Wirth Park and free to MDRA members. I may even try it barefoot since that's the only type of running I've been doing the last few months anyway :)

Hope to get my old and wrinkly ass back out on the trails for some respectable mileage soon!

Snowshoes and Bare Foot

OK, not at the same time ;)

But that's pretty much all the running related activity that I've been doing lately; either getting outside on the trails in snowshoes, or hitting the indoor track for a few barefoot miles.

The recent heat wave has me anxious for spring, mud, and longer trail runs.

'til soon

Snowshoeing...

...has not only been great; it's been about the only way to get around in these parts recently.

We've had a little more snow than usual for December (it is still technically autumn after all) - a little too much for regular running (even with traction), but it's been awesome for skis and snowshoes!

Check out my recent travels through Bredesen Park:

Nine Mile Creek

Bredesen Park Bench

Wood Duck summer house

I also found my Christmas Tree while tromping through the snow! No, I didn't cut it down and drag it home - I left it where it was so that I (and everyone else) can continue to enjoy it year round - hopefully for many years to come. It's the third one from the left:

Wishing you all a winter full of joy and wonder. Hope to see you on the trails!

Pederson Benefit

Went out to Afton yesterday for the Pederson Benefit Run with lots of old and new trail running friends. Very heartwarming to see so many people come out to support the Pederson family, who have given so much of themselves to the sport and community over the years!

There was an informal fat ass type of race, which Don spent over 6 hours marking by riding his bike up and down steep snow covered hills. The day started out in the single digits, but gradually warmed up to about 20 degrees for perfect, sunny, running weather :) I was glad I wore my gortex trail running shoes with sport tracks for traction since there was an inch or two of snow on the trails.

That was followed by an awesome pot luck lunch and a silent auction with all kinds of cool stuff! At the end of the day we were able to raise over $5000, which sounds like a lot, but probably doesn't even put a dent in the costs incurred by the flood damage.

If you missed out on the fun, you still have a chance to help out by purchasing a cool looking shirt or making a donation.

Surf the Murph 25K 2010

Hard to believe that it's the end of October already, but that just means it's time to run Surf the Murph! This is a fun, low key event where the only awards given are for those who run their given race in costume.

Karen and Wayne ran the full 50 miles in costume.

Since I'd only run about 10 miles total since North Country in August (boring story), I decided that I would just be hiking the 25K this year. Actually, I reasoned that I would do the course at a 100 mile pace, but stop after finishing only 17 :)

Got to the park late enough that I missed all my buddies who were running the 50K or 50 mile since their races had already started, but had a chance to chat with a few folks before we lined up to start our own race shortly after dawn. I quickly realized that I had overdressed - it was already in the low 40's and shaping up to be a beautiful day. Found Mike near the back of the pack - he had a conservative plan too since his ankle is still tweaked - so we both were planning on taking it easy. About 3 minutes in to the race, my Garmin started wigging out. Again. This is something that I've been battling all year, but each time I think I've got it fixed it starts acting up again. I'm trying one final effort of a hard reset before throwing it in the garbage.

Anyhoo, back to the race. Ran with Mike for the first 20 minutes or so before I needed to get my jacket off and fix a shoe lace, so I let Mike go ahead as he blasted down a long steep hill. Soon I was at the North AS and headed south towards some of the steeper hills. This is a fun roller coaster section, wooded and a little rocky, with several short steep hills one right after the other.

By now I had the trail mostly to myself, though Duke came flying past me on his second of 3 loops shortly before I got to the Horse Camp AS. He would go on to repeat his 50 mile win! Shortly after leaving the Horse AS, I started having cramps in my left peroneus muscles and the arch of my foot. WTF? This early cramping non-sense has got to stop. I took an S-Cap and kept hiking on the flatter, open sections that are typical of the south end of the park.

Beautiful day to be out in the woods - I kept stopping just to look around and enjoy the scenery. Soon I was at the festive Natchez AS and lingered a bit to chat with Helen and Lisa. After a very short single track, we were back on the wider trails. The course had been tweaked a little bit this year to add some distance so that the 50 milers would only have to do 3 full loops (last year we had 3 loops plus an additional short loop). One of the new additions was a fairly long section of walking through grass that was taller than I am. Glad I got there after the 50 milers and 50K runners had beaten it down enough so that I could see where to go ;)

More meandering through the open prairies before arriving back at the Horse AS - last stop before the finish. My stomach was feeling "sloshy" so I took another S-Cap in preparation for the fun stuff to come. These last 4+ miles might be my favorite of the whole course since there are gnarly little single track sections to liven things up.

This is where you get to find the blown down trees, get caught up in some prickly ash, and climb a ridiculously steep hill - thankfully it wasn't muddy like last year - before arriving at the top of a hill with a clearing that allows a view of the Minneapolis skyline in the distance.

Nice view of the Minneapolis skyline.

Probably only about a mile to the finish now, but I managed to miss a turn and did a little bonus before figuring it out. Fortunately, I am a little bit familiar with the park and last year's course, so I noticed pretty quickly that I was off track and didn't waste too much time. Before I knew it, I was crossing the finish line in my slowest ever but possibly most fun 25K (which was actually 16.8 miles). The 100 mile pace thing probably wouldn't be too far off (except that I currently have no plans to do a 100 miler). Famous last words.

Fin. Photo courtesy of Jen Pierce.

Hung out for awhile and tried to see as many of my buddies come through the start/finish as possible. It was nice to catch up with folks since I haven't been running much this year and haven't seen many of them all summer. One of the best things about ultra and trail running is the people :)

Many thanks to RD Les & Cindy (who are relocating to Hawaii), Molly the Trail Boss and Future RD, and all of the volunteers who did an incredible job taking care of the runners!

Hope to see you all soon on the trails!

Pederson Benefit Run

During the recent floods in southeastern Minnesota, Larry & Colleen suffered a tremendous amount of damage to their home.

Who are Larry & Colleen?



They are the race director's for the Zumbro 100, Superior Sawtooth 100, Superior 50 Mile, Moose Mountain Marathon, and In Yan Teopa 10 Mile trail runs. They helped found the Upper Midwest Trail Runners club, the Minnesota Trail Run Race Series, the Fab Five Fifties ultra running series, and the Gnarly Bandit ultra running series just to name a few. Many of the trophies awarded at these events are coveted works of wooden art, hand crafted by Larry in his wood shop. They are tireless volunteers who show up to help at most of the other trail runs in the area when they aren't directing one of their own. In other words, if there is something involving trail running in Minnesota or western Wisconsin, the Pederson's have been there to lend a hand.

Many of the local trail runners turned out to help with the clean up in Zumbro Falls and saw the devastating damage first hand. We wondered, what more could we do to help? That's when the idea of the Pederson Benefit Run was born.

When: November 27, 2010
Run starts at 7 or 9 am - your choice
Potluck and silent auction start at 1 pm

What: Trail run to benefit the Pederson's clean up effort starting at 7 or 9 am depending on how far you want to go. The course will follow the Afton 25K trail race map. Distance is anywhere from Zero K to whatever you want. Potluck and silent auction start at 1 pm in the visitor center.

Where: Afton State Park - the start/finish area is near the visitor center.

Who: You! Whether you're a seasoned trail runner or just want to give it a try, here's a perfect opportunity to share the trail with awesome people and help raise money for a great cause at the same time. You can run as little or as much as you like. You can skip the running and just show up for the potluck. If you can't make it to the event, you still have an opportunity to donate to the cause.

For more info about how to register or make a donation, check out the blog or the Facebook page.

Ben's 120 Pound Journey

"A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step."
Lao-Tzu

This guy is an Iron Man if ever there was one!