Snow Shoeing at RTA

What a perfect day to be outside!! My biggest dilemma this morning was to decide what to do and where to do it. I knew that Alicia and the Afton regulars were having a snow shoe fat ass and potluck at Afton State Park which was extremely tempting. Then Brad from the MN Dead Runners list posted an open invite to join him at RTA with a local Eden Prairie reporter doing a story on snow shoe running. A few others were planning on a 50K fat ass through the streets of Minneapolis and St. Paul. And yet someone else wanted to go snow shoeing at some park I've never heard of.

After a few sleepless nights at the end of this past work week, I decided not to set my alarm and just let nature take it's course. Woke up about 7:30 to see that temps were 3 degrees. (Heavy sigh). After futzing around waiting for the temperature to rise and trying to decide what I was going to do, I ended up heading out to RTA for my first round of snow shoeing all winter. Can you believe it? It's March Eve and I'm finally getting around to snow shoeing :)

Got out to RTA at about 10:30 to find absolutely nobody there. Apparently, not too many people joined Brad this morning as I only saw 2 sets of snow shoe tracks. The snow was perfect. About 6-8 inches of fresh fluff, clear blue skies, sunshine, and no wind.

When I got to the top of the biggest hill overlooking Hwy 212, I had unmarked snow and got to make first tracks. The snow was a little thinner and kind of crunchy, but still plenty of cover for the Red Feathers.

I probably would have been better off trying to get a longish run in rather than snoe shoeing, especially since I'm waaaay behind on my mileage after picking up a stomach bug last week, but the trails had too much snow for shoes and I fear that the running paths were probably glare ice.

I'm glad I had a day to be outside enjoying the North Woods. Happy March!

This 'n That

Got in another build up run yesterday... 13+ miles around Lakes Calhoun (twice), Harriet, and Lake of the Isles. Great weather 2 weekends in a row! For such a low key run, my legs felt more tired than they should have :( Makes me a little nervous with Chippewa only 2 and a half months away. The heel is doing "OK" with the longer runs, but still doesn't like hills.

I've also been doing some short barefoot runs on an indoor track 1-2 times/week, which doesn't do much for increasing my running base (at least in terms of miles), but does help strengthen the intrinsic muscles in the feet and lower legs. Since I haven't been running on trails, this is a great benefit! And it feels great to run without the weight of shoes!

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Even though I'm feeling a little panic about getting ready for Chippewa, I found myself poking around the internet this weekend looking at 50 mile races. Not for this year, but within the next 2, possibly next year depending on how things go this summer.

Things to consider:
*Time of year (I don't like winter running, so putting in high mileage during those months probably wouldn't go well).
*Location (closer to home is cheaper and easier than having to fly somewhere, but not a deal breaker).
*Cut off times (I'm slow. And have NO experience pacing myself at this distance. Generous cut-offs would be an advantage; however, courses with generous cut-offs usually have them for a reason: they are much more demanding).
*Altitude - we don't have any here ;)
*Total elevation (hillier courses are harder and take longer).
*Trail type (singletrack is my favorite by a large margin. Not interested in a road run - or dirt road run).
*Course type (I prefer point to point or out and back rather than loops).

Of the races I'm aware of, my impression is that Voyageur and Superior are pretty darn tough for a slow first timer. Ice Age, Glacial, and Mohican are probably in the moderate category. Lean Horse sounds like one of the easier runs, but also sounds like it's more on dirt roads rather than trails? Bighorn is intriguing - I'll have to get more info from runners who've done it since we can't really prepare for high altitude or extended downhills/uphills in these parts. Rocky Raccoon has very generous cut-offs for the 50 and looks to be non-technical singletrack, but would require more travel and winter running than I really want.

So, any suggestions for a first time 50?

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I'm wondering how Carl did on his 100 miler at Rocky Raccoon this weekend?

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I rediscovered some music that I've had for ages and forgot I had: Leonard Cohen and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. It's like getting new stuff without having to buy it :)

Hope you are having a great weekend!

Spring Tease

Well, I finally got my wimpy self outside for a run today - a 10 miler around Lakes Calhoun, Harriet, and Isles. The weather was positively spring like with sunny skies and the temp around 40! That's more than 60 degrees warmer than it was a couple of weeks ago.

The Lakes were busy with lots of activities: ice fishing, wind surfing on skis (not sure what it's really called), cross country skiing, hockey, ice skating, and mountain biking on ice. Oh, and lots of walkers/runners on the paths. The City of Lakes Loppet ski race was going on at Lake of the Isles as well as some type of mountain bike event out on the frozen lake.

It was a nice way to end January :)

Today's run was my longest since Surf the Murph on Nov 1 and my heels were a little sore after the run. Hopefully the bursitis won't rear it's ugly head again since I really need to get my mileage up and some hill work in for Chippewa, which is less than 3 months away. Yikes!

Good luck to all of the brave souls who will toe the line for the toughest race in Minnesota this Monday - the Arrowhead 135. You don't sign up for this race - you apply.

Facebook

Seems like a lot of the MN trail runners are also on Facebook!

Who knew?

Feel free to look me up - I post cool exercises to try (that may or may not have anything to do with trail running) every once in awhile.

2009 Minnesota Trail Run Series

OK, Gang - it's official! Here's the list of races that are part of the 2009 MN Trail Run Series:

4/18 - Trail Mix 25K (50K, 7.5 mile) at Hyland Lake in Bloomington
5/2 - Runnin' in the Ruff 10K (2 mile) in Milaca. This is the 2009 MNTRS Championship Race!
5/16 - Superior Trail 25K (50K) in Lutsen
6/6 - Chester Woods 10 mile (5K) in Rochester
6/13 - Sour Grapes Half Marathon (10K) in Brainerd
7/4 - You have a choice between 2 races:
Tofte Trek 10K in Tofte OR
Afton 25K (50K) in Afton
8/1 - Fisherman's Picnic 5 mile in Grand Marais
8/15 - Days of Old Track & Trail 10K in Maple Lake
9/19 - Walker North Country Marathon (half, 10K) in Walker
9/26 - In Yan Teopa 10 mile in Frontenac
10/17 - Big Woods Half Marathon (10K, 5K) in Nerstrand
10/24 - Great Pumpkin Chase 5K (10K) in Lake Elmo

Distances in parentheses are alternate distances that still count for 25 points towards the series. If you want the most points (up to 100 per race), you need to run the advertised distance ;)

For those who want to shoot the moon, I think that this year is actually easier than last year. Last year, everyone HAD to run a marathon (Moose Mountain), this year the longest you need to go is 25K (Superior). And if you really want to run the fall Superior races (which aren't part of the series this year), you still can since doing the 10K at Walker the following week still counts towards the series.

Lace 'em up!

January Training

I really don't enjoy winter running or the hamster wheel, so January and February are mentally tough for me to get miles in. That being said, I finally had a relatively decent week of training! Keep in mind that I am a low mileage runner ;)

I credit my good week mostly to deciding upon my "flagship" races for the year and beginning to plan my running schedule. Also, the retrocalcaneal bursitis in my heel has been almost completely resolved, so I've been able to start building up a little mileage. The key will be to not try to catch up too fast and end up flaring things up again. Setbacks suck!

This past week:
Mon - off
Tues - 6 miles
Weds - strength training + 1 mile run (all in Vibram Five Fingers)
Thurs - off
Fri - strength training
Sat - 8 miles (longest since Surf the Murph on Nov 1)
Sun - strength training + 4 quarter mile repeats (all in Vibram Five Fingers). First "speed" workout in months - it felt harder than it should have for the pace I ran. Deconditioning is a bitch!

If you think people look at you funny when you run in Vibram Five Fingers, wait 'til you show up at the squat rack wearing them :)

2009 Race Calendar

I'm trying to firm up my race schedule so that I can get going on my planning. The 2009 races listed on the right side of my blog are tentative. Very tentative. It includes 2 ultras and possibly 2 marathons, which is a lot for a low mileage runner like moi.

I basically have 3 flagship races this year and have already registered for 2 of them:
Chippewa 50K
Grand Island Marathon
Wild Duluth 50K

The 2 50K races will count towards the Fab Five Fifties series; Grand Island doesn't "count" towards anything other than it's a race I've wanted to do for a long time. I lived in the U.P. for 4 years while going to college at Michigan Tech and drove past the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore I don't know how many times without ever bothering to visit. Funny how you don't appreciate what's in your own back yard until you move away. So, this July I'll hop on a ferry boat to get shuttled to Grand Island out in Lake Superior to run a marathon. Word is that it's a fairly non-technical course with plenty of bear sightings, a couple of beach sections, and a 6 hour time limit.

Since I also signed up for the MN Trail Run Series, I'd like to get at least 6 races in for that. My current schedule has 5, but if I volunteer at Trail Mix I should get points for both the Fab Fives and MN Trail Series.

There are also a few races that I'd like to do just because I like the races: Afton, Moose Mountain, and Surf the Murph come to mind. I've always been interested in Walker, although another marathon this year might put me over the edge. On the other hand, a mid-Sept marathon might be a great long training run for Wild Duluth. I may do either Moose or Walker, but definately not both!

Decisions, decisions....