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Grandma's Marathon Prep

Due to the ankle injury I sustained in my attempt to run the Zumbro 50, I was left with a compressed schedule to ramp my mileage back up prior to Grandma's.

Once I got the all-clear from my physical therapist, I began running regularly and started increasing the distance of my long runs:

5/14: 5 miles...first time running this distance since the injury. Felt great!
5/22: 8.2 miles...again, this run felt great. The ankle didn't bother me and didn't swell.
5/29: 13.6 miles. This was a good test and my ankle passed with flying colors.
6/6: 18.0 miles. Another good test. I mixed in some walking with this run. I felt good throughout and probably could have gone farther, but didn't want to overdo it.

At this point, I'm as prepared as I can be for the marathon. My goals are:

1. Finish the race.
2. a. 5 hours
    b. 5.5 hours

I'm treating Grandma's as a nice long training run. I have more races I'd like to run the rest of the summer and need to start getting back on the trails more.

Potential races after Grandma's:
*=would very much like to do
%=registered

*%7/13: Lebanon Hills 7 miler (part of the Endless Summer series) http://www.estrs.com/lebanon-7mi/
8/6: Urban Wildland Half Marathon http://urbanwildland.com/
8/20: St. Paul Trail Marathon http://www.urbantrailseries.org/new-page-1
9/12: Muscle Milk Woodsy 9 miler http://www.musclemilkwoodsy.com/
*9/19: William O'Brian 10 miler http://www.frontrunnerusa.com/event/william-obrien-10-miler
9/24: Surly Trail Loppet Half Marathon - http://www.loppet.org/trailloppet/
*10/1: Birkie Trail Marathon - http://www.birkie.com/run/events/birkie-trail-run/
*10/15: Whistle Stop Marathon - http://www.whistlestopmarathon.com/
*11/5: Icebox 480 - http://icebox480.com/

My Zumbro 2016 Experience

I had to refer to this post as an "experience" rather than a "race report" for reasons that will become obvious. I'll keep it short, like my race!

The week of the race was tough. I just wanted to get started! But thankfully, before I knew it, Friday was here and after double (and triple) checking my drop bags, gear bag and a few other things I was ready to roll. My buddy Stu and family picked me up around midday and we headed down to Zumbro. Stu went to Zumbro last year to pace another friend in the 100 mile distance who ended up dropping early due to knee problems, so he never got out on the course. The Zumbro 50 would be the first 50 mile attempt for both of us.

I'll cut to the chase, my race didn't turn out the way I planned. About 1.5 miles in, after just settling into a groove and catching my breath from the first uphill, I rolled my ankle hard and heard a popping sound. I belted out a couple creative phrases and kept moving to see how it felt. I found I was able to move ok and alternated between running and walking. Five minutes later, I did it again! It popped the second time too and now it began to cause me some pain. Stu stuck with me to the first aid station and we talked about options. First off, I told him to go on ahead and I would have to figure things out on my own. He told me to grab his ankle brace at AS 2 and use that if I wanted. I told him I'd get myself to AS 2 and evaluate. I had 4.5 miles to go between the two aid stations. About halfway between them, I knew my race was over. I could no longer run and the pain was hitting me in waves. It took me 25 minutes to cover the last mile to AS 2. I went directly to the race official there and surrendered my bib. After a quick ride, I was back at Zumbro headquarters much to the surprise of our crew. I took about an hour to warm up and then spent the rest of the night doing my best to pitch in and help the rest of our crew as they continued running.

At this point, I was focused more on making sure Stu finished his race (which he did) and didn't think too much about my ankle. I wasn't able to get to a clinic until Sunday evening and had x-rays taken of my ankle. It turns out that I had a slight fracture in the distal end of my fibula. Imagine where the ligament from your foot attaches to the side of the fibula. When the ankle sprain happened, the ligament pulled hard enough on the bone to crack it slightly.

Zumbro 50 Pre-race Notes

Midnight start.
~3000 feet of elevation increase per loop.
50 miles.
18 hour cutoff.

These are just some of the thoughts going through my head as race day nears. Overall, I feel as prepared as I'm going to be. I've run more miles by this point in the year than ever before. While I haven't done as much hill work as I probably should have, I think I'll be ok.

My main objective is to finish the race. Here are my goals:

1. < 15 hours
2. 15-17 hours
3. Just finish and beat the 18 hour cutoff

It's going to come down to a handful of factors:

• pacing, in terms of keeping my pace under control early in the race
• blister prevention and maintenance
• eating real food
• hydration

I am most concerned with over-doing my pace early in the race. My plan is to run easy, walk/hike the uphills and run the downhills. If I can complete the first lap around 4-4:30, I'll feel good. That will be fast enough without killing myself. I plan to fire off my garmin when the race starts and will use that to keep control of my pace as long as the watch will last...probably about 20-25 miles. After that, pace won't matter as much as just finishing. I also plan to wear my Timex Ironman watch so I have an idea of the time of day after the Garmin loses power.

After Surf the Murph 50k, I had a large blister on the tip of my left pinky toe. A few days later, an entire cap of skin fell off that toe. For this race, I plan to tape both pinky toes with special tape that has worked well and kept me blister-free during training. I also will lubricate all my toes and the bottoms of my feet.

During my previous trail races, I have had good luck keeping my stomach happy by eating real food. I know that gels don't always sit well with my stomach, so I'll plan to hit the real food - pb&j sandwiches, pretzels, ginger ale, fruit, etc and whatever else looks good.

Earlier this winter, I had thought about not using the hydration bladder in my Nathan pack. But, I think I was over-thinking things and have decided to just use it. It refills pretty easily and I will plan to top it off as frequently as I need to - probably at every other aid station. I just need to keep drinking water, taking salt sticks and adding in some Heed drink or other electrolyte replacement drink as well.

Overall, I think I have things dialed in pretty well. Now I just need to execute. I'm excited to run this race and to run it with a group of people I know. Also getting to share my first 50 miler with Stu is pretty cool.

Zumbro Update

Well, here I am, inching ever closer to the big day - the day I run my first 50 mile trail ultra. Funny thing is, as I get closer to the day, I seem to be getting less nervous. I seem to have taken on more of a "well, if I'm not prepared enough by now" approach. Truth be told, aside from having to take a recent week off to recover from a mild concussion (from a fall I took while training, of course), training has gone well. My body has adapted and running feels good.

Course Map
The Zumbro course is a 16.7 mile loop with slightly less than 3000 feet of elevation gain per loop. For comparison's sake, the course for Surf The Murph has 2000 feet of elevation gain per loop (very similar distance per loop). So, while I know Zumbro to be a hilly course, I don't feel it will be that much different from Surf The Murph...well, except for running an extra loop to get to 50 miles!

Race Day
We plan to head down to Zumbro after work on raceday (the race starts at midnight Friday - early Saturday). Race check-in opens at 10:30 and then we'll be off at midnight.

Create Routes or find more routes in Wabasha from millions at MapMyRun

Zumbro 50 Mile Training Plan

This is the training plan I've been following as I prepare to run my first 50 miler. The key part of this plan is the back to back long runs on consecutive days. So far so good!

Surf the Murph 50k 2015 Race Report

On Saturday, October 24, I ran the Surf the Murph 50k. I had signed up for this race a mere 6 weeks prior and although I faced a couple minor setbacks with training, I felt reasonably confident that I could complete the race - a new distance for me. The Surf the Murph 50k is actually 33.4 miles, so a little more than 50k (53.75k, to be exact). Weather forecasts called for a dry race day with partly cloudy skies. Rain was forecast for Friday, but was supposed to stop by race time.

The rain proved to be more long-lasting and thorough than forecast and kept coming up until about 6am. I arrived right about 6 and brought my drop bags to the designated locations near the start/finish area. This race is run on a 16.7 mile, figure eight loop course. The 25k runners run one loop, two loops for the 50k and three for the 50 milers. Shortly before 7, the 50k runners gathered near the start area to listen to the last minute thoughts from the race director. I couldn't really hear her, but understood to keep the orange reflective flags on my left.

I used a handheld flashlight to light my way for the first 20 minutes or so until the rising sun provided enough natural light. After a little bit of warm up, we began to encounter the hills that the course is known for. None of them were gigantic, but big and consistent enough to provide quite a challenge. Oh and they last for 5 miles! Needless to say, by the time I got to the first aid station, I wasn't in the best mental state. I was running conservatively and hiking up the hills, but it still took it's toll.

Thankfully, after those first five miles, things level off for awhile. I was able to get into somewhat of a groove and run more consistently. My main objective at this point was to keep running the flats, hike the hills and run the downs. Near the end of the loop it gets hilly again and I had read about it, but it was pretty tough. I powered through and finally came into the start/finish area. You had the choice at this point to run into the finish shoot for a 25k or stay to the right for the aid station for those continuing on. I felt pretty good and without question kept to the right. I came in at about 3:45 for this first lap, which was a bit faster than my goal. I took my time (probably too much) during this stop, changed my socks, used the porta-potty and grabbed some food. Finally, after about 15 minutes, I was on my way again.

I knew what the loop had in store for me and took the same approach during the second loop. It was tough, but I got through the hills and felt better having gotten through them again. After that, I just kept ticking off the miles moving as well as I could - hiking the uphills, running the downs and flats. Somewhere before the halfway point of loop two, I picked up a couple other runners taking the same approach as me. Andrea from Milwaukee and Nate from St. Louis Park. What a difference it made having someone to chat with - it really helped make the miles go faster! After hitting those hills for the second time, we were all pretty wiped out. But working together made it easier and more motivating to run the flats instead of walking. We took any opportunity to hike up the hills we encountered. Discussion flowed easily and I really cannot say enough for the positive impact that had on the end of my race.

With about 3 miles to go, Andrea and I noticed that Nate seemed to have more spring in his step than either of us, so we told him to keep running if he felt like it. He took us up on the offer and cruised off. Andrea and I kept plugging away the best we could and the miles kept ticking away. At some point, she pointed out that we had officially completed 50k. That was a good feeling - but we still had a way to go! With around a half mile to go a friend of Andrea's met us with her kids and ran, walked, hiked the rest of the way in. Finally, I could smell smoke from the fire signaling that we were near the finish. We both picked up the pace a bit and ran into the finish line. What a great feeling! I came in 98th out of 140 runners with a time of 8:36.

A few final thoughts:

• Six weeks was cutting it close with my training for this race, especially given that I lost one of those weeks due to stomach flu
• I need to do more hill work
• I also need to start doubling up on some of the long training runs...20 on Saturday and 15 on Sunday or something like that
• Came out of this race injury free...although, I may lose a toenail
• Real food during the race is the real deal for me - I could see taking a gel late in a race to help with my energy levels for the final stretch, but otherwise give me real food 
• Need to stay on top of hydration...while I wasn't super dehydrated after the race, I could have been better hydrated
• Speaking of food, the aid stations at this race were phenomenal. Well stocked with a huge variety of foods to appeal to all tastes and very energetic and enthusiastic volunteers!
• I am already planning to run this race again next fall. I'll be interested to see if I can improve my time a bit.

Here are a few images from the race:

Cool race bib

Great views along the course. I think this was close to the highest point.

More great views.

Poser.

I ran the latter part of the second loop with these two - Nate and Andrea. It was awesome to share the trails with other runners. It sure helped the time and miles pass more quickly!

I found some knee-deep mud.

My freshly branded finishers award.