Duluth Trailfest Weekend (September 25-27th)

What a fun yet extremely challenging weekend of racing on some of the prettiest trails in Duluth!

Friday: 5K Chest Bowl (start time 5pm)
This race I actually felt the strongest in...that is until I saw the hill which was the toughest hill I've ever had to run up. I actually couldn't even run up the hill, I was more on all fours climbing up! The rest of the trail run was tough but that hill/ski jump really did it. I thought the 5K was definitely a challenge, little did I know Saturday was going to prove to be even MORE challenging.

Saturday: 15K Lake Superior Trail Run (start time 11am)
I had no idea what this run would be all about, but once I got to the first part of the actual run on the trail I definitely knew this was not going to be an easy trail run. Wet rocks, sand, trees, were only a small part of this challenging trail. The up and down hills mixed with the terrain really added to the challenge, along with the 'puke hill' which was the caliber of the Chester Bowl hill, except much much longer and about 3/4 into the 15K, which made it even more difficult. One part of the race at the end we had to go up the stairs, I was so exhausted I couldn't even get up the stairs normally and had to be hunched over while trying to make it to the top. Aside from the challenge though, the trail was very beautiful!!! I ran with four others in a single file line, and we took turns leading. I actually whipped out at one point and one of the guys helped me up and waited to make sure I was okay. At the end, we all ran in together! This felt like more of very challenging run with your friends rather then a race, but the challenge wasn't so much how fast you were going, but instead how technical this course was. Going 10min miles on this trail was difficult both for the legs and HR was definitely up there.

Sunday: Park Point Beach Run 5K (start time 9:30am)
By this day, my legs were pretty beat up both from the wipe out I had and the pure fatigue of trail running. I would try to log about 4-5miles before each race and a 1-2mile cool down after each one, just to get miles in for the marathon. At least this race wasn't so technical and running on rocks was not an issue. Although sand running is just as difficult, which was about 30% of this run. The other part was on a more 'normal' trail that we're used to in the cities. The sand was also very difficult to run, and I'm not sure if it was because this was the third day in a row racing, or the sand, this was a HARD 5K. We ran right along the beach and to the right was Lake Superior. The site was absolutely gorgeous, and after the run we all jumped into the ice cold lake. Soooo cold, but very good for the aching muscles.

I ended up 1st woman the first race, 2nd Saturday, and 2nd on Sunday. I won the overall three day challenge (didn't really expect that) but this was a smaller race and first year, so I'm sure next year some of the really good people will be there to dominate! I'll take it though, it was fun to win overall, I got a hand made-pottery bowl, along with Salomon trail shoes, and lots of gels, bananas, Gatorade, and HEED! Those trail shoes will definitely come handy, since I really am liking the trail running!

This race weekend challenge was AWESOME, and a bit more challending then I had anticipated but defiently worth it. I'm so there next year!

St.Coix Valley Olympic Race Report

Today I was challenged both physically and mentally, unfortunately I didn't come out on top or at least how I wanted to come out...I knew I was tired coming into this, being my 10th race of the season, and my workouts the week leading up to the race should have been a warning. I still decided to sign up for this race to simply challenge and push myself further and gain more experience with the Olympic/longer distance. I was actually hoping to do another Half Ironman after doing Chisago at the end of July but didn't find any races in this distance in the cities area.

The swim went fairly well, I felt pretty good throughout the whole thing, and managed to get a 30:01 which was about a minute faster then St.Paul, which was the same distance.

The bike was where it all fell apart for me. As I like to say...I didn't have any legs left, even going straight/no hills, I was having difficulty keeping a 20mph pace, which normally would have been easy. Not today though. I did make it through, but I knew that my legs were done. The burning feeling in my legs was definitely that fatigue I was hoping to avoid in this race, but I wasn't able to fight through it today like I was able to in some of my earlier season races. After knowing that this was just NOT going to be my race, I just tried to keep positive and do my best (which was very difficult to do). After coming into the transition off a very tiring bike, I was in at 1:13.28, 20.3mph average. Knowing that this was my time, I knew I had overdone it...

The run was not as bad as the bike, and I really did try to have fun out there while trying to clear the lactic acid out of my legs after the bike. My run was once again not the best. After coming off a 6:34 pace for the St.Paul 10K, I ended up coming at a 7:04 pace, 43:44 time. My overall time was a 2:29.42 (6th overall woman, 3rd age group), which was about 10 minutes off my time from last week for an Olympic distance.

With that said, I will remember coming into transition and hearing Jerry O'Neil, the announcer saying, how uncomfortable I looked going out into the run. He was absolutely right, today's race was fun but very painful!

Key take away: good test on how one race could go so well while another race could go not so well. Once the body has had enough, there is really nothing you can do but fight, fight, fight through fatigue =) *OR 'just rest and not do as many races/training next season =)