Can Lake 50

October 11, 2014

After hundreds of miles and months of running, it was time to cash it all in at our "A" race:  The Can Lake 50 Ultras!

I blasted off Friday morning, so excited to get to Can Lake and meet up with Team Rabbit and honorary rabbitear N2 (AKA Thumper).

Arriving mid afternoon, I made a pit stop at Vine Valley to spend a few minutes sitting lakeside, contemplating the race to come --and the journey to get here.

Funny how I couldn't help but think of Can Lake as "only a 50K."  Having survived last year's 50 miler, anything less seemed downright easy! Of course....it's all relative.

My only goal for this race? Finish before sunset! Can Lake sunset would be happening at 6:32pm,  giving me 8.5 hours to reach my goal. It had taken me 10 hours to run  33 at Woodstock last month.  Could I make it happen? Would the sun still be shining when I hit that finish line? As usual, it was a roll of the dice.

Our crazy Can Lake crew!

The pre-race anxiety drove us all crazy (as you can see in the pics)! We picked up our packets, then joined our fellow Can Lakers for pasta. Our crew consisted of:

Silly Rabbit- "SRab"- our sole 50 miler

What's Up Doc -"WuDoc" - 50K

Thumper - 50K

Energizer Bunny -"EBun" - Handler & Pacer!

RRab - Handler-in-Chief

Funny thing about this race is all the gear I had! Never mind that I've survived many a marathon with what I could carry on me. Add 5 miles and call it an ultra and suddenly I need all kinds of stuff! The race provided drop bags at two locations, so I took advantage. Way took advantage. My bags were stuffed with extra everything!

 

Race Day!

What a perfect day for a race. Temps were in the low 40's at the start, warming up to the 50's later in the day. We had mostly cloudy skies with a little wind.

And we're off! What's Up Doc and I ran the first few miles together.

 Coach had told me to get out of my comfort zone and try to keep up my pace, so that's what I did.  I was just hoping that all of my rogue running this year wouldn't come back to bite me.

It seemed to take forever for my runner's high to kick in, but by the time I stopped for my drop bag at the 12 mile mark, I was feeling great, just cruising along.

Even the annoying hill after Middlesex didn't seem to bother me. I just kept thinking about how much I love the scenery, love the race, love to run. I also thought about SRab and wondered how she was doing on her first epic 50 miler.
 

The downhill into Vine Valley went on forever -and that's good because it's one of my favorite parts of the race! I tried to hammer it to make up for time lost walking the uphills.

Photo by Natalie Werner

Before I knew it I was on the long hill that wound its way up to the turn for Bare Hill.



Bare Hill wasn't as bad as I had remembered it! I did the walk, jog-a-few-steps, walk method until I reached the top where drop bag #2 was waiting --with a Diet Coke.  


Ahhh....nothing like a Diet Coke at the top of the last big bad hill to keep the mood elevated! Follow that with another good downhill and I was a happy cruising camper again.

A couple miles later everything changed. Suddenly my brain was inventing reasons to slow down. Out of the blue the bottoms of my feet started hurting. Then my lower back began bugging me. A bad blister materialized without warning. Why did the pavement suddenly feel harder? What's up with this wind? Now I'm getting chilled, ugh.  It's scary how quickly your mood can tank when your brain decides to start acting up!


The thing is, I knew this was my brain screwing with me...but looking ahead to the next hill I couldn't seem to make the "phantom" aches and pains go away.

Photo by Natalie Werner

Cheery side note here:  it was cool to see the course during the daylight! Last year I ran the last however-many-miles in the dark....with car headlights zooming toward me on Middle Road. Seeing that road now, in the light of day, I couldn't believe I had managed it in the pitch black! The "shoulder" is just a narrow strip of loose gravel. Perhaps being able to see it made it more annoying, I don't know. All I knew was I had to get myself out of this funk.

Photo by Natalie Werner

I took in the pretty scenery and tried to talk myself into feeling better.  

WTH, Sally? This is "only" a 50K!  

Sure enough,  two  miles from the finish line all of the aches and pains magically vanished! I picked up my pace and my runner's high returned. How does that happen?!  It's so true what they say about 90% of it being mental!

Past the dead end barricade, down the grassy knoll, final turn to the finish line and I was able to "sprint" it in! Crossed the finish line in 7 hours, 29 minutes-- the sun would still be shining for another hour or so.  Yessss!!!

Goal reached, bling in hand...I couldn't wait to see SRab cross the finish line!!  With EBun pacing her in for the final 15+ miles and What's Up Doc joining in for the final stretch, SRab cruised across the finish line Team Rabbit style!

I was so happy to be there and see her months and months of hardcore work pay off!  She said she would do it and she did. It's the best feeling!

  Well, another Can Lake in the books.

 The next morning we hit the diner for breakfast and bling pics before heading out of town.

Back on the road and headed for home, I had the best feeling! Everyone did what they came to do. Mission accomplished! What a blast. 

See you next year, Can Lake!

SAVAGEman!

September 13, 2014

 

 

I had just done the Woodstock 50K the weekend before....so what was I doing at Savageman?                                                                                                                                        Well..... it's a tradition. Every year for the past 7 years I have raced Sav'man Oly-- either by myself or as part of a relay. This year I handled the run portion for Team Zulu Warriors. We had Frank swimming, Nicolas biking, and me running.

Sav'man is my favorite race venue, hands down. I love the lake -- the swim toward Thomas the Turtle and then back to the Swan Boat. The challenge of the bike course is easily matched by its beauty. And the run is rolling hillz--kind of brutal---but in the shade with a nice off-road section that takes you up a steep hill toward a fire tower.

The downside - it rained the whole time. Not a downpour, just a dreary drizzle that added an extra chill to the race. The upside - Team Zulu Warriors wasn't about to let a little rain get them down! We ignored the rain and just got 'er done!

Frank cruised through the swim and then Nicolas bagged the bike, brutal hillz and all, no problem. Notice how he's the only one smiling and looking pumped in this pic? That's right, TZW may not have podium'ed but we rocked the mental game!

And-- TZW had its own official cheer crew! Apparently, Frank's sister pioneered the Flip Chart Cheer Method - brilliant! How is it that other Z cheerers haven't thought of this? Not to mention the fact that she had our hippie-cool nicknames down!

Eventually it was time for Righteous Pony to run. Run, yes, but rein it in? For sure.  Sav'man wasn't an "A" or even a "B" race for me, but a mere "C" following a rogue "B." I needed to take this one easy. Can Lake 50K was one month away. No need to crush this thing!

You know how this story goes:  She starts running and gets carried way. The easy pace plan goes out the window as soon as she leaves transition. She thinks maybe she can PR the Sav'man run, what with all the speed work she's been doing, so why not go for it? So...go for it, she does.  She smashes her Sav'man PR and finishes with energy to spare! You can't rein in the Righteous Pony!

And that's a wrap for the Zulu Warriors! Another Sav'man in the books.

Woodstock Groovin Freak 50K in Hell

September 6th

We found peace, love, and lot's of mud running at the Woodstock 50K in Hell, Michigan! Oh what a groovy time we had at this race.

Woodstock is a weekend running festival outside Pinckney, Michigan in a community called Hell. Yes, Hell!! And...Hell yeah!!

The race is on the Hell Creek Ranch and features a 16.6 mile loop on mostly single track trails with some dirt roads thrown into the mix.  There's also a "Natural Option" for those who truly want to run free!

There is so much to love about Woodstock!! And there's a race for everyone -- from 5K to 10K to half marathon, marathon, 50K, 50 miles, 100K, and 100 miles. Take your pick!

As the name implies, Woodstock takes its hippie-cool theme from the Woodstock music festival in New York in 1969. So you have to show up ready to get your groove on---and that's what we did!





Yes, we had to dress the part. Our hippie crew consisted of Running Squirrel, Sparkle Bunny and me, Righteous Pony.

We hit packet pick up on Friday. Running Squirrel won the costume contest for that day for "least recognizable,"  what with all that hair!

Of course, it wouldn't be a 2014 race without some rogue element thrown in to keep things interesting. I had originally signed up for the Freak 50K, figuring it would be the perfect max long run before Can Lake. However, Coach had me down for the Hippie Half, seeing as how the race fell on a recovery weekend. But who wants to go to Hell just to run a Half?! So Coach and I compromised and decided that I would do the Mellow Marathon.

At least that was the plan...until a couple weeks out. Mellow Marathon just sounded way too tame compared to the Freak 50K!  Right up until the day before the race I couldn't decide. Go for the longer race with the cool name? Or go with Coach's plan? I was torn!! I knew Coach was right; I should follow his advice. But the rogue part of me just wanted to do the Freak!  So...Freak 50K it was.

Race Day, Man. Far out!

Whoa, we look like a trio of drunks at a frat party in this pic! Either that or we look like we're in a haunted forest getting the bejesus scared out of us. Right on! F* the establishment! (okay...getting a little carried away with the hippie slogans...)



We hit the trails in the dark and slogged our way through the soupy mud. It had stormed the night before, turning the trails into a sticky, mucky, mess.

I couldn't believe the hundos (hundred milers, like our new buddy Ron with the red, white & blue beard below) had been running all night in this slop!

The hundos' race kicked off in the heat of the afternoon the day before, while we were picking up our packets.  And while they ran through the pouring rain all night, we were sleeping all comfy at the hotel!

But back to our race...

For us Freaks, the first few miles in the dark were indeed pretty freaky. We were running single file--trying to run, that is, without tripping. Most of us had on headlamps, but it was still hard to see where we were stepping! Finally....the pack started to spread out and the sun came up. We could finally see the trail and the forest surrounding it.

The single track was pretty tame....but I knew I wouldn't be breaking any personal speed records with all those hillz.  Speedy Lane? Ha!

Sparkle Bunny and I were taking it slow...figuring we would negative split this thing!



Approaching the end of the first loop I could hear the band playing -- they had quite the party going on at the finish line! That gave me a huge boost. I spotted Sparkle Bunny's husband, Space Pilot, and we exchanged high fives.

Loop 2

After fueling up, Sparkle Bunny and I headed out for Loop 2. I was thinking, man I am so glad I went for the full Freak 50K. Why? Because I just love to run. I love it. And the more I can run, the happier I get.

Approaching mile 23ish, we ran into a detour. There was a massive beehive up ahead! We had passed it on our first loop and it was buzzing with activity, BIG TIME.  I thought about going rogue here and busting through the "barricade." I'm not allergic! What's the big deal?! But....venturing off the trail into the woods for an unscripted detour seemed like more of an adventure. So...detour it was! 

 My runner's high began to vanish by mile 27. I had had enough! Enough of the hillz and the mud. Enough of this endless trail that just kept going. I was so over it! It's scary how quickly your mood can tank! But I knew it was all in my head. This was just a training run, after all. Suck it up, Righteous Pony.

A few twists and turns later I ran into this oh so cool volunteer and she cheered me right up!

By this point, Running Squirrel had been finished for a few hours....and Sparkle Bunny had motored well ahead of me. But FINALLY, as I approached the 10 hour mark (!), I could hear the finish line band and I kicked up the pace and cruised on in!

Peace sign bling in hand, we had to recreate our drunken frat party pose:

We celebrated with a big fat dinner at a place called Jack's. I cracked up at the sound of my voice ordering a "half slab of ribs" --not my usual fare. LOL  Just look at this pile of meat!! I destroyed it, yes indeed.

Well, Woodstock was a blast. Maybe the most fun I've had at a race all year! Thanks Sparkle Bunny for the idea...and Space Pilot for driving us around and cheering us on.

Sitting there with my slab of ribs and supersize beer, staring off into oblivion....What the hell could I possibly be thinking here? Wistfully relishing the journey? Reliving the good times on the trail? Contemplating the taper to come?

 Oh HELL NO.  All I could think was:  this was a groovy race, man, but I'm ready to collapse!! Peace out!