Lately I feel like my running is not going well and so I did not have any great expectations for this race. I knew there were hills, and at least one long climb and figured it would be reasonable to finish somewhere under and hour as I had run the Tofte Trek in 56 minutes (pre - Half Voyageur).
There was more than one long climb! As a matter of fact, other than the beginning mile (if that) it was all climb (or seemed that way)! Nothing too steep, all runnable, well at least for a while. But when the grade switched from gradual to steep I walked. Then again at the water stop (love how it was labeled self-serve but there was a guy standing there handing out cups), and then near the end when the course vacillated between steep uphills and correspondingly steep downhills (I do love to run downhills ;-> )
Had enough in the tank to pick up the pace and pass a few folks coming into the finish line (the downhill at this point helped). 43:44 Another personal best at this distance??? Not sure. But it was good enough for second in my age group and a prize:
Swedish Fish!
I know the announcer from my work with the Superior Hiking Trail Association Board of Directors and I think he had a lot of fun mispronouncing my name ;->
Dick Swanson staying warm and dryThe shirt is great! It is nice to venture away from white or grey and there are 30 fish running the trails (this was the 30th running of the race apparently).
Leslie was the top female finisher and won a nice mug and bowl set as well as some Swedish Fish for placing in her age group. There were a lot of runners from Thunder Bay, lending this race an international flair ;->
The sun was trying to peak out during the awards ceremony, but as you can tell from the pictures it was cool enough to stay pretty bundled up.
After the race we headed back to Duluth, stopping outside Beaver Bay for lunch. Then it was off to Ashland, Wi for me, combination of work (Mr. Wildknits had an airplane over there needing a 'switch' for the flap control mechanism) and pleasure (dinner with our eldest daughter). It rained off and on the whole trip over and the rainbows were pretty spectacular, appearing to touch down in the road at times. they were so vivid that you could see a strong band of purple on some of them. Very cool (but hard to photograph as we drove).
It ended up being a long, but satisfying day. Sunday I went out to Pike Lake and watched a lot of friends in the Brewhouse Triathlon. Impressive performances by all! Later I got in a ten mile run on the Munger Trail (paved rails to trails conversion). I am a bit tired of pavement, but need my legs to understand what Ragnar holds for them. Anyway, today it is back to dirt for me. Heading out soon for a short run on the Piedmont ski trails (and maybe an errand or two) before work.
12 comments:
Swedish fish? You'll have to explain just what that is. I've had salty licorice in fish shapes from Sweden. Not my idea of a prize.
Sounds like a fun race Lisa! And a pretty fast time for a course with lots of steep ups and downs!
If the woman behind you is eating Swedish Fish she doesn't seem all that impressed. :) Congrats to both you and Leslie!
Steve, they are a fat free treat - akin to gummy bears, worms, etc. Though I haven't tried mine yet as I have a temporary crown I would like to keep in place until tomorrow (when the permanent is due for installation).
Not sure what the connection was at this race - fish theme perhaps??? They do ship a lot of herring roe in the fall to Sweden out of Grand Marais... (umm - that bit of esoteric knowledge courtesy of Mr. Wildknits - a commercial herring fisherman).
Kel - thanks!! I was pretty dang impressed with my time.
Wayne - note I said I hadn't tried the fish yet due to my temporary crown, Caroline (woman in the background)had a temporary dental item of one sort or another than was pulled out by the fish. Plus, I hear they are better stale (or so says Leslie).
Swedish Fish! What an awesome prize! :) Cool t-shirts too.
Great job, Lisa! That is a tough little course, and your description of running it brought back some memories. Well done!
Jean - Thanks! It is a fun course and will be a race I try to keep on the calendar from now on. the drive is doable in a day - especially if you do not combine it with heading over to northwest Wisconsin on the same day!
Gotta love small town races!!
Now that I am home I can describe the fish a bit better (from the package):
"A Fat Free Food" "Soft & Chewy Candy" "Assorted" "To be enjoyed as part of a healthy, active lifestyle. To learn more about nutrition visit: www.mypyramid.gov" (I think these would fall under 'use sparingly' - but maybe Steve can tell us what phytochemicals they contain). "Made in Canada" (ah... another international connection).
There is even a website for the fish! (www.swedishfishbrand.com)
Fish update: Steve - they are NOT salty licorice.. more like a... hmm "Dot" maybe?
BTW - what is 'invert sugar'?
Ingredients: sugar, invert sugar, corn syrup, modified corn starch (could this be maltodestrin? ;-> ), citric acid, white mineral oil, natural and artificial flavors, carnuba wax, red 40, yellow 6, yellow 5, and blue 1.
Invert sugar is made by treating table sugar with acid. It partially degrades the sucrose into dextrose and fructose. Dextrose rotates polarized light to the right (dexter), but fructose rotates even more to the left, inverting the normal right rotation of sucrose. What it does is increase the sweetness slightly.
Modified corn starch is also heat and acid treated, turning it into shorter chains which are more soluble, digestible... and sweeter. Part of it will be maltodextrin.
I knew you would come through with an answer Steve! Now I am afraid to eat them - though at my age and having grown up on highly processed foods... well, may be too late anyway ;->
So - swedish fish could be considered an energy food for a run ;->
Guess I was a little clinical; there's nothing scary in them.
But did you hear the dye in Blue Gatorade may kill cancer cells? That's scary.
Scary - but could it be used as a prophylactic??? What most people may not know is that our body (immune system)is constantly killing off cancer cells.
Clinical does not scare me - rather fascinating actually. I am thinking the fish could substitute for gels and shot bloks on this weekends long run.
Congrats!! That t-shirt IS great, as your rainbow photos!
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