78 strawberries later...

Saturday I achieved my weekend goal - all of the strawberries were in the ground! It was a cold day to be working in wet soil, but perfect for the heavy work of shoveling compost and removing sod.

But to back track a bit:

Friday after work I picked up a load of compost (one cubic yard to be exact) in our truck and headed home.

The plan - cover our garden terraces with this nice product courtesy of the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District (WLSSD).

The problem - our hill. Now, the truck has four wheel drive, but I am not the person to attempt getting it up our hill and backed into our sloping yard to the garden. Figured I was going to be hauling 5 gallon buckets of compost up hill, but my neighbor came to the rescue. He got the truck into the yard (with no damage to truck or the sod we want). This made the moving of compost slightly easier. Instead of buckets up the hill it was buckets down the hill ;-> After a bit I lost count of how many buckets it took to a)cover a garden bed and b) empty the truck. But I can tell you it takes 4 shovelfuls of compost to fill a bucket and I can carry two full 5 gallon buckets at a time and I was at it for an hour or two. And my doctor thinks I need to incorporate upper body work into my exercise regime!

By the time I had all but an 1/8 of the compost distributed (and realized another run to the compost site was in my future) my daughter and her boyfriend (and his friend) arrived. I had the guys help finish unloading the truck for me. And then left the truck to better drivers to move (yes, we live on that steep of a slope - we reminisced about the day we moved in and hauled our upright piano into the yard via pickup. The kids thought it was going to flip out of the truck as they backed into the yard and up to the side door).

Saturday I headed out for breakfast with friends and then back to the compost site - this time to pick up a load for the woman who is starting our plants for us (co-worker, master gardener and friend). Got to her place where I could park next to the garden and helped unload the compost - yeah, no bucket hauling! From there it was to home and back to sod removal. Those strawberries needed to get in to the ground this weekend. Did I mention it was drizzly and cold?!? The first cart load of sod I tried to take down the hill and dump almost took me with it. Checked with the neighbor after that so if he heard a scream he would come to the rescue. By mid-afternoon my lower back was done in. I had already put out a call for hired help and he came through. Then Mr. Wildknits arrived and I was freed from sod removal! Got the strawberries out of the refrigerator, found my yardstick and trowel and set to work.

The strawberry bed (as well as assorted flowers and shrubs):



(Note: photos taken Sunday when the weather had improved)

Sorry you can't see the strawberry plants yet - they are quite tiny. By midsummer next year (2010) we should be rich in fruit from these plants. A long wait, but so worth it! The guys then went on to expand our garden in the front, adding another 32 square feet of bed above our existing terrace. And moving us one step closer to leveling a piece of our yard (where all the sod is going).

As I was photographing the new bed I noticed an interesting visitor to my daffodils:
Can you spot her/him?

Sunday was also the NMTC Spirit Mountain Run. A 15K on a mix of paved and gravel roads. My plan, go out easy and stay that way. The reality - took 5 minutes off last years time ;-> I guess training and consistency do pay off. I was surprised to have run so well as I was really feeling the efforts of the past two days of heavy lifting. Not much to say about the race, despite lots of people being there you are often alone on the course. It is very windy as the road wraps around from Spirit Mountain to Magney-Snively to Bardon's Peak and on out to the Beck's Road. For those who have run the Half Voyageur or Voyageur parts of the course will be familiar. I was thinking of it as having some rolling hills but nothing to gnarly.... HAH! I had forgotten about the hills on the far end, before/after the turnaround at the railroad tracks. Wow, are there some long hills back there! My big accomplishment this year was running them all - a first. I ran with a friend who would tell me to envision a rope between the two of us as I struggled up the hills (I am not a strong hill climber despite living in Duluth). On the other hand, he kept telling me to "throttle it back" on the downhills and flats as this was not supposed to be a race ;->

It was a beautiful day for a run: sunny, not too warm, wind that always managed to be in your face. By the end of the race I was feeling a bit tired and the last hill to the finish seemed to go on forever (what is it with trail run groups and their uphill finishes?). By now I was being paced in by my friend Leslie (responsible for much of my speediness this year) and she encouraged me to actually do a mini-cool down afterwards. A bit of stretching, a bit of socializing and it was time to head home to get to work on my next project: display of spring wildflowers found along the Superior Hiking Trail to bring up to this weekends races in Lutsen.

Off to Walgreens I went to have prints made, then rooting around to find a display board left over from the girls projects. Worked on the display off and on for the evening, noting that I needed to head out and get a picture of bloodroot in bloom as the only photo I had was of just the leaf.

Monday I loaded the camera into my pack and headed to a local trail after work for a walk and a known patch of bloodroot. And what a patch! It stretches into the woods for quite a ways. In addition to the bloodroot


I found:

carolina spring beauty


marsh marigold


wood anemone


and coltsfoot


Off to go work on the display some more (now that I have good bloodroot photos). See some of you Friday and Saturday up in Lutsen!

Bull Run (race report) and what I do in my spare time besides knit and run

Race Report

Yesterday was the second race in the NMTC Trail Series. Named the Bull Run (though no one seems to know why) it could just as easily be named the Tick Run. Two years ago I came off the trail with 25 ticks total. Can't remember how many last year. This year... only two and both wood ticks. I am attributing my good luck this year to the liberal application of Badger Anti-bug balm. Rubbed it all over my lower legs and tops of my socks. The only place I found ticks was on my shoes and that was before race start.

The course for this race is off of Hwy 23 on the backside of Jay Cooke State Park. It is hilly! Very hilly, extremely hilly and just when you think you have run a steep hill, you hit another one. The listed distance is 4.5 miles but in the past two years the course has been altered and it may be just under 4. Which would make sense as my times the last two years are just too fast otherwise ;->

The race starts off heading downhill under some power lines and then takes a hard left onto a ski trail. From there it is a rolling course: up, down and around while you descend towards the river. In years past we actually ran along the river for a bit (Lower lake Trail) before climbing back up to the start. Now we have been taking a sharp right onto a cut off that brings us back to the Upper Lake Trail. Looking at the topographical map of the area the contour lines are mighty close together.

I have learned over the years that I can only run hills of a certain slope, so ran what I could and walked the rest. There is one hill on the course (or is it two?) that almost beg for use of your hands.

Caught up to the guy who has been running in KSO's and chatted with him a bit. He is still getting used to them and was having some issues with cramping in his calves. Last weeks run included a lot of pavement and that may have been part of the problem, plus it is early in the season yet.

Was able to run the entire final uphill to the finish this year. Usually I am so wiped by this point that I walk until I can almost be seen and then run in to the finish. Actually felt pretty good overall though my quads were complaining and had me thinking I need to do some more hill work before the Superior 25k in a week+.

As with all NMTC races half of the fun is visiting with running friends before and after. This weekend is the NMTC Skyline Run (15k). It is the only road race in the series. Used to be all on gravel road but the city in their wisdom decided to throw chewed up asphalt down so it is now paved - sort of.


Spare time activities

I am still working on expanding the strawberry bed. It is tough going removing sod/weeds and their roots from the yard. All complicated by the slope (hills seem to be a theme today). Sunday I removed three garden carts worth of sod. Today I removed two - very full - cart loads.


Getting started - my pitchfork (tool of choice) is at the top of the photo next to the rhubarb.


Partially filled garden cart. The cart is pretty big - 3'x2' at least.

The sod is being dumped in the front yard in an attempt to create one level place in our yard for sitting and enjoying the view on nice evenings.

On a kind of icky note, I have been finding a lot of these in the dirt as I dig:

Any idea whose grub they are?


During breaks to stretch my back and hamstrings I walked up to the neighbors and found that his wild ginger is in bloom:



I also took the time to photograph some of the other plants that are blooming in our yards:

forsythia



daffodils (with bleeding heart just starting to bud on the far right - embiggen to see)



mertensia (virginia bluebells)


And finally, for Matt and all the other folks out there who brew beer (or just enjoy a cool beverage from time to time) the hops are up and racing skyward:



Just a week or so ago they were hardly out of the ground, now at least one vine is three feet tall. This means we need to get to stringing our support system and if I am not careful my bike will be engulfed soon. By mid-summer the hops will have climbed up the front of the porch and after reaching the roof will head across the railing. It always amazes me how prolific they are and how fast they grow. No hop shortage around the Wildknits household! (And before you ask - not sure what variety they are, sorry! Got them from a friend years ago, but they have been used in home production).

I am off to put my feet up, grab my knitting and a good book and relax for an hour of so before bed. Almost done with one sock, wondering if the yarn is going to hold out though. I seem awfully near the end of one skein already and these are not very large socks.

Superior Hiking Trail Annual Meeting Run

Warning - Photo Essay:


Wolf Ridge Trail to the SHT - snow and downed branches


Overlook - Lake Superior


Wolf Lake (Johnson lake) - ice is still present


Trail or Stream?


Highway 1 - on my way back


Ice damaged trees - trails cleared by the MCC and Wolf Ridge


About an 1/8th of the trail bed looked like this


Approach to "Superior View" overlook


Downed trees in the valley below "Superior View"


Post-run view - only wet and muddy to mid-shin ;->

Great run on the trails at Wolf Ridge and out on the Superior Hiking Trail to Hwy 1 and then to the Superior View overlook and back up to Wolf Ridge. No goshawk (scroll down to may 4th) this year!

The workshop I was to present on trail running was a bust - one person came and we chatted for about 15 minutes. I think this can be attributed to the timing of the workshop - 1:00 pm on day when most folks were out hiking. During my run I passed that majority of hikers so they got a "demonstration" of the topic ;-> Did talk to a few folks who were hoping to make it back for the workshop but didn't. Spent the rest of the time up there chatting with folks informally about running trails and clarifying my age (yes, I am that old... have kids in college) and that trail running is not just for young. ;->

The evening speaker was Sparky Stensaas, an old friend. We spent some time visiting and catching up and I looked over the books he published and found: Lichens of the North Woods by Joe Walewski. Boy was I excited!! this is a topic I have always wanted to learn more about and now have a resource. The North Shore of Lake Superior and Isle Royale have hundreds of species of lichens with Isle Royale having over 600 species alone! Guess what book will find it's way into my pack on future backpacking trips?

Didn't see any wildflowers on my run, only thing blooming were the trees. The frost is just leaving the ground in some spots in the area. Did see Mourning Cloak butterflies, a lot of flies, one warbler (unidentified - I am terrible with birds), turkey vultures, and heard ravens.

NMTC Milleninum Trail Run

Last night was the first race in the NMTC Spring Series. Held in Superior, Wi on the Millennium Trail and the ski trails of the Superior Municipal Forest this is the 'flattest' run of the series. It is also notorious for being a windy, cold, wet race. Yesterday was no exception. The wind was gusting up to 20+ mph out of the east (=off the Lake = really cold) and it was raining. I popped out of my car long enough to sign up for the race ($1) and visit briefly before jumping into the car of a friend to wait until race start. Lining up for the race I tried to place myself in front of some taller runners for wind protection (not hard to do when you are 5' 1").

Went out too fast (easy to tell by who I was running with) and promptly notched it down just a little bit. The race starts on pavement so it is easy to go out fast. Within 1/3 to 1/2 mile (really closer to 2/3rds) we turned onto the ski trails and hit our first of many puddles. This was a small one and I don't think the water even soaked through my shoes before I was through it. That was not to hold true for the rest of the race. At one point I hit a puddle that resulted in very cold and wet feet. Then there was the puddle that came up to my knee ;->

Along with puddles come hills. As I said this is one of the flatter courses in the series. According to one persons GPS data there is only an elevation change of 45 or 46 feet on the course. Yeah, but they occur on either side of a steep ravine, over and over again. My goal for the past few years has been to become a better hill runner and a better mud runner. Will get lots of practice in the upcoming weeks.

The race heads out to the west and is a loop course with an out and back section on the paved part of the trail. Remember that east wind? Yup, would finish with a head wind. Seems to be a tradition on this course. But yesterday it was not as bad as it could have been, at least when I finished. I kept bracing for the headwind and never really got hit with it. Nice break really as this winter seems to have been all about practicing running into the wind.

Finished a full minute faster than my best time on this course! Apparently consistent training (and running with faster folks) does pay off. May join Wayne in a quest to run all my races faster this year. So far I am 1 for 1 (can't count Trail Mix as I have never run that race before even though it was a 25k PR).

Other running news: Commuted to work by foot twice this week (with an opportunity to do the same tomorrow as I am carless). Tuesday was the usual run from Job A to Job B. Then today - being Thursday - was 'run to work day'. It was also the first day I ran doubles. I hadn't planned on running home, but no ride, dark clouds looming on the horizon... a run seemed prudent. Took it easy even on the .8 mile section heading up hill through Lincoln Park. Arrived home in 24 minutes, not bad for all the hill climbing involved. Today was also the first day I ditched the small backpack for a fanny pack - must be spring!

Speaking of spring - my daffodils are blooming! And the strawberries have arrived. I ordered 100 plants to replenish my strawberry bed. I am not planning on planting all 100 plants, some will go to friends, but want to get at least 50 or more in the ground. Barrier - I will be gone much of this weekend so need to research keeping the plants healthy and happy until I can get them in the ground sometime next week. Next up will be preparing the rest of the garden beds for spring planting when we return from Isle Royale later in May. Garlic update - looks like all the garlic I planted is up and looking very healthy. Easy to tell which were the big bulbs as the greens are quite stocky vs the smaller bulbs with spindly greens.

Knitting: hmmm, not making much progress on the scarf or the socks. Very little knitting time of late and have decided that the scarf will not be ready for this weekend. Maybe next year? Arrived home last Saturday to discover my order from KnitPicks had arrived. Blocking mats, set of double point needles for a friend, and sock knitting needle holders. Guess I have an incentive to finish the scarf and finally block that lace shawl I knit a few years ago.

Upcoming plans: Saturday is the Superior Hiking Trail Annual Meeting where I will be presenting a workshop on Running the Superior Hiking Trail (thanks everyone for your suggestions on what to include!). I plan on arriving early in the day and running 10 miles on the trails around Wolf Ridge ELC prior to the workshop. Had thought about staying for the evening program and dance but may have to bail as have company coming on Sunday. Two weeks from now is the Superior Spring Trail Races and another commitment - In addition to running the 25k I told the race directors I would make a display of spring wildflowers seen along the trail. I have the photos ready, just need to get to work on printing them out and preparing the text.

Swine flu - had my first call today at work from a patient concerned about having contracted the swine flu. Sigh... here we go. Will be an interesting time in healthcare.

What I did on my day off

But first - Thanks Wayne for explaining to me how to make links work!!! And - all that after running an ultra (or was it before? I may not have ultra brain, but I do have ultra aid station brain complicated by driving 2 hours ;->)

Congratulations to everyone at the Chippewa Moraine 50k! Met a few bloggers (Kel, Matt) for the first time and said hello to a few others I have met (and run with in Wayne's case) in the past.

The weather was pretty interesting over the last two days. Being optimistic I left Duluth Friday morning wearing shorts. Figured I would layer a lot on top and would be okay. Then I opened the doors and discovered it was quite nice outside (only in northern Minnesota do we consider 61 degrees shorts and t-shirt weather). Ran some last minute errands and headed south to New Auburn, WI. Heard it was going to be a warm day, with a threat of rain/thunderstorms in the late afternoon and evening. Figured I would still have time to get the long run in and wasn't too worried about the temperatures as I figured I could handle 70's. As I got closer to New Auburn the car kept getting hotter and hotter and I became a bit worried about the temperature.

Found my way to the Chippewa Moraine Interpretive Center and got out of the car to discover it was really hot! Hmmm, I do not like running in the heat all that much. Oh well, I had made plans to meet up with another aid station volunteer to run so was committed (or should have been!).

We set out to run an out and back on the race course. After running the same loop twice we found our way onto the Ice Age Trail. By then I was ready to pack it in, but persevered. There was much discussion about how far we really wanted to run in light of the heat - and our lack of acclimation. We ended up running out 7.5 miles (per Pete's gps) and then turning around. We had been out for 1hr 35 minutes so figured we would be back by 3 hours. Not to be. On the way back we found the actual trail and ended up running a bit further (and enjoying that nice uphill to the finish). Pete and I split up on the way back so we each got to "enjoy" being on new trail to us, with an unknown distance to the Interpretive Center, alone. I ended up running for 3 hrs and 29 minutes!

Highlights of the day: hepatica in bloom (both violet and white); bloodroot in bloom (at the turn around point); sandhill crane; the lovely Chippewa Moraine Trail.

Arrived back at the Interpretive Center to discover the temperature was in the low 80's! I was ready to sit in the shade and drink - lots. Visited with Wynn and Larry Pederson for a bit while waiting for friends to arrive. Interesting stories.

As the afternoon progressed storm clouds moved in and shortly after heading out to Chetek (and the hotel and then dinner) it began to thunder, lightening and pour rain - and hail. Hmmm - hoping this all would pass before Saturday morning or it would be an interesting day for a race - though I guess rain is better than snow!

Woke up Saturday morning to temperatures in the low 40's and drizzle. Ran into Andy H. in the hotel lobby, who would go on to win the race. At this point I was glad I had packed a backpack full of warm clothes and picked up a very large tarp to use as a wind/rain break.

Pictures from the start:





And at the aid station:

Kathy


JoAnn

Wayne (see above link)


Kel (see above link)

After closing down the aid station I returned to the Interpretive Center to return dropped items, watch runner's finish and visit. Then it was off to home. As I drove north the skies cleared, though the temperatures did not improve much. But, that said I do have flowers blooming in my yard!



scilla siberica - one of my favorites. There is a yard on my running route to work that is covered in a light blue variety of this flower.


Daffodils are not far behind!

Week in review

Noticed - after the last post went up - that none of my links even showed up. Aargh!!! Not sure what the issue is, and not willing to spend hours figuring it out. Sorry about the missing links.

So, Saturday last I was hanging out in balmy 60+ degrees. Headed north as the forecast called for rain mixed with snow on Sunday and I did not want to drive three hours in that. Arrived Saturday night to fog hanging on the ridgeline in Duluth and temps in the 30's. Brrr!!

The next day I decided I needed to get outside and hike for a bit to stretch my legs after the race. Nothing like a little April snow to encourage me out the door. The flakes were big, fat and very hard to catch on camera, but this was the scene on the the SHT above my house:


I used my need for a walk to accomplish an annual spring task: maintenance report for "my" section of the SHT. This year I took a camera along and used it to document any problems areas - and cool stuff I saw. Like:


An alder broken over the trail - right near a creek crossing (may be hard to see, click on the picture to enlarge).


Wide muddy area at the base of some steps.



Broken off "sign" tree.


Sumac leaves just budding out.


Snow melting on a winter weed

My house (and the access trail to the SHT) are at about the mid-way point of this section. Because of the location, I ended up walking some sections of the trail multiple times, which was fine by me. I ended at Twin Ponds and was surprised to see a hooded merganser out on the pond. He was being 'followed' by at least three hens. I decided to climb down to the pond to see if I could get a picture of these diving ducks. I walked the shore line of the pond, attempting to get closer to where the mergansers were swimming, but they seemed to know what I was up to and would always manage to be on the opposite side of the pond then I was. Here is my best attempt at a photograph:

Maybe if you click on it to enlarge the photo and squint real hard you can see the merganser through the snow?

But, I did make an interesting discovery on the edges of the pond (while getting my feet wet):

Marsh marigolds!! Just starting to emerge. One naturalist I know calls them "55 mph flowers" as you can identify them while whizzing by on the highway.

Despite the snow, spring is arriving in northern Minnesota.

The rest of the week was pretty uneventful. Tuesday I ran errands between Job A and Job B - literally. Left the first job, ran towards the second job, stopping at the post office to get some stamps and then 'running' into a friend I have not seen in months a half mile or so later. After a quick chat it was off to work.

Wednesday I decided to check out the trails in the Piedmont Area. I headed out on the section of SHT that runs through there (very hilly part of town) then hopped over to the snowmobile trail/multi-use trail to connect up with the ski trail. I know of a patch of bloodroot on this trail and wanted to see if it was up yet. No luck! From there I got on to the mountain bike/multi-use trail that also runs through this area. Boy are those fun! I ended up looping around for 65 minutes, climbing some of my favorite rock outcrops in the process and scaring a couple of mallards off a vernal pond. By the time I got myself back to the snowmobile and out to the road where I had parked my car I was tired. Ran in my new trail shoes (I know - when will I learn not to run long in a new pair of shoes?). Not sure what I think of them. My right ankle(sprained this winter during soccer) was crackling like a bowl of rice krispies for most of the run. Was it the shoes or the first time on single-track in a few months? No matter - found myself with a silly grin on my face half of the time from the sheer joy of being out there playing in the woods.

Thursday is 'Run to Work Day'. I discovered how tired I was from yesterday's run this morning. Then it occurred to me - hey, I am planning on running 16 miles tomorrow. What am I thinking?!? I normally do not run 4 days in a row. Oh well, can take three days off after that and get back to my normal schedule. Ended up also running errands this morning - I had not brought the right combination of food to work the previous day and needed to hit the local Walgreens for some juice for my cereal (yeah, I know this is weird - all started when I had to be dairy free 18 years ago, think of it as naturally sweetened fruit loops ;-> ).

Tomorrow I am on vacation and will head to New Auburn. The plan is to meet up with another aid station volunteer to run the section of the Ice Age Trail that the Chippewa Moraine 50k will be on. Saturday will be spent at Aid Station #4 cheering on (and fueling) all of the runners. Looking forward to seeing some of you there.

In addition to the usual aid station volunteer items (folding chairs, assortment of clothes, lunch) I will have along my knitting. I usually have a pair of socks on the needles to work on between waves of runners. But may bring along the lace scarf as the deadline to finish that is less than a week away. Hoping the weather forecast is better than it has sounded or my hands will be too cold to manipulate the needles.

Have a great weekend and good luck to all the runners at the Chippewa Moraine 50k!!!

Trail Mix 25K

Well, I finished my first Trail Mix!

Thanks Wayne and Rick (and many others) for talking me in to signing up. Now to resist the siren call(or is that arm twisting?) to run a 50K. Hard to do with one running right through my proverbial backyard this fall!

Prior to the start of the 50K the race director was apologizing for the nice weather, and hoping for a change. The dry spring made for a firm trail, other than in the sandy and wood chip spots. For a Duluthian the temperatures were quite balmy - low 50's at the start and not much wind. This was probably the largest race I have run in since the three years I ran the Garry Bjorklund Half marathon (shudder - road races!). The start was so low key I pretty much missed it and clued in when people started moving.

I ran with Wayne (see link above) for the first loop which was helpful in understanding where the course was going. I had puzzled out that it was a bit of a figure eight, with some extra loops stuck on, by looking at course maps and listening to explanations. My plan was to run conservatively during the first loop - trying to remember landmarks - and then decide what to do for the second loop based on how I was feeling.

While I heard some of the Twin City runners describe this as a hilly course I found it to be more rolling than steep - with the exception of running down the ski hill. That was fun! I have made it a personal goal in the last couple of years to learn to run downhills better. I think I did okay with this on Saturday (and have not had to pay too high of a price since then).

The first loop went by pretty quickly and then next thing I knew we were approaching the finish area where I could see my sister and another friend waiting. Jenny had her camera ready and caught some nice shots (that is Wayne in the black shirt, me in the blue):


Hollered at my friend Jim to cheer for me as I ran by(resulting in others joining in and his meeting my sister - they had arrived at different times so hadn't been introduced). Came through the first loop in 1:15 to 1:16 - right where Rick had predicted I would be.

Some time after passing through the parking area Wayne and I parted and I headed off alone. Met up with friends running the 50K and ran with them for a short while and saw some other Duluthians down for the race. At this point my feet were starting to hurt and I was rethinking my decision to run in the old Saucony's. The cushioning is shot, which would have been okay for a softer course (ie: typical Trail Mix) but was hard on me with the dry conditions. I was also having some pain up near my left big toe - knew that meant a blister - but was not overly worried as it wasn't too bad.

As the morning progressed the wind picked up and by the time I hit the ski hill for the second time it was strong enough I was not very worried about falling forward on the descent. The wind was blowing straight up the hill, allowing me to lean into it for support on the way down (yes, I was that kid that was blown backwards and off her feet in elementary school by a strong gust of wind).

The second time around I had a better sense of where I was so was able to think about things like "When is the next aid station and port-a-potty?" Trouble was there was a line and I was unwilling to stop, thereby losing time. Kept figuring on stopping at the next one if I needed to, but then again, didn't want to take the time and then the next thing I knew there was only about 5K left and, well, why stop now?!?

Somewhere in the last 5 miles I decided I would no longer check my heart rate monitor and just run at what felt like a good pace. I did need to remind myself not to pick it up too soon as I did want to finish running. The nice thing about this race being a loop course is that you know what to expect at the finish line. And like many trail runs, it is uphill(though hard to see that in the following photos).

Heading into the finishing chute:


My sister did a great job of getting some action shots and was able to capture both me and my time in this one:

Yup - even splits! I was pretty happy about that, and with my time overall. It was 31 minutes faster than my only other 25K (Superior 25K last May - much hillier course and on single-track).

After walking back along the race course a bit and cheering on other runners I knew it was time to watch for friends Rick and Shelly running the 50K. This was Shelly's first 50K and she looked pretty good coming through the finish area. I jogged along with them a bit until we reached their drop area, visited and then wished them luck.

It was time to get my shoes off at this point and see what was going on (and let them breathe). Removed my right shoe and sock - not too bad. Removed my left shoe and sock and found this:


Surprisingly it didn't hurt all that much (but was good for grossing out friends and family ;->). Will need to figure out what exactly is the problem with my left shoe before Superior - or just cover the area with blister pads and hope for the best. Needless to say, no shoes were going back on that foot for awhile.

The other problem I had was extreme swelling of my hands and fingers. Not sure why this happens - diversion of blood from my arms? Over-hydration? Dehydration? Electrolyte imbalance? Not sure - but my hands also swell a lot when it is hot, so it is not limited to exercise. Knowing this I keep my watch band loose at the start of a long run and try to shake my hands and arms out occasionally in hopes of decreasing the swelling. It took a long time for the swelling to subside and by then I was so chilled that the Raynauds kicked in and I had fat, colorless hands. Yippee! By the time we headed out I was wearing three long sleeve layers on top (including a fleece coat) and fleece pants - on a 60 degree day. Getting into my car, with the heat on and solar gain was the only way I warmed up and got circulation back into my hands.

I really enjoyed running this race. Thanks to O.C. Williams, the Race Director, and all the volunteers for your efforts!