Chippewa 50k

The Chippewa 50k April 28th 2012 New Auburn WI

I was really looking forward to the “Chip” there was going to be a lot of old friends there.

I met Darrin at his house at 5 AM. Also riding down with us were Kevin and Shane, Brent and Jeremy were driving down separately. I also knew Jason Buffington was going to be there.

The weather looked like rain. Radar showed a big frontal system moving towards us. Miraculously it stayed dry for the entire race. Temps were cool, in the 4o’s and the wind was light.

The trail was mostly single track winding by lots of small lakes and, constantly up and down hills. Did I mention the hills? Lots and lots of hills.

My goal was to do ~ 9 min miles which meant 2:20 out and 2:20 back for a total of 4:40. I started out a little fast as per usual but felt good. Brent went out really fast as I expected, Jeremy went out with Brent but slowed a little and I caught up with him and ran with him for miles 7 to 17. At the turn around I was at 2:10, spent 2 mins there and left again with Jeremy. I really slowed down on the second half. My plan was to travel light and depend on the aid stations for nutrition. Which was fine except I had to stop for about a minute or more at each aid station and slug down 1 or 2 glasses of fluid, which gave me a little bit of an upset stomach for the next 5 minutes. Next time I’ll bring a water bottle and take more smaller drinks.

Jason was about a minute behind me at the turn around and was closing the distance throughout the second half. He was carrying a water bottle and only stopped at every other aid station. Jeremy had gone on ahead of me at the first aid station after the turn around. I had slowed quite a bit and was occasionally being passed by a faster runner, Darrin being one of those faster runners; he passed me about mile 22.

Towards the finish Jason was right on my tail and he pushed me up the last hill and to the finish.

Total time 4:41 2:10 out and 2:30 back 3rd in my age group (10 yr age groups) Brent won the 50 -59 age group.

http://www.ragnarok105.blogspot.com/

Ragnorak 105 April 14 2012 Red Wing MN

Its been a while since my last post so here it goes. The Ragnorak 105 recap.

It was a hectic week leading up to the Ragnorak 105. We had decided to make a family/weekend event out of it. Elizabeth had her Luther swim banquet on Sunday so Nikki and Zak came with us and we took the camper down to Red Wing MN, leaving after work on Friday and getting to a campground in Red Wing around 10:30 PM. The plan than was for Lynn to drop me off at the start and than go to Eau Claire to pick up Lisa at UW Eau Claire than come back to Red Wing and meet me at the finish, than drive down to a campground in Decorah IA to meet Kari and Jared and all of us would go to the swin banquet on Sunday. Than head back home on Monday via Eau Claire to drop off Lisa.
The morning of the race dawned clear and cool after some rain the night before. After doing a lot of large races the limit of about 100 entrants make this race seem really small.
The start went off without a hitch. unlike the Heck of the North where I stayed with the lead pack for 35 miles the leaders here took off really hard which stretched out the pack right away. About 12 miles into the race the lead pack took a wrong turn and I found myself in the lead group. I knew it woulden't last long and about 15 miles further down the road the leaders started catching us.
The roads started out a little wet and sloppy but dried out after noon. The hills were constant but I had put new gears on the bike and was able to ride all the hills when a lot of people were walking.
Saw Jeremy Kershaw both at the start and during the ride when he passed me. He must have taken the wrong turn. Didn't see Tim Eck. Saw Dave Pramman, Charlie Farrow didn't come down. Rode with a great group thru the half way point.
Overall it was a great ride 107 miles in 8:08. Next year I will have to break 8 hours.