Hills from Hell - Director and Volunteers from Heaven

I have been excited all week that my son is here. He returned from his Freshman year at the Colorado School of Mines in early May, spent a few days here, and immediately left for Germany for an immersion course as he will study there all next year. He returned last Monday night, and he has matured well. Now he can insult me, and I will never know... Between that, my weight of 9 pounds more than last year at this race, and a killer week at work, I wondered how I would do this year?

I could not sleep Friday night, primarily because of nerves but mainly because of the fireworks. They seemed to never end. I woke at 4:00 AM and had no issues from when I got up to the starting gun. The race was very uneventful for me. I had a goal of keeping my heart rate in the 120s for the first half and trying to stay in the 140s for the second half.

I was happy to see Philip once again at the start. He has been working hard since the Superior 100. Last year, I went out faster and did not see Philip until the end. This year, I caught him up in the downward slope at about mile 23. Once again, he was moving well, but at 250 pounds, I tend to give up trying to slow down on the downhills. Someday, I will really regret that!

To start the race, I hooked up with Les, with whom I ran about 10 miles together. Once again, as two weeks earlier at Grandma’s, it was early in the race when Karen Gall passed me. With that great attitude, she will always succeed. She is so consistent.

After the first river run on the first loop, Les looked strong, and I never saw him again. (Until the end.) I came into the half in 3:38, 23 minutes slower than last year.

The second loop I started with a young woman from Roseville. I am trying to remember her name, but she runs with Lynn Gannon. We ran to the first aid station, and she was gone. She looked strong, and running with her was a pleasure. From that point on, I met several people, and I just kept going. Was not worried about time, I just watched the heart rate monitor. I had been drinking 20-30 ounces of fluids an hour, which is more than I would typically drink, but I was sweating a little more today.

It was strange that even though I felt slow, I did manage to pass five people during the last 10 miles. The knee was good. (I did dive in on the snow show track; those who felt the ground shake assured me it was not an earthquake, just me falling hard and rolling.) The heart rate was down, and I just kept going on. I was really having an indifferent run. In the words of my old college professor, he said there are “days I feel like a wart on a fat man’s butt.” That means I am just hanging in there; no one notices or cares, and we are just being. That was this race. I was just being... I'm not really concerned about the time, just the heart rate.

Well, I was surprised at the finish. I ran 3 minutes faster than last year, which means I did the second loop 25 minutes faster than the year before. I know people thought the heat was more of a factor last year, but I felt it was warm this year as well. I know I did not recall sweating as much last year as this year. I was drenched, but I was really heavy on fluid consumption. I took one S-Cap at mile 10 and two more at mile 20.

After the race, I got to talk with Wayne, who successfully completed the 25 K. I saw Philip come in just under the 8-hour mark... I had a great conversation with many people, including Mike (I think that is his name?), a fellow trail mix aid station worker who also did the 50K. He has some great results in Chippewa and did well here. GREAT JOB! There was Karen’s friend from Norway. He finished, and we were expecting an expletive in Norwegian, but I think he was too tired... I know I missed a few people...

Overall, this is a great race because it has a dedicated Director and the most incredible core of race volunteers. Without the hundreds of hours these folks put in, this would not be the event it is, and I can never thank them enough for allowing so many to compete in such a fantastic event.

Carry on!