LPTR Slideshow...

My First Ice Age 50 Miler!

Race Report from LPTRunner Tom Schiessl...

Tom Schiessl and Mary Gorski

I signed up for this not really sure what I was getting into. Up to this point I had run six 50K’s in the past year (my first year of ultra looniness) and figured, what the hell.

I spent a lot of time training  at Lapham, Muir trails, and Scuppornong with a variety of friends from LPTR but mainly Laura Reinders, Trish Diaz, and Jose’. The support from this group was fantastic, and the fact that Laura and Trish successfully navigated the 50K, as well as myself finishing the 50 miler (with Jose’ sweeping) is a testament to that.

Chippewa 50k with its freaky 70 degree weather and snow covered trail was my last long run prior to IA 50, but it didn’t prepare me for this. After some pre-race comments and a great rendition of the National Anthem, Jeff sent us on our way.

My plan was to run with my friend Dawn Chavez, which I did for about 18-20 miles. The time flew by as we yapped about all kinds of stuff. I had a sense we were going a bit fast, but I felt good, so I slapped that thought out of my mind. Mistake! I drew away from Dawn when I should have stayed right where I was. Idiot. I felt great and took off, thrilled to see friends on the way back, at the aid stations and road crossings. The wind kind of sucked at points, and the hail was flat out unexpected.

I bumped into the wall around mile 32 (I knew I should’ve run the 50K!). I slowed my pace but rarely walked, and really tried to eat. I trundled along until I got back to Horseriders, which is about 7 miles from the finish. From here I ate nothing, had zero urge, but oh did the ginger ale taste good. I pretty much death marched it in after that, running (shuffling) a mile, walking a ½, repeat. I hurt bad, but wasn’t about to give up. Especially with Deb closing in and giving me wonderful encouragement! As I got close enough to hear the cow bells and the crowd cheering, I picked up my pace with a surge of excitement! I was going to get this done, 50 miles! I came to the finish alone, with the place going nuts, saw my lovely wife and nearly broke into tears. The friends that ran over to congratulate me was overwhelming. Handshakes, back  slaps and hugs from everyone, you would have thought I won. And in a way, I guess I did.

Very lucky and always grateful at Ice Age...

Race report from LPTRunner Mary Gorski...

Yesterday I got to thinking about how lucky I am.

The Ice Age 50 (50 miles, 50 kilometers or a lovely little half marathon for the less compulsive among us) was held yesterday, May 11, on the trails of the Southern Kettle Moraine near Whitewater, WI.

For ultrarunners in Wisconsin, the Ice Age trail run is a ritual of spring, like opening day of baseball season for MLB fans. There are other events throughout the year but this is THE ONE, the real start of the new season.

Ice Age has the status of old home week; it’s an ultrarunners’ reunion. Veterans with 20 or more finishes under their belt toe the line with newbies doing an ultra for the first time. Icons of the sport, including those who have represented the US on international teams, come back – if not to run, then to cheer on others.

Even former race directors are on the trails, taking photos, cheering runners, and helping the current RD (Jeff Mallach) with the two million details that putting on such an event requires. 

For me, this would be my 11^th finish at the IAT 50-miler. Added to that have been a few DNFs and one or two years of doing the 50K.

But while I love the race, the Ice Age race has often been one that has been accompanied by a bitof bad luck for me.

Note the emphasis on “a bit.” I’m not talking full-scale disaster; instead, just little twists in the luck continuum that add a few wrinkles that I’d rather not bother to iron out.

I hate ironing.

Getting to the tenth finish was a tough one for me. I DNFed my first attempt two years ago with a bad case of the flu. Coughing and wheezing, I called it a day at the end of the first nine-mile loop.

A few days before last year’s race my back went out without me. Three days before Ice Age I could barely walk.

But as is usually the case, more good luck than bad seemed to be with me and I slowly made my way through the course. I was a member of the 500-mile club.

This year I’ve again had some incredible luck at races, most notably in Boston where my finish time had me close to but not too close to the horrific events of theday.

I can’t think of a race in which I’ve had more luck.  I walked away unharmed while many right behind me did not.

I had been saving my Boston Marathon shirt for a special event and I couldn’t think ofanything more special than Ice Age. Yesterday was the first time that I ran in the shirt.

Every time there was a wrinkle in my good luck I looked at the shirt to remind myself that there was always more good luck than bad.

More simply– there is always more good than bad PERIOD.

As usual, there were wrinkles for me this year. Once again I was trying to get over a nasty cold (a tradition in spring that seems to go hand-in-hand with Ice Age for me). And then without any prior warning my right knee ached from the first step on the course (WTF?).

The weather… we all had that crazy wrinkle to deal with. Mother Nature was in a whacky mood yesterday. Sun and 50-degree temps, then face-stinging sleet and hail, then sun again coupled with high winds, a little rain, and then repeat. WTF again.

But even crazy Mother Nature couldn’t shake the good luck of the day. Though it had been a wet spring, most of the trail was dry (except for those lusciously slippery sections on the way to Emma Carlin).

Though my equilibrium seemed to fly out the window every time I blew my nose I managed to stay upright on the trail all day.

And the crabby knee didn’t really start to whine too loudly until the last three miles. By then this horse knew that it was close to the barn and had plenty of time to walk it in before Farmer Jeff closed the barn doors.

Eleven hours into the race I made that last turn and came in for finish No. 11.  Lucky 11, as with all of my other finishes.

This morning – the day after – I feel grateful again. Grateful for a lot of good fortune.

And I also feel… a little bit like shit.

Hell, I ran 50 miles on a gimpy knee with a head full of snot. I mean I’m grateful, and happy, and lucky and all those other very sweet things, but my body still feels like it has been run over by a truck.

But even fort hat, I am grateful. Not everyone has the opportunity to run 50 miles – even with the sniffles and a gimpy knee. Not everyone has the choice. I am grateful that I do.

Finally, some highlights:

- Relocated LPTR Cassie Scallon blowing the previous women’s course record out of the water by almost 20 minutes to win the race.

- Seeing long-time running buddy Jim (Jacques) Blanchard come in for his 25^th consecutive Ice Age finish. As someone who has DNFed a few of my starts, I have incredible respect for Jim’s accomplishment. The level of respect ranks right up there with Cassie’s amazing win.

- Getting the number “123” because it was so darn easy to remember whenever I came into an aid station. “What’s your number?!” “1,2,3!!!” Loved it! Thanks Jeff.

-Celebrating the first 50-mile finish of Tom Schiessl. I remember Tom’s first night running with the Lapham Peak group about two years ago. Then, the idea of a 50-kilometer race seemed out of his range, much less 50 miles. “Really, you guys meet out here to run in the winter too?”  Thanks for joining our merry little crew Tom.

- Spending a little time on the trail with JoDeen Hettenbach, who constantly reminded me that “This is such a fantastic day, isn’t it?” regardless if it was sleeting or sunny.

- Seeing Tom and Lorraine Bunk, the king and queen of the Kettle Moraine, cheering us on in the first mile of the race. Tom has a much tougher ultra to deal with right now than most of us; it was great to see both he and his lovely bride where they belong – on the trails.

- Getting home and remembering that I had apple pie waiting for me.  Mmmmm… excellent refueling.

I am lucky. And grateful.

Time for more pie.  

Day of Challenges - Mad City 50k

Race Report from LPTRunner Nick Wied...
It is just running everyone can do it, some are fast and others slow.  But there are a select few that can really embrace the suffering required to run for a long time.  One of the reasons I love ultra-running is that it is a challenge.  Most often the challenge is 90% mental and 10% physical.  This mental challenge, the willingness to suffer to persevere, is one of the reasons I went from racing 5 miles to 50 miles.  The other reason was my love for and need to connect with nature.  Well with that in mind I decided to step, way, outside my comfort zone and attempt to race an early spring road ultra, the Mad City 50K.  For me this would mean running at an extremely uncomfortable pace, for a long time, in circles, on pavement, fully clothed, and in some really cold weather.

The Mad City course for both the 100K (USATF National Championships) and the 50K is the same.  A 10K loop around Lake Wingra in Madison, WI.  This is a faster course with the men’s 50K CR a stout 3:03(Zach Bitter) and the 100K 6:56 (Michael Wardian).  Do not let the times or the fact that it is pavement fool you; each loop has an elevation gain close to 1200ft.  That is right around 6k of vertical gain for the 50K and 12K for the 100K, not too shabby for a fast “flat” WI course.  The RD Tim “Timo” Yanacheck creates an environment befitting a National Championship race.  There are two aid stations; one at the start/finish and another right before the 4 mile mark.  Timo’s dedication to the race and its participants allows the runners to focus solely on running.

Focus is indeed what I should have been doing right before the start of the 50K.  After jogging to warm up I ran into Eric Senseman, the eventual 50K winner, and we began to catch up.  Well the next thing I heard was someone stating that they called 30 seconds to the start of the race.  So as I ran to drop my sweatshirt the race started.  My first thought was, “What the hell, how do you miss the start of a race you showed up an hour early for!”  Followed closely by, “Oh well I have 31 miles to catch everyone.”  Well it is just another challenge, right?  The 10K loop rolls out pretty quickly around the lake to right around mile 2ish where the first bigger hill is.  This hill is runnable, as they all are, but taking them too fast early on will really fatigue your legs.   From there the path follows the lake past the University’s arboretum and up the other large hill near mile 4 right before the 2^nd aid station.  From this aid station you run downhill following the lake to zoo.  From there you have a quick flat shot to the start/finish to start your next loop.

It is sometimes tough to remember that this is an ultra when you are running 10K loops, since you can so easily wrap your mind around that distance.   I was taught this lesson at mile 29 right as I passed the backside aid station for the last time, when my left hamstring seized due to fatigue, now that’s a challenge!  Up until that point all of my miles had been consistently in the 6:40-7:00 range.  Well not mile 29 that was near 17:00, but what can you do when you can’t really walk, but wait for the cramp to relax. As soon as that happened I pushed back into the 7:00 range and finished the race for a total time of 3:51:38 and a 7^th overall.  “Timo” put on a fabulous race, and really made running on pavement in 28 degree, windy, weather enjoyable.  I would highly recommend the 50K as a spring tune up race to prepare for an Ultra summer. 

Speaking of making you feel awesome, my friends who run shorter distance races always ask me what kind of swag (gifts) you get for running “crazy” ultras.  Well Timo and his fabulous sponsors do not disappoint, the bag I received at check in was jam packed.  Plus there was a huge bonus!  I was a little fatigued after the race so I was not quite sure what the giant box I received along with my medal and plaque contained.  Well it was a giant box of dark and milk chocolate truffles, 60 of them, NOW that’s SWAG!  I love chocolate so I had my final challenge for the day, for this one I would need to enlist the help of my two little girls though!

RACE RESULTS

50K         3:51:38 (PR)          7^th Overall

Nutrition

(3 hours pre-race)

3 Packets Justin’s Chocolate Almond Butter

1 Green Tea with Coconut oil added

1 VESPA ultra-concentrate

Multi vitamin, fish oil, 4 Capra-Flex

(Race)

3 VESPA junior’s

1-20oz Chocolate Coconut Water with 3 TBSP of honey

2-20oz (Mexican) Coke-Cola

(Post)

Salmon, avocado, sweat potato, & kale salad

Multi vitamin, 4 Capra-Flex

1 AWESOME Hard Cider!

Zumbro 100 - LPTR Gnarly Bandits survive!

Link to a great article about Zumbro 100 - Note only half of the Gnarly Bandit series runners survived the first test and 3 of them are LPTR!  Yea Angela, Tina and Jennifer!  Great Job to Logan who also finished but is not part of the Gnarly Bandit series (that darn high-school thing really gets in the way!!)

http://www.snowshoemag.com/2013/04/21/one-tough-race-100-miles-of-muck-at-zumbro/?fb_action_ids=528169170583538&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%7B%22528169170583538%22%3A445601445530395%7D&action_type_map=%7B%22528169170583538%22%3A%22og.likes%22%7D&action_ref_map=%5B%5D

Cassie Wins Lake Senoma 50mile!

LPTRunner Cassie Scallon won the 2013 Lake Senoma 50 miler and set a course record in the process!  It wasn't all smooth sailing though - Get the details at her interview here on the irunfar website...

http://www.irunfar.com/2013/04/cassie-scallon-2013-lake-sonoma-50-mile-champ-interview.html

This also gives her an auto bid to Western States 100, which would be her first attempt at racing that distance - Congrats Cassie!

From LPTRunner Eric Beaver...

This week for the Wed run I brought homemade energy bars -  Several people asked me to post the recipe for on the website  -   I adapted this from a recipe I found on the Trailrunner website.

So, for what it's worth:

Erik's Real Easy (Real Food) DIY Energy Bars

3 cups rolled oats
1 cup honey
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1 cup raisins, coursely chopped
1 tsp salt

Heat the honey, peanut butter, salt and raisins over medium low heat in a pot big enough to accomodate the oats.  Stir occasionally until well blended and liquid.  Remove from heat, add the oats, and stir until well blended.  Press into an 8X8 baking dish lined with wax paper.  Let cool.  Cut into 16 bars.

Nutrition Info:
Calories        199
Fat                5 g
Cholestrol      0 mg
Sodium         185 mg
Potassium     142 mg
Total Carbohydrate 37 g
Fiber                      2.4 g
Sugars                   24 g
Protein                   4.3


Erik Beaver