LPTRunner Christine Crawford's 2012 Chippewa 50k race report...
I don’t get much time to train during the week so I decided
to get ready for Ice Age 50 mile I would sign up for three 50k’s in one month
then add two 20 mile training runs on two separate weekends. I was averaging about 20 miles of
running during the week and in the end averaging 45 miles per week for the past
two months. Good enough. Many of the LPTR’s spoke of Chippewa
Moraine and it just happened to fit in my schedule.
Having to work late, Joel and I didn’t take off until
5pm. Of course I had to wait while
Joel concocted dinner on the go.
Elbow Mac, olive oil and parmesan cheese, shaken, not stirred in a
Tupperware container. With
Tupperware in fist, we took off for the fine town of Bloomer where we stayed at
the Bloomer Inn and Suites and ate just across the way at a truck stop
bar. Turns out, we were the only
ones in the bar that resided in Wisconsin so Joel did his best to welcome the
drivers/workers and explain what cheese curds were.
After a restful evening we headed to the start which was a
nice place to start a race. The
welcome center was warm, had flush toilets and plenty of things to play
with. The group took some time for
pictures; we headed to the start and after a round of applause for the
incredible Helen Lavin and an even louder cheer for the LPTR’s we were off! I did my best to run slowly and
carefully down the initial ¼ mile hill at the start so as not to blow out both
quads at once. I quickly passed
several people just as we entered the single track and the second mile of the
run. What a beautiful course. All single track, nothing but hills so
no chance to get a rhythm going but I enjoy such courses. I ran early with Ron then he decided to
slow down a bit and I thought about doing that too since I didn’t know how my
legs would respond having run Double Chubb the previous weekend (in the end,
they felt fine and I had some fatigue only in the last five miles). I joined a group of guys who were
running my pace but after eight miles, they proved to be stronger so I backed
off; then I was alone which was awesome.
I got into the zone feeling good and then suddenly, a root came up and
grabbed my foot sending me sailing down a hill. I don’t know exactly what happened but I did remember
hearing a little “pop” in my ankle.
I’m not going to lie, it hurt and I was stunned. I got up and limped for a few seconds
then did a soft jog then took off again and the pain slowly went away so I
thought I was good. I could feel a
little pain once in a while as I ran downhill but otherwise felt fine. I made it to the 10 mile aid station
and as I ran through, felt something in my left shoe (I injured the right
foot). I thought maybe I picked up
some trail debris but I was too lazy to take the shoe off and investigate and
eventually that foreign object embedded itself in my big toe. That hurt too but that pain went away
as well so all was good!
I was waiting
for the rest of the LPTR’s to catch me (Joel) but that didn’t happen until the
turn-around. I latched on to Joel
and Ben (who was running his first ultra and doing an outstanding job) and I
commented that they were running really fast and I doubt I could keep up with
them and Joel said “you were running faster before!” and I thought well, yeah,
for 15 miles but now I want to slow down.
He threatened to be upset with me if I let the second place girl pass me
since she was close to me at the turn-around. That was all I needed so I stopped complaining and held
on. I switched places with Ben and
he commented that he was happy to look at someone’s behind other than Joel’s
and it was even better that it was a girl. THANKS BEN at 42, I’m open to any such compliments.
We continued on
but eventually lost Ben. With
seven miles to go, I lost Joel. I
couldn’t hold his pace anymore and had to take a few walk breaks to catch my
breath. I was also holding back on
the downhill’s so as not to fall again and re-injure the ankle. As I exited the trail, I looked over my
shoulder finally to see who might be behind me. No one, so naturally I slowed down. Joel had promised any LPTR who could
run up the ¼ mile hill which we ran down at the start would get $5.00. Joel put his money where his mouth was
and ran up the hill. I did not,
there was no point! In the end, I
went from 32nd place to 20th place which was awesome. As soon as I stopped running, I knew something was wrong
with my ankle. The volunteers
quickly got me some ice and wrapped my ankle. My ankle grew to the width of my calf by the time I got home
and was worse by Sunday and the other thing in my left shoe which stabbed me in
the big toe was another toenail which came loose during the fall! Gross. Since Chippewa, I’ve been actively and aggressively
repairing my sprained ankle. I would
attach a photo but it’s really icky.
I plan on returning next year if possible because the event was
so well organized the volunteers delightful and the course is beautiful. It was wonderful seeing so many LPTR’s
out having strong races.
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| Christine didn't forward a photo of her purple hoof, but I acquired one and had to post it... She ran the last 23 miles of the race with this - She was the first female... And set a course record (Her third course record in three races already this spring)... She is on the mend and will be toeing the line at Ice-Age 50 mile in another week... |
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