Rails to Trails Marathon

Norwalk, WI has an outstanding community. 

I recently discovered this quaint little village while running in the Rails to Trails Marathon last Sunday. The entire community came together, provided generous support at multiple aid stations, encouragement and cheering as well as a providing potpourri of desserts. With a population of only 653, participants in the race outnumbered the community 2:1.

About a month prior to the race I was feeling good, logging solid miles and hitting my goal pace. Just a few short weeks out, I noticed pain in my left knee and immediately became worried. At first I presumed IT band issues, a very common overuse injury by runners. I soon found out that it was Patellar Tendinitis (an inflammation of the tendon right below the kneecap). After this occurred, I significantly tapered and reduced my mileage, hoping to recover enough before race day. My original goal was sub 2:50. Now it was finishing the race with a respectable time. After seeking advice from my phenomenal Athletic Trainer, I was able to implement some temporary relief measures, allowing me to run.

Come race day, I did manage to set a new Personal Record of 2:48:36 (6:25/mile) and ended up finishing 2nd overall. I could not have done it without the support and encouragement from friends and family, especially my main support crew, Laura. Due to the large number of half marathoners crowding the aid stations at miles 17 through 23, I missed three crucial water stops. Thankfully, Laura was there with a water bottle in hand, providing a smooth hand off to a thirsty runner. Additionally, she drove me to the race, collected my warm-up clothes, took care of me after the marathon and drove me home.

I did track all of my splits from the race for the sole purpose of creating an awesome line graph. After analyzing my splits and the elevation profile of the course, I saw an interesting development. At mile 6 there's a considerable climb, which begins the entrance into the 3/4 mile tunnel. One would presume that a significant climb (~200 ft) would result in a slightly slower average pace. Quite the opposite happened.

Immediately upon entering the pitch-black tunnel I felt a temperature change of about 10-15 degrees. The warmth inside the tunnel must have been due to the insulating properties of the solid rock enclosed on all sides. The race organizers did have boxes of flashlights at each end of the tunnel for runners to use, though I was too stubborn to pick one up and continued into the unknown. The terrain was a smooth rock surface, slightly wet from the dripping ceiling. Small puddles were sparse, though inconvenient enough to potentially be a hazard. What I remember most vividly from the tunnel were the propane lanterns emitting a small radius of light along the way, providing a beacon of inspiration. The surreal experience I witnessed was the contributing factor in my splits, from a 6:28/mile pace to 6:03/mile (while climbing 200 ft).

Elevation Profile - Rails to Trails Marathon

Returning from the out and back, it would appear that I "hit the wall" at mile 20. That may have been the case, though I did face a few obstacles on the last 6 miles. The climb proved to be more difficult on the return than the way out. Additionally, the half marathoners were finishing at the same time I was headed back. It required a significant amount of maneuvering and dodging to avoid a collision. I addressed this issue earlier, but I did miss three important water stations towards the end due to overcrowding. With those variables mentioned, it is still interesting to see the trend in my pace as I traversed 26.2 miles.

Mile splits - Rails to Trails Marathon

After finishing the race in 2nd, I couldn't help but chuckle to myself. I passed the 2nd place runner at mile 24 and somewhere found the energy to run a 5:50 last mile to secure my spot, yet it still wasn't enough for a victory. 

If I had ran the race in three out of the last four years, my time would have most likely secured a number one finish.

Winning times for Rails to Trails Marathon:

2008: 2:54:19

2009: 2:55:52

2010: 2:29:54

2011: 3:00:22

Furthermore, the winner of this years Rails to Trails Marathon wasn't even supposed to be here! Marek (the guy who won) only ran the race because the New York Marathon was canceled (due to Hurricane Sandy). 

This experience adds to my list of weather-induced top place finishes:
2011 Oshkosh Half: 1:19:13 8th place (38 degrees and raining)
2011 La Crosse Half 1:19:24 5th place (was winning, took a wrong turn at mile 13)
2012 La Crosse Half: 1:16:42 2nd place (weather canceled the marathon, beat by a marathoner)

2010 Maple Leaf Half: 1:15:23 2nd place (lost by 5 seconds)

2012 Madison Half: 1:14:39 7th place (weather canceled the marathon, beat by several marathoner(s))

2012 Rails to Trails Marathon: 2:48:36 2nd place (Hurricane Sandy canceled NY, beat by NY marathoner)

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, "It is not about the destination, its about the journey" - I have had quite the journey running these races! Though I race because I love running, I believe that having aspirations to win a race and reach that destination is a respectable goal. 

Ryan Hall, an elite professional runner, shares the same fortune. A New York Times article says it best:

"Hall has yet to win a major marathon. He finished 10th at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. After taking fourth at Boston in the spring of 2011, he finished fifth at the Chicago Marathon last fall."

The great thing about running is that you don't have to win to make something of yourself.

Leading up to the Boston Marathon I had averaged 48.14 miles per week (for 10 weeks prior) and ran a 2:58:47. 

For Rails to Trails? 34.17 miles/week. How did I do it?

I would credit my faster time to an extremely nutritious consumption of food. From regularly eating tomatoes, avocados, carrots and hummus, to walnuts, pecans, almonds, seeds, salads, bananas, apples, greek yogurt and almond milk. Food matters!

Bike 2 Brew 2012

What do rolling hills, pudgie pie makers and a grumpy troll all have it common?

Bike 2 Brew 2012.

This past weekend myself and nine others participated in the inaugural Bike 2 Brew multi-day bike tour through South Central Wisconsin. We traversed 120 miles over rolling hills, through quaint little towns and State Parks, as well as stopping at a few breweries along the way.

We did manage to start the tour with the previously established departure time of 9:00am from the State Capital, which led to an enjoyable 31 miles to New Glarus. With only two tough back-to-back climbs of about 170 feet each, we all managed to sail into "Little Switzerland."

Arriving hungry and parched, we immediately met up with our SAG wagon (Support and Gear vehicle driven by my outstanding sister Trisha) to change out of our cycling shoes and head to the historic New Glarus Hotel Restaurant. Built back in 1853, this authentic swiss restaurant supplied heaping plates of Roesti and succulent portions of Jagerschnitzel. Served with pitchers of beer, our appetites were satisfied... until we found the Maple Leaf Cheese and Chocolate Haus just a few steps away.

On the Badger State Trail headed to New Glarus

From left to right: Jessica, Jamie, Justin, Mike, Laura, Raechel, Zach,  Ryan

The rest of our day consisted of a free trolley ride to the New Glarus Brewery (they're now a regional brewery instead of a microbrew because of their volume) where we toured the facility and enjoyed sampling their tasty brews on the terrace overlooking the city. We also found ourselves at the Primrose Winery store, partaking in a sample of 14 wines from rhubarb to watermelon. Of course, we then headed to Puempel's Olde Tavern for our free beer (from a coupon we received at the brewery).

We set up camp at New Glarus Woods State Park, which was perfect for our exhausted bodies after a long day. Dinner consisted of pizza pudgie pies with cherry and nutella pies for dessert (Justin's creation).

Pizza pudgie pie

Cherry nutella pudgie pie - Justin's creation

Breakfast turned our exceptionally well, with Laur's cage-free eggs (thanks Eleanor!), turkey bacon, three pints of blueberries, cherries, carrots, lemon ginger zucchini oat bread, carrot zucchini muffins and Whole Foods Three Bean coffee.

Trisha and Zach cookin' up some eggs

Day two was a little difficult. I never paid much attention to the elevation profile that MapMyFitness provided, which turned out to be a bit more challenging that I had thought it would be. As you can see with the below elevation profile, the majority of our 3,400 feet of gain is in day two, which is 60 of the 120 miles. Tough day is an understatement.

Fortunately we made it to Mineral Point and devoured salmon burgers and deep-fried pizza sticks to refuel for the remainder of the ride.

A late start from camp led to a late arrival at Blue Mound State Park, which meant no swimming... Instead of being upset about missing a refreshing dip in the pool, we found the free showers provided by the campground and cleaned up a bit. With our 7+ hour day out cycling, we were also craving ice cream and decided to indulge BEFORE dinner. Raechel put it best: "I love being an adult because that means I get to decide when I want dessert." Well it just so happened that we had a second dessert too, after our spinach and asiago chicken sausage, fire-roasted veggies (organic zucchini from my garden, carrots, red, gold and russet potatoes, and a bell pepper). Due to a very ambitious raccoon, we were without marshmallows for the evening (sucks I know) though we did end up smothering some very ripe bananas in peanut butter, nutella, garnished with crumbled reese's peanut butter cups.

Day three started off with a powerful bowl of oatmeal (rolled oats, dried blueberries, dried cranberries, walnuts and honey) along with more of the delicious chicken sausage, bing cherries and more coffee.

With 26.5 miles on our last day, we took it fairly easy and made the light trek to Mount Horeb (6 miles downhill) to check out the Grumpy Troll Brewery. They offered a 12-beer sample platter for only $15! Of course we took advantage of this deal and sampled most of their delicious beers. The Cheddar Curd Burger was a bit hit amongst our group, along with beer-cheese soup and the sweet potato tots. Highly recommended from the official B2B tour.

From a 1970s Schwinn Varsity to a 2011 Bianchi, our group consisted of all walks of bikes... as well as riders. From Half-Ironman Triathletes to casual commuters, our group possessed a potpourri of personalities. With that being said, everyone had such an outstanding optimistic attitude I couldn't have asked for a better group of individuals.

PR at the Madison Half Marathon

It has been a tough year to run a marathon. The cancelation of the Madison Marathon, due to severe temperature (predicted to be in the mid 90s), was the third Wisconsin marathon to be canceled in the month of May. First it was La Crosse on May 6th, which was canceled a few hours before the start as a result of lightning and thunder. Then the Green Bay Marathon on May 20th (mid-race) because the medical staff was overwhelmed with runners fainting, collapsing and being severely dehydrated. The Madison Marathon staff and Board of Directors made the right decision, as the majority of the participants have not adequately trained in hot humid conditions. Sure, a few experienced athletes would be able to hydrate and run a smart race, but the majority would have put themselves in a dangerous situation.

Fortunately the half marathon was on my agenda and I was not disappointed with the decision (though it did affect my overall place).

Bearing the morning heat, roughly 5,000 runners made their way to the Capital to begin the half marathon. The race started promptly at 7:12am with temperatures hovering right around 70 degrees, which is definitely manageable for most athletes providing that the volunteers at the aid stations would be on top of their game.

I was able to maintain a somewhat consistent pace (more so than CrazyLegs). Below are my splits:

Mile 1: 5:30

Mile 2: 5:31

Mile 3: 5:30

Mile 4: 5:41

Mile 5: 5:08

Mile 6: 5:45

Mile 7: 5:45

Mile 8: 5:50

Mile 9: 5:47

Mile 10: 5:46

Mile 11: 5:58

Mile 12: 5:57

Mile: 13: 6:00

Time - 1:14:39 (5:42/mile) - Personal Record by 44 seconds!!

Place - 7th overall, 3rd in the M20-24 Age Group

The family! Kurt, Kathy, Trish and Jess. Thank you for waking up at 4:00am to watch me run!

Running a PR is great, and I am definitely excited that I was able to accomplish the aforementioned endeavor, though I know there is always room for improvement. I did identify three factors that I am fairly certain will facilitate a faster race next time.

Laura, my "Official" Photographer :)

1) Hydrate early in the race. By mile 11 I could tell that I was dehydrated and had trouble maintaining a fast pace. My face was hot, my head hurt and I was a little delirious. I finished the race without taking a single cup of water or Gatorade... I have done it before so I knew I could do it again, though not in these temps.

2) Start slower, get faster. Getting out too fast escalates the heart rate too quickly, which in turn burns more carbs (long-term energy storage) than fat (quick-use energy). By hitting the 6:00/mile pace for the first few miles instead of the last three, I would be using more efficient storages of energy and not running into any "walls."

3) Different shoes. I used the Asics Hyper Speed 4 - they work for track workouts and shorter races, though when used for 13 miles on solid concrete, they don't do so well. The lack of cushion and constant pounding was painful and bothered me for the latter half of the race.

Kudos to my roommate, Luke, who accomplished a huge feat of running 13.1 miles in under 2 hours! (1:56:40 to be exact) For someone who only ran 7.6 miles prior, he managed to throw together a very remarkable time.

Lax Half Marathon

Due to another unforeseen circumstance I finished 2nd at the La Crosse Fitness Festival Half Marathon.

It is actually quite humorous as to why I came in second place. I will elaborate more on that below, but first I need to highlight my previous races to illustrate why this race today ends with a laugh.

2010 Maple Leaf Half: 1:15:23 2nd place (lost by 5 seconds)
2011 Oshkosh Half: 1:19:13 8th place (38 degrees and raining)
2011 La Crosse Half 1:19:24 5th place (was winning, took a wrong turn at mile 13)
2012 La Crosse Half: 1:16:42 2nd place (unforeseen circumstance below)

I groggily climbed out of bed at 4:00am to eat my pre-run meal consisting of a slice of toast with Parker's PB, half a banana and a bite-size Snickers. As I was waking up I realized that it was raining... I very much dislike running in the rain. Of course, no one enjoys racing in the rain (well, maybe a few individuals), but I always have a difficult time staying warm and mentally getting into the race when the weather is constantly fighting against you.

After checking the weather forecast several times, the Fitness Festival Officials posted that the Half Marathon had been delayed until 8:30am from its original start time of 7:00am. The Full Marathon had been canceled, though they did allow the marathoners to participate in the Half. Great for them, not so great for me.

"Runners take your mark, get set, GO!" the starting official shouted into her microphone. A few of us darted from the starting line, attempting to get ahead of the pack, vying for a front position. Ramon (a great guy I met in La Crosse through running) and I decided to hold a steady pace for the first mile (6:00/mile), which was perfect. My goal was to slowly drop my pace until I was running 5:30/mile for the last four miles.

Mile two did not go as planned. Two runners took off at a pretty good clip and I made a decision to stick with the front runners instead of trying to reel them in later on in the race. Our second mile came in at 5:30/mile - way too fast. I knew I would pay for that later on. We held steady for a few miles thereafter though one runner picked up his pace and edged away. Looking back, I should have gone with him, but I made another mistake here. I misjudged him due to his apparel. He was clad in conventional running shoes (instead of racing flats), longer shorts (not splits like my Jubilees or Puzzle Box), crew socks and a backwards mesh cap. Nothing out of the ordinary for a runner, in fact he looked just like someone participating in a marathon. But not someone who would be leading the pack of a half. It just did not add up in my head. I let him go and thought that I would be able to catch him in a few miles. That never happened.

He slowly but surely widened the gap between first and second, eventually creating a gap big enough where I lost sight of him. This was tough mentally, as there was absolutely no one ahead (or behind) that I could compete and pace with. I did my best to push ahead as fast as I could, and with the encouragement and support of my girl throughout the course, I surged ahead to the finish.

I came in at 1:16:42 (5:51/mile), 2 minutes and 41 seconds after first place. Here is the funny part: the first place finisher was supposed to be running the Full Marathon, but due to the severe weather I had mentioned earlier, the marathoners ran the half instead.

If mother nature had not decided to throw a torrential storm our way, I would have most likely finished first. Hah. There's always another race to run (like the Madison Half Marathon and the Maple Leaf Half Marathon) so I'm not too upset about it. He ran a better race than I did and deserves to take the trophy.

In addition to Laura providing phenomenal support throughout the race, she managed to capture quite a few quality photos of the race and most importantly, provided me with my Castle Rock Organic Farms Chocolate Milk. At $2.79 for a half pint, plus a $2.00 deposit on the bottle, it can be a little expensive but let me tell you, IT IS WORTH IT!

Happily clutching a cold bottle of chocolate milk with Ramon

I was late to the awards ceremony, where I received a potpourri of prizes. From blue flip-flops to a mesh cap, socks, trophy, cinch sack and water bottle, it was interesting. The best prize, awarded to top finishers, was a brightly colored vase adorned with flowers. That went straight to my girlfriend.

Excited about our top finisher prizes

My motivator, milk-carrier, photographer and best friend

Post-race we both devoured some tasty Sweet Potato Pancakes that Laura discovered not too long ago. She didn't think they turned out well, which may have been the case due to my mixing/mashing of the sweet potatoes, but I thought they were delicious and consumed about 2/3 of them.

Venison bacon and sweet potato pancakes. Perfect post-run meal.

Shout out to my sister, Trisha, who completed her first half marathon last Tuesday in FRANCE, of all places. My uncle completed his first half as well, a day before turning 50! Congrats to both of you!

My experience today is not necessarily negative or upsetting, rather a motivation to increase my mileage and intensity of my workouts. I have two more half marathons this summer, as well as an 18k trail run coming up, which I plan to attack with renewed vigor.