Chippewa Morraine 50K
What a fun race this was. It was my first race of the year. I didn't even know if I was going to be able to finish much less finish feeling as strong as I did.
I had not imagined running a 50K in such weather before. The snow was deep but by the time this back of the backer traveled over the trail it was pretty well packed, the snow was over a foot in places. The path was narrow it felt like extra work staying withing the path. I had wished I had worn my yak tracks to keep the lateral slipping down.
I signed up for the race the day before I really did not know if I was able tc complete the distance. The longest distances I got in so far this year have been one 25K loop at Afton and one 15 miles on the road. Another concern has been my speed- I have been at least a minute per mile slower than my normal speed, even trying my hardest. My ten miles runs have been taking 2 hours or a little over. Running at the 10 pace was my sprint. I know that at some point I was going to get slower but did not want that to happen yet. I am already towards the back of the pack, I did not want weather I can finish in the time allowed for races to be an issue.
Anyways given the forecast for bad weather and the generous finish time of the race I knew I had to do it. The worse the conditons the better I thought I would do.
The course was beautiful and just the type of course I loved -lots of hills. I can't wait to run it with no snow.
I started out in the back hopping to keep up. I kept telling myself something I know well, not to project how you feel at the start of the race upon how you will feel later, I concentrated on the beauty of the course. I did not see any other people except the great volunteers for the majority of the first half. How great it was to be all alone and just enjoy. Thought of maybe having to quit at the half popped in my head but again I tried to just enjoy.
Someting happened to me at about mile 12-13, about the time the front runners were comming my way- I started feeling really good. The front runners were all so nice saying how well I was doing, It felt good to hear that- I felt so lucky to know so many great people. I got to the turnaround at about 4 hours, I was extremely happy for that.
I felt unstoppable during the 2nd half, I just ran as fast as I could and I passed alot of people. Every time I saw someone ahead of me I pushed untill I caught up. I had the best negative split I had ever had in a race finishing in 7:47 or so. I normally fade big time at the end of a race.
The party at the end was great- I had a few beers, talked to lots of friends before driving home.
I had not imagined running a 50K in such weather before. The snow was deep but by the time this back of the backer traveled over the trail it was pretty well packed, the snow was over a foot in places. The path was narrow it felt like extra work staying withing the path. I had wished I had worn my yak tracks to keep the lateral slipping down.
I signed up for the race the day before I really did not know if I was able tc complete the distance. The longest distances I got in so far this year have been one 25K loop at Afton and one 15 miles on the road. Another concern has been my speed- I have been at least a minute per mile slower than my normal speed, even trying my hardest. My ten miles runs have been taking 2 hours or a little over. Running at the 10 pace was my sprint. I know that at some point I was going to get slower but did not want that to happen yet. I am already towards the back of the pack, I did not want weather I can finish in the time allowed for races to be an issue.
Anyways given the forecast for bad weather and the generous finish time of the race I knew I had to do it. The worse the conditons the better I thought I would do.
The course was beautiful and just the type of course I loved -lots of hills. I can't wait to run it with no snow.
I started out in the back hopping to keep up. I kept telling myself something I know well, not to project how you feel at the start of the race upon how you will feel later, I concentrated on the beauty of the course. I did not see any other people except the great volunteers for the majority of the first half. How great it was to be all alone and just enjoy. Thought of maybe having to quit at the half popped in my head but again I tried to just enjoy.
Someting happened to me at about mile 12-13, about the time the front runners were comming my way- I started feeling really good. The front runners were all so nice saying how well I was doing, It felt good to hear that- I felt so lucky to know so many great people. I got to the turnaround at about 4 hours, I was extremely happy for that.
I felt unstoppable during the 2nd half, I just ran as fast as I could and I passed alot of people. Every time I saw someone ahead of me I pushed untill I caught up. I had the best negative split I had ever had in a race finishing in 7:47 or so. I normally fade big time at the end of a race.
The party at the end was great- I had a few beers, talked to lots of friends before driving home.
posted by Karen G at
8:56 PM
2 Comments:
Good job, Karen... it's great that you felt so good the 2nd half and had such a strong finish!
Welcome to the blogosphere, Karen! I'll link to you right now.
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