Thursday, September 3, 2009

Superior 50 thoughts

Yes, the Superior Trail 50 Mile Run has been on my mind a lot lately. I'm very anxious for Sept. 12 - in a good way. Right now, I just feel that my level of fitness is the best it has ever been....in my entire lifetime. My weight is up about 5 lbs. since Grandma's, but that's a good thing. I was in girl-weight territory then. I'll need a little bit of stored fat to keep moving on the trail.
But, this is going to be one TOUGH battle. I know well enough that no matter what level of fitness I bring to Finland, MN next Saturday morning - it will mean nothing at all several hours later.
I'm prepared to dig down deeper than I ever have before.
I hope to see a lot of the other MN runners on the trail, especially SteveQ who will be at Sawbill. I will probably order a whiskey-coke (hold the whiskey).
Matt Patten and Adam Harmer are running the 100. I hope they wait for me at the finish line.
I think Helen is pacing/crewing also.
I plan on forcing myself to take it very easy up to mile 35 (somewhere around Carlton Peak). After that - I won't be able to push myself hard enough. Man, I want to run this thing NOW!!
I'll be the first to admit that I haven't trained enough on hills. Especially the ones like I will be running walking next weekend. But I have run some nice trails and worked out on a little more than my usual prairie flatland routes.Here are a couple pictures I took while on my run tonight at Flandrau State Park:
This is a deer that wasn't very worried when I approached her.

This is an uphill section with stairs going up into the woods - lots of fun!

This is a part of the trail that follows up a ravine.

4 comments:

Funnyrunner said...

wow. ultras. Not in my cards, I don't think. I've done 9 marathons (and counting)... but no ultras.

Isn't mother nature one of the cool things about being a runner?

good luck on the 12th!

Matthew Patten said...

I will definitely see you at the finish.

The 50 has some decent competition this year so you better bring your A game.

I predict the top 3 to be You, Peterson, and Wakefield.

Don't know which order it will be.

I am hoping to beat all of the 50s to the finish this year. It is a long second day if I don't

JojaJogger said...

Its good to challenge yourself with new experiences every now and then, keeps the motivation factor up. (Wait a minute, isn't that the name of someone's blog?) Good luck at Superior, looking forward to the race report. Since you will be running too fast to take pictures, make sure Mary does.

Jessica said...

I am really excited for you and can tell you are too! Can't wait to hear how you did. Keep pushing...and you are right to expect all those downs, but you will be rewarded with the ups! Good luck