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Ice Age course slog

May 9, 2014 (Morning)

Exercise Type: Run

Comments:
Long day, as all travel days are. Slept OK at the Rodeway Inn...but really, I basically spent $50 to save 1.5hr of sleep, as they only let you park at the hotel if you buy a seven-day parking pass. Dumb.

So I drove myself to the long-term parking lot at 0420, then took a bus to the terminal. THEN, I found out I was getting chiseled $25 (each fucking way) to check my main bag. If I carried it on, it would've been $35! Fuck you, Frontier!

Other than that, the flights were uneventful. Slept most of the first one to Denver, then had a random delay to MKE. But it worked out: Condit was there to pick me up, and wait with me for my damn luggage.

From there, it was an easy drive of about :45 to the Ice Age Course. Nice weather: 60F but windy. There were a few guys milling around the start/finish and one wound up running with us.

While running, we gleaned that he was a fast (2:18 marathon, 2:23 recently), crazy-high mileage guy ("100 miles a week, year round"). After that I found out it was "C Fred Joselyn", who was in the previews. To me, he came off as yet another, "Gonna Kill Ultras" guy. Ugh. But now you can't dismiss these guys. Running my warm-up with him was not particularly enjoyable.

We ran about 2.x out, then I told Condit I'd catch up with them. I sat at the top of a small hill (they're all small: 50-100', but there are a thousand of them) on the 9.5 mile, wide, nordic ski trail through pine forest and clearing. There, I "talked to the course".

What struck me most was how TIRED I felt. But I tried to stay positive: focus on doing what I can do, run with courage and gratitude.

From there, I ran back the way I came.

After that, I reconvened with Condit and we drove to Mukwonago to our hotel, then out to eat, at this super-popular little spot called "Fork in the Road". CRAZY-busy, like a place you'd see in "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives". Had to wait 30+min for a table, but we supply shopped during the wait.

Good chow, and lots of convos about WS.

When we were leaving, somone said, "Hey, Joe!". It was Ryan Meissen. Ryan was a rival runner - both in high school (Hudson HS, 10mi from River Falls) and college (UW-Whitewater)...but back then, and post-collegiately, he mopped the floor with me. He got his marathon down to the high 2-teens during a stint where both he and I lived in River Falls after college, but recently hung it up. He was there with his wife and 5-year old boy. Crazy-random!

Got back to the hotel and did the usual pre-race annoying organization.

Warmed up in the black/green Trail N1s, brand-new this week. No symptoms in my feet/ankles.