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Ice Age 18 mile

May 10, 2014 (Morning)

Exercise Type: Run

Weather: 50 --> 75F, perrfect

Comments:
Slept...OK. I think I had another Western States dream, but I can't remember for sure. Adam and I assembled and headed to the course without much issue. We got there just after 5, well before most folks, so we parked near the start/finish. Even at that time, there was hardly any need for headlamps (fun fact: eastern Wisconsin is fairly close to the Eastern Time Zone boundary - whereas most of Oregon/Norcal is much farther away from the Mountain Time Zone boundary, so the sun rises sooner there, as it was closer to 6 when we showed up...)

I warmed up solo, running backwards on the opening 9-mile loop; ran back about a mile, stopped and did stretching/drillZ, then came back. I felt pretty good, but heavy.

When I returned, my mom was there, so she was able to handle my warm-ups as everyone prepped to hit the start line. I said hello to the fellas, and introduced myself to several I "knew" but had never actually spoken to in person: Flaherty, Bitter, Laye, to name a few.

The coolest part of this pre-race was...the National Anthem! This has NEVER happened in an ultra, but Ice Age had a pretty awesome guy singing. They had us all "face east" - into the rising sun, barely visible through the tall stands of pine and birch trees - in lieu of a flag. It was terrific! After that, we were ready to go.

Jeff Mallach counted down to zero and off we went. I actually led...for about 25 meters, before being enveloped on both sides by the field.

The nine-mile opening segment is a nordic ski loop: wide and *undulating*! There's really nothing like it in the western US: short, but STEEP ups (ranging from 5-50') and downs, with flats mixed in.

The pace stayed pretty sane for a couple miles before we dipped into a thick pine forest that flattened out. Apparently, that's when the trio of Flaherty, King and Condon really pushed it. And the rest of us - like idiots - went along.

"GO ALONG, JERRY!, GO ALONG!"

I was redlining it, of course, so I dwindled back with Matt Laye for a bit, trying to "Find Ease", which was my mantra going in. I didn't, so I drifted further back and was gobbled up by Condit and Tinder, who gradually pulled away as we made our way clockwise around the loop. We were rolling mid-high 6s on this terrain, and I was annoyed that my HR was mid-high 160. Ugh. "Relax". I did, and I fell back more.

My legs...felt like shit. Heavy and oddly sore. There are so many mind-fucks in running, I'm beginning to discover, and "just being sick" is one of them. Was I actually still feeling sick, or did my confidence take a shit because of it?

Either way, I felt like shit and was running that way. After 10K, I saw no one in front of me, and in the 2-3K before the first 9.8-mile AS, two runners caught and passed me.

The AS is the start-finish, so I grabbed another honey-water bottle from my mom, but I also told her, "Be at the 20-mile AS". My brain fear - really, it knew - I wasn't going to do it. I hit that AS in maybe 62 minutes - a solid split - but it turns out I was already like 4-5 minutes behind!!

Onward I ran, down the same opening loop about a mile before we cut out of it at "11 o'clock" to take a spur that would take us on the bonafide Ice Age Trail.

By then? I felt like SHIT! Two guys passed me - one just past the 9.8-mile AS and one after the spur - and both of them had to be 50 years old. I had to shit really bad, but held it 'til the 2nd old dickhead lumbered past me.

The spur trail, and then the Ice Age Trail itself, was tight, winding, and undulating: all of it! I had my GPS watch show velocity and I struggled to keep it in the 7s, and thought about the guys up front potentially running the same mid-high 6s (another mind-fuck).

I needed a boost. By this time, I KNEW I was going to drop: SOO far behind, and not feeling well (bad, bad info for the Central Governor), but I wasn't ready to call it yet. I wanted to keep running, to enjoy the beautiful, cool, crisp, sunny morning; to get in a decent tempo run. So I put in my tunes.

There I went, cruising up, over and around the undulating trails. It reminded me of the Lowes Creek Park singletrack that I used to run in college (and beyond) in Eau Claire. I was having a legitimate amount of fun...until my feet and ankles started hurting.

My hope was to run 20 miles, but by the time I got the 16 or so, both feet and ankles (inside and out) were screaming. It's the damn N1's: terrific shoes, but just too damn soft. I would drop at the next AS, but would my mom be there?

I had a nice playlist for Ice Age, which included a few new pop tunes, including some Usher, Ellie Goulding, and some Cascada. So I guess it was fitting that "Evacuate the Dancefloor" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A68j28KQaik) came on only a minute out of the AS.

I came into a busy, spectator-packed AS and stopped and walked. And, for the second time in four months, gave my mom the "thumb-across-the-throat" sign. I was done.

I turned in my chip to the AS captain, then changed my clothes. We hung out at the AS for quite a while, as the runners come through the 17 mile AS at mile 26. I hung out with Nick Wied (a defacto iRF correspondent), then watched the top runners roll through.

After that? Mom and I drove the mile 40 AS and watched a nice battle unfold with Max and Flaherty up front, followed by Condon and Owen only a minute apart. We made it back to the finish just in time to see Max come in (almost staggering), followed by Flaherty - both well under the CR - then Condon for the 3-spot.

Had a blast chatting with people at the finish, including The Lick-Tease, who ran a phenomenal race. She's only getting more and more strong/confident, it seems!

Then I chatted with the "Walking Dead" - all the guys who dropped out; a list that included: me, Tinder, Condit, and at least two others that were in the top 15 at the ten-mile mark. Big carnage!

Tinder said it best - about his DNF, and his season, so similar to mine - when he said, "I just need to run some low-key races to get my confidence back"! No shit. Racing THIS hard - when you're not 100% ready - does nothing for your body or brain.

We lingered a bit longer, but I could tell my mom wanted to hit the road, so after a few more fun chats, we took off.

A fun day, for sure...but it's getting "too comfortable" to DNF. Shit needs to stop. But I knew it was a gamble, and I busted.

We drove northeast back toward River Falls. We actually had some good convos, me and mom, talking about my relationship with Chelsea, among other things ("I think she accidentally fell in love with you", she said). She's really insightful and - though she has periods of emotional lability - consistently offers rational insights that are eerily accurate. Good stuff.

We stopped in Eau Claire to dine with my brother, Will, and while out, I randomly ran into one of my former MHS athletes (who's now 26): that shit happens all the time!

Then we drove home. I felt tired. And I felt sick! I had to *seriously deuce* (like, "sick deuce", where you can barely hold it) like 2-3 times that day; likely carryover from the virus earlier that week.

I was super-tired, but I went out for a couple beers with my mom and her friends, who were meeting for a celebratory get-together. I really didn't want to, but I knew it would mean a lot to her to have me hang out with those ladies - many of whom I've known for a long time. So we did, and it was pretty fun.

Good day, and good to spend it with her, and with family.

***
Wore a brand-new pair of GREEN N1s, which I left at my mom's for use when I'm home.