My name is Carl… and I’m an Ultra-runner.
This weekend, I ran the Ice Age Trail 50K trail run in La Grange, WI.
The first 14 miles consisted of a single track out-and-back up over some extremely scenic vistas. I really enjoyed getting into a pack of runners and running, single-file, along some single-track trail. We worked hard to avoid rocks/roots/each other.
I felt good and had locked in at what I thought was a fairly conservative pace.
The out-and-back brought me back to the start/finish where I began the first of what would be 2 loops around a nordic ski trail.
The trail was much wider for the rest of the run.
The sun started to break through the clouds around mile 15 and things started to heat up.
The front of the pack runners who were on their 2nd loop were extremely encouraging (the ultra-community in general is made up of some the least pretentious athletes I’ve ever met).
About 15 miles in, the gentle trail gave way to some pretty significant rolling hills that were about as hard to go down as they were to go up. That was unexpected and took a lot out of me. The water bottle was down to vapors as I made it to the next aid station (at just over 5 miles from the previous station, this was the furthest distance between aid stations). I topped off the water, grabbed some potato chips and Heed and took off for the last part of the loop.
The last 4 miles of the loop were significantly more gentle, but the earlier hills had taken a lot out of me. My stomach wasn’t too happy with me either. The aid stations were heavy on sugar, but I’m not sure my gut could handle the sweetness. I still need to figure out the nutrition thing. Time to do some more reading.
When I made it back to the Start/Finish, I stopped at my drop bag to change socks. I also dropped my water bottle and picked up my camelback. I was pretty sure I didn’t want to go another 5 miles on just 30oz of water.
The last loop was slower, but I ended up finishing in just over 7 hours. It was an hour longer than I was targeting, but I’ve learned that trail miles are much different than road miles. The slow pace I started with… should have been a little slower.
BIG thanks to Keri and Brian Peterson for the photos!
