Goosebumps 6/24 hour Run

September 23/24, 2016; Friday 2 pm until Saturday 2 pm La Crosse, WI on the Mississippi River at Goose Island County Park

I originally registered for the 24 hour race last year planning on running 12 hours. Then the unexpected opportunity for a Boundary Waters trip opened up and I bailed on the race to go up North. I have been looking forward to this run for well over a year!The goal was set to run 100k or to keep moving for 24 hours. Getting to this race proved more difficult than I thought, however.

• My training and races up to this point were going well. Well, except for a new situation happening with my toes on my right foot. About three weeks ago I picked up some Hoka Stinson ATR's and went for a run (had been running in Hoka Challengers for the last year) and had some pain develop in my toes after a few miles. I was on a trail loop so finished up the 6 miles in pain. I replaced those shoes with the Challengers again and was hoping that would take care of the problem. While the pain has not been as intense as the original run it has not gone away. So while I had big goals for the race I knew that my foot might very well determine the results I would actually be able to achieve.

• Rain, rain and more rain! We have had so much rain that just one day before the race it was announced that the run may need to be cancelled. Either just the 24 hour cancelled or the entire event. I had taken Friday off work, my last paid vacation day this year, and I did not want to use it up at home. I started to research Plan B. The Grand Traverse race was happening in Duluth and I started to set plans in motion to head up north. The announcement was made on Thursday evening that the race was on with a possible short, short loop. I was so unsure what this would look like for 24 hours that I decided to head up North to run the SHT instead. I woke up Friday morning and as I saw the posts starting to come through on Facebook I started to have second thoughts about bailing on the race I had been planning on and looking forward to for over a year. After much indecision and waffling I decided to go to Goosebumps and hope for the best of conditions. It was the best decision! As a friend told me the race would be what I would make of it.

I arrived to the race at 1 pm after a little bit of commotion at home that caused me to leave late. As I was parking in my spot my friends Dave and Erich pulled in alongside me. This was Tent City and I was very pleased as my tent was my minivan! Each loop would run right by my car. This could not have been more perfect! I had brought a canvas awning for just in case and told Dave and Erich if they helped me set it up we could share it. It did not rain but it was nice to have to put our things under it for grabbing quickly while passing by. I set up my chair, which I dubbed my quitters chair. I am happy to report that it only held my gear the entire run. We headed over to the start line just before the 2 pm start and after a few announcements by Richard, the Race Director, he counted down and we were off.

Dave and I at the start of the race

Loops 1 - 20

The loop was 1.85 miles, shorter than the previous loop of 2.8 miles. This modified loop was a result of all the flooding and high water and I was happy it was not down to a mile! I started out with Erich and Dave running their run/walk method. They were on pace for an average 14 minute mile. While the walking is great their walking pace is too uncomfortable for me causing me to over stride. I kept up for one loop and then had to cut them loose and continue on my own. I did end up catching back up with them on loop two but at my own pace.

My Garmin watch is only good for about 14 1/2 hours so I brought with a portable usb charger to charge the watch as I ran. I wanted to capture the entire run and also track my overall pace and mileage. Each time you completed a loop the lap counters would track it but I do like my electronic records for tracking. I planned on manually lapping my watch when I left the aid station. This helps me not spend too much time in the aid stations as my watch will show me my average lap pace including the non moving time. Well after the first loop instead of hitting the lap button I paused my watch instead!! Did not realize it until about 1 1/2 miles into the second loop. Boy this was not starting out good. Now I would have to do race math. Things could get interesting.

I ran by myself from the start of the race until around 6 pm when Kristine Tibor was set to run with me through the night. She was also running the 24 hour but promised she would stick with me and be my "pacer" for the night. This was awesome! Well back to the first four hours by myself. I struggled for much of these hours. My right foot started hurting before my second loop was complete and I knew that while I could possibly manage the pain and discomfort it would put a damper on my run. I was not having a very good run and could not stop thinking to myself that if I was already struggling in the first 20 miles of the race how could I expect to complete 62 miles?? It was a very good thing that Kristine joined me. She was able to keep me out of my head and think about other things as we continued to run/walk the loop. I was getting the loops done between 30 to 35 minutes including my aid station time. I tried to spend very little time in the aid stations and instead grab food to go. I started running with a handheld water bottle and after Kristine joined me I realized that I needed to ditch the bottle. I normally don't like carrying water bottles during my run and after at least four hours I think it was making me very crabby. So the plan was to just hydrate at the aid station on each loop. This worked out perfectly. I just made sure to drink each time through and because I was not experiencing a lack of bathroom breaks (I actually started to worry I was peeing too much, is that possible?)I figured I was adequately hydrated.

The aid station at Goosebumps is packed with food! And they continue to make special foods throughout the night. We had Subway subs, pizza brought in (that was good and would have been better had I not been running for so long already!), chicken noodle soup, mashed potatoes (yum!) and in the morning they had an egg bake catered in by a local sponsor. So definitely no lack of food options. Which can be frustrating when you start to lose your appetite!

We had to pull out the headlamps just after 7 when it started getting dark. Fall is definitely here as our daylight hours are diminishing quickly. I was starting to experience waves of pain that would come and go in my foot. At some point I broke down and took some ibuprofen just to take the edge off. I was hydrating and eating well so was not worried about a negative impact. The funny thing is that it was not hurting any worse or different just still there.

Night Running

By about 12:15 am or so I had completed my 20th lap for 37 miles! I was ready to take a short break. Kristine and I decided we would lay down for no longer than an hour to rest and hopefully sleep. I needed this break as things were getting rough. I was not too tired as I kept the caffeine going through coffee and coke at the aid station but I really needed to just chill for a bit. I was starting to feel off kilter and not wanting to eat anymore. Nothing on the aid station table looked appealing and if I never ate again this would have been fine with me. I know that is not possible though. Taking the rest break ended up working brilliantly. I did not sleep for the full hour but managed to lay flat in the minivan, massage my feet for a bit and I eventually fell asleep as I think I even had a dream! I woke up on time (Kristine had promised to set her alarm so we would not sleep too long!) and was ready to head back out. I think needing to go to the bathroom was what woke me up! I just about ran to the porta potties! Not wasted steps though as they were on the loop and I needed to run that way anyway.

Loops 21 - 34

We were back out and making progress at 1:45 am or so. It was still warm and humid and I was running in shorts and a tank. Unusually warm for a late September evening. I felt like a new woman after that break. My feet felt awesome and I had renewed energy. I was back in a happy place and started running some loops with an average of 15:30 again. I recall telling Kristine that I felt like a million bucks! Well at least that is what I think I said. I knew this feeling would not last for the entire 14 laps but I was going to ride that wave for as long as I could. I had pulled out my mp3 player sometime before Kristine joined me at 6 and listened to a Defeat the Stigma podcast with Karl Metzler but quickly changed to music to distract myself. I turned on the music yet again and put in one earbud to get through these loops. Talking had slowed down and Kristine and I were just concentrated on finishing each loop bringing me closer to my 100k goal. One part of the course had some runners running towards each other and it was fun seeing those runners ahead of and behind you running their own race. Nice thing about loop timed events like this is that you have no idea of anyone's mileage and, for me, I don't get those feelings of being "behind" like at Chippewa 50k on the out and back section and knowing all the runners coming back are well ahead of me in the race.

My memory starts to get fuzzy at places but my feet started to hurt yet again and I broke down and took one more dose of Ibuprofen. This was the last that I ended up taking. Kristine ran with me for about 10 more loops and when it started to get light she went and did her own thing. I had four loops left to complete my 100k and Erich joined me for these loops. He slowed his walk and run down to match my pace. I completed my 34th lap just before 9 am when the 6 hour runners were starting their race. I watched the runners start their race and then started my next loop with the intention of stopping at the car to rest for a bit again. I was on my own at this point so I knew that if I was going to run anymore miles it would be up to me to get moving again. I got back to the van, crawled into my makeshift bed and went to sleep.

100k Completed!

I woke up about an hour later and decided that I had about 4 1/2 hours left to see how many more loops I could get done. I was ready to set a new goal and thought it would be good to see if I could get in 40 laps total. That was an additional 6 loops. At this point my friends were done running so I knew I would need to motivate myself to get it done. 

Laps 35 - 39
 
I felt good on the first several laps and was able to do some actual running verses just walking. As I continued on though I was really starting to hurt all over. Not just my feet but my hips, quads and calves were taking a beating. By the 39th loop it was starting to be too much. I made the decision that this would be my last loop. I groaned my way through this loop and when I got to the aid station I knew I was done. There was still time left on the clock and there may have been the possibility of another loop but it would have been so painful I decided enough was enough. With 72.15 miles done I had exceeded my main goal and I was happy with that. With 72 miles completed this year next year I will only have to run 28 miles for that 100 mile Sweatshirt. Guess where I will be late September in 2017?

Mississippi River

Race Director adding up all the miles for awarding the accumulative 100 mile sweatshirts

Kristine and I at the end of the race

Superior Volunteering & Pacing

Superior Fall Trail Races

Photo Credit: John Storkamp

Friday, September 9 - Saturday, September 10, 2016

  Where: Lutsen, MN on the Superior Hiking Trail

  What: 100 mile/50 mile/26.2 mile

  Why: volunteering at Beaver Bay Aid Station on Friday, 10:30 - 3 pm/ Pacing Janet from Finland Aid Station to ?? (hoping to stick with her until the finish in Lutsen). This is the plan.

I am excited to once again be traveling to Lutsen, MN to participate in the Superior Fall Trail Races. In past years I have volunteered at Check in on Friday night and the next year Silver Bay Aid Station Friday morning/afternoon prior to running Moose Mountain Marathon. I have completed that race twice now and it is one of my favorite races of the season.

This year I am trying something different. I will be volunteering at Beaver Bay Aid Station Friday then trying to get a few hours sleep before pacing Janet in the 100 mile race overnight. My plan is to run with her from Finland Aid Station (at mile 51.9), running through the night and hopefully into the next day, running with her into Lutsen.

If this is my favorite race of the season, why would I voluntarily miss it? Well I have my very first 24 hour race just 2 weeks later on September 23, 2016 at the Goosebumps 6/24 hour Walk/Run in LaCrosse, WI.  Plus I really enjoy pacing Janet in her races and she did not have anyone else lined up for pacing so I thought why not?  Training run for Goosebumps.


Friday, Volunteering, Beaver Bay Aid Station, Mile 20.1

I woke up at 4:50 am to get ready to hit the road by 5:30 for a 10:30 arrival at the Beaver Bay Aid Station for my volunteering shift. I  arrived on time and there were already lots of crew members there waiting for their runners to come in. This is the first aid station that crew is allowed to help their runners. The runners coming in still look good and fresh. The aid station was completely set up by the time I arrived so I visited with crew members while waiting for the runners to start to arrive. At this aid station the biggest job, being early in the race, is filling bottles with water or heed. The aid station soon became chaos as crew members and runners were everywhere. I do enjoy the energy and being able to help the runners. I don't volunteer enough at races and really  need to change that but life is so crazy busy it is hard to fit it all in. I was ready to leave the aid station around 1:30 or so. I believe it was around 2 when I got in my car to head north to Lutsen to try to get some sleep before my pacing started. I got into the room at about 3 pm and managed to get a few hours sleep. I was staying at the Caribou Lodge Townhome and wow was it nice! I normally would not stay here but asa pacer it was a perk I was able to enjoy. I was expecting to be picked up between 6 and 7 depending on when Janet left County Rd 6 aid station to run into Finland aid station where I would start running with her.

Friday night Pacing, Finland Aid Station to Sugarloaf Aid Station

I got the text message at 6:35 from Mike saying he would be at the hotel in 30 minutes. I made myself some oatmeal and coffee and made sure I had all my gear in my bag. We arrived back at Finland Aid Station around 7:30ish and I waited for Janet to arrive. Robyn was at the aid station so I was able to chat with her for awhile when she was not busy helping runners at the aid station.

Janet ran into the aid station shortly before 9 pm. It was dark outside. She took care of what she needed to and we headed out of the aid station ready to tackle the next 11 miles before seeing Mike again. We had one aid station before that but crew is not allowed at the Sonju aid station. Janet likes to get in and out of the aid stations very quickly so it is best to know what is needed at the aid station before getting there. Janet was moving very well at this point and it was quite the effort to keep up with her even though she was mostly power hiking. I believe I did a poor job of making sure I was taking in enough calories and fluids. I have noticed running at night I tend to be less diligent in this area. Maybe it is the weird schedule but eating at night is difficult for me.

Before the Crosby aid station, where Mike was waiting for us, there is some gravel road running and Janet took off in front of me. I was amazed that she was able to get so far ahead of me when she had been running all day and had 60 miles on her legs. She was running strong and I realized that she had improved greatly in her running since I paced her at Zumbro in 2015. Of course it did not help that at about 5 miles into the run my right toes started hurting yet again. This has me worried for my future races. I was able to manage the discomfort and keep it under control but I am hoping that it goes away and does not turn into an injury that stops me from running. I do not know what is causing it which makes it hard to figure out what I need to do to fix it. When I made it into the aid station I had to ask Janet if she still needed me to run with her as I felt I was not doing a good job as her pacer if I could not keep up to her. But she said yes she definitely wanted me to keep running with her.

The next section we had to run was 9.4 miles into the Sugarloaf aid station. I asked what to expect in the next section and was told it was a rough one. One big climb and a lot of up and down. Not to mention that it is long. It was also very technical! We hit that hard climb within the first 5 miles and wow was it hard! Janet cruised her way up, making it look effortless and I chugged my way up with my heart beat pounding in my ears and my lungs near to bursting! All I could think was that this climb rivaled Moose mountain. That got me to thinking that I most likely would not be able to run all 50 miles with her. I pretty much decided at that point that I would, at most, be able to run till light but probably not much further than the 25 miles that would entail. If Janet was moving this strong overnight I could not help but think that come light I really would not be able to keep up. I knew that there were backup pacers that had volunteered to help pace and it would be better for Janet to run with them.Well, after those 9 miles from Crosby to Sugarloaf things took a turn for the worse. Janet was experiencing some nausea but it must have gotten much worse as she got sick. I won't get into all the details as it is not my story to tell but my pacing duties were finished at the Sugarloaf aid station at about 6:30 am Saturday morning. While I was sad that Janet's run was over I was not necessarily sorry to be done running myself. Those 21 miles overnight on the Superior Hiking Trail were really difficult! The tagline for this race is Rugged, Relentless, Remote and all I could think about during my run was that the roots and rocks (and mud this year) was definitely Relentless! Running in these conditions can really take a toll on the ankles and mine were starting to hurt. I did not want to take ibuprofen because I did not want to mask the foot pain to make sure I was not hurting myself worse. I did take some finally when I realized that I would not be running the full 50 miles with her. At that point I needed some ankle relief.

Mike gave me a ride back to the hotel in Lutsen and after taking a bath and falling asleep in the tub I got out and crawled into bed and slept for about 3 hours. I had considered going home early but decided to head over to the finish line about 12:30 and see what was happening. I started seeing people I knew, including some friends that were unable to finish the 50 mile race due to missing cutoffs. After running with Janet overnight I realized that with as slow as I run my chances of making the 50 mile cutoffs would be near impossible. My chances at the Moose Mountain Marathon were definitely better considering I have run and finished it twice now.  Sheila was heading out to an aid station to crew her husband, Terry, running the 50 miler so I asked her if she wanted some company and we headed out together to the last two aid stations to meet up with her husband at the aid stations. I enjoyed this a lot as I was able to see many of my runner friends coming into the aid stations on their quest to complete their 50 mile race. I had fun encouraging other 50 mile racers as they ran into the aid stations and offering help when needed.

This is the third year I have been to the Fall Superior Races and it is one race that I thoroughly enjoy and plan on going back to next year. We shall see what distance I will be running then.