Tuscobia

With a later than normal start to the 50k part of the Tuscobia Ultra (10 a.m.), Friday night I stayed in a motel outside of Duluth and then would make the 2 hour drive to Park Falls Wisconsin in the morning.

Getting up and looking at the weather, the temps had remained fairly steady overnight around the 8 degree mark and looked to remain there for most of the day on the Tuscobia Trail section I would be running. I don't keep a very good log of my runs as far as the weather and what I wore so I rely mostly on memory for what to wear on specific weather days. I remembered a run I did with a friend on a cold, calm December Saturday morning and what I had worn. I looked up the date from my Garmin data and then looked at the weather almanac for that day. It was a match. The days would be very similar being overcast, relatively calm, and 5-10 degrees so that is how I dressed.

Riding the bus to the starting line I was noticing the dress of the other runners. Most of them looked like the were crossing the Antarctic. I couldn't help but think I was going to be under dressed though I kept going back to my past runs. No, I hadn't run 31 miles that day a year ago but for the 12 miles I did that day the dress was perfect so that's what I was going with. If I got cold I would just have to work harder to create more heat.

Also on the bus I watched a young lady prepare her feet for her 31 mile adventure. She had on 2 pair of winter socks and 3 foot warmers in each shoe. I couldn't help but think she'd be cutting off the circulation but I guess you have to go with what you know. What works for one doesn't always work for another. I wear a single sock ( http://www.injinji.com/tetratsok/o_crew.htm ) and keep my shoes loose with the thought of keeping the blood flowing. Arrowhead friends will sometimes use the toe warmers though they will put it along the ankle to warm the blood flowing into the foot.

Getting off the bus at the starting line I hoped to see people shedding some of their clothes. It didn't happen. I continued to have doubts about my dress. My drop bag was right there and I could have thrown on another layer as I was shivering but I kept going back to the saying, "Don't let what you don't know affect what you do know". I knew I was dressed right for the day and I was going to stick with it. Too late now anyway as they called out "2 minutes to go" and before you know it, we're off. I think there were 30 starters with 1 on snowshoes and 1 on skis.

The trail was firm and the pack split up quickly. I was running by heart rate so I found my spot and stayed there. Within a couple of miles I saw some of the runners ahead of me taking off their jackets. I wasn't wearing a jacket though at the 5 mile mark I slowed down to take off my outer layer which was a fleece pullover. I was slightly chilled at first though after the sleeves of my shirt dried off I was just right. Carrying my hydration on my back and some calories in my waist pack I put it on cruise and was enjoying the day.

At mile 15 the trail turned kind of mushy. It was difficult and kind of frustrating to find good footing. I think I put an extra mile on going from one side of the trail to the other search for the best spot to run on. In the last half of the event, there wasn't one. That's the way it goes. Just like the weather, you can't control the trail. All you can do is deal with it.

I past 2 guys in the last half. Both expressed their frustrations over the footing and I offered some encouragement as I went by. I was happy to see that they both finished not far behind me.

All in all it was a very good day. It was 6 degrees at the start with a high for the day of 10. Looking back, I guess it was kind of bold of me to take the start without a jacket on though I knew that if I got cold I would have to work harder. I used the cold as my motivation to not slow down and just keep an even effort for the entire 50k which is what I did. I don't know how this success will translate into my Arrowhead effort though I know I have something to build on.

Tuscobia results: http://www.tuscobiaultra.com/results.html