No taper for this race since I was just using it as a hard workout. I had a fair amount of intensity on the bike and treadmill this week, so my legs didn't feel too fresh. It's still early in the season and I still need to lose 10 ice cream pounds.

This was just a little 'ole running race, so this report will not be an epic one like an IM report. My strategy was simply to go out with the lead pack and see how my legs felt. At about 0.75 miles I knew my legs weren't going to let me stay with the pack very long. So, I just let them gradually pull away. My strategy was then to hammer as long as I could, be sensible on the hills, and not let my HR go below 160.

This is a fun race because the 50k run begins 30 minutes earlier. Eventually you start to catch up with the ultra runners and it gives you a target to go after, rather than be stuck in no man's land behind the lead pack. Its interesting to see the gear the ultra runners use during the race (scree guards on their feet, hand-held water bottles, packs, etc.). Anyway, the rest of the race was fairly un-eventful. I got passed by 2 runners in the last 1.5 miles and didn't really care too much.

The last time I did this race was in 2004 (10th place 1:48:00) and I was 30 seconds faster this year. That was encouraging because in 2004 I hadn't started tris yet and I was training heavily for Grandmas Marathon that year. So, to have a better time this year with much less running was encouraging. I was shooting for top 15, so to get 13th was just about right.

This race doesn't hire a professional timing company, so they don't give age group summaries, but there was only one guy in my AG in front of me - he kicked my butt by 7 minutes.

Get in Gear 10 k next week.

Not much, except don't binge on ice cream and put on weight after ski racing season ends.

Just walked around a little.


Early in the season; legs not too springy due to this week's workouts


Trail Mix is a great race and is popular in the Twin Cities. I highly recommend it. The course is all on trails, lots of undulations, mix of grass, dirt, wood chips. There is one steep hill up the back side of a ski area (lots of rocks, tree roots - see picture of 2 runners below) and then down other side on grassy slope of ski area. Very tough on the quads.