50 miles of fun

At the Finish

Man what a day, what a day. So Paul and I wanted to get in a good 50 miler together before Leadville 100 to test out a few things before race day. Our thought was to go up to the MN Voyageur course which runs between Duluth and Carlton. We liked this because being a out and back we could leave a drop box along the course and hit it 2 times. We also did the course in reverse so we could also use the pumps at Jay Cook state park. All in all we would have 4 places to get water. We picked this day because it was 5 weeks before Leadville so plenty of time to recover plus not being a race we could take our time and enjoy it more. To toss something new into the mix Adam came along with us in the brand new TC Running Company RV !!!! Now keep in mind Adam has never run longer than 26 miles before and his weekly volume has been pretty low, but he is a super talented kid so we new it would be fun.

We drove up Saturday after work and got the RV all set up at the local KOA. After some food by the campfire we went into the RV for some movie time before bed. Man was this living. I would love to have this set up before races that is for sure.
Along the trail




Sunday the alarm went off at 5am and it was off to drop the box with water, etc. then to the Duluth zoo for the start. We got started at like 6:45am I believe and it was very nice out. As we made our way up Spirit Mountain I was very happy to be on the trail with the guys. The run itself was great. Lots of climbing up good hills and making our way across the creeks and such. I felt like I was nailing the fuel issue which was good. My shoes felt good as well. We did get off trail a few times but cut back and we where on our way. On the way back I think the sun was getting to us a bit on the powerline hills but nothing to bad. In the last 6 miles or so I was feeling as strong as a Ox and happy about it. Paul looked good as well and Adam hung in there much stronger than one could have thought. He should be real proud of himself, I know I am of him. We finished in 9 hours 28 min. I thought a solid time !! Now it is time to rest a bit then back at it this weekend. Should be fun !!
The start of the trip