Chippewa Trail Races - 20 Miler

 Chippewa Trail Races - April 26, 2025
time = 4:32:05

pace = 13:20
placed 4 in my age group (50-59) out of 11
placed 10 in women out of 43
placed 29 overall out of 80
link to strava data

a lot of trail runners i know run this race annually but neither gabby nor i have ever run it so we decided to give it a go.  the plan was to run it "comfortably" as we both are training for other things and didn't want to exactly "race" this race.  we arrived in chetek on friday afternoon, found northwoods best inn, and got our stuff situated there.  asked the front desk for food recommendations, and she recommended gilligan's (which i might add is on 8 1/2 avenue.  incidentally... a lot of the streets were fractions 8 3/16 ave, 5/16 ave, 25 3/8 ave, etc... which we laughed about.)  other options were "joe's b&b bar and grill", "phil's bar and grill", and "mary's cafe and pub", all on the same block. 

gilligan's was as expected.  a little bar and grill on one of the many bodies of water up in chetek.  the food was good.  the place was empty.  it was also 2:30pm, so there's that.

we ate, we left, and nearly forgot we had to go pick up our bibs.  we drove the 25 minutes to the david r. obey ice age interpretive center. we looked at a bunch of animal pelts, stuffed animals, live animals, picked up our packets and headed back to the "inn". on the way back we stopped for ice cream and candy at the aptly named "custer's cones & candy". 

once we got our food, bibs, and sugar fill we headed back to the "inn" for the rest of the day/night.  we watched some bad tv until lights out, and that was that.  the place was nice enough. no frills, and the rooms were clean.  no muss no fuss.

saturday morning started at 6am.  we both slept pretty badly for various reasons, but race day is race day yay!  i ate the rest of my steak and potatoes for breakfast, and we were out the door by 7:30am for an 8:30am start.

the weather was a bit cool, but we knew it was going to warm up fairly quickly.  the race starts at the center on the top of a hill.  i think we clocked it at a quarter mile maybe... i don't remember.  the beginning of the race is a downhill which ended in a muddy section of trail before continuing around and then back up to the road.  we ran on the road for a short distance and then headed out on the iceage trail.  the majority of the race is on the iceage trail with glorious views, many little lakes, and quite perfect conditions.  very few muddy spots, but lots of roots and rocks for our dancing pleasure... or if you're me tripping and falling pleasure.

this race is an out and back with the 10 mile aid station turnaround on a short stretch of road.  we picked up a man, whom i started calling our caboose, right at the beginning of the race, and he stayed with us most of the time.  we lost each other here and there, and then lost him for good somewhere between miles 13-15.  the 10 mile aid station was stocked with nut roll candy things, snickers, fruit snacks, gatorade, water (of course), and some other snacky type things. we were hoping for some real food, but you get what you get.  around mile 13ish, i started chafing (thighs) and kicking myself for not bringing the lube along.  i really didn't think i would need it... i was wrong.  i won't make that mistake again.   my hip flexors also started talking to me.  i managed to eat shit twice (once fairly early on and then the second time near miles 16-17) and tripped without falling twice... no injuries tho'... just a little bit of a skinned left knee.  i pulled my right glute rock climbing on the tuesday before the race and was pretty worried it was going to be problematic, but nope... absolutely no pain at all on race day.

we were leapfrogging a couple of people (and groups) throughout the race and picked a woman in denim printed spandex running shorts and a group of four younger women to beat to the finish.  we passed up denim shortly after the 10 mile turn around (which incidentally was a pretty big dirt road hill) and about 1 mile after that we passed the 4 horsemen because they took a wrong turn and had to back track to get back on the right trail... they never caught back up to us.

eventually we were running grouped with a couple of older people, and we just stuck with them for some time.  there was an aid station at mile 3, and gabby and i discussed it and decided not to stop going out or coming back.  this allowed us to pass up a few more people who did stop on the way back.  the goal then became to stay ahead of all those we passed and get to the finish as quickly as we could.

i was really hurting by then and having a lot of trouble with my hip flexors.  i had to give myself an internal pep talk to keep it moving.  gabby was wonderful as our pacer and kept us on track with a pretty steady pace throughout.  i, as we know, have a lot of trouble with consistent pacing and tend to go out too fast and poop out at the finish.  not so much this time, which i'm grateful for.  we kept ticking down the last 3 miles, and as we came back towards the start, we were met with a bunch of mud on the last stretch to the center.  all of the places that were a little muddy on the way out were now very muddy with the late morning sun, and there wasn't much in the way of avoiding it.  so tromp through the mud, resulting in wet mud-covered shoes and legs, it was.

the finish is back up that original hill, and to be fair... it's more of a 3 tier rolling hill and very demoralizing.  as we were heading for it, i had a baby breakdown with a couple of tears, but it's virtually impossible to cry and run at the same time, so run we did.

gabby had to go to the bathroom since before the last aid station, so with a bursting bladder and an apology, off she went.  she ran up the last 1/3ish of the hill while i walked it out, trying not to cry.  

i tend to cry when i do hard things and am in physical pain.  the race was really fun, well supported, in a beautiful setting, and the weather couldn't have been more perfect.  

came through the finish with all the other finishers who came before me hanging out, sitting around, eating and resting after a job well done.  i dropped myself in the grass near the finish and watched others come in while i caught my breath, drank some coke, and ate some chicken noodle soup (although i didn't eat much as it was hot and not at all what i wanted to be consuming).  all in all we had a wonderful time and i would absolutely run this race again. 

next time tho' i will stay overnight saturday night too, as we ended up staying after the race for only about 30 minutes and then got in the car for the 4 hour drive home.  no bueno!  it was really challenging to drive home right after running 20 miles.  we stopped a few times to stretch and once for food and gas.  i have nothing but good things to say about this race.  i'm really glad i did it, and i'm really grateful for having such wonderful friends as gabby, who will sign up for a race 4 hours away on a whim.

Sweet Home Milwaukee - 5K

 Sweet Home Milwaukee - April 6, 2025
time = 25:38

pace = 8:16
placed 1 in my age group (50-59) out of 42
placed 7 in women out of 236
placed 32 overall out of 348
link to strava data

the last time i ran this race was back in 2016, the race was much larger (1369 participants), and i ran it marginally faster.  

picked my packet up yesterday at PRO and that was easy peasy lemon squeezy... in and out and well organized.

race day was just as seamless.

no corrals this time likely because there weren't enough people to need them. i signed up for this race on a whim.  i am FINALLY running consistently after years of injuries and life changes, and i'm feeling pretty good.  my brother was supposed to come with my nephew to cheer me on and go to brunch afterwards, but he wasn't feeling good and bowed out at the last minute.  i arrived about 30 minutes before race start.  didn't seem like there were a lot of people there, and several were arriving at the same time as me.  got a good parking spot right by the kites again and headed to the bathrooms.  no lines for me and i ran into celeste (incidentally, my yoga instructor), who signed up after i posted it on instagram a bit ago. she, in turn, spread the word and got a group of people together to run it.  i got to meet her friends and hang out with them all before and after the race which was really nice.  we got pictures, had hugs, and generally hyped each other up for a job well done.

photos by Eric Natamihardja

the course was the same as in 2016 (link to that race report).  just more potholes and uneven footing, as the trail could maybe use some repairing.  i started out near the front because, for some reason, i always think it's better to have people passing me than to have to pass myself.  this consistently proves to be a mistake.  i ALWAYS take off too fast and then sometimes putter out as the race goes on.  today was all of that and a bag of chips.  positive splits are not awesome, and they are what i had going on for sure.  i didn't know this during the race because i do not look at my watch/splits as i'm racing.  i wait to be surprised at the end. 

ran that first mile in 8:15, slowed down in mile two (while i chided myself in my head... yelling at myself "DON'T YOU DARE WALK!  DON'T YOU DARE WALK!" over and over until i got through that mile). clocked mile two at 8:31.  

the course was short according to my watch and the watches of others in the group.  my watch said the total was 3:04 instead of 3:10.  not a big difference, but short nonetheless.  mile three was 8:37.  nice and fast overall compared to what i have been doing for this distance.  just disappointed in myself for going out too fast and effectively thwarting a negative split.

i was struggling the whole time, but i managed to do some semblance of a sprint for the final stretch.  well, it FELT like a sprint, but it probably wasn't much of one. i didn't push hard enough to cry this time.  i suppose i'm not exactly in that mindset anymore, i am older but not quite wiser given that i still have no idea how to effectively pace myself.  

the race was fun.  the shirt is again a nice cotton long sleeve (the small is too big for me, but it is what it is), the medal is nice and doubles as a bottle opener,  and they had a well-supported finish with water and bananas.  a ticket for custard, a bloody mary at a brunch spot, and a coupon for another custard at a later date.

all in all, it's a nice flat, easy course.  today had barely any wind, which was also a blessing given that this is an open flat space, and if there were any wind, it would have been brutal coming right off the beautiful lake.  it was a really great way to start this sunday.  10/10 would do it again.

special thanks to celeste for sending me those photos!  you are the bees knees.