Ice Age Trail 50 (1/2 marathon) - May 9th, 2026
time = 2:31:05
pace = 11:32
placed 7th in my age group (50-59) out of 34
placed 42nd in women out of 148
placed 116th overall out of 298
i was supposed to run the 50K this year, but the training for longer distances historically has proven that i will injure myself. this year was no exception. a couple of months before this race, i was sick, and when i went back to the gym after 2 weeks of illness, i managed to pull my sartorius muscle in my left leg. incidentally, it is the longest muscle in the body, running from the inside of the knee to the outside of the hip. i pulled it on a bulgarian split squat and just never let it heal, as is my MO with my body. i've gotten better at listening to my body, but sometimes... i still just work through pain like a dummy.
so i ended up not running for the 2 weeks before the race. i was also supposed to run chippewa this year again and had to drop from that one too. disappointing for sure but again... trying to listen to my body.
i was going to drop from iceage as well, but changed my mind and dropped down to the 1/2, which i'm really glad i did. i love love love these races and am always so thrilled to be a part of it.
i arrived at nordic really early so that i could see gabby off as she was unexpectedly running the 50K. i had a bit of fomo that i had dropped, but just told myself again and again that it was the smart move.
the most notable thing this year is that i FORGOT MY SHOES! i went back to my car after seeing gabby off and started getting my things together just to realize that of all the things... i forgot my shoes. i almost started crying. i gather my wits and then head over to the merch table and tell tina what happened. she told me to go ask jeff to make an announcement. so i walk over to jeff (the race director) and ask him to make an announcement. he does, and 2 wonderful women come up and offer me their shoes! i love this community! this would never have happened in a road race. so i borrowed some woman's shoes (never even got her name!) and went to gather the rest of my things and get ready for the race.
the race went well. i wasn't fast, but i felt good the whole time... with the exception of my feet. my calves started cramping within the first 2-3 miles, and that lasted a few miles, but then i also felt blisters forming. i was able to run through them and finished strong. i'm pretty proud of this race since i barely ran the weeks before and nothing really hurt besides the blisters. all things considered, i think i did a pretty good job for having run in someone else's shoes. quite humorous.
i'm sticking to the 1/2 going forward. i'm getting really tired of always having some sort of injury. it's now about a month later, and my sartorius is still wonky. i can't say it hurts exactly, but it's not 100%. i haven't run yet this week since my weekend miles last week aggravated it, and i just felt like i should rest.
next up is my birthday run. gabby and i are going to attempt rim to rim to rim. she seems to think we can do it, no problem, but i have my doubts. this old body likes to give me trouble, but maybe, just maybe, this will be one more accomplishment i can check off.
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