GITM race report

"My liege, and madam, to expostulate
What majesty should be, what duty is,
Why day is day, night night, and time is time,
Were nothing but to waste night, day, and time;
Therefore, [since] brevity is the soul of wit,
And tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes,
I will be brief. Your noble son is mad:
Mad call I it, for to define true madness,
What is't but to be nothing else but mad?"

~ Shakespeare,
Hamlet 2.2.86-94

"32 degrees" <[email hidden]> wrote

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At mile 21 my legs were cooked and from here on in it was all mind.

....Let the real race begin...

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Our group of 6 had spread out a little and I was in 12th or 13th place. I
got my mental toughness going and picked up the pace a little to 7:20's on
some flat sections and caught one guy. At 23 I saw another guy, caught
him and passed him ( a former collegiate teammate of mine). Mile 25 came
not soon enough and one more guy in sight..... caught and passed him.

Yeah, there's nothing like the boost you get from passing people at the end
of a long race...

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Not too sore today either. Maybe that means I didn't push it hard enough?
or maybe I"m just in better shape than my last marathon (May 28) .... who
knows.

Trail races are so much easier on the legs, aren't they. It's possible you
actually may have gone out too hard (7:40 avg pace, versus 6:50 mile(s?) at
first).

How does this time compare to what you can do a flat road marathon in? I
find that even flattish dirt is slower than pavement (although much less
harsh on the legs).

Nice run,

Dan

"32 degrees" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

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Grand Island Trail Marathon Race Report ---

Arrived in Munising, Michigan Friday 4pm just in time to take in the cool
north breezes of Lake Superior (world's largest freshwater lake). I set

up

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camp at a campground overlooking the island as it dropped to 52 degrees !!
How's that temp for July 29th ?? Awesome running weather. Ate dinner,
relaxed, did a beach stroll, hit the bed at 11pm.

I also camped out before my race and enjoyed a similar cool night.

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Warmed up overnight as the winds shifted from northerly to southerly.

Race

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temps (7am) were about 59 degrees. The race circles the island in a

counter

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clockwise manner and adds in a tough 450 foot climb to an interior lake.
See http://www.algercounty.org/ for more info and maps.

Looks like a great course on the map, what kind of trail was it? It's unique
to circle an island like that, and sure beats roads any day. I love
point-to-point or loop courses.

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Race start uneventful and low key as only 176 entrants were on hand. I

hit

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the mile in 6:50 and found myself in 6th place. By mile 3 I was joined by

a

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group of 6 runners and the first female. These first few miles were dead
flat and along the lakeshore with nice views. Climbing began at mile 4

with

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a grinding 2 mile climb over the 450 foot rise. Ouch. I just cruised
knowing we'd have plenty of time to catch the silly people going up too
fast. For some reason mile 13 popped up quickly and I was like ... WOW,
this is going by fast. THat's the way it is with trail marathons though

....

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they go by fast because you are focusing on running and watching and not

the

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mile markers. Miles 13-18 were relatively fast with some ups and downs

and

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a GREAT beach section where we got right down on the sand. Nice.

Hmmm my race had 175 about...

Quoted message said:

At mile 21 my legs were cooked and from here on in it was all mind. Our
group of 6 had spread out a little and I was in 12th or 13th place. I got
my mental toughness going and picked up the pace a little to 7:20's on

some

Quoted message said:

flat sections and caught one guy. At 23 I saw another guy, caught him and
passed him ( a former collegiate teammate of mine). Mile 25 came not soon
enough and one more guy in sight..... caught and passed him. Ended up

9th,

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10th or 11th, not sure which as no official results posted yet. Finish
temps of about 63-65 degrees in July. Awesome. Nothing beats the UP of
Michigan. Finish time 3:22:?? I would have cracked into the sub 3:20

range

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if I hadn't have had to stop in the bushes for about 2 minutes at mile 12

!!

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Not too sore today either. Maybe that means I didn't push it hard enough?
or maybe I"m just in better shape than my last marathon (May 28) .... who
knows.

JK

Congratulations! Excellent time considering trails and that climb. Do you
think your legs got a bit cooked from the climb? In my race I think the
climbs cooked my hamstrings for the flat sections (and little hills) later
in the race.

-Tony

32 degrees said:

Grand Island Trail Marathon Race Report ---

Arrived in Munising, Michigan Friday 4pm just in time to take in the cool
north breezes of Lake Superior (world's largest freshwater lake). I set up
camp at a campground overlooking the island as it dropped to 52 degrees !!
How's that temp for July 29th ?? Awesome running weather. Ate dinner,
relaxed, did a beach stroll, hit the bed at 11pm.

....

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Michigan. Finish time 3:22:?? I would have cracked into the sub 3:20 range
if I hadn't have had to stop in the bushes for about 2 minutes at mile 12 !!

Not too sore today either. Maybe that means I didn't push it hard enough?
or maybe I"m just in better shape than my last marathon (May 28) .... who
knows.

Nice race! Sounds like you had a fun time. Reduced soreness is usually a
good sign. Web page looks like some nice scenery. Congrats!

Dot

--
"Success is different things to different people"
-Bernd Heinrich in Racing the Antelope