Fall Running and 2015 Schedule Thoughts

With the tri season all wrapped up, my fall switched over to trail running. I made it out to all but one of the fall northland runner trail races this fall. I missed the Bull Run when I was out in Vegas playing Broomball.  

This past weekend was the final run of the season and was held at Hartley Park. I had not run this course before so it was all new as the run went on. When we hit the single track section less than a mile in, I tried to maintain a solid pace but not too fast. The previous week at Roughrider I went out too fast and faded at the end. So this week with the distance being similar I wanted to be a little smarter.  

Once on the single track I realized how slick the trail was going to be also. Maybe wearing my road shoes was not such a good idea...  Right about this time, Leslie passed me and I figured it would be worth trying to keep up with her. I know she is a good trail runner so I figured I could simply follow her and think less.  Now my biggest worry was the downhill off camber corners. I had to grab a tree or two to keep from slipping off the trail every now and the.  Some of the uphills I felt like a cartoon character running in place at times. 

In the middle of the run, we came upon a sharp but short uphill that was very slick. I was still trailing Leslie at this time and she almost did not make it up the hill, and I just about ran right over her. Luckily she made it over the hill without any help from me. 

The rest of the trail section was not too bad. I managed to not fall and did not fall off the pace either. At the end when we hit the wider trail, I even managed to pick up the pace as it was ever so slightly downhill. Overall I was pleased with my run and it was a great way to wrap up the trail running series. 

2015

So IM Wisconsin is the elephant in the room of my upcoming summer. Nick and Mike will be making their IM debut, and I will be returning to the scene of my only DNF ever.  I really expect both Nick and Mike to absolutely crush it. They both have some serious speed, and have knocked out a good half IM time. 

We have been trying to find some good prep events for Wisconsin. We are looking at Liberty as an early season half, and I know Mike is looking at Chisago Half in July. He has had good results there and wants to do it again. I am debating on another travel race: ironman Canada and the Honu Half are high on my list but I cannot decide right now. We have also talked about Burrito Union as they moved it up to mid August. It could be the perfect timing being four weeks prior to Wisconsin. 

All in all, 2015 is shaping up to be a fun year. I will be trying to put together a good training plan and execute a smart race at IM Wisconsin. If that works out, my goal of a PR should happen!