Running Chick

I can now officially say that I ran from Calumet to Houghton.

Josh and I were doing our final long run together and we picked up the railroad grade, which is actually the old Mineral Range Railroad, in Swedetown around 9:30 Saturday morning.  It was sunny, but windy and cold. My poor nose didn't stop running until the half-way point.

The trail is also known as Trail #17 - Jack Stevens Trail to the snowmobilers.

The trail was in good running condition, being mostly hard-packed gravel/stamp sand. There were a few sections around Boston Pond that were full of golf ball sized rocks, which made things a bit unpleasant, but still manageable. 

Just outside of Swedetown, we came across a quarry (gavel pit?) run by Moyle Construction.  There were a few folks poking around with metal detectors, I think they were surprised to see us.

There were points where I was certain I could see all the way to South Range. It was neat & depressing all rolled into one.

I believe there were three bridge crossings along the route, which surprised me. And also made me realize that it would probably be fairly miserable in mosquito season.

Clearly we were heading in the wrong direction.

This is where things got interesting. We knew that the Sisu Shuffle was happening on Saturday morning, but neither of us knew when it started or where the route was until we came around a corner and found their turn-around point.  Good grief what a quagmire of strollers, wheelchairs, dogs, people walking 6 abreast and kids running amok. I think we added an extra mile to our run weaving and bobbing through that mess. I was so glad to leave them behind at the fairgrounds.

I told Josh to stand by this sign & I’d take his picture (his long run was 12 miles), but he was running on fumes and he had all he could to do keep his feet moving. I believe he responded with a grunt and that was that. Photo opportunity gone.

After 11 miles on gravel, I was so happy to see pavement.

Josh’s run ended at 12 miles and I continued on, finishing up at the bridge with 14 miles.  Since we didn’t have the foresight to leave a car at our end point, we had to hoof it across the bridge and up the hill to get home. Let me just say, oof.

And with that, the bulk of my training is over and now I get to taper into race day.  I ended this week with a couple of milestones: highest weekly mileage ever (24) and highest run mileage (14).  Whew!

My goals for the next two weeks are to eat healthy (which includes cutting our beer GASP!) and remain injury-free. Fingers crossed!

* Myles, Joshua. Long Run. Mile 4, Jack Stevens Calumet-Hancock Rail Trail. 28 Apr 2012.