Long road hike - another adventure!

What happens when I have a day off with no plans, a NEED for some outdoors, a strong urge for an endurance challenge, and no car?

I wanted to camp... I wanted to hike... didn't know how to get there... didn't want to rely on anyone... the best way out of that scenario would be to walk. And everyone knows I can walk! So I mapquested High Cliff State Park. It read 32 miles. I rerouted the "shortest distance" to take it off of Hwy. 10, and it was still around 32. I thought, "I can do that." Adam and I drove the route Wednesday night so I would know where I was going, and it looked like a fun, long route.

I was going to be hiking all roads, and this was going to be the first time I took a backpacking trip like this since I hiked the ADT with my mom in 2006. It was the perfect idea, though. I've have these random fantasies (usually when I'm having a bad day or a bad week) where I pack up my gear, throw on my backpack and walk out the front door. So with this hike, I got to do that... but I had a plan and I was coming back home, but it was a taste of it, anyway. :)

I left at about 5:45 Friday morning. After 3 miles, my hamstrings were tightening up on me. I stopped and stretched really good by the Oshkosh Convention Center as I watched a fisherman struggle to bring in a huge fish. Then I hiked on down Main Street in Oshkosh, turned onto Harrison to County Road A, and followed that along Lake Winnebago for about 10 miles. Hiked through downtown Neenah and Menasha, then head east, parallelling Hwy 10, then south through the new hatch of lake flies in suburbia. Those lake flies were insane! The buzzing from the swarming clouds of them sounded like a power company! It was eerie... and walking through them was disgusting. I could feel them bouncing off of me wherever I had exposed skin. At least they don't bite!

The weather was BEAUTIFUL. I got a little sunburn in some spots, and even a fun white stripe across my right hand from where my trekking pole strap was. It's nice. Gotta love hiker tan lines. My ankle tan lines are pretty nice, too.

Besides a couple of glitches, the day went well. Glitches? What were the glitches?

A swollen foot and losing the campsite that I chose for the view. But I wasn't going to let anything ruin my day.

During the walk, I stopped probably 4 times for about 30 minutes each so I could take my pack off, stretch, eat, and get some electrolytes. I made a couple of mistakes... I didn't drink enough water in the first 5 or 6 hours, and I only got about 4 hours of sleep the night before. So that didn't help my situation. I had sore legs throughout the whole hike, but I did my best to keep them stretched. The last 10-12 miles were really rough, in all honesty. There were a couple of times I thought I might have to call one of my "emergency contacts" to come rescue me and pick me up. But I pushed on, determined and stubborn as always! My right hip/butt area was tightening up on me, and at first, it just felt like a big knot. I've dealt with that before... but then in the last 5 miles, maybe, it turned to stabbing pain that must've been hitting a nerve and sending shooting pains down into my knee, causing it to buckle a little. That happened 3 times -- that made me nervous. I think the cause of that problem was my pack -- the weight and how I had it packed. It kind of felt like I might've had a little more weight on the bottom, right side of it... so I think it was putting extra pressure on that part of my back. Anyway, I got through it.

My left foot started to hurt at about the half-way point. After the 1/2 marathon, the same spot hurt a little, but I assumed it was from my shoes being laced up just a little too tightly. I actually had to stop and tighten my laces on this hike, so I don't know that I had them too tight... I honestly don't know what's causing it yet. It's on the top of my foot... I gotta think about that some more and figure that out. I posted a lovely picture here of my poor swelling tootsie shortly after I arrived at the campsite. Right now it's about twice that size, and is now showing the start of a really pretty bruise about as big around as a softball.

So my foot is the worst of it all. The rest of me -- sore muscles, exhaustion and sunburn -- will be okay by tomorrow. I love the pain from stuff like this... it just makes me feel good, knowing I accomplished something crazy... I think. I don't know why, I just like it all. I like the pain, but I certainly don't want it to be something more serious. I worry a little with that foot that there might be a stress fracture or something, so I'll be keeping an eye on it.

The other glitch of the day was a mix-up at the campground, and I still think I was "had" by a couple of teeny-bopper girls. When Adam and I did the "drive-through" Wednesday night, we drove through the campground and I picked out few sites I really liked. One in particular overlooked Lake Winnebago and was right on the cliff. I got home and reserved it online so everything would be set when I got there. So after walking 30+ miles, I stopped in at the entrance, checked in and got my receipt that read "Site 39, 5-9." There was even a nice ranger that I talked to that said he would drop off some wood for me so I could have a fire! So I trekked up this huge hill to my site, and what kept me going that last 1-1/2 miles, was dreaming about dinner, relaxing in front of the fire and maybe sitting on the cliff with my music and reflecting back on my day. I walked up to my site, and there was a tent set up. Crap. I didn't have a way to get back to the office to straighten this out, so I had to find the campers. I walked out onto the cliff-view, and two younger girls were sitting there with magazines, braiding each others' hair and giggling. It was a little weird to me, but that's beside the point. I asked them if they were at that site, and they were. After some back and forth, and explaining to them that I'd walked there, had picked this site out specifically, and had a reservation and a receipt to hang on the site number sign, they gave me a story about the lady at the office being incompetent... followed by a very insincere "we're sorry..." Then they gave me the whole, "well, we're already all set up and would hate to move..." line. Being the nice person I am, not wanting them to have to move, I told them I'd take a different site, but they would have to head to office and straighten it out, since I didn't have a car. So they did. I got the site across the road -- right next to the bathroom. It actually was nice to not have to walk far for a potty and water after the long day I had, but I was really bummed about missing out on my perfectly picked-out spot. My theory is these girls got there, didn't like their site, and grabbed mine. They didn't have a receipt, either. Curious, no?

Ah, but things got better from there -- Ken, Pam, Will and his dogs came out for a visit. It was really nice to have some friends join me around the fire. A campfire is always better with good friends. Ken and Pam set up and stayed for the night, and Will took off with the pups a little later on. Pam brought me some Leinie's Creamy Dark, which really hit the spot -- it totally relaxed me. I was in a complete slumped over daze, staring into the fire right before going to bed.

It rained pretty hard through the night, which was nice... is there a better sound than rain on a tent fly?! Then it stopped early in the morning, just in time to get up and pack up. Pam dropped Ken off at home, then brought me home. It was a great day, and a great night. I'm feeling satisfied and happily exhausted.

1/2 Marathon & Our Hike Presentation

It was a busy day! Woke up this morning and ran the Oshkosh 1/2 Marathon, then got home, showered up and did a presentation at our church, Trinity Lutheran in Oshkosh.

1/2 Marathon

I was pretty excited to run the Oshkosh 1/2 today. My mom and dad were in town because mom and I were doing an "Our Hike" presentation at our church after the 1/2 marathon... Adam had class this morning, so mom and dad brought me to the start line and drove around and cheered me on in a few spots as I ran. It was really nice to have them here... I wish Adam could've joined us, too. Mom and dad did a great job finding me, and each time I saw them I got a little burst of energy and ran a little faster for a bit.

There were a TON of people at the start line, and that was awesome. I love the adrenaline rush when I get into that group of people all there for the same purpose. It's an amazing time. If you've ever even thought of doing it, you should! It's SO much fun!!

The run went well. I ran strong pretty much the entire race, except for... get this... the last mile! I think my mind recognized that I was almost done and started to shut down my body a little early. I felt like walking... but I resisted and kept chugging along to the finish. So my last mile was the hardest, but I still reached all the goals I set. I even smiled across that finish line!

It turned out to be a gorgeous day for the run. Last year is was cold, rainy and windy. This year it was 50 degrees at 6am! It was a gorgeous day, in fact, it was a little too warm for my taste while running... I sweat a lot, as I usually do, and afterwards felt like I was covered in a thin layer of dust... it was salt! Around my ears and neck was actually white with salt lines from all the sweat. But really, I'm not complaining. It was a good run.

I'm really proud of myself... I'm very happy with my time and how I felt during the run... and after. I recovered pretty quickly -- way better than last year! So what's next... well, I plan to transition into training for the full marathon, now. We'll see how that goes. After I got done today, I had a really hard time imagining doing that twice in a row in one day. But I suppose with proper training, it's possible. So I'll give it my best shot.

"Our Hike" Presentation at Trinity Lutheran Church

Mom and I were asked by the Time Out Group to present our story about our hike across America. so after the 1/2 marathon, we came home, showered up and head to the church. It was a busy day, but it all went really well. The presentation went smoothly, and it was great for mom and I to get together once again to share our story with a crowd of people. There were even a couple of Aplastic Anemia patients there! It was really nice to meet them and talk with them, comparing treatments and our experiences.

Adam and my dad were there, too, so it was all 4 of us, and that was really nice. They were a huge part of that hike, so it's always nice to have them both there to point that out. Mom and I were obviously the center of attention through that hike because we were hiking it, but it wouldn't have been possible without the guys. They rock -- really they do.

We set up our booth with pictures and stuff, spread out brochures about Aplastic Anemia along with our business cards, and then we went through our story with our powerpoint presentation. Mom and I could've reminisced forever. So many stories come back to us when we get together and start thinking about all we'd been through on the hike.

So that's the rundown of my day so far! I feel great! I was pretty stressed about it because it was so packed in, but it went really smooth, and I couldn't be happier about that.

Now we're expecting company for a UFC Pay per view. I'm getting tired, though... starting to wear down a little bit, so we'll see how long I last. Adam's makin' coffee and ordering pizza later, so I'll have to stay up for the food at least! :)

Ready for the Oshkosh 1/2 Marathon!

Well, it’s that time of year again. I have been meaning to blog about this for about the past 4-5 weeks, but just haven’t gotten to it… I am SO far behind in writing!

Before the new year, 2009, I decided I was going to properly train for the Oshkosh ½ Marathon. After that, I was going to continue running, following a new training program for a full marathon. Running a full marathon is on my list of things to do before I die, and I hope to check that off my list this year.

The first thing I did was print out the training logs and write it all into my calendar, and the two fit perfectly. If I started training in January of 2009, I’d be ready for the Oshkosh ½ marathon on April 18. Then I take 3 weeks of post-race recovery time, and the 3rd week is actually the same as the 1st week in my marathon training, ending on the Fox Cities Marathon on September 20. So I could transition right into it without a hitch (or lets hope!) So far so good!

On this Saturday, I will run the 13.1 miles at the Annual Oshkosh ½ Marathon. I did it last year with poor training, and I really surprised myself (and I was lucky I didn’t get injured!). My goal was to finish, and I really wanted to actually run the entire distance… not walk any of it. So I did that, and when I crossed the finish line with cramped stiff legs, the big digital clock read something like, “2:02:36” or something like that. I was hoping to finish under 2:30, so I was thrilled – to say the least. But… that 2 minutes over the 2-hour mark kind of ate at me. I was super-proud of myself and what I’d accomplished, but those 2 minutes set me off on a new challenge. I had to get it under 2 hours.

This is what I LOVE about working out and endurance sports. Once you do something, you can always improve… you can always set new goals, or create new challenges. So on I go. This year, I plan to finish that ½ marathon in under 2 hours. And I will. The only way I won’t is if something goes terribly wrong. I have been averaging an 8:30 minute-mile on my last few long runs, so that would put me at a finish time of 1:51:26 – plenty of time to spare to keep me under the 2 hours. It's amazing to see how proper training helped me improve! So all I can do now is hope for decent weather, and pray for a good run.

The training for this has been pretty challenging -- finding time to fit it all in can be tough. I have so much going on all the time that I was squeezing in runs whenever I could. Early morning, late at night, any open windows on weekends, different towns depending on where I was… but I got it done. I missed a couple of weekly training runs or cross-training days, but I never missed a long weekend run. So I actually feel ready for it. I don’t want to get too confident, though. I like to always think of worst-case scenario, and then I usually end up thinking, “Well it could’ve been worse, so this is okay” – no matter what happens. I’m excited.

One important lesson I learned – shoes matter! I always tried to get shoes I could wear for running and working out -- mutli-purpose, of course... save some money. I had a Nike trail runner that I grabbed at Shopko. It was alright. I got little blisters on the tips of my toes, and some aches and pains in my hip joints and knees, but I figured I was running a lot, and this was all normal. Then one day I got done with my run and noticed a blood blister on my toe, the next day my toes on both feet were all cramped up, and my hip was really sore. I decided my 1-1/2 year-old shoes had to be replaced. I coughed up the $100 and went to a running store, where they measured my feet and checked my running gait. They put me in a shoe that was a whole size smaller than I had been wearing, and a normal width (I’d been wearing a wide size). I was nervous about these new shoes, but I put my trust in the running shoe experts. On my next few runs after that, I felt like I was flying. My times improved, I had no more blisters on the tips of my toes, no more toe cramps, and my hip and knees weren’t hurting. WOW. What a difference!!! People have always told me that the shoes matter, and I know that from all my hiking experience… but I didn’t know I was in completely the wrong size!!

I’ll give an update as to how I do on Saturday. It’s going to be a crazy day, as I have a presentation after that, and Adam is having people over for a UFC Pay per view in the evening, too. It will be a quick and busy day, but at the end of it, relaxing with a single beer and falling asleep on the couch will be my reward.

Goals for the Oshkosh ½ Marathon 2009:
Finish the same day I start
Run the entire race
Finish under 2 hours
Smile as I cross the finish line!

I plan to accomplish all these goals. As I said earlier, something would have to go pretty wrong for any of these to fall through. So it should be a good day!

A lone tree in Utah.

That little green spot in the middle of the picture above is where this Utah tree is located. The waypoint marked on the photo is one of the ADT waypoints on a jeep road. We went off-path a little ways to set up camp by the tree - there's a sort of comfort camping near a tree, especially when it's the only one as far as the eye can see. This picture is approximately 1 mile across. You can easily see how barren it is -- except for that tree. You can't tell me that there's not something special about that spot.

I can't stop thinking about a tree in Utah. It's not far across the Colorado border. There's a boat landing on the Colorado River where rafters take out before a rapids -- you can duck into the goofy riverside trees and take a short nap as ants crawl in and out of your wet clothes from rinsing days of hiking grime off in the salty, thick brown Colorado River water. Then you can walk onto a jeep road into some barren land where you can see as far as the next bare, rocky hill. Then you'll come to a spot where there's a tree -- all of a sudden. As you look around, you could swear it was the only normal, leafy tree in Utah! It's a spot NOBODY would ever go to visit. Except for the farmer that dug the trench to collect rainwater for his free-roaming cattle. It's not that it isn't a great spot, it's just a random patch of earth in the middle of nowhere. My mom and I set our tent up there one night. We fell asleep listening to the coyotes yipping all around us. Then we woke up the next morning, packed up the tent and our gear and kept walking. At the time it was just another spot to sleep for the night. But there was something really special about that spot, and I can't stop thinking about it. I want to share it with Adam. He might think I'm crazy to haul him to a weird patch of sandy ground in the middle of nowhere -- no pretty mountaintops, no lush forests, not much for wildlife -- just a spot that I remember with great comfort and peace. I wish I could put him there for just a single moment. He knows this strange, random feeling of pure joy; he's explained it to me once before. Maybe he'd feel it with me if we stood in that spot together. There are so many of these places, but this one... there's something about it. I miss it. I just miss it all so much.

A few lyrics from "Long Trip Alone" by Dierks Bentley
It's a long trip alone over sand and stone
That lie along the road that we all must travel down
So maybe you could walk with me a while
And maybe I could rest beneath your smile
Everybody stumbles sometimes and needs a hand to hold
'Cause it's a long trip alone
It's a short piece of time but just enough to find
A little peace of mind under the sun somewhere
So maybe you could walk with me a while
And maybe I could rest beneath your smile
You know we can't afford to let one moment pass us by
'Cause it's a short piece of time
And I don't know where I'd be without you here
'Cause I'm not really me without you

January Winter Camping at Jones Spring

I’ve fallen behind on a few things lately, so this entry is coming in over a week late! I went winter camping last weekend… I mean the one before this past weekend. The cold one. The one that was forecasted to be 30 degrees below zero with the wind chill. Not this past weekend that was 35 degrees above zero with the sun shining… you get the idea!

Okay, so there’s my mini-rant about how whenever I go winter camping, it seems to land on either the coldest weekend of the year, or the second coldest weekend of the year. Thankfully, this was probably the second. But it was still cold! And I know it sounds like pure complaining, but I do enjoy the challenge, so in the end I suppose I'm thankful for the chilliness to keep the adventure extreme...

Rants aside, there is definitely a plus-side of things. It was cold, but it wasn’t as windy as we thought it would be. That may be because we picked just the right campsite, or because the wind just wasn’t so bad. Honestly, it doesn’t matter to me! I’m just glad it turned out as well as it did. And there’s one other plus-side to this whole thing – I had a really awesome time!

It was just three of us brave souls. Me, Kweejee (Tim), and Ken. Friday after work I picked up Kweejee, and from there he and I drove to Neenah and picked up Ken. We head straight up to the Nicolet National Forest, swung in at a gas station for a snack or five, then head down Fanny Lake Road to one of our favorite spots to camp thus far in our backpacking/camping experiences. By the way, the snacks I picked up (because this is extremely important information I need to share), was a sugary-sweet cappuccino, a peanut-butter-cup cookie, and a small bag of chili-cheese Fritos (for the emergency fire-starter kit, of course… ahem).

When we arrived, it was already dark, but we had planned on that. My bad fortune came right off the bat with a dead headlamp. Always carry an extra set of batteries, folks! I had just replaced them, but something was haywire… I should’ve had an extra set in my emergency kit… thankfully I did have a small Maglite… that I accidentally ended up shoving into the roof of my mouth later in the night as I held it in my teeth while trying to do something with my hands. I bumped it and shoved it back across my teeth and jammed it good. That hurts, by the way… extra batteries are goooood.

So anyway… we started our hike in (the site we were thinking about is less than a mile from the parking lot). We got to the first site, and as soon as we stepped off the nicely-groomed cross-country ski trails, we stepped down into knee-deep snow, trudged through the trees and decided to turn around and keep walking. The wind was blowing off of Fanny Lake really strong. The next couple of sites were just as bad or worse, being more open to the lake. We finally rested in a site right off the trail with decent tree-coverage and a little spot for 3 tents tucked as close to the woods as we could get.

We never did find the fire ring in the deep snow. We dug a big hole and got it going first try – because we ROCK!! Apparently there had been a mouse living in one of my wood boxes… and since his little “tinder” home had been vacated, we put it to use, and it lit up nicely! No Fritos needed… so I ate ‘em later.

The snow was deep, as I’ve mentioned a couple of times, so we all tried to sort of “stomp” a place to set up our tents. The snow was soft at this point so it all kind of fell back into the hole you’d dig out of. I gave up and just started setting up. By the way… quick review on the MSR Hubba Hubba tent – if you’ve set it up before, it’s possible to set it up in the pitch dark, freezing cold, without much of a problem! Ken did borrow me his headlamp when I got to the hooking the fly on. It’s a pretty tight fit, and the Maglite kept falling out of my mouth and into the snow. I eventually just gave up on that and set it up blindly. But it worked! Yay!

Once the tents were set up we warmed up by the fire, and laughed about Ken and Kweejee’s growing beard icicles. Sounds like they may have stuck to their jackets a little bit, so quick movements of the head apparently pulled a little. I’m glad I don’t have a beard, by the way!

Kweejee had Dinty Moore (open can on the fire) for dinner, and I was a little jealous. My and Ken’s Jetboils were performing poorly due to the cold, even after warming our gas cans in our jackets. We were both able to eat, and that’s what’s important. Oh, another winter-camping lesson learned – no matter how cold it is, wash the dishes. The next morning I had trouble getting the stove out of frozen tomato-parmesan noodle water that was stuck to the side of my Jetboil container. Yuk!

We stood around the fire and chit-chatted as I blew snot-rockets (sorry, I guess I am no “lady” when I’m camping), we all giggled from cold-delirium about this and that, and we had a theory to stay up as late as we could thinking that was less time away from the fire -- we finally hit the hay… er snow… around midnight-ish, I think… Kweejee brought a thermometer he found around the house. By the time we went to bed, the temps were already dipping down to a bone-chilling “Ideal for Freezer.” Apparently it was a freezer thermometer, but it’s readings were plenty for us to get the idea. I believe it got down to 6 or 7 below zero when we went to bed, and who knows with the wind chill.

Ken mentioned his -20 degree rated sleeping bag, and I shivered at the thought of mine compared to that. I’ve always bragged about my 5-degree bag, but it’s been so long since I’ve washed it, it’s probably rated a 50-degree bag right now. Yeah, it needs to be done before its next use. I heard Kweejee settling in his tent for about as long as I was settling in mine. Ken was sawing logs about 5 minutes after he crawled in. I gotta get me one of them bags!

I had my sleeping bag tucked inside of a cheapo Wal-Mart bag that we got for Adam to use in the summer, I had my down jacket down by my feet, along with my socks for Saturday, a 5-liter bladder of water, and my boots tied in a garbage bag (I don’t know how that all fit down there, but it did). I also had a body warmer down by my feet, 2 sleeping pads underneath me, and I was wearing every piece of clothing I brought except for the fleece pants I had intended to sleep in but realized quickly there was no freakin’ way I was gettin’ down to bare skin just to change my pants in that cold air. Once my warmers were shook up and heating up, I rolled onto my side and started to drift off to sleep. I woke a couple times in the night and condensation from my breathing dripped onto my face. Kinda’ nasty, but all part of the camping experience! I’m still sorry Ken and Kweejee had to experience all the snot-rockets. I was polite enough to turn away and miss their boots, though!

Oh, and to continue my grossness while I’m on a roll, when you’re eating something yummy and warm in the freezing cold (in this case is was my tomato-parmesan noodles), your nose tends to drip continuously and it’s impossible to stop. Some people salt their food… need I say more?

We woke up to sunlight. Ken was up first, and the apple wood he brought burned all night and left embers, so he was able to get the fire going right away again. Kweejee and I finally got up the courage and rolled out of our tents. We made a little breakfast (pop-tarts), enjoyed the beautiful winter wonderland around us, the quietness of cold air, and finally started to break camp. We’d take off the fly, then warm our hands on the fire. We’d pack up our sleeping bag, then warm our hands on the fire. We’d pack a couple more things, and warm our hands on the fire. We continued this routine until everything was in its appropriate stuff sack and shoved into the proper corner of our backpacks. We then trucked back to the parking lot, which had an enclosed pit toilet – complete with real toilet paper. What a morning blessing.

What an awesome, challenging, winter-camping fun time! This was the first time I actually set my tent up in snow that deep and slept by myself in the cold! It wasn’t bad at all. I wasn’t afraid of hearing any animals – the bears are sleeping, so that helps. I ate my Snickers bar before I fell asleep though, so I was okay anyway. The only scary thing was Kweejee’s creaking tree. Apparently he had reason to fear the creaking tree… if we went back to visit that site now, that tree would probably be laying over the exact spot where he set up his tent. Yeah, I have to admit, that’s a little scary.

After throwing our stuff in the car, we drove around the park a little ways and parked at a different trailhead. There was this hill we had in mind. It was a big hill. It’s one that we hiked up in the summer months and thought it was brutal! The cross-country ski signs display a black diamond with a very sharp zigzagged line on them, and they read, “Very difficult.” So we thought, “what better place to go sledding!?”

We hiked to the hill and quickly remembered how steep it really was. We were kinda scared! Ken brought a little rocket sled that was super fast, and I hauled my wood sled out there. We had fun going down on both of them. We all had great wipe-outs with Ken’s super-fast sled. We’d get almost to the bottom and we’d roll two or three times as the snow flew up around us, in our ears, our pants, our gloves, hats flying off… it was awesome! Nobody broke anything, but I think we all had a few sore muscles the next day in places we didn’t realize we had muscles.

And here's a little video of Ken's roll at the bottom of the hill. We sure got a lot of momentum going!

All in all this was a super-fun winter camping trip. Ken and Kweejee are fun cold-camping buddies. People think we’re crazy, but it’s not too bad if you have the right clothes and if your sleeping bad isn’t down to 2 layers of sil-nylon and 3 clumps of down… nah, it’s still okay. We really did have an awesome time. I hope I get one more winter camp in before the snow melts. There is a peacefulness about winter. Nobody else was in that entire park. There were no pole marks from skiers, no footprints from hikers, no snowshoe tracks, either. It was serene, quiet, pretty… and we had great company to keep our minds off the frozen toes!

The 2009 Frozen Otter

I got 1st place in my division (6th overall)! It’s weird for me to be able to say it, but I actually won!
Here's a link to the offical results, event photos and more info about the race.

It was definitely another year to remember, and this is why I’m writing it all down. I don’t want to forget the details, and I know with how my memory is, those details will soon fade into the cold air along with all the painful moans and groans I let out on those last few miles! Warning here – this entry is going to be LONG. I get a little carried away with details. I gotta work on that.

So…

There are two versions of the race:
Full = 64 miles in 24 hours
Half = 32 miles in 12 hours

There are 4 divisions:
Full-solo
Full-2 person team
Half-solo
Half-2 person team

In order to be considered an official finisher, you must hike into the start/finish at the Butler Lake Parking area within your time limit. The person to hike the most miles in the least amount of time is the winner.

I was signed up for the Half-solo division. I thought about signing up for the Full 64 this year, but I chickened out. I barely made the 32 miles under the time limit last year (only 3 minutes under 12 hours!!), so I was out to see if it was some sort of fluke, or if I had it in me to do that again. I always set a few goals for myself, the first being something I’m pretty sure I can accomplish. This avoids any ridiculous disappointments I might end up with. The second goal is one I’d really like to make, I have a chance to make, but I’m not too sure about it. The third is usually one I’m not too confident about making.

My three goals this year were:
Goal 1: Be an official finisher. Hike 32 miles in under 12 hours (note that within the first 8 miles, I was convinced this goal was already shot. The snow was SO deep and hard to hike through!)
Goal 2: Beat my time of 11:57 from last year
Goal 3: Hike an extra 8 miles if I have it in me (it wouldn’t have counted towards anything except my own pride)

I arrived at the Butler Lake area a little before 11:00 AM on Saturday. I was all by myself this year. Nobody wanted to join me on this insane venture. It would’ve been cool to have someone along to help work off some of the excitement-induced adrenaline “shakes” I had driving there. I actually felt kind of ill! And to make matters a little worse, I woke up with diarrhea! Sorry for the “too much information” comment there, but hey – it was part of the day, and I had to work in extra fluids before I even started! I drank a full Nalgene of water, took an Imodium and was good to go. Well, except for a few stomach-bubblies throughout the day.

I got signed in, got my Yaktrax and gaiters on, got my gear in line, got my backpack organized how I wanted it, and stood by the fire talking to Rod and some of the other racers. It seems like some were concerned about the snow depth, and some didn’t think it was going to be much of a problem at all. We aren’t allowed to wear snowshoes or use skis for this Adventure Race, and I think that’s a cool rule. It leaves us all on the same playing field, and doesn’t cause the back-and-forth, “should I bring snowshoes, should I not bring snowshoes…” The snow depth DID play quite a large role in the race, too. I know it really slowed me down, and I had to almost constantly remind myself to push my pace harder than what I comfortably wanted to hike, even jogging in some spots (or “fast-hiking” as I like to call it… it’s sort of a “hoppy” stride).

When we first started out, nobody really wanted to go first because there weren’t any fresh tracks, so the first person in line had to break trail. I took it on. I trucked up the hill out of the parking lot, and by the time I got to the top, I had already started sweating. Uh-oh. I had a looong ways to go with a sweaty shirt already! I actually took it a little slow to start, even though I was in front, so I could get some sort of feel for the trail, or a stride or something… then we came to our first road crossing, and I asked the guy behind me, Peter, if he would like to lead. He said he would, so I followed him for a bit. On the next road crossing, I started to feel pretty good. I was starting to get the rhythm, so I pushed my pace and took off. I had a few people pass me before the first checkpoint at 8 miles. I could hear them coming up behind me, so when they got close, I was sure to let them by. I admired their speed!

I checked into the first checkpoint at 2:58 PM. It didn’t take long for me to figure that one out. I had to keep the same exact pace the entire race in order to make it back to Butler Lake in 12 hours and be a finisher. That wasn’t the first time I thought it was looking pretty grim. But I stretched my IT band a bit against the truck, filled my water bladder back up (about 2-1/2 liters down the hatch already!), opened up a Clif bar, and took off 11 minutes later, eating as I went. A little further down the trail I remembered to take my electrolyte tabs and ibuprofen. I had enough so that I could take this little combo at each checkpoint. I don’t like mixing the electrolyte mix in my water bladder, so I opted for the tablets, and I freakin’ LOVE them things!

A little ways down the trail, I could hear the quick pace of someone gaining on me. I just kept going at my pace, trying to keep my footing strong and sturdy. Once the person behind me got really close, I turned around and told them to feel free to pass me up. It was Melissa, who 2 years ago completed the entire 64 miles within the 24-hour time limit. She is the only person to date who has EVER completed this race in its entirety. So it’s possible!

She got up in front of me, and she had an awesome pace going, so I asked her if she minded I play garboon and dangle behind her for a while. She said that was fine, so I trekked behind her, step for step, for quite a ways. I had a really awesome time getting to know her, and it was very nice to have a conversation with someone for a while. One of the cons to going solo on this hike is the lack of human interaction. I seriously start talking to myself and God as I walk, which isn’t a bad thing, necessarily, but towards the end it gets a little weird when I starting talking to my toes, feet, and quads directly. It was a great time-passer having Melissa to chat with. She’s done quite a few Adventure Races, and I think I learned quite a bit from her in that short time period.

*Thanks, Melissa, for the company – and especially the encouragement! You are a super-respectful competitor! Thank you!*

When I arrived at the half-way point (5:32 PM), I was getting tired, to put it simply. My knees were starting to hurt, the bottoms of my feet were burning, and I was damp all over with sweat. It was dark enough now that I had my headlamp on, and I could feel the temperatures dropping what felt like every few minutes. With my sweaty shirt, the slightest breeze or stopping for even a half a minute chilled me, so my only option was to move. At the half-way point I again filled my bladder up (about 5-1/2 liters down, now!), took my electrolytes and ibuprofen, shot a Hammer Gel down my throat for energy (apple cinnamon ROCKS, by the way!!!), stretched a little, thawed my hydration hose mouthpiece over the fire and took off. My stop at the 16-mile (half-way) mark was 20 minutes. It would have been less if my mouthpiece hadn’t froze up after filling and forcing the bladder back into my backpack. The pressure must’ve forced some water back into the hose and it freezes in there almost instantly. Keeping that hose thawed is KEY. I managed to keep it pretty thawed out the entire race by drinking constantly.

The one time it froze up on me was while I was trekking the coldest stretch of the entire race. There is a section of snowmobile trail along Hwy P that we hike on for about ½ mile. The WIND!! Oh, I was nearly in tears. I started to jog along that stretch, painfully, might I add… just to keep warm enough to stand it! When I finally reached where the trail turns into the woods, I stopped for a second and just let myself feel the warmth (it felt like a heat wave without that brittle wind cutting at my face!). The tip on my right ear started to throb, so I think I had a case of frostnip. I stood there and sucked and sucked on my hydration hose, hoping to squeek through even the tiniest stream of water… finally I got some… it took a while, but I eventually had a good stream of water coming through. I caught it JUST in time. Even a minute longer, and I may have been without water until the next checkpoint!

I trucked on. Between that point and the 3rd checkpoint, I was still on pace to make 12 hours, but I didn’t have any luxury to slow down – at all. I had to keep pushing, no matter how tired I was or how badly everything hurt. This is when my mental state got the best of me. For maybe 10 minutes, I started going over in my head how I would explain to all my friends and followers why I quit at 24 miles, not that they would think less of me, or blame me! But oh, boy… the snow was deep, I was tired, my feet were cramping up terrible, it was cold, I was sweaty, etc, etc, etc. Then I stopped the thoughts. I stopped in my tracks for a moment, took a drink of water, bent my toes under inside my boots as my face scrunched up in pure pain, bent down a few times to stretch, and said out loud, “Just keep moving. You can do this. You are MORE than half-way!” I then looked up and kept moving at a steady pace.

Before I knew it, I was at the 3rd checkpoint with no desire to stop. It was 8:28 PM. This was when I knew I would make it 32 miles. But would I make it in 12 hours? The math added up. I thought to myself, “If I can keep up my pace, I’ll be good to go.” But I was hurting, and my steps were already getting sloppy. I really didn’t know, and I definitely wasn’t feeling too sure. I think deep down I knew I had it in me, I just had to prove it to myself. I didn’t waste any more time. 6 minutes after checking in at Checkpoint 3, I took my ibuprofen, my last electrolyte tab, opened my last Clif bar, and head out munching away.

I was getting so sloppy with every step. Each one slid me one way or the other on the trail. I was getting frustrated. But I just told myself to walk strong. So I’d lift my legs up a little higher each step and try to land with more precision. I thought through each step for a quite a while, and all of a sudden, DARK! My headlamp died!! It was pitch black out. There must have been NO moon because I saw some really pretty stars above me! It was gorgeous and completely still and quiet around me. I was almost saddened that I would have to make noise and be distracted digging out my extra set of batteries. I found them right away, next to a handwarmer in my hip-belt pocket. I was able to get the batteries switched out by feel, and I was pretty impressed with myself. I put the lamp back on my head, and turned it on – WAH-LAH! I could SEE again! I didn’t realize how DULL that thing had gotten! My steps weren’t as sloppy anymore, either. I just couldn’t see the definition in the snow anymore, and I wasn’t sure where I was stepping! I was still struggling, but not as bad.

I trucked along, checking my watch at each road crossing. I was actually staying on pace to finish in under 12 hours! I was starting to get so excited! I even smiled a couple of times and kind of cheered to myself. I recognized where I was, and I knew I had two more road crossings before there was a big clearing (which I feared the wind), then Butler Lake wasn’t far from there. When I got to the second-to-last road crossing, Kristin and Evan from the Fat Otter II Team were squatting down while talking to Melissa. I stopped for a second and whined to them something about everything hurting, and they were looking at the map. I was freezing up instantly as I stood there, so I stepped to the side, over the snow bank, and back onto the trail. I found out later that Melissa had gotten ill and was looking for the name of the road so she could call for a ride. We were about 2 miles from the 32-mile point. I felt terrible. I almost hope I was delusional at that point. I didn’t even ask if everyone was okay. I just assumed they were discussing how much further it was, and figuring that I knew how much further I had to go, and with getting chilled, I moved on. I suppose there wasn’t much I could’ve done at that point, but I really regret not even asking. Phooey. I learned from that experience.

The clearing was coming up, and I was really worried about the wind after that stretch along Hwy. P. I put my hat on over my balaclava, put my mittens on, and told myself I would stop and put on my jacket if it was bad like that again. When I got there, the wind wasn’t so bad! I sort of shuffled through the snow and jogged down the hills – only because I knew I was getting SO close! I could literally see the hill before the parking lot, and there was this orange glow beyond that. Was it the fire? Oh, I hoped, and smiled… my watch was reading very nice numbers back to me. Now I was SURE I’d make it under 12 hours, and I was pretty certain I could beat my time from last year. I very weakly, slowly and quietly said to myself, “Yay, you’re going to do it, Robin!”

I trekked up the hill, up through a stretch of woods, then my head bobbed up over a small ridge, and there it was. FIRE. CARS. PEOPLE. Burgers, hot dogs, hot cocoa, chairs, fire, warmth, my car, the finish!!

Yes, there were a few tears of joy – mostly because of that warm fire in my line of vision, and maybe a little because I was already dreaming of rest. Right before I head down the hill to the parking lot, I let out a mouse-like whimper, “I did it! I did it! I beat my time!”

I went down, checked in, stood by the fire, and started to feel warm. I was congratulated by the others there, as well as the volunteers! Rod handed me a medal for finishing, and it was all very low-key. I just didn’t have much energy to really let out any big hurrahs, let alone make any movements toward celebration. I was very excited, though. I was beaming inside!

I beat my time from last year by more than 1/2 hour! I knew I did really well, and I was really proud for that. I didn't realize until the next Tuesday morning how I actually placed! So I was glad to have reached my Goals 1 & 2, and even though I didn't reach Goal #3, I was happy. Winning my division was icing on the cake!

This is a great time to thank the volunteers, too! Rod does a great job putting this together, and his volunteers really go out of their way to help the racers. They help us get water, Hammer Heed, hot cocoa at the checkpoints… and anything else the racers might need. At the end they were making burgers, hot dogs, soup, cocoa… they wouldn’t let us get our own, and that was super-cool. So a BIG huge THANK-YOU to all of you volunteers for waiting on us!!

Sunday was recovery day.
I woke up early and went to church with Adam at 10:30. I was stiff-legging up and down stairs, but other than that and being tired, I wasn’t doing too bad. Want to know how crazy my mind is? This left me thinking, “I could’ve done more. I could’ve gone further.” Next year I am signing up for the 64 miles and my goal is to make at least 40 miles. After finding out that last year wasn’t a fluke, I’m feeling pretty confident that I can do it. I’m already mentally preparing for it, and I think that’s one of the biggest parts of it all. My 3rd goal was to go beyond the 32 miles. Problem there was that I was signed up for 32 miles. So when I hit 32 miles, I was done mentally, which meant I was done physically. My mind shut my body down. This is proof that sometimes you can overpower your physical state with your mind. And this is what I found I LOVE about this race. I love getting to that point where I have to make that switch.

So recovery went well. I drank lots of water, laid around a lot, ate a couple of burgers (for protein, of course!), had a Nalgene with electrolyte mix in it, and slept quite a bit. On Monday morning I walked the 3 miles into work and felt okay. Monday night I went to kickboxing class. Tuesday morning I got up and ran 30 minutes at the Y. Tuesday night I walked 10 minutes to class, and after that, head home for a 4-mile walk. About 2 miles into my walk home, my adrenaline high left me. It was like someone turned off a switch -- I was exhausted. When I got home I went straight to bed. Woke up the next morning and had Adam drive me into work. I barely made it through work, and went right home again that night. I took the whole day Wednesday off from physical exercise, as well as Thursday morning. Thursday during work I felt much better, and now I’m feeling like I’m back on track again.

Maybe next year I’ll have the hallucinations that I’ve heard racers sometimes have from lack of sleep and physical exhaustion. And maybe I won’t be able to even walk on Sunday. Yup, that’s what I’ll be shooting for! I wonder how many miles it will take to reach THAT goal!?

The brrly -30° wind chill, and I'm loving it?! And a small secret...

Alright. I am starting to question whether I might really have a couple screws loose. It's seriously been around in the -30°'s (F) with the wind chill, and it makes me feel excited. Schools are closing, cars aren't starting, nose hairs are freezing... and I'm wanting to walk in it.

On Tuesday night I walked home from my class (a little over 4 miles). It wasn't as cold then as it has been yesterday and today... According to weather.com, Tuesday's low was a balmy -12°. I was walking between 9-10:30pm, so I imagine it wasn't quite at the low yet, but I'm pretty certain it was below 0. And I don't think that includes a wind chill. So yes, it was still cold.

I left class wearing my normal clothes, with the exception of a pair of Smartwool socks and my leather hiking boots. On top of my normal clothes (jeans and a polo shirt), I wore a pair of thin wind pants, a wool hat with ear flaps (strings tied under my chin to keep it from slipping upward), a scarf wrapped around my neck loosely 3 times (thanks for the great scarf, Pam!), my super-duper warm Sherpa down jacket I got last winter, and a pair of gloves.

My walk was toasty-warm. This is going to sound weird, but my biggest worry was people being overly concerned about me. I really appreciate those that are concerned, as I understand as well as the next guy that -- 'know what? It's freakin' COLD outside!' I know that when temps get this low, it is very dangerous and very serious. Being uncomfortably cold isn't funny, and neither is frostbite or hypothermia. But I really don't think I was being half-witted about it. I was dressed for it, and I was pretty darn comfortable. I even had my tunes playing for an hour before my iPod's battery pooped out from the cold. I was a happy walker!.

Thank you, by the way, for all those that DO express their concern. You really make me feel loved, not to mention confident knowing that I have friends I can count on if the need were to arise. :)

I just don't want anyone to worry tooooo much. I'm not asking for people to NOT worry, as I mentioned, I do appreciate concerns and how much people care -- and I know that those that are concerned would drop anything to rescue my crazy arse from the cold if I needed it. Ahh, the love of friends... to tell me I'm crazy, yet still rescue me as I do crazy things! Just know that if I find myself in a dangerous situation, and I begin to feel frightened, I am not too proud in those situations. I WILL call someone, or stop in somewhere to ask for help. It's never an easy thing to do, but I would if I needed it.

It was kind of funny, as I left the school building, I thought to myself, "Where could I stop by if I got too cold?" Well, there was Players (a bar), Ohio Street Station (a bar), Citgo (a gas station), Andy's (a bar), BP (a gas station), a couple of churches (do churches still keep their doors open, though?), The Beachcomber (a bar) and Parnell's (a bar). So I had plenty of bars and gas stations to stop in if conditions were more than I could handle. Thank you, Wisconsin, for being you! :)

On top of the different open businesses I could stop in at, I had a few local friends that I knew I could call to pick me up if I needed it. So really, I was prepared. I love any kind of weather, as long as I'm prepared for it. My least favorite weather phenomenon is strong wind when it's cold, because that's the stuff that can be difficult to beat, even when you ARE prepared, but it has to be dealt with from time to time.

So, on the way home, I had my scarf pulled up to the topmost part of my nose, just below my eyes, and my hat pulled down just to the top of my eyebrows. This was my only exposed skin. My breath was going upwards out the scarf around my nose and it would leave condensation on my eyelashes. Twice I had to take a glove off to pull clumps of ice off of my lashes. It was quite funny, because I would blink and wouldn't be able to open my eyes because my lashes were literally frozen together (not the lids -- just the lashes from the frozen condensation from my breath). I giggled each time I cleared them of their ice-boogies.

I got home and had Adam take a picture of me, which is at the top of this entry.

Yes, maybe I'm crazy, but I like to think I'm not stupid. I have yet to find out if I truly am stupid, and I imagine I might eventually push myself to that point. But, in my defense, this is a part of my life that I truly enjoy -- pushing myself beyond my comfort zone when possible. When I come out alive on the other end, I might be tired or worn, but "alive" is the key word here. That's how I feel. All senses accentuated, blood rushing in pulse, smiles impossible to avoid... and tear-welling self-pride.

The Frozen Otter is Saturday, and these are the feelings I'm shooting for. I just can't wait.

And I secretly wish (well, it's not a secret any more) that it was going to be a little colder than forcasted. Looks like 11° above as the LOW! That's like a heat-wave compared to this week! It will still be an amazing adventure, but deep down I was hoping it would be a little more "frozen" than it already will be.

Okay, maybe I'm just ONE clown short of a circus... just one.