Andrew Schrauben

T'was a busy weekend. Awake by 0600 on Saturday for the Reeds Lake Run, then get ready for my little brother Ryan's bachelor party! I had about two hours at home between the race and getting back in the car to drive to Midland for his celebration which included grilling out on a softball field, playing frisbee golf, taking in a minor league baseball game, then hitting the cursory bar for a few drinks. Poor Ryan had to wear a plastic ball and chain around his ankle all day (amazingly he was still good at frisbee golf while wearing it!), a giant sombrero, and a t-shirt with a picture of a pinata and the caption "I'd Hit It". I wish I'd remembered to take a photo! I didn't get home until after 0300!

Sunday Amanda and I took Eddie to meet his future "parents" and otherwise tried to take it easy. However, Haven and Beacon started giving me those soulful looks of "let's go do something!" so I decided to take them to the river. After all, the weather was perfect - upper 60's, sunny, and a light breeze. My legs were a bit tired from Saturday's two races but good enough that we bypassed the river access near the parking area and jogged half a mile on the trail up and over a large hill to the prime river access point.

Rather than throw sticks for fetching, this time I took the dogs for a walk, or rather a "wade", up the river! The recent dry spell had lowered the water level enough that I could walk the 50 yards across the river without getting deeper than my knees. Even the dogs were mostly walking or bunny-hopping in the shallow water. We waded about a 1/4 mile upstream to a section of small rapids where there were a couple "nozzle" points that had rather strong flow. It was strong enough that I had trouble standing and the dogs had to swim as hard as they could just to stand still. We had fun playing in the rapids - I walked up the "nozzle" then back through while the dogs went for a theme-park-like ride through the chute!

Finally we jogged back to the parking area, a dirt cul-de-sac next to an old boy scout cabin. Haven loves to eat weeds (I have no idea why!) and there were some nice, long, un-mowed weeds in back of the cabin. As she bent down to grab a bite I was about to scold her when suddenly a whitetail deer fawn sprung out of the weeds! Haven was startled for just a split second before she gave chase, and Beacon soon joined her as they pursued the poor little deer around the building.

The fawn was a bit taller than my dogs, but clearly much scrawnier and probably only weighed 50 lbs to my dogs 65-70 lbs each. As the trio rounded the corner I heard the fawn start bleating like a goat, crying "Mmmaaah! Mmmaaah!" over and over - I feared that my dogs were going to kill it! I sprinted around the opposite side of the cabin, hoping to head them off and get between the predators and the prey to prevent serious harm.

To my surprise, when I rounded the cabin the fawn was nowhere to be seen! My dogs love to scarf their food, but no way did they eat that fawn. :) Beacon was in the parking lot scanning every which way trying to spot the deer. Haven, however, was one step ahead - she was sniffing underneath a wooden staircase. I walked over to grab Haven when the fawn clambered out from under the stairs right past Haven, who merely sniffed it as it started to run away again.

Seeing it run excited my dogs enough to give chase. While faster than me, the fawn wasn't nearly strong enough to outclass adult canine speed and my dogs closed in quickly as the fawn raced down the road. Knowing I couldn't accomplish anything by chasing, I ran back to the car and opened the back door, hoping to signal my dogs that it's "time to go" - usually they'll jump right in. Then it occurred to me... What if mommy deer hears the bleating and comes after my dogs? Luckily I was the only "adult" around!

When I turned back to the action, I saw one of the most improbable sights of my life - the fawn was standing frozen with Haven and Beacon motionless on either side of it!!! I so wish I'd had a camera right then. The fawn must've tired out or realized it couldn't outrun the dogs. Haven and Beacon started to sniff the fawn when Bambi decided to go on the offensive - it reared back and head-butted Beacon just like a goat would do! Beacon was startled and jumped back. Bambi lunged again and Beacon got down in a dog's "play bow" with his front paws down and butt in the air.

Beacon put a couple juke moves on the fawn, feinting left and right and when Bambi went for another "attack" Beacon ran away back to me for safety! I was really cracking up at this point. A little fawn put the smack down on big bad Beaks! Confirming my idea to open the car door, Beacon jumped right up onto the seat and I quickly closed the door to finally contain one dog.

Looking back to Haven, she was trying to sniff the fawn just like she would greet a new foster dog. She was trying to make friends! But the fawn was understandably less trusting and kept trying to head-butt Haven, moves that Haven was easily able to dodge. Finally I think Haven got tired of this belligerent potential pal and she came running back to me to see what happened to Beacon. I got her in the car just as Bambi turned to lope out of sight down the road.

Amanda couldn't believe me when I told her the story and she really wishes she could've seen it. I'm still amazed that the dogs didn't injure the fawn, but even more incredible is that they wanted to play with it! That image of Haven and Beacon standing either side of the fawn is permanently etched in my memory... Classic. I'll probably never see something like that again, but still I hope that someday the dogs will encounter another fawn and try to play with it. My dogs never cease to amaze!

The Road End Trail Run is a 5-mile race in the Pinckney Recreation Area outside Ann Arbor, MI. This event is just the opening act for the Trail Marathon weekend; Road Ends runs on Saturday and Sunday hosts a trail marathon and half-marathon at the same location.

Leading up to this race, the recovery from an achilles injury forced me to run just twice in the ten days prior to race day for a total of seven miles. Fortunately my conservatism paid off as my leg felt great on race day and I had no problems with any recurrence. Nevertheless, I was unsure how fast I could run given my lack of recent training and had difficultly coming up with a goal for the race. I had heard the course was quite hilly so I figured I'd be happy if I could maintain an 8:00 pace, i.e. finish the race in 40 minutes.

My dad, mom and Amanda were nice enough to come along as spectators, or maybe they just wanted to see me suffer! We hiked around the starting area and checked out some ducks and a loon out on Silver Lake using dad's binoculars. Finally it was time to assemble at the line and 259 folks packed together, eager to get moving so we could warm up! It was a cool, overcast morning at about 45 degrees. The race director informed us that mile markers 2 and 4 were quite accurate, but the markers for miles 1 and 3 were just "there for consistency". I chatted with a volunteer and a racer a bit while waiting and learned that the racer had just run the Boston Marathon two weeks earlier and the volunteer was going to do a 50-mile race in Colorado next week! Fun stuff.

Ready, set, GO!! We looped around a grassy area to thin the pack before converging on a narrow boardwalk through a marshy area. My plan was to run hard and see how long I could keep it up since I had no idea 1) what my fitness level was and 2) what my pace would be until two miles later. Initially I felt pretty good - one of the benefits of a long layoff is complete muscle recovery - and passed the 2-mile marker in 14:40, a 7:20 pace! My last 5K I ran at a 6:50 pace so maybe 7:20 over 5 miles is doable?

Maybe not... soon after the 2 mile mark I realized that my stride rate (e.g. steps per minute) was rather low, but when I tried to quicken up my leg turnover I was disappointed to learn that my legs wouldn't respond. Apparently this is one of the effects of the lost training time, that my leg speed just wasn't there. This hurt me on the flats since I couldn't accelerate and also on the hills because I couldn't "downshift" to maintain momentum going up.

The next two miles I was really hurting - my lungs felt OK and my legs weren't sore but I simply couldn't make my legs "go" - they felt "hollow" if that makes any sense. Halfway up a large hill I was actually forced to walk and felt rather embarrassed; after all, who am I to think I can run a 8:00 pace yet have to walk? At the top I found myself breathing rapidly as if at high altitude, yet within five seconds I was running again and feeling rather normal (at least, as normal as one can feel in a race). It seemed so silly that I had to walk up that hill yet could resume my race pace once at the top without a problem.

Less than a mile later on a smaller hill I had to walk again! Dang! Once again my lungs were fine once over the top so all I can reason is that my lack of training caused me to lose my running "power" - my stamina was there, my strength was there, but my legs wouldn't accelerate. This time I had a happier attitude while walking - I told myself that lots of runners both behind me and ahead of me had seen me walking up both hills, and I was going to beat most of them! So who cares if I walk? See you at the finish line, bubbas.

Finally I reached the 4-mile mark at 32:00... yikes! My last two miles had been at a 8:40 pace and now I had to run a 8:00 final mile to reach my 40-minute goal. I remained positive yet realized that this was going to be difficult - I had to push the pace and NOT LET UP for the next eight minutes. My legs still felt hollow and all I could fill them with was will power.

At long last I crested the final short hill and the finish line was in sight about 100 yards away; also in sight was another runner 30 yards ahead of me and I started my kick to chase him down. I quickly gained 10 yards on him but then he heard my labored breathing. My dad told me later that this guy looked over his shoulder and his eyes got wide; this guy had last passed me when I was walking up the second hill, so he must've been surprised to see me on his tail! He kicked into a sprint and all I could do was match his pace and wasn't able to overtake him.

That's OK - I was THRILLED because I finished in 39:45!! Somehow I toughed out a 7:45 final mile and the photos Amanda took really show the strain I was feeling. Boy oh boy. But as you can see in the last photo, it was all worth it and in fact quite satisfying to know that I wasn't at my best and I still managed a good run. Learning how my body responded to the injury recovery and lack of training was also quite enlightening. And of course, a post-race poppyseed muffin really hit the spot!

We stuck around for the award ceremony because I wanted to see who the winners were. The overall winner finished in under 29 minutes! Wow. Then they started awarding prizes to the top five runners in each age group. Names were called out and when they got to my age group I was stunned to hear the race director call my name! Holy cow, I finished 5th in my age group (out of 14) and won a coffee mug. Even though I know it's petty, it's still fun to win a prize at a race by actually being fast enough rather than a random drawing. :) Overall I finished 49th out of 259, and yes I'm quite pleased with that. Best of all, however, was being my 40 minute goal by running that last mile as hard as I did - nothing beats that feeling of achievement!

Bike
Today did not go as planned, but it turned out very well. Due to a minor achilles injury that caused me to skip my race this weekend, I geared up myself and my bike this morning for our first ride of the year, planning to roll along some country roads for about three hours. All was going well for the first half hour - beautiful clear skies and 60 degree temperature that was rising quickly - when things suddenly fell apart, literally. I'm pedaling along a flat stretch when I hear a loud SNAP followed by the clinks of metal pieces falling on the pavement. My seat broke off!! Luckily I didn't fall; a triathlete friend of mine once broke his arm falling due to a seat failure.

I phoned Amanda, who had to abandon her walk less than five minutes after starting to come rescue me. While waiting for her I managed to ride about two miles closer, during which time I learned two things about cycling with no seat: 1) your calves get really tired if you keep the standard position of centering the balls of your feet over the pedals, so I centered my arches on the pedals instead; and 2) the bike gets quite unstable descending steep hills. I'm not sure why for #2, but I guess it's due to a forward center of gravity putting too much weight on the front wheel?

Hike
So much for my long run ride. Amanda still wanted to get her workout in so I joined her on a local trail for a hike. We stopped home to drop off the bike and we decided to take Haven with us. She loved the trails but we had to keep her on leash about 95% of the time since portions of the trail are near 55 mph roads and because there are lots of folks (and their dogs) sharing the trails. Legally all dogs must be on leash there but the vast majority of the ones I see are unleashed, and Haven never causes problems but with her muddy paws I didn't want to offend anyone and give unleashed dogs a bad name.

Amanda took so many photos that we were making slow progress around the 4.5 mile loop. We wanted to get home in time to watch a Detroit Tigers game - a rare opportunity to see them on a air-broadcast channel. Halfway around the loop we decided I should run the 2 miles back to the car and pick up Amanda at the north parking lot (we started at the south lot).

Run
Haven came with me and we ran at a quick pace up and down the sandy, leafy hills. We passed a few other people and dogs but Haven was so tired by this point that she was in no mood to be the social butterfly that she usually is. 14 minutes later we were back at the car (after having to jump over a 2-foot long hognose snake!) The run was tiring and felt great - my achilles felt a bit tight but nothing near as bad as last week. Still, I'm glad (in a common-sense sort of way) that I passed on the 10-mile race yesterday.

Fetch
Once we got home we traded Haven for Beacon and drove to the river where I played fetch with him for half an hour while Amanda drove out to Subway to fetch our dinner. Beacon needed his turn getting some fun exercise and he really loved it, screaming as he waited for me to throw the next stick. He finally started getting tired just as Amanda returned and we all went home for dinner.

Icing on the cake: we got to watch the Tigers beat the White Sox in a 12-inning thriller complete with two-outs-bottom-of-the-9th home run heroics!

Amanda caught me off guard today - it was supposed to be a rest day for her exercise but I got an email at work asking "Do you want to go with me and run on that trail you found yesterday?" You bet!

We ran the first half mile or so - Amanda ran the whole way despite the challenging trail. It was funny to watch her have to stop and step over fallen logs, the same logs that I barely notice when running over them! Long legs can be an asset there.

After one lap we got out the camera and Amanda started taking photos. The awesome artistic ones are on Amanda's blog, some shots of the trail itself are on my new blog Why Run?, and this really cute one is looking right at you. :)


Finally I left Amanda to wander among nature while I ran the 4 miles home. I started out slow but kept upping the pace until I was really hurting. I somehow convinced myself to not let up and I finished in under 30 minutes for a 7:26 pace! It was hilly, too (including the last 1/4 mile up an 80-foot killer) so I'm happy, but very tired.

"April showers bring May flowers" so the saying goes, but I don't think those flowers had snow in mind! Isn't this crazy? But it makes for fun running. Here's the view out our front window this evening:

It seems most of my major hobbies had a big event recently:

Saturday - spent about 10 hours volunteering at the Pet Expo
Saturday - conducted my Mach League player draft 8pm-10pm
Sunday - went running TWICE for an hour each run
Sunday - fetched the dogs at the river before the Pet Expo
Sunday - between runs, volunteered about 5 hours at the Pet Expo
Monday - went to the softball managers' meeting after work, got home around 9:30pm

So there you have significant events for my hobbies of dogs, running, dog rescue, baseball, and co-ed softball. To top it all off, I'm a tad under the weather. This probably explains why my second Sunday run was so painful - my body was diverting its resources to my immune system, not to my "running" system.

I debated whether I should run today or take the day off, but since Amanda was feeling tired and sore and still went for her workout today, I figured I should get my work in, too.

It was very warm - 78 degrees - when Haven and I set foot (and paw) on the road, heading for the trailhead. Just before the trailhead we passed a couple kids playing with an unleashed dog in their driveway. Upon spotting us the dog - a border collie mix - started to follow us. She was very shy and Haven kept trying to chase her away, but this dog wouldn't go away. She had very bright blue eyes so I called her Blue Eyes. I suppose I could've been more creative but sometimes my mind turns off when I run!

Anyway, Blue Eyes followed us into the woods for about a 1/4 mile on the trail, so I decided I better bring her back to the kids. I walk up the driveway and ask the kids if this is their dog. They tell me no, that this dog came from down the road somewhere. Great. I checked for tags. Blue Eyes had a collar, but no tags. At least she was pretty submissive to both me and Haven and kept trying to play with Haven, so she was a friendly dog.

My next plan was to get her tired. One time a german shepherd followed Haven and I on a run and we got him pretty tired before his owner drove up to get him. We ran back into the woods and Blue Eyes followed; of course, border collies were meant to run. I exited the trail further up the road and decided to head back towards where the kids said she came, hoping to find an owner. Once on the road Blue Eyes took off, obviously familiar with her location and hopefully heading home. When she wasn't looking I unleashed Haven, pointed at the trail and said quietly but urgently "Let's go let's go let's go!!!" and Haven bolted down the trail with me in hot pursuit. I figured if Blue Eyes tried to follow us, she'd be less inclined the more distance we put between her and us.

It worked! No sign of Blue Eyes. Haven and I finished our work on the trails and headed for the river where we planned to meet Amanda and Beacon playing fetch. I could hear Beacon's eager screams half a mile away! Partly because of the strong NW wind that was bringing a cold front our way. Just before we saw Amanda and Beacon the skies opened up with big fat drops of rain!

We continued fetching with the dogs even as the pouring rain turned the surface of the river into what looked like a giant lemon zester! Despite the decreasing temperature and increasing mud and thunder we kept throwing sticks and the dogs kept fetching them. What a blast! We were soaked when we finally headed back to the car; when we got 100 yards away the rain simply stopped and within seconds the sun was out. Perfect timing!

For about a week before the race I was battling a sore left IT band, then I must've overcompensated and caused some sore calves. I took it easy leading up to the 5K and it really paid off as my legs were able to recover. After the race my calves were a bit sore, but not as bad as the day before so that was cool.

Yesterday was my first run after the 5K, running with the guys from work. We managed a 9:00 pace over 5 miles and it felt pretty good and my legs were hardly sore afterwards. Still, I'm going to continue with a lighter training load this week to make sure my IT band and calves get all healed up before I crank up the intensity again.

That doesn't mean I won't run! All day at work today I felt like running so when I got home I packed the dogs in the car and drove to a nearby trailhead. It's only a half-mile away but it's a paved half-mile; I didn't want the pavement pounding my legs in trail shoes and I didn't want two big dogs dragging me around in their excitement, so I wussed out and took the car.

No worries though - once there, we ran. This way Haven and Beacon could spend the entire outing off leash and boy did they have some energy to burn! They were burning up the grass as I slowly jogged in pursuit. Three miles and 30 minutes later none of us were tired, but I wasn't going to push my legs today so we hiked to the river and I played fetch with the dogs.

Before I threw the first stick Haven was 50 yards down the riverbank, rolling in something in the bushes. I called her and waved the stick, but instead Beacon ran off to join her! Continuing to disobey, I ran after them and found the object of their desire - a stinky, rotten, dead catfish! Gross. Or "bogus" as we'd say in elementary school. Using a stick I pushed the carcass into the river and ran back to our fetching area waving the stick excitedly, leaping over a stream along the way.

Beacon as you may recall is a fiend for fetch. Haven usually just wades but this time she went after a stick in the shallows while waiting for Beacon to swim back. Next time I threw Beacon's stick far out into the river to give Haven more retrieving time, and threw her a stick pretty far out, too. Without hesitating she swam out and brought it back, and even enjoyed it!

Part of what I think has helped Haven is that when she brings a stick back, I get REALLY excited, jumping around and saying things like "wooooooooooo good girl, you got the stick, woo hoo woo hoo shake out that water shake shake shake WOO HOO!" I suppose if anyone saw me they'd think I was Daffy Duck going loony. But it worked! She started to get spooled up and was fetching sticks thrown as far as Beacon's were thrown. Both dogs are sound asleep right now, so I bet they had fun!

A quick and dirty running update:

The big picture stuff...

• In the past 17 days I've gone running 17 times! I ran twice on 2/15 and took 2/18 off (sorta - I didn't run but I played hockey and cut wood).
• On 2/25 I went out for my 50th run of the year and also passed the 250-mile mark. Woo hoo!

• 2/24 I was back on the trails with Haven and Beacon, terrible footing and all. First I took Beacon on a 2-mile loop, then I repeated it with Haven. While on the trails with Beacon a great horned owl flew low over my head! The sound of a stumbling runner must've awakened it.
• 2/25 was a treadmill tandem with Amanda. She set a new milestone for her by running one hour non-stop! I must've been a bit inspired because I ran 8.6 miles in just under 70 minutes, a pretty fast pace for me over such a distance.
• 2/26 (holy crap, is that today?) it was 32 degrees outside and snowing, so it was warm enough for me to wear shorts, except for when passing tractor trailers splash road slush all over my bare legs! That wasn't so cool. But I enjoyed things enough to run 6.9 miles in 60 minutes.

...days like today. After weeks of temperatures below 20 degrees, today we hit 40! It felt like spring. My legs are still very sore from playing hockey over the weekend. Actually, just my hip flexor muscles, my right one in particular - I can't raise my right knee halfway to my waist! But I wanted to go running away, so I went for an easy one.

I took both Haven and Beacon and dealt with the extreme pulling as we ran the half-mile to the North Country Trail trailhead, then I was able to let them off leash. They loved it! So did I. The wind was calm, the sun was setting, the air was warm. Warm enough that I was wearing shorts despite running through six inches of wet snow! What a blast!

A perfect run. I have to remember days like this on those other days when I don't feel like running, because being able to run with my dogs on days like today is one of the reasons why I'm a runner.

On today's trail run Haven and I encountered lots of various creatures in the woods. First we spotted some turkeys in a roadside lawn - luckily Haven didn't pull hard but she whined a bit. Then we met a lady on a dirt road walking her two poodles; I allowed Haven to go say hi but after a few sniffs she clearly felt there were better things to do than hang out with a pair of little yappers! We saw a cat crossing the road ahead of us and Haven forced me into a sprint. (If the cat is half black and half white, does that mean I get some bad luck and some good luck?) Later on Haven chased a half dozen deer through the woods.

The biggest scare happened as I descended a technical hill that was rocky enough that I had to watch my step. Finally at the bottom, I looked up to see a black bear standing just 30 feet in front of me with Haven (off leash) standing halfway between us! My mind flashed the following thoughts in sequence (amazing how one can remember this stuff in this adrenaline-inducing situations) over the next, oh, 0.5 seconds:

"Holy cow, a BEAR!!!!"
"How am I gonna get out of this situation?"
"How will I keep Haven safe?"
"Do I call Haven and turn around and risk it chasing us?"
"If I try to scare it off, will Haven try to chase it?"
"If I have to fight it, I could do that, and a big stick would help"
"Oh... It's a DOG!!!"



No kidding! It was some shepherd mix with wooly black hair plus a splash of white on its chest and some tan on its muzzle - the exact coloring of a black bear! In case you are like me and can't tell the difference very easily, the first reference photo is a black bear and the second is a bear-ish dog.



Haven and the bear-dog cautiously sniffed each other before Haven went on to jump all over his owners, a couple who were 100 feet or so behind their dog. Everyone politely said hi and we went on our way.

Haven started lagging behind a bit over the last 20 minutes, so at least I wasn't the only one to get tired! We finished our 12 rugged miles in a little over 2 hours, a nice weekend long run. Right as we finished we saw Amanda and Beacon jogging from the opposite direction, finishing their 1-hour workout. Once inside, Haven found the nearest sunbeam and lay down for a nap, rolling onto her back to ensure she gets an even tan. :)

I took the day off from work to give myself a longer holiday weekend, and decided to do my weekly long run today instead of the usual Saturday or Sunday. I planned for about 12 miles but ran out of time before Amanda and I had to pick up a couple dogs from the vet for Vicky's Pet Connection, so my run only lasted 9 miles.

Both Haven and Beacon joined me for the run and they got pretty tired, but they tired me out, too - it's hard to manage two dogs using two leashes while running! At least on the trails they were able to run off-leash. In order to give them access to water, I detoured down an old two-track that's strewn with giant downed trees that I had to climb over rather than "steeple-chase" over. This is important because once the dogs and I left the river, I got stung by a hornet on the elbow! OWWW!! They kept chasing me so I flat out sprinted back up the two-track, somehow jumping and clambering over the massive tree obstacles.

My run ended when I met up with Amanda, who was walking our foster dog Ella. Amanda left just five minutes after I did and had trekked 5 miles already, and then we walked the last 2 miles home together. While walking home, wouldn't you know that Haven got stung by a yellow jacket! Right on her front leg - I had to use my foot to knock it off her. She was clearly in pain when it stung her, but the little trooper didn't complain once we resumed walking.

A 9-mile run isn't terribly long, but it helped that I had the 2-mile walk at the end of it. My big 50-mile race is just two weeks away, so next week's long run might be just a long hike to ensure that my legs are rested up for the long day of running. Just a few more miles of training until I (hopefully!) add a cool 50 to my training log!

The barge is towing the tugboats!

Amanda suggested that I take BOTH Haven and Beacon running today to get them nice and tired for tomorrow's 10-hour drive. If you've ever tried to run with two labs attached to one arm, you'll understand why I chose to run on the North Country Trail near my house. Out on the trail, I can let these four-wheel-drive beasts off leash to burn off their energy!

We started out on the street for half a mile but luckily it was uphill, so I took advantage of my two tugboats until we reached the trailhead. The weather was great - sunny and 74 - and the trail was all my own. Some parts were so overgrown with prickers, however, that I had to gingerly tiptoe my way through them. I didn't bring any water for the dogs because there are two streams on this out-and-back course, meaning they'd have water access four times during the 75 minute run.

Alas, the plan didn't pan out. The first stream was mostly black mud, but there was enough water for the pups to wet their tongues. Then at the second stream crossing I was surprised to find it all dried up! The dogs were surprised, too - they kept wandering up and down the streambed looking for the water. I had to take a detour and go off-trail for a 1/4 mile to the Flat River, which is NEVER dry - it's a major river.

At the river the dogs happily jumped into the water to drink and cool off. I gave them five minutes, then we turned around and headed home. Crossing over the last stream of black mud, Beacon decided to put on his commando war paint and plow his head and body through the mud! This yellow lab became a black lab; wisely Haven declined to join in. By now the dogs were worn out and in the final half-mile stretch home I literally had to tow them!

Luckily for the dogs Amanda was waiting for them when we got home with a kiddie pool full of clean, cold water. Of course it was no longer clean the instant Beacon waded in it! We eventually had to hose them off. Needless to say, they've been sleeping ever since! Now it's my turn.


Some worn out dogs!


A closer look at Beacon's dirty fur.

Wednesday evening was hot and humid for our weekly softball game. I captain one of the two co-ed rec teams at my company and this we played our arch rivals, a team with which we had split our two season meetings. The game was sluggish as neither offense could really get going in the calm heat of the evening - everyone seemed almost sleepy!

In the top of the 7th (and final) inning we were down by a run. We managed to get runners on 2nd and 3rd; with two outs and two strikes, our pitcher hit a soft liner that landed right on the chalk of the left field line - fair ball! Two runs scored, and then we fielded a scoreless bottom half of the inning to get a one-run victory.

Sound familar? Perhaps you watched the MLB All-Star game this week - the exact same scenario took place! The AL was down by a run in the top of the 9th with runners on 2nd and 3rd; with two outs and two strikes the batter hit a 2-RBI triple. Pretty cool.

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The next day I convinced Amanda to join me and the dogs on a run. There's an old scout camp nearby with river access and lots of trails. I drove 1.5 miles to the entrance where I stashed the car, then jogged along the trails and exited out the "back door" of the camp which is just half a mile from home.

I made this run a very tough one along 2.5 miles of sand and dirt. The dirt part was OK because it was usually shaded by the forest, but the sandy sections of trail were exposed in a power line right-of-way. The sun had baked the sand all day long and now the sand was radiating that heat back onto me as I charged up the steep hills. Boy did I get hot!

I ran back home where Amanda was waiting for me with the dogs, all leashed up and ready to go. Haven ran with me while Beacon had sled-dog duties with Amanda, pulling her up the first hill. Once on the trail and away from the road, we let the dogs off leash and followed behind them. Amanda wanted to walk but I kept pushing her to jog, saying things like "Run the downhills; the gravity is free energy!" and "It's just short uphill; blast up to the top and it'll be over sooner!" She bravely trusted my coaching and ran much of the ~2 miles to the river.

By the time we reached the river, Haven and Beacon were "dog" tired and very hot. They waded in the cool water and even tried to lie down in the shallows, so we all just stood there and recovered some energy. Soon the deer flies found us so onward we hiked up a very large and steep hill. Another half mile of running/walking brought us to the car with a very welcome air conditioner! We drove home with the A/C at full blast and a car full of twelve sore, worn-out legs!

My alarm clock went off at 5:00am Saturday morning to ensure that I would have plenty of time to drive up north. Striders, a local running store, was hosting a casual training run on the very course where their North Country Trail Run will take place this September. Since I'm planning to compete in that race, I thought I would take Striders up on their offer to join them for a run.

It was a beautiful morning to go for a 2.5 hour drive. A bright red sun was just peeking above the treeline as the nearly empty highway allowed me to enjoy the scenery. Low areas of the countryside were delicately covered by an airy blanket of fog. I kept wishing I had brought a camera but it's probably better that I didn't because somebody had to drive!

The trails are located roughly halfway between Manistee and Cadillac within the Manistee National Forest at a trail system called Big M. All of the signs there describe it as a network of cross-country ski trails, but with a forecasted high temperature of 80 degrees these trails were going to see other uses today.

14 runners of varying ability showed up by 8:30am ready to go. Steve (co-owner of Striders with his wife, Deb) briefed us on the trail markings so that we wouldn't get lost and then we were off! Quickly two packs formed: the fast runners and the slow runners. I fell in line with the slow folks, running about a 10-minute pace with five others.

I ran at the end of the line - ahead of me were Deb (Steve's wife), Mary, Don, and another woman named Deb; the four of them were all friends. Just ahead of the five of us was Paul, a 65-year-old guy with 25 years of ultrarunning under his belt! In fact, the four friends had 10-15 years of ultrarunning experience apiece. Then there's me, training for what would be hopefully my first ultra on these trails.

We all talked quite a bit for the first several miles until the first aid station at mile 8, where Steve & Deb had set out some water and Gatorade. We all refilled and then I continued on, deciding not to wait for the foursome to finish "taking care of business" in the woods. I remained at their pace, but now a few hundred yards ahead on the trails with Paul a bit behind the four.

Around mile 10 I stopped to dump some trail debris out of my shoes and the talkative foursome passed me by. A couple miles later I developed a sharp cramp on my left side so I took a few minutes to walk it off, during which time Paul passed me. Feeling better I started up again, but it wouldn't last.

Within just a few minutes I was feeling exhausted and light-headed. I even dropped my water bottle - it just fell out of my hand as if I were falling asleep on my feet! Clearly I was bonking, which was very surprising because 13 miles was WAAAY too soon for me to be bonking at that pace. In fact, I had already drank over 1.5 bottles of water - during my training runs at home I'd never been able to consume more than one bottle on a 14.4 mile run.

I downed the rest of my water - 2.5 bottles thus far - and tried to move on but couldn't maintain a running stride. My blood pressure must've been low, too, because I would nearly faint if I stood up from a squat and my ears were ringing. Yet the entire time, I was never upset. Quite the contrary, I was enjoying myself despite having to walk.

One good reason for having fun is that the trails are just spectacular! The entire route winds through deep forest - mostly hardwoods and occasionally some pines. The trees kept most of the bright sun at bay, but the views were still great because the ground cover was short. Ferns dominated the ground and prevented almost anything other than trees to grow, so I could see quite far through the woods. It reminded me of the Return of the Jedi when the speeder bikes were dashing through the forest of Endor.

Finally I reached the 15 mile mark with an aid station. I drank a full bottle of water at once, and decided to take the short 1 mile track back to the start to complete my 16 mile run. I had thought about running the 25 or 20 mile routes but in my current condition there was no point in running farther. While is was disappointing (and confusing) to have bonked so early, I was thrilled at being able to down 3+ bottles of water without feeling sick; in the past I would've been lucky to finish off even one!

I was the fourth runner back to the parking lot, where the three others had also run just 16 miles. Soon two runners appeared who had just finished the 25 mile course in a very fast time. Then the friendly foursome showed up, having run 20 miles. Eventually the remaining runners trickled in, the rest all running 25 miles. We all sat around for a while eating and drinking, recovering and of course, talking.

One of the runners there is quite an accomplished ultrarunner - Jeff Christian has completed five 100-milers and even won one of them in a time of less than 18 hours. This guy is also planning to run a 220 mile route across Michigan later this summer!

All good things must end, and it was time to head home. It was a great time to reflect upon the day - it's amazing just how FUN running can be when you're out running beautiful trails and meeting new people. The weather was perfect, too. I reminded myself to try and find other trails to "explore" via running. Spending time in that part of Michigan made me wish we had a cottage up there. I wonder what it would take for Amanda and I to make it work?...

Halfway home I stopped in Big Rapids to pick up some Jimmy Johns subs for dinner for myself and Amanda. She had spent most the day at Petsmart with Vicky, working an adoption event for Vicky's Pet Connection. We helped clean up and haul some supplies over to Vicky's, then headed home to finally eat our dinner. Ahhhh, food!