Clinton lake 30 Miler in the Books!

The whole family went out 2 hours west in to Illinois for the Clinton Lake 30 Mile trail run. We stayed in Champaign, right by the University. After picking up my race number and a new jibiitz for Jake's Crocs (a walrus) we went into Subway and got some Jared Meals. I actually had 2 knowing I was getting ready to run for at least 6 hours in the morning. We hung out at the hotel for a little bit, then realizing that we didn't bring a stroller, we hoped in the car to hit the local plaza... of course Jake was hungry, and Maggie was in the back, "Numa, Numa". Maggie speak for "Stop at McDonald's". So Rose dropped me off at the MickyD's playplace where the kids split some nuggets and burned off the last of there energy. We got back to the hotel, watched the end of the NCAA games and went to bed.

Wake up at 5:30 central, with the kids and start making breakfast in the room. I of course brought my own coffee pot and toaster, as I do at all races that I travel for... I mean -- you can count on so little when you try this shit, at the very least I know I will have good coffee and a properly toasted bagel! This time I also brought some slabs of cinnamon toast, Jake's new favorite and we sat around and watched the Wiggles until it was time to go.

The course was 30 minutes from the hotel, so I timed it that we'd get there just before the start... nothing like timing... As I park, Maggie starts puking -- I mean the white curded kind, like a fountain for 30 seconds... So now, right before the start of the race ,we have to strip here down, clean her up, and decide whether I am even going to start.... Rose insists that I run. (Bless her) because she will now be driving back and forth around Illinois with a sick kid and another kid whining and crying cause he wants to see his Dad run through the woods like an idiot! So we get started, Rose and the kids wave goodbye, except Maggie starts crying cause I'm leaving....

Onto the trails... It was mentioned before the start of the race that this was the furthest south that the Wisconsin Glacier came.... so i guess that means that there is some seriously torn up earth. Well, there was.... in the euphoria of starting a race like this, you get sucked into how cool it is, how great the trail is, but in a few minutes those thought change to "Oh shit, I have to do this 3 times!!!! That hill will not be as much fun the last time around. " First loop I tried to run as I felt, early going took some warming up, but after the first check point at mile five, I felt good, had some room on the trail so I decided to pick it up a little, in a race like this - I felt like there's no need to conserve energy, I'm going to feel crappy at some point anyway! I knew Rose wouldn't be at the second checkpoint 10 miles in, 1. cause I know she probably wanted to take it easy with Maggie at the hotel, and 2. If Maggie was better they would probably go somewhere, anywhere other than hanging out at a park for 2 hours more than she needed to.

At 1o miles, I decided a banana, some cheese-its and some peanut M&M's would be good, plus a refill of my water and Powerade and I was back on the trail. I caught up with some people and we formed a pack. That made the next 5 miles seem pretty easy, too easy.... mile 16 was the start of some leg cramping... way too early for that, and the hills weren't getting any easier.

I was crashing pretty hard. Every so often, the trees would be marked by white squares to let you know you were still on the path. I kept tricking myself to go to the next square... "you can take a walk break once you get there," but I would keep going. Eventually, the 2nd looped ended, 20 miles in. I had called Rose and seemed like Maggie wasn't doing better... this was losing fun quickly! Going to the next rest stop I knew I needed to seriously refuel. Some water, some salt tablets, some chips-ahoy. Are those sugar cookies? Yeah, some one's mom made them.... these Ultra races are alright! So I took like 12 of them and wolfed em down. That ended up not being that good of an idea. it took me about 3 miles just to feel like I wasn't going to explode.... I walked it off for a while, and even tried to call my dad. he didn't answer, and of course his mailbox was full. The pain in my legs was starting to get pretty tough as well -- there was no even terrain to ever rest on... it literally was up or down the whole way. I tried to sing some songs to myself, hoping that the final rest stop would arrive.

Luckily my stomach was better by the time I got there. Cause burgers were on the grill... after 25 miles, the burger actually really tasted good.... since they had pizza I took a slice for the road, along with a few cups of soda. The last five miles actually went by pretty fast, I caught my second wind and starting to pick some people off at the end. I really was hoping Jake would be waiting in the parking lot-- I had been thinking about getting close to the line and running across with him, of course he was asleep. Maggie and Rose were waiting for me, we went across the line... 6 hours and 27 minutes. the winner came in just about 4 hours... on that terrain, that's superhuman!

Jake woke up, I got washed up and we watched others finish up. Hopefully, next time I try one of these crazy races, either everyone is healthy, or someone comes out to hang out with Rose! You are all welcome to come!