The Blue Loop (aka a stupid idea)

This morning I didn't feel like driving to Wausau for the snowshoe race, so I decided to do something really stupid instead. I went to Kettle Moraine to go for a snowshoe run. That's not really the stupid idea though.

The stupid idea was deciding that, of all the loops I could run, I would do the John Muir Blue Loop.

Since I have 5 miles of snowshoe running experience, I figured "most difficult" was the best option.

The run started out great. I was on a well used trail, feeling good and keeping a comfortably fast pace - somewhere around 9:15-9:20. That was the first 3 miles.

This was the start. The trail was wide and really fast. I thought I was in for an easy day.

Then it got narrow, which made it more fun. Still pretty easy to run on.

The sign lists 5 loops, but there are actually 6 loops out there and they overlap a lot so the trail gets beat down which makes it easy to follow and pretty easy to run on. About 3 miles in I came to a split where I was about to follow the Blue Loop only. Had I only known then what I know now...

Looked a little tougher than what I was on, but not so bad.




Quickly getting more difficult.

And eventually, I was on my own...

This was really hard to run through, and it actually got a little worse than this. This went on for about 2 miles.

The 3.5 miles I spent on the Blue Loop only was the toughest 3.5 miles I've ever run. Tougher than the Ironman. I was tired, my legs hurt, my feet were sinking, sliding, slipping. My feet were soaked and cold. I wanted to give up, to go home. But there's no giving up when you're in the middle of nowhere. You have to keep going.

With the absence of tracks, I quickly realized that (apparently) no one snowshoes the Blue Loop. And for good reason. It's tough. I went into the Blue Loop with an average pace of 9:18 and came out with an average of 12:30.

At the 6.5 mile mark I made it back to the main path where I could run easier and hold a quicker pace, but not much quicker. I was spent. Had I skipped the Blue Loop only section, I think my average pace would've been below 10 minute miles. But that section killed me. I was forced to do the Ironman Shuffle for the rest of the run and just try to keep putting one foot in front of the other. It wasn't really a workout anymore. It was survival. Just get to the finish. My average pace for the rest of the run was 11:08.

Distance: 10.25 miles
Time: 2:03:06
Pace: 12:00 min/mile (5 mph)
Average heartrate: 153 bpm
Elevation Gain: 5312 ft (seems high, but that's what my Garmin claims)

I highly recommend snowshoeing the John Muir trails, just not the Blue Loop. Stick to the main trails and do a few laps if you want more miles. The Blue Loop isn't worth it.

My legs hurt.

Coeur D'Alene

Time Trial: So I said I didn't care how I did, which was true...but things have changed now that the results were posted today. Finally....

....I won. By a mere 14 seconds, but it's a win. And that win added $15 to my computrainer account at SBR so tonight I rode for free.

...and there's nothing like a win to get you motivated to keep working hard so you can hopefully win again.



Coeur D'Alene: Tonight I did a 90 minute tempo ride at SBR on the IM Coeur D'Alene course (screenshot above). It's real video from race day and the video moves according to the speed you're going so it's pretty realistic. It helps pass the time when you're doing a long trainer ride.



Snowshoe Run: At lunch today I went to the arb for a snowshoe run to see if I can actually run in those things. My first attempt was in deep snow and that didn't go very well so I thought I might do better running on the trails in the arb, and I did. Snowshoe running is hard enough on trails, and it's just too difficult in deep snow. Today I managed to do 5.1 miles at about a 9:20 pace and it was really fun. Most of it was on trails that were pretty beat down so I stayed on top of the snow and was able to keep my pace up. I did venture off into the woods a bit more in the middle of the run and got into some tougher terrain which slowed my pace, but added a little adventure to the run so that was fun. I was dodging trees and jumping over logs. Nice change of pace from running the Capitol City Trail every day. [I didn't know where I was going and you can see where I ran into a dead end and had to turn around]



Tour Down Under: The 2009 Cycling season has officially started. Lance hasn't done much yet, but he did get 2 days of racing under his belt without problems and finished with the main field each stage.

A hell that cannot be described...

My snowshoes arrived yesterday, and so did the snow. We got 10 inches last night....or something like that. I don't know. It doesn't matter. It was a lot, and it's starting to look a lot like last year. It's not even officially winter yet and people already have to dig out their mailboxes.

I figured today would be a good day to go for my first snowshoe run.



I went across the street at lunch and ran through the golf course. I learned quickly that ten inches of light, fluffy snow is not the best for snowshoe running. Even with snowshoes, I was sinking 6-12 inches. Each step was hard work. My heartrate was instantly up to 95% of max and my legs hurt and I couldn't breathe. And that was the first tenth of a mile. It got worse from there, and I had to walk quite a bit to get my heartrate down. Plus they fling a lot of snow in the air and I was soaked. My feet were cold because my snowshoe shoes haven't arrived yet and I don't have gaiters.

All total I only did 1.25 miles in about 20 minutes. I've never felt so weak and out of shape. But I think I might head out again tomorrow.

I wasn't the only one snowshoeing today.