2024: Noquemanon Ski Marathon

To say that the 2023-24 Winter has been subpar (a result of El NiƱo) and has negatively impacted snow-dependent communities in the upper midwest is an understatement. SISU Ski Fest (scheduled for the first weekend of January) and Wolf Tracks Rendezvous (scheduled for the first weekend of February) had already been cancelled. A blizzard and accompanying treacherous driving conditions had ensured I stayed home to skip the Seeley Hills Classic in mid January. With mercury in retrograde (not the planet but the regional temperatures) in the days leading up to this event, I was (and still am, and pretty sure a vast majority of the participants were/are too) very grateful to have had it go off without a hitch!

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2023: Marquette Marathon

Reflections on the 2023 Grandma’s Marathon and discussing relevant portions of the training log with the family indicated some aspects I could retain and some others that needed a little tweaking to continue racing a marathon. Faith-ing in the fitness gained over the past several months and trusting the athletic process were a bit easier on this go around. So was leaving some more room for cream and letting a missed repetition go or rescheduling an activity as the training plan progressed. The combination of heat and humidity got the better of me over the final 8 miles on race day, and I crossed the finish line with considerable help from an angelic fellow runner.

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2022: Marquette Marathon (DNF)

The past 40-ish weeks (especially, the past 16) have been my most consistent training attempt yet. The journey included the usual bounty of help from the family of my friends and the healthcare system, and the hitherto unusual doing many little complementary things well. In turn, the improvements in health and fitness felt very organic. Although the end result was another DNF, the training brought plenty of positives and lessons I can implement moving forward.
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2022: SISU Ski Fest

After having skied the virtual edition of this event in 2021 (attempts #1 and #2), I signed up for this year’s edition as soon as the organizers opened up registration. Each winter, this event serves as the first of many mini reunions of my nordic skiing family and provides the first real race atmosphere to put to test newly acquired skills. While this year was no different in those aspects, it had a significantly higher value in light of the pandemic-forced separation and limited opportunities to see my family and hang out with them – on and/or off the race course.

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2021: Marquette Marathon (DNF)

When I completed the 2020 Sunday Lake Marathon in October, little did I know that I’d have to wait nearly a full year before getting another opportunity at the marathon distance. The 2021 Milwaukee Marathon I had been training towards from early 2020 December (scheduled for early 2021 April) was postponed to sometime in 2021 October. The ever evolving COVID-19 situation kept me from looking for alternate events to replace the Milwaukee Marathon. Though I had signed up and been training towards the 2021 Whitefish Point Marathon (scheduled for mid June), the marathon deities had other plans and decided that tuning up my Assistant To The Chief Timer and Other Duties As Assigned skills was the priority. Continue reading … “2021: Marquette Marathon (DNF)”

2021: Whitefish Point Marathon (DNS)

The previous training cycle – spanning about 26 weeks from late April through late October of 2020 – wasn’t my first time following a training plan. But it was my first time doing a good number of other things along the way that represented an athlete lifestyle. The training cycle included several virtual events and I was even fortunate enough to be a part of some in-person events … something I didn’t think would happen once the world as we knew of came to a screeching (or screaming) halt due to COVID-19. Looking through the training log and being honest with myself, there were a handful of other things that I needed to do consistently – not only to continue living the athlete lifestyle but also to earn the performance (or result) that I know I was/am capable of. This training cycle – spanning about early December 2020 through early April mid June 2021 – primarily focused on addressing these and see what it’d lead to in performance … should there be an in-person marathon towards the end.

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2021: Back 9 Endurance Run

While I had been a part of 3/8/12-person teams in relay races (lap-based or not) in the past, I had never done a time- and lap-based 12 (or 24) event before. Getting to be a part of it so close to home and doing so in the company of many friends made it very appealing … and started swinging my mind back towards the first edition of the Back 9 Endurance Run held on the premises of the historic Keweenaw Mountain Lodge. To say that I showed up late to this party is an understatement. Many in my family of friends had signed up, been training methodically and spreadsheeted their laps in detail for weeks, if not months … and then there was me, needing a special invitation from the kind-hearted race director to sign up. It was special (and not special) because I had waited until three days after the registration had been closed to make up my mind.

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2021: Great Bear Chase

Being a hometown event and the last officially timed nordic skiing race for each winter, this was an event that I wouldn’t miss – pandemic or not. The organizing committee did an excellent job of staying ahead of the game as well as being open, honest and frequent in their communication leading up to the event. They even included a free virtual option – do your chosen distance from anywhere and consider making a donation to the trail system. Mother Nature threw a curve ball or two as we got closer to the event. But the Swedetown Trail System groomers rose to the occasion, worked their tails off with what Mothership provided and produced the best course they could!

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2020: Sunday Lake Marathon

After the 20-week training plan that culminated in the 2020 Holland Haven Marathon in mid-September, I had taken a week off before starting a 12-week training plan to continue working on my weaknesses. Maybe it was the cumulative fatigue of nearly 26 weeks of structured training plan OR a rather sudden change in weather (read: arrival of snow and frigid-ish temperatures) OR likely, a combination of both, I was starting to feel a monotonic decrease in motivation to keep up with the workouts in this new plan. My body seemed to take a bit longer than usual to recover from said workouts. Review of training material and chats with friendly mentors re-iterated the benefits of a short self-imposed break before mental burnout and/or physical injury compared to a potentially longer forced break. As a result, I decided to run the 2020 Virtual New York City Marathon in week #5 (or week #26 – if I am counting the first 20-week plan as well), end the plan and take a break to rest and recharge for the upcoming winter.

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