An Avid Michigander and an Avid Runner

If any old readers are still out there, I've started a new blog called Avid Runners. It's a running blog for anyone who loves running, regardless of how fast or slow they run. Since I still love and live in Michigan, the new blog will have plenty of Michigan content.

A Snapshot of Traverse City's Bayshore Marathon

A view of East Grand Traverse Bay from the marathon course

Yesterday, I ran my fourth marathon, the Bayshore Marathon in Traverse City. I have run two Marine Corps Marathons in DC and the Capital City River Run in Lansing. The Bayshore is by far my favorite, and not just because I set a PR (more on that later).

From the volunteers to the spectators to the Moomers ice cream at the finish, everything was well run. But the highlight is the course itself. For almost the entire 26.2 miles, the course follows the roads along the eastern shore of the Old Mission Peninsula. The route gives runners sweeping views of the blue waters of East Grand Traverse Bay.

Cherry blossoms along the course

My description of the views cannot do them justice. My family and I drove along the course several hours after the race so I could show them what I saw, and so I could take a few photos.

If you have to run 26.2 miles, might as well enjoy the view.

The course is mostly flat, but there were a few small hills here and there (the only ones I really noticed were in the last 5 miles, when I was struggling to keep my legs moving). Many of the residents along the route sat in their front yards and cheered the runners on, and some even offered water (or beer. . . I passed on the beer). Olympic marathoner Desi Linden, one of the fastest women in the world, even stood on the sidelines encouraging people who run the marathon hours slower than her.

Surviving the Capital City River Run Marathon

The start of the Capital City River Run Marathon

So I guess I'm running a marathon

In 2004 and 2006, I ran the Marine Corps Marathon . . . slowly. Since then my wife and I have added two kids to our family, and I went full-on dad bod. I found time to exercise here and there, but I never really got back to the fitness level I wanted to be at.

In December, I made a goal to run at least 20 minutes, or walk at least 30 minutes, per day. By early June, I had kept my goal and was increasing my running mileage to the point that running 10 miles was not too taxing. The farther I ran, the more I began thinking about my failures in the marathon.

I started reviewing training plans and looking up races in Michigan in the fall. Should I really try breaking that 4-hour barrier that eluded me in 2004? (In 2006, I had no illusions of breaking 4 hours, since my training was a diversion for my bar exam studies.) Did I want to wake up at, or before, dawn for months to fit my runs in before long days at work?

Yes, I decided I wanted to walk away from a marathon satisfied for once. I selected Lansing's Capital City River Run Marathon on September 18, and I made a training plan with a little more mileage than the ones I used in previous attempts.

Over the next three months, I did not miss a workout. I ran on vacation. I ran in the dark. I ran in the rain. I ran in extreme heat and humidity. I just ran.

Running Marquette

Marquette Harbor Light

Sometimes the best way to see a city or new locale is to go for an early morning run. With only a few cars going by and almost no other pedestrians to get in your way, you can run through empty streets and paths absorbing your surroundings without distractions.

Sailboats in Marquette's harbor

Marquette is a great town to go for a run. It has multiple running paths in and near the city, including the Multi Use Path that follows Lake Superior's shoreline from Presque Isle through the city until it connects with the Iron Ore Heritage Trail.

I took two morning runs while in Marquette. The first morning, I left our rented house near Northern Michigan University and ran north on Presque Isle Avenue toward Presque Isle Park. It started pouring about two minutes into my run, but I continued on and the rain slowed to a drizzle for most of my eight-mile run. A right turn onto Hawley Street brought me to a beautiful view of Presque Isle's breakwater and lighthouse.

Presque Isle breakwater and light at dawn

Running the Kal-Haven Trail

Kal-Haven Trail

Before the advent of automobiles and highways, trains carried Michiganders and cargo across a system of rails connecting small towns, big cities, and Great Lakes ports. As cars and air travel became more popular, this rail system slowly became obsolete. Beginning in the 1960s, conservationists and outdoors enthusiasts around the country started a movement to convert these railroads to trails for public use. Michigan now has approximately 120 rail-trails totaling more than 2,000 miles.

On my recent trip to South Haven, I had the opportunity to run along the Kal-Haven Trail on the morning I left town. The trail is a 34.5 mile former railroad that connects Kalamazoo and South Haven. I started at the trailhead, which is about one mile northeast of downtown South Haven. I parked in the trailhead's lot, stretched, and began running.

A view of the Black River from the Kal-Haven Trail

I ran an out-and-back of approximately 15 miles, so I only saw about 7.5 miles of the trail. The first stretch of the trail is paved before it eventually turns into crushed limestone. The starting mile marker is probably about 0.2 miles into the trail. The trail has a mile marker every mile. I  questioned the accuracy of a couple of mile markers because twice I had a very quick (for me) split immediately followed by a slow split, and I don't think my pace was varying that much.

Great Lakes Relay, Part III

by Jamie Stec

The author running the Great Lakes Relay. Photo courtesy of J. Stec

Day Three

There is an old saying: "If you don’t like the weather in Michigan, just blink." It can change from pleasant to catastrophic in an instant. The same could be said about the state of our roads. The combination of a long winter and aging infrastructure came together on day three to completely close a road.

We received this news as we arrived to drop our first runner at the start. Officials informed us that the first runner would also have to do the second leg, since no cars would be able to make it to the exchange point. Suddenly, all (poorly laid) plans were thrown out, everything changed, and we sent our runner off at 6:00 a.m., southwest of Grayling, and continued on to the exchange to pick up the third runner.

The next bit of the morning was a blur of waiting, cramped sleeping in the back of a Scion while friends snored, and more waiting. Our third runner took a bit longer than she might have, because she stopped and took off her shoes in order to cross a large stream. We picked her up, sent the fourth runner on his way, and continued on to another charming resort town, Fife Lake.

Great Lakes Relay, Part II

by Jamie Stec

Michigan farmland near Cheboygan. Photo courtesy of J. Stec

Day Two

The second day of the Great Lakes Relay began before 5 a.m., with three vehicles full of blurry-faced runners caravaning south on I-75 to the start, in the rolling farmland below Cheboygan. My car carried the runner for the second leg, and we arrived early to figure out our game plan, and to wait for the runner who completed the first leg.

We were so early that we decided to continue down the seasonal road to find a gas station, but after advancing only a half mile or so, we realized that we were bottoming out too much to go on. We turned around and headed back the way we came. We were stopped by two bikes, sitting perfectly in the road. “Oh,” I thought. “Someone just parked here to run off into the fields and pee.” I was wrong. Those were our bikes--that flew off of the back of our car on that terrible road.

We remounted our bikes and hurried on to the exchange to wait for the first runner, the one from our group that we would consider the most highly strung. More and more runners were arriving, and she was nowhere to be found. We contacted her by phone to realize that she and many others were lost. Her 4.7 miles of rolling hills had turned into almost six miles of panic.

We were about to take off to find her when the car wouldn’t start. Our battery was dead. Another runner’s support vehicle good-naturedly offered a jump, and their runner even waited to help before taking off. It was heart stopping and then immediately heartwarming. The Jeep was running, so we sent the second runner on her way, picked up our lost lamb, and continued down the road to find gas.

Great Lakes Relay, Part I

A Warm Welcome to My First Guest Blogger

I am very grateful to share a three-part post from Jamie Stec about the Great Lakes Relay. Jamie also writes an awesome blog about her experiences fighting breast cancer. Here are two of my favorite posts from her blog: 

http://jamiebenoitstec.tumblr.com/post/72621531349/my-childhood-friend-about-to-undergo-chemo-for

http://jamiebenoitstec.tumblr.com/post/55517538585/the-great-boob-explosion-of-july-2013

Please visit Jamie’s blog.

Great Lakes Relay, Part I

By Jamie Stec

Trout Brook Pond. One of the Great Lakes Relay's locales. Photo by J. Stec

You’ve probably seen the stickers on the back of cars, denoting mileage. Reading 3.1 for a 5k race, 26.2 for a marathon, and 140.6 for an Iron Man triathlon. After this last weekend, I added a new one to the back of my vehicle: 295.95.

You see, this past weekend, my ten-person team completed the 23^rd annual Great Lakes Relay. The GLR is a three-day relay race that began with a bunch of nutty runners racing from the St. Clair County seat of Port Huron to the foot of the Mackinaw Bridge at the tip of the Lower Peninsula. Over the years, the course has been altered depending on interest and the allowances of the local governments, and this year, for the first time ever, the race included a day in the Upper Peninsula. Ten people, three days, trail running from Tahquamenon Falls to Sleeping Bear Dunes? What was not to love?

I was soon to find out that, from the perspective of many of my teammates, there were many things not to love. The course was difficult, the accommodations lacking, the organization iffy. But I remained undeterred. Three days of trail running from Tahquamenon Falls to Sleeping Bear Dunes was, just like the state of Michigan itself, full of experiences to love.