First Double - Lenawee and Monroe Counties

I attempted my first double race day of my 2010 MI challenge. The two races I targeted were the Frosty Five Trail Run in Adrian and the Lake Erie Muskrat run in Monroe. It looked like the timing would be perfect with the Frosty Five starting at 8:30, the Muskrat at 11:00, and the distance between the races around 55 miles. I just couldn't hang around the race long after crossing the finish line.



The Frosty Five Trail Run was run at Heritage Park just north of Adrian on a snow covered trail route through the woods. During the final race instructions at the starting line, the race director said this was the most snow they have had on the course in years. He followed that with his expectation that most people would probably run a personal worst with all the snow. The first quarter of a mile was run through a snow covered field where we were running 6 to 7 wide and jockeying for position. The runners moved into single file as soon as we hit the woods and that is where the fun began. Not being an experienced trail runner and running a second race in a couple of hours, my plan was to take it easy during this race and just gain some experience on the trails. That is just what I did. The snow was difficult, but the real killer on this course was the uphills, downhills, and running on the side of hills. The side of the hills was where I found the most trouble, slipping and sliding to the point where I went down 3 times. The only other time I went down was was when I ran too fast on a downhill, that had a sharp turn at the bottom of the hill. I did enjoy the experience and appreciated the course a lot. It provided spectators, Kelly and the kids in my case, to cheer on the runners. I got to see them at miles 1, 2 and 3.5. It was mile 3 that I tried to push the pace, but it seemed to work to my disadvantage. The more I pushed, the more I slipped. I backed off and tried to run more under control in miles 4 and 5 with good results. I finished mid pack at 54:02, but was happy with my race performance. I just need more time on the trails, especially snowy trails.



After the race, we jumped in the Aztek and hurried over to Monroe. I got to the registration table 10 minutes before the race, signed up, pinned my bib number on, and dropped my race race shirt off with Kelly. I got to the starting line with 2 minutes to spare just as the race director was describing the course.When he said that some of the course was icy, I thought "not again." Oh well, we moved to line and started at the horn by crossing the bridge. We then circled the lake on a paved path for most of the race. The conditions were thankfully better than described with only a few icy spots to deal with. I did not go out slow, but found myself still getting passed by a group of 5 to 6 runners before the first half mile. I kept that group in sight and started reeling them shortly after mile 1. I was running at a good 7 minute per mile pace and felt great. I passed the last of this group about half way into the race and ran by myself for the remainder of the race. I could see a couple runners ahead of me, but was unsure how man runners were ahead of them. I crossed the finish line at 21:26, which was good for 5th out of 82 runners and 1st in the Male 30-39 Age Group. I was ecstatic about the results because this was my second race of the day and was a little wore down from the trail race. Next stop, Mt Pleasant for a winter half marathon in a couple weeks.