Fool's Errand

n., pl., fools' errands.

A fruitless mission or undertaking.

Oftentimes in life I find myself asking...what have I gotten myself into this time? The phrase "fools' errand" often applies the the pursuits that I choose, most recently the 1/2 Voyageur Trail Marathon.

My wife and I were in northern MN for the weekend, so I thought I'd try to see part of the Voyageur course as a means of preparing for the 50 miler, which is next weekend. Turns out the 1/2 Voyageur was happening, so I thought, what better way to see the course? I had sore legs from a hard week of training on top of the Afton 50k the previous weekend. Having not slept much the previous two nights, I was tired, grumpy, and not at all prepared for what I had gotten myself into.

The early part was enjoyable, as I ran with Storkamp until we went off course, and then he unceremoniously ditched me as I tip-toed through the rocks of Jarrow's Beach before plunging waist deep into a mudpit. I signed up for a trail run, and all of a sudden I felt like an American Gladiator contestant. My legs were in no shape to do more than shuffle along, so I took my time out there. The powerlines were still brutal. You have to ask at a certain point if it's still trail running, or if it has become something else...There's no running to be done, and there are stretches where there doesn't even seem to be much of a trail.

I accomplished the mission of scouting the course, but unfortunately my plantar fasciitis flared up, which made me doubt whether doing the 50 would be a good idea. On top of that, my legs were completely scratched up from crashing through the dense underbrush that has overtaken the trail in spots, I turned an ankle multiple times on rocks and roots hidden under the overgrown weeds, and had my shoe suctioned off in a couple of mudpits along the way.

Finally, almost a week later, I'm finding some enthusiasm and desire to run the 50 miler. My foot seems to have calmed back down and it's now conceivable that I'll be able to run/hike 50 miles on it. I know that if I rest my legs, I'll have a totally different experience than the 1/2 Voyageur. The fact that Jarrow's Beach isn't on the 50 course helps a lot.

However, I do believe that given the rutted, weedy, sloppy state of the course, chasing Jurek's 6:41 record would be yet another fools' errand. I'm hoping to use this 50 as a learning experience -- a chance to practice fueling, taking in fluids, and hopefully being able to preserve some strength for the second half of the course.

In my first 50 miler last December, I lost a lot of time on Uli Steidl and Geoff Roes on a section of the course that has some stairs and is narrow and kind of technical. I thought it was pretty tough...until I saw the powerlines. So if I can get through Voyageur, maybe it will change my perspective on what tough terrain is, and maybe there will be a payoff in December when I go back to Marin county to run the North Face 50.