From treadmill to Chippewa 50K

Saturday is Chippewa. Our very first ultra back in 2007, when Christian was a tiny baby. We both ran it in 2011 and then again in 2012. In 2012, the spring had been so warm that late April felt like the middle of summer. The trails were very fast. 

This year, It looks like there will be some mud and snow, although not as much as I would have thought two months ago. 

All my training has been on a treadmill. All of it; okay, except for two weeks in Denmark in March. How 50K on the trails will go down, I have no clue. I know I'll be wearing my clunky Inov8 Mudrocks (Mudrox?), which I don't really like. All my other shoes are racing flats. No, the Girl has not been able to hook me up with a pair of Salomons.

I looked at the list of entrants and found plenty of competition. 

Jake Hegge would normally be the favorite, but he ran the Zumbro 50 Miles. I have trained some with Hegge, and I know he recovers fast. I still remember how he outsprinted John Storkamp up the last hill in 2012. Jake was on the UW La Crosse track team, but chose to focus on trails. If I am with him near the end, I need to drop him before the last hill. Most likely, I will be far behind him, and if not, I don't see myself dropping him anyway.

At least Mike Borst is not on the list. When Jake and Mike, the two wise men of La Crosse, show up, they usually place 1-2.

Jordan Hanlon is faster than me for sure. I beat him at Afton a few years ago, only because he started out with the leaders, while I was weaseling away at my own pace. I think he has a 2:35 marathon, which may be faster than Hegge (although Hegge has a sub-15 5K as I recall).

Chris Rubesch could kill me at 50 miles. 50K is a little short for him, but in any case, he is peaking for Ice Age, so he may just use this as a training run.

John Storkamp is always running in the front group, chatting away and cracking jokes. Like Rubesch, he is a pure ultra guy, and 50K may be a little short for him. Maybe the mud benefits him? 

I may have missed some names on the list, and obviously some fast folks from outside the group of usual suspects may show up. 

The women, you ask? I honestly think the Girl would win this one, but in her absence, I did see Christine Crawford on the list. I did not see the Scotches (nee Lavin) on there. Alicia Hudelson is injured and far away. I did not see the fast Duluthians, like Christi Nowak or Leslie Semler. But, honestly, there are so many women excelling at ultras that someone whose name I don't recognize could show up and chick me.