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Saturday, April 21. 2007
Everything is great, but for the ankles. Most of the day I could jog slowly and we ended up with 40.4 miles on today (now at 299.3 miles overall)....so not bad. We are now 26 miles behind schedule, but I will not try to catch up on this. In essence any miles lost will need to be made up at the end. Still hoping to get back on schedule and get in 45-55 per day depending on the road vs trail percentage. Unfortunately the gravel roads today proved to be the hardest on the ankles. If that holds true then the long road days could be tough. One time today I thought I was done...the left ankle tendons began to have a knife piercing pain in them. I walked for 1/2 mile and decided to try running. As the pain stayed high I got misrouted for about 1/8 of a mile before my mind came back to reality and told me I'd better start paying attention to the yellow blazes. Since it hurt as much to run as to walk I continued to run where the trail was level or slightly downhill. After about another hour the pain subsided to the steady pain, but allowed me a decent day.
The last part of the day we had a mile section of clearcut where we had to step around all the branches and stumps. it was worse than the two earlier river crossings where i had to take my socks off to keep my feet as dry as possible. The cold felt good, but tightened the legs up so it was hard to get going again.
We ended on Burma road and tomorrow will have 4.9 miles to Cty E before we cross the WI river north of Merrill and Grandfather dam.
thanks for all the support and have a great weekend. I figure you will enjoy the 75 degree days while I will swelter.
Thursday, April 19. 2007
Jason called and spoke with Timo last night (Wed. 4/18). Day 5 is over. It was a hard one. Jason completed only 31 miles, 13 miles short of his goal. It took him 11 hours. The way was rough, wet, and rocky with bogs and streams to cross. No sounds or sightings of wolves yet, but Jason saw some bear paw prints on the trail. Along the way, Jason met Eugene and Sylvia, hikers who were welcome company.
Tom Bunk made some hot soup by cooking it on his car engine. Supper last night was another hamburger and a sundae. Jason and Tom stayed overnight in Medford, WI,Wednesday night.
Jason's ankles are sore. Jason's plan for tomorrow (Thursday) is to conserve some time and energy by skipping the Timm's Hill spur and staying on the main Ice Age Trail.
Thursday, April 19. 2007
I gave Tom Bunk a call this morning to see how Wednesday (4/18) went for Jason.
Jason stopped about 7 miles short of the goal yesterday. By the end of the day he had some swelling above his ankles due to some tendinitis. Tom had Jason put his legs in a nearby stream for about 20 minutes when he stopped, and then later they iced his ankles. By this morning, Thursday, the swelling was down. For those not familiar with ultra-ultra running, this situation is not out of the ordinary.
They picked up some ankle braces last night and this morning Tom taped him up and sent him on his way, along with pacer Bob Rush - I know from experience that a pacer will be much appreciated and very helpful to Jason today.
Jason is just going to listen to his body and Tom said they may go a little shorter today if needed to ensure that they can continue to put in miles every day.
Good luck Jason!
Tuesday, April 17. 2007
Hi all,
We had a great day today and are staying in Thorp tonight. The excess of roads was the only downside (30+). Tomorrow will be better with 37 miles of trail and 7 miles of road. It will still be a very long day though.
Continue reading "Day 4 (Tues) complete, 51+ miles"
Tuesday, April 17. 2007
Jason called Timo last night(Monday 4/16) . Jason reports that he is still on schedule. Tom Bunk continues to be of great assistance, "super", according to Jason. Tom brought dinner to Jason last night - a hamburger and a baked potato. They stayed at a hotel in Weyerhaeuser, WI. Next stop will be near Gilman, WI. Tom has Jason on a regimen of 2500-2600 calories per day. Jason is drinking Ensure. Jason notes that the trail in these remote sections is not nearly as well-maintained as in the southern sections he is more familiar with. It is kind of rough going these days with rocks and overgrown vegetation. The weather has been nice. Rain is forecast for the weekend, though.
Monday, April 16. 2007
Well the 2nd day is over and I am laying down ready to try and sleep. The blisters showed up today, but hoping they don't flair up tomorrow. The legs are tired, but we'll see what a good night's sleep brings.
The trail today was varied from hummocky and wet to dusty and dry. Again it seemed like it took forever to get to the next road crossing, but the day ended up being shorter than yesterday.
I was unable to update the website tonight due to computer problems. May try in the morning. If you need to find us call Tom's cell phone.
Sunday, April 15. 2007
First some notes... Jason called in tonight and I transcribed the call for him – I guess it’s a little paraphrased, but I hope to have the audio clip below so you can listen to the actual conversation…
He also said that if you need to contact him on the trail, call Tom Bunk (Crew) on his cell: 262-470-5230.
So let's get on with todays report! And I (pretty much) quote:
Day 1, out in St. Croix Fallswe got started a little bit after 7:30, 7:40 we started… we had Wanda, Brian, Mike, and Janet come out from the Superior Lobe chapter, and then Jeff Allen actually ran with me for the first 10 miles or so. Then he’s going to come out tomorrow, hopefully, and do a little bit more.
Continue reading "Trail Report - Day 1"
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