After
a failed effort
at completing a 2018 Western States qualifier in February (DNF at
mile 80 of Rocky Raccoon), I thought I wanted more time for recovery
and training before making the next attempt. Recovery went better
than expected, however, and within a month, the idea of trying to run
Kettle 100-mile in June was actively bouncing around in my brain. In
another month, I had successfully strung together some 3-4 hour trail
runs and convinced myself to give Kettle a try. The course is
slightly more technical than Rocky,
but not so arduous to require special training, so as long as I could
run, I could adequately
prepare, in theory.
Although I still started
the focus on this race closer to the event than ideal, I got a good
confidence boost from getting in some 75 mile weeks, including a
couple back to back 30-mile, 20-mile weekends. More
importantly, I put in some ‘mental’ training with reminding
myself I had to start easier, not be competitive, WALK HILLS! and do
everything I could to keep myself moving toward the finish.
The
day before the race was
clear and cool where
we were camped along the
Menominee River on the northern border of Wisconsin with Michigan’s
Upper Peninsula.
We were up
and out relatively
early to meet one of Rudy’s former work colleagues in Milwaukee for
lunch. It was super
sunny and hot in
Milwaukee and I
was more than a little worried about the heat after spending the
previous two
weeks in northern Michigan, seeing more 40F days than 60F! After
lunch, we made our way
to Whitewater Lake Campground, ten miles from the race start and
secured
ourselves a spot. As
soon as 4 pm came around, we made a
quick trip to packet pickup. I
glanced around for familiar faces, but not too many people had
arrived yet, so
we went back to camp,
expecting my dad to show
up soon. The rest of the afternoon was spent
reviewing
some logistics with Rudy and finishing
drop bag assembly.
Just did basic pasta for
dinner. Dad and his
girlfriend got
in as we finished eating
– they were held up by a truck fire north of Madison! Only
a little bit of chatting
before turning in for the night by 10pm.
Race
Day was Saturday, June 3. I woke at 4:00 for the 6:00 start and had
my standard pre-race breakfast of coffee, banana, and oats with chia,
peanut butter, and honey – just cold soaked this morning, already
60F and I didn’t need to add heat to my body. The forecast I looked
at called for a clear morning, then heating up to the mid-80s with a
greater chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon. I took care of
sunscreen, body glide, and double checks before the easy drive to the
Nordic Trailhead in Kettle Moraine State Forest that served for the
start/finish area. Parking was also easy, as was delivering drop bags, and
getting my ankle chip. I spotted Mary from Duluth – finally in
person! Then not much waiting for go time.
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| Duluthians ready to go - Mary in pink, Leslie in green |
The
start was pretty pleasant with the route beginning on rolling hills
on wide ski trail. I got to stick with Mary and get to know her a
little better. I kept going through Tamarack aid station, just a few
miles in. Mary stopped for water, but quickly caught back up, and we
joined up with ultra legend and Gnarly Bandit contender Angela
Barbera too. We hit Bluff Aid Station just over an hour in –
mileage of 5.6, I was expecting 7.6 miles! Rudy missed out, he was
planning to bike to the first leg aid stations, but I did get to see
my dad, let him know we were two miles short, then carry on. I had
lost Mary and Angela – I get a little overwhelmed and distracted at
aid stations, especially the early ones. Shortly after the aid
station, and an excessively marked intersection dubbed ‘Confusion
Point’, we were finally on the Ice Age Trail. A little hillier and
rootier, still quite runnable though. I fell in with other groups of
runners, mostly hanging back and eavesdropping on their
conversations, and enjoying the scenery. Eventually, I struck up some chatting with Gary from
Canada, going for his first 100, after only a few years of running
and one year since his first ultra!
 |
| The 'red barn' with tons of phlox along the trail |
When
we hit Emma Carlin aid station, my watch was two miles off still, but
I got to see Rudy this time. Then on to more rolling singletrack. In
general, the course had more slightly steep and slightly long hills
than expected, which I appreciated for being obvious walkers.
Definitely a pretty area and the bugs were not bad at all! Gary and I
continued pulling each other along, commenting on the train we were
approaching just as we noticed we would be crossing the tracks, but
the train was through by the time we reached it – though I don’t
think stopping a few minutes in the midst of 100-miles really hurts
anything.
About
five miles of this section included wide open prairie, on mostly good
trail with nice boardwalks over the wet sections. Happily we didn’t
have the sun out through here, but there was lightning not too far
off, and we pushed the pace a little to get out. The thunderstorms
started up mid-morning, depositing an inch of rain over the next few
hours. The trail started getting muddy, but much of it seemed to have
a good sand base, and I just ran through puddles without issue.
 |
| Getting soggy |
Hwy 67 was the next aid station, followed by two miles of more nice rollers to the Hwy ZZ aid station. I think I just restocked gels and fig bars, and took in some salty snacks before starting on the five mile loop to Scuppernong aid station, just across the parking lot from ZZ. The portion near ZZ was pretty hilly and pretty muddy, Gary and I were encouraging each other on how ‘fun’ some of the steeper descents would be on the return trip. Over half the loop was nice gentle ski trail, though. I hit ~30 miles at Scuppernong just under six hours, feeling fine, and the rain seemed to be done for now. I think this is where I lost Gary (he ended up finishing about an hour behind me – successful first try!), as I believe I was alone, trying to enjoy the relatively dry and flat ski trail while it lasted. As expected, the singletrack near ZZ was even more muddy with some sketchy descents and challenging climbs, but not nearly as death-defying as anticipated!
More
mud in the section to Hwy 67 too, and the sun started coming out. As
feared, the sunshine was out in force for the prairie. Mercifully,
there was a breeze, but also more mud, much more mud, I was grateful
I had escaped much of it the first time through. Luckily it was not
sticky or super-deep, there was sliminess in spots though, and maybe
a little sucking, my gaiters do a good job of keeping my shoes on! I
worked on relaxing through the mud and keeping my effort easier with
the heat. I started getting ice at every aid station, but still
started to feel the effects of the hot sun setting in. The sno-cone
machine at Bluff aid station was a miraculous sight! I got a blue
one.
 |
| The Prairie |
More
solo time in second half may have contributed to the slowing pace,
but mostly it was the temperature. I was feeling hot and nothing
sounded appetizing, I tried to get a gel down every hour or so and
fruit at aid stations, looking forward to sundown and a cooldown.
During the final section back to Nordic, I noticed a sign that said
‘5’, I assumed it meant 5k left, since I was already a couple
miles in to the section that was less than six miles in the morning.
My GPS was done by this point so couldn’t really check. Then, the
sign at Tamarack said ‘4.8 miles to Nordic’, and I figured it was
from prior years when the section was really 7.6 miles. Then, I hit
some very steep ski hills between signs 4 and 2 – I didn’t
remember these, and didn’t think I was that distracted with
chatting with people! It was fun that a couple were named, the
toughest one for Tom Bunk, a local legend who succumbed to cancer a
couple years back. Just before sign 1, a spectator running out to
meet another runner told me ‘One mile to go!’ I don’t remember
the times between the signs now, but at the time, it did make sense
they were more like mile splits than kilometer splits. I then figured
the section must have been altered a little to get the mileage closer
to 100k and 100 miles. I discussed this with some one later and they
thought the same thing was done last year, race documents didn’t
seem to be updated for the change though. I did like the idea of
running more like 95 miles (being out for an hour or more less), but
I easily made peace with the mind shift back to getting 100 miles in.
 |
| Headed back out, pretty much at max muddiness |
I
was back to Nordic Trailhead and the 100k mark at about 13.5 hours.
Luckily I was not at all tempted to call it at 100k. I think I just
grabbed some fruit from the aid station, got a headlamp into my pack,
and headed back out. One of the race directors was yelling ‘100-miler
out!’ whenever one of us departed, eliciting cheers from everyone
hanging out and providing a nice little boost to the runners. Back
through the steep ski hills as the day’s light faded. I managed to
reached Tamarack just as it was about as dark as I could stand, and
was able to abuse a volunteer’s hospitality with getting my
headlamp out of the pack.
The sun was down, but I was not cooling off. The forecast called for a low of 60F, but I don’t think it even got below 70F. There were some nice distractions of whippoorwills and fireflies. As I approached Bluff aid station, I had the idea to try ice in soup, that ended up being pretty satisfying! Back at Confusion Point, the course went left for a new out and back leg on the Ice Age Trail. The singletrack was somewhat hilly, but nothing crazy steep and the mud was not bad at all. I could see the trail skirted lots of little ponds and the frogs were singing fantastically! I was getting increasingly thirsty, but my stomach also felt pretty bloated, so water consumption was tricky. My frequent sipping and occasional forced gel didn’t seem to worsen anything.
At
the Hwy 12 aid station I tried ice in mashed potatoes – not as good
as the iced soup, but still more non-sugar, cool calories. Preparing
to head back out, I overheard that the next section was arguably the
toughest of the course, and it was. At least at that point in the
race, it seemed pretty hilly – with a few of the steeper slopes
having some slimy mud. There were some runnable stretches in the
middle though, and lots of frogs! I started noticing hot spots on my
inner heels and my left arch was a little tender, nothing bad, but I
kept thinking about how quickly I deteriorated at about this point in
the last race – still a long way to go! I continued to feel hot and
bloaty too, but kept putting down hard candy and gels. Toward the end
of the section were seemingly endless steep ups and downs with railroad
tie steps that were slow for me to navigate, but at least there were
quite a few people coming back to cheer on.
I
hit the Rice Lake turnaround about 19:20 with 19 miles remaining. 24
hours seemed unlikely unless the temperature dropped and I really
bounced back. I was even feeling sleepy, first time this has been an
issue for me – I think this is probably where I had some Coke.
There was a little lightning in the distance, providing hope for some
more rain, but I never got it. Not much to say about the return trip,
nothing changed: kept thinking I needed to eat, but my stomach felt
distended and I was so thirsty! I kept at the fruit and gels, and
trotting flats and descents. I felt out of breath with every little
climb though and I was ready to have some company with Rudy –
greeting the other runners heading out was good, but less personal in
the dark.
A
few miles back into daylight, I finally returned to Bluff, where I
ditched my headlamp and picked up my pacer. I decided to get a little
more water to get to the finish. Rudy grabbed a pitcher and added ~20
ounces to my pack. A few minutes later I discovered I had ended up
with Heed – BLECH! No disastrous results though, and I figured the
extra calories would not hurt. We just kept moving forward, my uphill
walking was slow, but I could still jog at a pace that was faster
than most walkers. Despite the sips of Heed, I was starving and
deciding to get in one more gel in the last few miles. We kept
plugging along, no bouts of despair or magical spurts of energy, but
I was happy to see we ended up completing the final 7.6 miles just
under two hours for a finish of 25:24:47, 34th place, and
6th woman.
I gathered up some congratulations, my finisher kettle, some calories, then the shoes came off and to get them and my feet hosed down – way overdue! Finally, we enjoyed the breakfast provided, being careful not to overdo the food.
 |
| Rudy pulls me into the finish once again |
I gathered up some congratulations, my finisher kettle, some calories, then the shoes came off and to get them and my feet hosed down – way overdue! Finally, we enjoyed the breakfast provided, being careful not to overdo the food.
We
stuck around a little, chatted with a few familiar faces from
Minnesota, made a quick trip to a nearby campground for a real
shower, then returned to Nordic for the final hour of finishers. I
did attempt a nap, but my legs kept jolting just as I drifted off -
Rudy slept like a champ, as usual while I hung around the finish
line. For the 100-mile race, there were 242 starters and 101
finishers – an incredible drop out rate. I’m guessing it was
mostly the heat, but I could see the mud creating a lot of issues
too. I ended up with big blisters on my inner heels, just from mud
abrasion, and my feet were super pruney with the toe nails packed
with dirt. No major problems though!
Nutrition
Summary:
<250
ounces water
~3000
calories
6
or 7 plain gu gels
1
cherry lime gu
1
espresso gu
4
fig bars
4
or 5 pieces hard candy
1
sno-cone
~8
oz Coke
~10
oz Heed
~1
orange
~1
cup canned potatoes
~3
cups watermelon
~1
cup mashed potatoes
~1
cup noodle soup
~1/2
cup veggie soup
~5
baby dill pickles
a
couple green olives
2
chunks of hummus wrap
3
dried dates
3
dried apricots
~10
dried cherries
Some
positives:
No
cramping
No
major muscle/tendon/ligament issues
Very
little foot problems for having wet, muddy feet all day
Energy
OK
Fun
Some
struggles:
Too
hot, couldn’t cool off – more ice and water? Also, more heat
training, I knew it wasn’t wise to be in the UP right before this,
but I don’t regret that
Thirsty,
but waterlogged/tight stomach
Difficult
to eat – but I did force calories in and was always relieved that
no problems resulted, just had to force it!
Tired
– never the threat of falling asleep or hallucinating, but probably
felt a bit more sleepy than I have at other events
Chafing
on my back where I was putting ice, maybe a little ice burn? I know
you are not supposed to put ice directly on the skin, but I always
have – probably better to put ice in a buff around my neck, or just
more inside my pack
Little
splotches of heat rash wherever I had clothes on, not a nuisance
during the race and faded within a day after
I
think the blisters on my inner heels were solely the result of dirt
getting packed in there, and my feet were looking rugged when I
finally took shoes and socks off. Although these little problems
didn’t change my outcome, cleaning up my feet when the bulk of the
wet conditions were over probably would have been wise – though I
didn’t know what the rest of the course would be for muddiness or
if more rain would come
Learnings:
Consistent
running works! Even though I got away with less than three months of
formal training, I think focusing on an event for at least a few
months is important
Keep
the calories coming in, even if it sounds like a terrible idea
If
feeling hot, try to go overboard on sponging off and taking ice
