It's Monday morning--no wait, Monday afternoon. A dead sleep in my own bed preceded by a 12 hour drive in the most uncomfortable sleeping vehicle on the road has past. I am grumpy. And it's raining. But what a great day to prop myself up to the laptop and write a race report, right? So, Let me pour another cuppa and have another bite of my post-race breakfast, and I'll get down to bizness.
The race was the Kettle Moraine 100 (Mile/Kilometer). I have read reports of this run over the past few years, and heard how it was a "good first 100", which usually means "easy" as if running 100 miles is ever easy. The 100s I have finished have been on the easier side, and truthfully, I doubt my abilities to finish some of the mountain 100s, although I can dream, right? Kathy had wanted redemption from her Rocky Raccoon endeavor, and I was in the same boat, having come up short in my last 100 mile race. This seemed like a good fit. Crew Babe Dana worked feverishly to get us (me) packed, we borrowed my nephew Jeff for pacing duties and headed northeast on I-4 on Thursday around 1:00 and hit our usual McDonald's before we even got out of Oklahoma.
Carbo-loading is a good thing! Dinner was in Bourbon, MO at the Hen House.
I get just as excited about good food as I do running. Could be an unhealthy correlation there.
We continued north and stopped at 11:ish in Carlinville, Illinois at a Best Western. A very nice man checked us into this large motel in a small town in the middle of the flattest place on the planet. During his checking in purchase, I heard him say "oops....oh, I'll fix that later" and in my sleepy stupor, I made no issue of it, and we retired to our room. The next morning, (thanks to iPhone and email) I read where my bank had shut down our bank card due to questionable activity. A quick call to the 1-800 number given told of 4,700 dollars being charged to our account. I don't know how this happened, but apparently this man had hit the wrong numbers on the pad and charged us $1,596 for our room, and then corrected it by charging us another $3000. Yikes!! I made a trip down to the front desk, and was very nice and courteous, as were they, and we got it straightened out. Whew! The room was not that nice, and the free breakfast was yucky.
On to Wisconsin. We drove and drove for what seemed like hours....actually, it WAS hours. I had wanted to stay in Whitewater, which was the closest town to the race but ended up getting a room in Ft Atkinson which was about 20 miles from the s/f. After getting our room, we went to the La Grange General Store/bike shop/deli to pick up our packets.
The shirts were a cotton tee, but they had old long sleeve tech shirts for $5.00 so we scarfed up a couple of them. We decided to go out to look at some of the course and find the aid stations where Dana would be allowed to crew. This took the remainder of the day, but it gave Kathy and I a chance to see some of the trails we were to conquer the next day. I had read that there were quite a few ups and downs, but the elevation profile showed the longest climb to be around 150 feet. Sounded easy.
And if this trail was any indication of what laid ahead for us, we were in great shape.
Race day morning!
Crew Babe ready to start her day's work. She stays awake and alert all day, and puts up with us grumpy runners. Someone once explained to me what "Crew" means--Cranky Runners Endless Waiting.
Jeff stretches and yawns. He was Dana's assistant all day, with pacing on tap for the night.Kathy and I were stoked and ready to get on with it!
The KM had a record turnout with 166 doing the 100 miler, 67 doing the 100K, 8 relay teams, and 59 doing the 38 mile Fun-Run.
I got to see Coleen, aka Cynical Dirt Doll!! Coleen always has a great smile, and I'm thinking she had a great 40 miles before the rain turned the course to mud. But more on the mud later. She did finish 100K in 14:49:59. I KNEW she could break 15 hours!!
Dana takes pix before the race. Dana had my iPhone, and did real-time updates on my FaceBook. I suppose if you wanted, you could go to my wall and read the posts and comments. I think some people thought I was FaceBooking while on the run--not that I don't do that sometimes. No time for that today though. She did a great job of it--wonder if I could hire her out?? (J/K!! She's MINE!)
Soon enough, the race was on.
Such nice cushy trails, very few rocks, gentle short ups and downs.
Lots of tall pine tree-lined trails.
The 1st aid station. These folks had a long day, night, and day.
Occasionally early on, we'd pop out into an open area. This trail was mostly a cross-country ski trail. I think snowmobiles would be great fun here.
Just leaving out of the Bluff Road aid stop. This was the first place where we could have crew. We did not need much, and it was a quick hi and bye.
There were lots of lush tropical rain forest-like trails.
More climbs. (These would eventually take their toll.)
From mile 8 on, we had several long sections of open prairie. As the temperatures rose, running became a little less fun. Someone said it never got above 80, but right out in the sun, it was plenty warm!
One of several wooden bridges....
....that went through the everglades.
We're at the Emma Carlin Aid station.
Still feeling strong.
After this point, Kathy picked up the pace and I settled into my zombie shuffle.
The course went through more prairie and the sun really was beating down.
I met Tim and Angela through here. Angela is a Runner's World Forumite, so I guess technically, this was an FE. They kept it up and got a nice 100K finish, and in a much better time than mine. WTG!!
HW 67 was the next crew stop, and my water bottle was drained by the time I got there. I did refill at an unmanned water cache, but the water tasted like garden hose, and I did not drink near enough.
Kathy had built about a 20 minute lead by HW 67. She was very hot (and overheated too.) She drank but did not eat, and when I heard that, I thought I could catch her. I ran from here to the turnaround. I did manage to catch up a few minutes, but at the turnaround, she evidently took an IV of rocket fuel, because at the next stop, she had extended her 18 minute lead to 36 minutes, and continued to extend that lead from there on. I kept a good pace considering the task ahead and the heat, but I went from giving a 85% effort to about a 65% effort.
I passed another couple of competitors. I am pretty sure this runner DNF'd.
TZ having an out-of-body experience.
Somewhere around 3:30 a cool breeze started rustling through the tree tops and it cooled down nicely, and a little bit of rain began to fall. Sweet. But the light rain turned to torrential, and the hot prairies turned to sloshy shoe sucking mud. The single track trails turned into small rivers, with every footfall in ankle deep water.
But such is trail running. I was still having fun....at least at this point. At Emma Carlin, I got out of my short sleeve tech shirt, and went with my long sleeve Icebreaker.
I ate a sandwich, took some Ibuprofen, a 5 hour energy, and headed back out. The Icebreaker is by no means water proof, but the Merino wool has amazing properties that keeps you warm even if it is wet. But I needed to get moving to get my core warm, and I did, and had no probs despite the dropping temps and relentless rain.
A lot of weird things seem to happen deep in the woods in the night. Fortunately, the rain stopped about 10:00 or 11:00, and when you could see the sky, the stars were amazing. The wind picked up, and the sounds of it whirring through the tall pines was amazing. I was all alone, not a soul in sight, but at one place in the utter darkness, I heard the pounding of footsteps ALL AROUND ME! I turned quickly and saw I was in a patch of vegetation that had huge leaves--like elephant eared plants. The wind had blown rain droplets off of the trees above and they fell on these huge leaves, and it sounded like a herd of runners bearing down on me. HAHA. Another time, a gust of wind blew a huge branch off a tree not 20 feet from the trail. Another quick scare. But actually, there is something almost spiritual being out alone in the woods like that.
I did not know if I was in last place or what. I did let a few runners make it by, and I also knew that making the cutoff at the 100K point was probably not gonna happen. I was bummed, and I suppose my drive waned too. The mud was slick as snot, and the short ups and downs were not so short now. I like playing in mud--just not running long in mud. I run like a duck and somehow push a little sideways off of each step. In mud, this is a lot of sliding sideways, slowing me down incredibly. I thought I had read that only 100 MILE finishers got a copper Kettle, and the 100K finishers got a Medal. I really wanted the Kettle. I thought of how confident I was of finishing this race. I thought of how I had talked Jeff into coming up to pace me, and I would be pulled before he got a chance. I thought of my Mileage Team and how I wanted to post a nice triple digit week. But there was nothing I could do. I had the ability to finish this race--just not with the greased mud hills. My pace, which I had been keeping at a 13-15 minute average pace, had slowed to well over 18 minute miles. Towards the very end of the 100K on the up and down roller-coaster hills, it was taking me over 20 minutes per mile. By the time I trotted into the finish, I was way past the cutoff and was soggy toast.
Kathy finished in 16:44. She had decided to NOT go back out for the remainder of the 100 miler, although I was already gearing up to help crew here to the finish, and maybe even pace a little if I could find my mojo. Us stopping at the 100K point meant we got some SLEEP and a shower--not necessarily in that order. It also got us home a day earlier--sort of.
Turns out, I was not the last place runner. And there was a lot of runners who dropped out way earlier in the race. Now the good thing in all of this, is that someone who was in the 100 mile could drop down to the 100K and get an official finish. And the GREAT thing, is that I DID GET MY KETTLE!!!
I don't know if I will go back and try this race again. This race is harder than Lean Horse, than Rocky Raccoon, than Heartland, than Traveller and of course Mother Road. Given good weather, I could do it. Just not sure if I will. Thanks are due to all the aid station workers. Gutting it out in the rain and slop was hell I am sure. Thanks to Jeff, who was so much help to Dana and never ever complains. I owe you a good run-outing, buddy! And huge ginormous thanks to Crew Babe and DW Dana. No way any of this happens for me without you!!!!
The race was the Kettle Moraine 100 (Mile/Kilometer). I have read reports of this run over the past few years, and heard how it was a "good first 100", which usually means "easy" as if running 100 miles is ever easy. The 100s I have finished have been on the easier side, and truthfully, I doubt my abilities to finish some of the mountain 100s, although I can dream, right? Kathy had wanted redemption from her Rocky Raccoon endeavor, and I was in the same boat, having come up short in my last 100 mile race. This seemed like a good fit. Crew Babe Dana worked feverishly to get us (me) packed, we borrowed my nephew Jeff for pacing duties and headed northeast on I-4 on Thursday around 1:00 and hit our usual McDonald's before we even got out of Oklahoma.
Carbo-loading is a good thing! Dinner was in Bourbon, MO at the Hen House.
I get just as excited about good food as I do running. Could be an unhealthy correlation there.
We continued north and stopped at 11:ish in Carlinville, Illinois at a Best Western. A very nice man checked us into this large motel in a small town in the middle of the flattest place on the planet. During his checking in purchase, I heard him say "oops....oh, I'll fix that later" and in my sleepy stupor, I made no issue of it, and we retired to our room. The next morning, (thanks to iPhone and email) I read where my bank had shut down our bank card due to questionable activity. A quick call to the 1-800 number given told of 4,700 dollars being charged to our account. I don't know how this happened, but apparently this man had hit the wrong numbers on the pad and charged us $1,596 for our room, and then corrected it by charging us another $3000. Yikes!! I made a trip down to the front desk, and was very nice and courteous, as were they, and we got it straightened out. Whew! The room was not that nice, and the free breakfast was yucky.
On to Wisconsin. We drove and drove for what seemed like hours....actually, it WAS hours. I had wanted to stay in Whitewater, which was the closest town to the race but ended up getting a room in Ft Atkinson which was about 20 miles from the s/f. After getting our room, we went to the La Grange General Store/bike shop/deli to pick up our packets.
The shirts were a cotton tee, but they had old long sleeve tech shirts for $5.00 so we scarfed up a couple of them. We decided to go out to look at some of the course and find the aid stations where Dana would be allowed to crew. This took the remainder of the day, but it gave Kathy and I a chance to see some of the trails we were to conquer the next day. I had read that there were quite a few ups and downs, but the elevation profile showed the longest climb to be around 150 feet. Sounded easy.
And if this trail was any indication of what laid ahead for us, we were in great shape.Race day morning!
Crew Babe ready to start her day's work. She stays awake and alert all day, and puts up with us grumpy runners. Someone once explained to me what "Crew" means--Cranky Runners Endless Waiting.
Jeff stretches and yawns. He was Dana's assistant all day, with pacing on tap for the night.Kathy and I were stoked and ready to get on with it!
The KM had a record turnout with 166 doing the 100 miler, 67 doing the 100K, 8 relay teams, and 59 doing the 38 mile Fun-Run.
I got to see Coleen, aka Cynical Dirt Doll!! Coleen always has a great smile, and I'm thinking she had a great 40 miles before the rain turned the course to mud. But more on the mud later. She did finish 100K in 14:49:59. I KNEW she could break 15 hours!!
Dana takes pix before the race. Dana had my iPhone, and did real-time updates on my FaceBook. I suppose if you wanted, you could go to my wall and read the posts and comments. I think some people thought I was FaceBooking while on the run--not that I don't do that sometimes. No time for that today though. She did a great job of it--wonder if I could hire her out?? (J/K!! She's MINE!)Soon enough, the race was on.
Such nice cushy trails, very few rocks, gentle short ups and downs.
Lots of tall pine tree-lined trails.
The 1st aid station. These folks had a long day, night, and day.
Occasionally early on, we'd pop out into an open area. This trail was mostly a cross-country ski trail. I think snowmobiles would be great fun here.
Just leaving out of the Bluff Road aid stop. This was the first place where we could have crew. We did not need much, and it was a quick hi and bye.
There were lots of lush tropical rain forest-like trails.
More climbs. (These would eventually take their toll.)
From mile 8 on, we had several long sections of open prairie. As the temperatures rose, running became a little less fun. Someone said it never got above 80, but right out in the sun, it was plenty warm!
One of several wooden bridges....
....that went through the everglades.
We're at the Emma Carlin Aid station.Still feeling strong.
After this point, Kathy picked up the pace and I settled into my zombie shuffle.
The course went through more prairie and the sun really was beating down.
I met Tim and Angela through here. Angela is a Runner's World Forumite, so I guess technically, this was an FE. They kept it up and got a nice 100K finish, and in a much better time than mine. WTG!!HW 67 was the next crew stop, and my water bottle was drained by the time I got there. I did refill at an unmanned water cache, but the water tasted like garden hose, and I did not drink near enough.
Kathy had built about a 20 minute lead by HW 67. She was very hot (and overheated too.) She drank but did not eat, and when I heard that, I thought I could catch her. I ran from here to the turnaround. I did manage to catch up a few minutes, but at the turnaround, she evidently took an IV of rocket fuel, because at the next stop, she had extended her 18 minute lead to 36 minutes, and continued to extend that lead from there on. I kept a good pace considering the task ahead and the heat, but I went from giving a 85% effort to about a 65% effort.
I passed another couple of competitors. I am pretty sure this runner DNF'd.
TZ having an out-of-body experience.Somewhere around 3:30 a cool breeze started rustling through the tree tops and it cooled down nicely, and a little bit of rain began to fall. Sweet. But the light rain turned to torrential, and the hot prairies turned to sloshy shoe sucking mud. The single track trails turned into small rivers, with every footfall in ankle deep water.
But such is trail running. I was still having fun....at least at this point. At Emma Carlin, I got out of my short sleeve tech shirt, and went with my long sleeve Icebreaker.
I ate a sandwich, took some Ibuprofen, a 5 hour energy, and headed back out. The Icebreaker is by no means water proof, but the Merino wool has amazing properties that keeps you warm even if it is wet. But I needed to get moving to get my core warm, and I did, and had no probs despite the dropping temps and relentless rain.A lot of weird things seem to happen deep in the woods in the night. Fortunately, the rain stopped about 10:00 or 11:00, and when you could see the sky, the stars were amazing. The wind picked up, and the sounds of it whirring through the tall pines was amazing. I was all alone, not a soul in sight, but at one place in the utter darkness, I heard the pounding of footsteps ALL AROUND ME! I turned quickly and saw I was in a patch of vegetation that had huge leaves--like elephant eared plants. The wind had blown rain droplets off of the trees above and they fell on these huge leaves, and it sounded like a herd of runners bearing down on me. HAHA. Another time, a gust of wind blew a huge branch off a tree not 20 feet from the trail. Another quick scare. But actually, there is something almost spiritual being out alone in the woods like that.
I did not know if I was in last place or what. I did let a few runners make it by, and I also knew that making the cutoff at the 100K point was probably not gonna happen. I was bummed, and I suppose my drive waned too. The mud was slick as snot, and the short ups and downs were not so short now. I like playing in mud--just not running long in mud. I run like a duck and somehow push a little sideways off of each step. In mud, this is a lot of sliding sideways, slowing me down incredibly. I thought I had read that only 100 MILE finishers got a copper Kettle, and the 100K finishers got a Medal. I really wanted the Kettle. I thought of how confident I was of finishing this race. I thought of how I had talked Jeff into coming up to pace me, and I would be pulled before he got a chance. I thought of my Mileage Team and how I wanted to post a nice triple digit week. But there was nothing I could do. I had the ability to finish this race--just not with the greased mud hills. My pace, which I had been keeping at a 13-15 minute average pace, had slowed to well over 18 minute miles. Towards the very end of the 100K on the up and down roller-coaster hills, it was taking me over 20 minutes per mile. By the time I trotted into the finish, I was way past the cutoff and was soggy toast.
Kathy finished in 16:44. She had decided to NOT go back out for the remainder of the 100 miler, although I was already gearing up to help crew here to the finish, and maybe even pace a little if I could find my mojo. Us stopping at the 100K point meant we got some SLEEP and a shower--not necessarily in that order. It also got us home a day earlier--sort of.
Turns out, I was not the last place runner. And there was a lot of runners who dropped out way earlier in the race. Now the good thing in all of this, is that someone who was in the 100 mile could drop down to the 100K and get an official finish. And the GREAT thing, is that I DID GET MY KETTLE!!!
I don't know if I will go back and try this race again. This race is harder than Lean Horse, than Rocky Raccoon, than Heartland, than Traveller and of course Mother Road. Given good weather, I could do it. Just not sure if I will. Thanks are due to all the aid station workers. Gutting it out in the rain and slop was hell I am sure. Thanks to Jeff, who was so much help to Dana and never ever complains. I owe you a good run-outing, buddy! And huge ginormous thanks to Crew Babe and DW Dana. No way any of this happens for me without you!!!!
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