2018 Kettle 100k Race Report:

About the Race and Terrain:

The Kettle 100m Races are of the longest running Midwest ultramarathons held in Southeastern Wisconsin on June 2. It is a Western States Qualifier and has ITRA points. It also is part of several multi-100 series such as Midwest Grand Slam, Gnarly Bandit Series and others. It’s about 1:30 min drive from Chicago whereabouts I reside. The course takes place mostly on a section of the Ice Age trail in Southern Kettle Morraine State Forest with some parts at the start and finish on XC ski trail loops as well.

The races run consist of a 100-mile solo, a 100-mile relay, 100k solo, simultaneously with a 50K that starts midday and a 38-mile Fun Run that starts in the evening and follows along the 100-mile course. I did my first trail 50K there and caught the bug, and last year’s 100K.

My watch says about 5856 ft elevation pretty close to the 5584 the race lists for the 100K. Most of this comes in a multitude of ups and downs 50-150 ft and really no steady climbs. So, death by 1000 cuts. The course is an out and back for the 100K and then the 100 milers go out again and branch off down another way to get another 38 miles in on another section of the Ice Age Trail.

About my training:   After a couple months of in the winter, I started back to training in January with about 2 months of base building/mileage increase and then started a modified version of Pftiz 12/55 marathon training plan. I had thought about doing a spring Marathon briefly but didn’t really find one I could fit in with the spring trail races and really go all out on. Most of my winter training was on the treadmill then as the weather got better I was able to get out to the trail a couple times a week, usually for a medium long run in the midweek and long run on the weekends.

I don’t really do back to back long runs. If I am going to do something really long in training, I would either do it all in one day to give a day of recovery, or I usually just try to hit a race at some point in the cycle. I also did a 25K trail race in March and a 50K trail race in April to build up to this race. I generally tried to do one workout per week tempo or VO2 but had modify a couple out of concern for pushing injury. I pretty much just followed Pfitz for the workout structure and for pacing. The long runs he has you do are not just easy runs but instead I would start out on middle of aerobic zone and cut down to the upper end of aerobic pace. So not just hobby jogging. Of course, on a trail this all has to be translated to effort/heart rate because pace varies a lot with terrain. In a few places I would put in treadmill incline intervals. I also would try to do strides or hill sprints once per week. The last part of the training I did a few stair sessions to get ready for the hiking at Southern Kettle Morraine. My peek week was 60 mpw and tapered to 30 mpw for one week, and 13 mi in 2 runs the week of the race.

Prerace prep: as usual I packed obsessively the week before. I had lists for start bag/box, the two drop bags mile 14 and mile 30), things I need after and things to carry with me. I also made a 3x5 pace/time card with some goal times (13-15 hrs.). and little “to do” cards for each drop bag aid station.   Everything is in Ziploc bags inside the Ziploc drop bags. Except the pace cards which promptly disintegrated with sweat. I had shots of it all on my phone to look at if needed, but it turns out with sweat it is really hard to sign on to my phone and so I mostly didn’t bother. All this is overkill for a 100K with 2 drop bags and lots of aid stations, but like I said this is sort of tune up practice for 100 miles. Plus, it gives me something to do during taper week.

About the races:    The 100 mi, 100 mi relay, and 100K races start together at 6 am at the trailhead of the Nordic Ski loops. Check in was uneventful. The only thing I noticed is the timing devices are affixed to bread ties (looks like 100 milers had strap on ankle bracelet timers) which made me think there is about a 90% chance if I change my shoes, I will forget to change that thing out. Last year it was so muddy (and I was out of it), I didn’t even notice this, and I also drove off with the timing chip, but I was able to mail it back. This year they took if off me right away at the end as you could actually see it without the mud.

The weather was perfect starting out in the 50s and cloudy. It would turn out to be 50-70s for the day. Mostly cloudy though the sun came out it the afternoon a bit. There was also a nice breeze going. The forecast called for rain which did come right on time but not until around 8 pm (Just as I was finishing up). I missed the heavier part of it. For the 100K I would say this was perfect weather. I am not sure how bad the rain got at night for the 100 milers.

This is critical because last year it rained a lot and it was mostly hours slogging through mud. Also, because one of the flattest sections is through a Prairie/Wetland that has a lot of water and humidity is bad-, for several miles no trees or shade. If you get heat or rain or both, this section is by far the roughest section even though it is relatively the flattest. You hit it once on the way out in the morning and then once on the way back in the heat of the afternoon.

My race plan was to use effort and HR to make sure I had an even aerobic effort, not to flat line or get into threshold efforts. The two 100Ks I ran last year were full of gi issues, nausea, some vomiting, and hitting a wall, with lots of walking and a good amount of sitting. I ran 17 hrs. at Kettle and 16 hours at Evergreen lake. So, I picked 15 hrs. as a reasonable goal, IF my stomach didn’t explode and slow me down to a stop. When that happens, all bets are off.

I planned to fuel with Ensure, gel shots, rice crispy bars, cliff bars, peanut M&Ms, mini snickers all of which I brought. I also brought a lot of ginger chews. I would use the races electrolyte HEED which turned out to be a bad idea. I really don’t want to bother bringing my own which is what I have done in the past. I do usually try it out ahead of time, but I could have sworn I have had HEED before and it was fine. Its like the most common one around for general running. I also can take just about any of it: Tailwind, Ucann, Skor, Gatorade (diluted a bit), Skratch, or whatever. I didn’t expect to have an issue with that. In the end, I just used some S caps and even dumped a little salt in my water. I also had a lot of ginger ale and eventually mountain dew along the way. Water was never a problem to keep down.

Mile 0 to 15 Nordic to Emma Carlin (time 0-3:07):

The course starts out on these wide but steep and rocky cross-country tracks which are pretty closely spaced so not much running here, then after a little flat some pine needle sections which I like and some grassy running which I do not. Then goes onto the Ice Age trail which is a hiking trail that crosses the state (some connections still in progress but this is all on one section). The trail here is single track with roots, rocks, ups and downs most of which I am hiking up. I take my first and only fall, as always when I start to daydream a little. Just knee scrape and palms scraped no biggie. There are a few aid stations in the first 15 miles, but I do not stop. Most of my miles here are 11-13 min/mi so good in terms of not blasting out at the start. HR at 65-75% max. I didn’t really stop or get anything from the drop bag here that I recall. There are some conga lines here with 5-10 people off and on.   One is really loud so I speed up to get away. Every once and awhile I hear the noisy conga line and it spurs me on, eventually it is no more. I don’t mind running with a couple people but not whole crowd. Also, I find I don’t really like people right in front or behind, I worry about the person behind-do they want to pass or am I going faster just for them, etc. Or if they fall will I run over them. So, I like to have a little space on single track. On wider trails, it really doesn’t matter to me. As long as I don’t have to listen to your drama I have my own to deal with 😊.

Mile 16-30.4 turnaround

This part includes the first pass through the dreaded prairie. But it was cool, cloudy, and with a nice breeze so I was able to run the fastest miles of the day. It wasn’t muddy and spongy like last year either. Then following the prairie section there is more single track and this gets back to the steep up and downs and hike-running. This part is slow. Again, just not having this part muddy was a relief. After the single-track section, it connects up to the second set of XC ski trails which does a loop around to the turn around. This section has a fair bit of hills but is wider and rockier. Overall more runnable than the first XC trails at the start. As I start that section I see the M1 coming back from the turnaround looking strong. Then others following. I get to the turn around at 6:03.   I was thinking before the start of doing 6:30 but with the weather and thinking about that prairie section I thought it was best to get while the getting is good.

At the turn around I changed socks, shoes, had some food put on some bug spray and sunscreen. A week before the race I had pulled out the lace socket on my TIMP shoes, so I decided to go with Hokka Bondi shoes for the second half. The first half I was in Topo Hydroventure which have big toe box but tend to fit me a little better in terms of mid and hindfoot than the Altras. The Bondi’s are not trail shoes but like the TIMPs have a lot of cushion which is what I was going for and I had run them on single track before and they were fine. I have to say changing socks and into these was like walking on clouds, so that was nice. I noticed some little blisters on my toes but these oddly were gone at the end of the race, so not sure what that was about. I did change my socks again at mile 47 as they had gotten wet but just wore the Bondis for the second half. Overall my feet faired really well, likely more because of the sock/lubing than anything else.

Turn around to 47.4

After this it was back through the ski loop and single track and onto the prairie again.   There is an aid station right before the prairie and there I deployed my secret weapon.

I have an old compression stocking that is pretty light compression so easy to stuff with ice, basically a long tube of ice. I could use this for neck/carotid cooling and also to basically anywhere as an ice pack. It also lasts a long time compared to say a bandana or ice in your hat. I also had them scoop some ice between my packs mesh pocked and back. The prairie on the way back was sunny and hot but again not terrible. There was a breeze and I was glad to have the ice. It also gave me something to occupy myself. At this point a nice guy in a pink skirt and bare midriff ran by. Although the bare midriff leaves something to be desired aesthetically, once your shirt is soaked, it is cooler. With a pack, I cannot go shirtless. I do feel uneasy subjecting people to this on an otherwise beautiful trail, but cooling is one of my big goals to help forestall gi issues.

Around mile 35 is where my stomach first starts acting up. It started with cramping.   Usually I will have nausea, then lightheaded and rapid breathing +/- vomiting. Usually too it will force me to walk and eventually stop. This didn’t really happen.   The nausea came later and did slow me but more to hobby jogging than walking or stopping. Besides cooling I started throwing different things at it like S caps, pickles (which I thought helped but apprehensive as I had never used them) and salted water. And lots of ginger chews and some ginger ale. Overall, I think I didn’t eat enough, but it is hard to say. I ate some peanut M and Ms, some gel chews. After the turn around point I wasn’t interested in the ensure anymore, it may be a little heavy for the 100K vs the slower 100 mile, not sure. Rice crispy bars were okay. I didn’t eat any cliff bars or snickers. I never eat cliff bars, not sure why I bring them. It just seems it would be great with how many carbs/calories they have, but then it never appeals to me. If I eat or drink a lot in this situation, I just get sloshing and nausea, so I am not convinced that is always the right answer. At one point it eased up then I ran down a hill fast and lots of giggling and it was back. I was going to record what I ate with the phone, but again signing on it was a pain and after a while I just didn’t care enough to bother. If I do a race again with an electrolyte I am not into, I will likely go back to using my own.

I also put on some music (one ear only the better to hear you with) during this section to help with motivation and did a little singing. This helps a lot with energy for me. I make a playlist the week before and its pretty much the same music as the last race playlist (because I haven’t updated my music in a while).

Mile 47.4 to the 100K finish:

This was slow going due to the stomach. My heart rate and effort were still good. I am even a little suspicious the HR monitor was not working great because I did not see as much drift as usual, but then  this pace is much slower than I usually am training.   My effort was definitely easy in terms of breathing. Also, no real ITB or other musculoskeletal issues which is unusual for me. Usually both my ITBs are hurting and sometimes my ankle tendon. There were various pains throughout the race but nothing that I think slowed me down or was lasting other than the Gi stuff.

A light rain started in the last mile or so that was nice. I recall last year running this section at night with a headlamp and it was pretty with stars unlike what we can see in Chicago. Also, the bugs go right towards your headlamp so it looks like hyperspace in Star Wars that is until they fly in your mouth. But none of that this year. Despite having 2 headlamps and spare batteries, I don’t need it thankfully. Nausea and cramping much stayed there for the rest of the race and at the end was pretty bad after the race I just sat in the car until it subsided. But overall better than last years 100ks.

This year I finished in 14 hours and change, squarely in the mid pack. This is an improvement in my 17-hr. finish from last year so I am happy. Also, beat my goal of 15 hrs. I think this year compared to last, I have made more realistic goals. As a result, I find the races more satisfying and I do not think I am phoning it in. I could have set 13 hrs., then ran the same time but have been disappointed even though I know that time didn’t really fit with my previous times on the course.

A big Thank you to the Volunteers/RD:

I just want to say this race is top notch in terms of organization, aid stations, marking and fun. One thing I liked was the drop bags were arranged color coded which was a lot faster than other ways I have seen them (like number). Also, they had great selection of food.   They didn’t run out of anything I could tell. They had gels, water, bug spray, S caps, Endurolytes, sunscreen at many of the unmanned aid stations with ice too. I never was close to running out of anything. The manned AS had everything. And the aid station workers would come out and say what can I get you and help you out, take your bottles, get you ice/water while you were doing your other stuff.   So really proactive. I am not put off if AS workers do not do this and I certainly do not expect it, it is just really nice when they are able to do this.

Recovery: Day 1 it was mostly just constantly hungry, mild nausea if any, but a lot of brain fatigue. Day 2 post race writing this also nothing major. I did unexpectedly find out I took the day off from work. This was a nice surprise. I went and got a new pair of shoes to celebrate. But I am not going to run yet. I may go for a walk in them later.

What is next: I haven’t signed up for anything else. I have been thinking of the Indiana trail 100 but not ready to commit yet. I also was looking at a 100K in Shawnee National Forest. I have looked at other 100s in Oct-Nov but haven’t settled on anything. Because my race last November was a 2019 WS qualifier, I do not have any pressure on that front to get one in. Something I had forgotten until just recently.

But as usual after a training/racing block, I want to not have anything on the books for a while to just have a break. And then after I cannot stand it anymore (or others cannot stand non-running me), I will start back running and go from there.

TLR; ran a race, weather was perfect, stomach cramped, finished in time, had fun, had enough running for a while.

About the Ice Age Trail: The Ice Age Trail is about 1100 miles in length (partially completed with connecting segments) and follows the course of the last glaciation in Wisconsin which has many geological features that make trail running, well, more challenging. There are a number of trail races throughout the year on various sections.  It is designated as one of 11 National Scenic Trails in the country. Check the Ice Age Trail Alliance (that helps build and maintain different sections) website: https://www.iceagetrail.org/. There is also a recent book Thousand Miler: Adventures Hiking the Ice Age Trail by Melanie Radzicki McManus which talks about the whole trail, history, FKTs etc and was recently published.  It is a fun read. Details of the race and results are easy to find at http://ww.Kettle100.com.

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great job! so much can go wrong in these i think we sometimes lose sight of what we did right. imo changing socks & relubing feet cannot be underestimated...and you stomach was bad but not horrible like last time so an improvement right? love the quote "As long as I don’t have to listen to your drama I have my own to deal with 😊." there can be a lot of drama in a 100k!

Great job. thanks for the report. The kettle 100k is on my list of hopefully some day. I grew up near there and hiked and skied those trails as a youngster.

I grew up not too far away and did a lot of skiing, biking and some camping too.

. imo changing socks & relubing feet cannot be underestimated...

I think im finally getting this.  My feet came out much better than prior races.

You write great race reports! So detailed. I remembered your RR from last year, too. Too bad it's lost in the purge of RWOL. That's why I host my RRs on my blog. I have lots of random thoughts here so bare with me:

• For the pace card - I make those too. I make a small Excel table with mileage, cumulative mileage, y/n to crew/drop bags, and time I need to arrive for my A, B, and C goals, print that out, and then "laminate" it with scotch tape, which I find protects it better. If you want the bigger card, try using clear packing tape to protect it.
• The loud conga lines are almost always exactly my pace, and "drafting" off me.
• Was there really a guy in a pink skirt? Or was it a typo and you meant shirt, like he had cropped off the bottom of it? I'm hoping for a shirtless dude in a tutu here.
• Does this race fill up? I've always been under the impression it was really popular. It probably doesn't make sense for me to do it when FANS is the same weekend and is a mere 6 miles from my home, but maybe someday I might want to be a Gnarly Bandit. I saw a lot of familiar names on the start lists.
• HEED is gross. I went with Hammer electrolyte tabs in my handheld and I feel like that's the best option for me. I don't like Gatorade/Powerade much so I just do water or pop at aid stations and then BYOE.
• GREAT JOB!!!!

Great report and congrats on beating your 15 hour goal. I think a lot of runners underestimate the difficulty of the IAT with its lots of little ups and downs. Those are still great races and the organization and support are tops.

 

RWD.   The guy had pink skirt and cropped pink shirt and blew by me in a pink blurr.  I think it was superior cooling that gave the speed.

By any chance was the guy's name Keith Straw?

Guess not. Apparently Keith was at the Old Dominion 100 this past weekend. And he was not in his pink tutu.