Kettle 100, Chasing a Dream

                                                          Kettle 100, Chasing a Dream



The journey to 100 miles is pretty intense..and a bit long winded for one blog, but this is my very first blog post ever, so I have no idea what I'm doing.. consider yourself warned. I’m pretty sure my sister has been blogging about our running adventures since our first marathon together back in 2011-2012, read more at http://anotherhungryrunner.blogspot.com/ if you’re so inclined (she’s pretty funny), but since I was not clever enough to start this at the beginning I figure better Iate than never. So, we’ll be skipping past the few 5k’s, one 10K, several half marathons,  many marathons/50K’s, and three 50 milers for the time being and jump right into my first and thus far, my only, hundred mile race Kettle 100.

My decision to run 100 miles was based off of two major things, 1.setting out to conquer the next challenge, and 2.earning the coolest belt buckle I could find (it’s 100 freaking miles, it better be awesome). So I set out on my internet hunt to find this belt buckle that rises above all others.  Enter, Western States 100! I’ve been infatuated with exotic cats since I was knee high to a grasshopper, so WS100 and their iconic mountain lion buckle was immediately love at first sight.  As I read about the race, I learned how iconic it is being one of the oldest 100 mile races in the US and often likened to the Boston Marathon of ultra running.  As I’m close to drooling over this amazing race with a belt buckle to match my expectations I then hit a very deep pot hole... you have to run a qualifying 100 mile  race time to even enter a lottery for this race! Ok, it does make it that much more challenging and then that much more tantalizing to think of accomplishing.. but only if one can get to that point in the first place..then to make matters even worse, only TWO people from IL are chosen to run this year. My chances? Not very good.. even if I do run a qualifying race for my first 100. But.... that buckle... I decide that I must at least try. I now contemplate which first 100 miler to run so I have a tiny chance at running the race I need to in order to hit my second goal which is the best belt buckle of all time. Kettle 100 jumps into the picture, close by in Wisconsin is a plus.. semi similar training terrain nearby to prepare, and the same forest I ran my first 50 mile race at Ice Age50 last year so I kind of know what I’m getting myself into (gulp) and it is a really pretty course, which I know I will need to keep my brain happy during the race. So I think about it...all spring, summer, and fall. .January 1st finally rolls along and registration opens. I’m at my computer ready to go on New Year’s Day.. it’s a perfect time to do something crazy anyways, and the Kettle 100 race directors are brilliant to open registration up on New Year’s Day when runners are full of high hopes for great races to run during the new year. I don’t even think about it again, the second the race opens I’m scrambling to enter my info. and ended up securing bib #20, which is pretty neat considering there ended up being around 240 entrants!

January 2nd.. it’s cold and snowy.. why did I just sign up for a 100 mile race?! Ahhhh! No comfy winter break for me... so I decided I really needed motivation in a big way and signed up for the Frozen Gnome 50K.  My good friend Stormy had wanted to redeem a DNF from his attempt at last year’s Frozen Gnome, which he had also tried to talk me into.. and failed.. so I figured, what the heck? Might as well give it a go since I needed a good winter training run anyways. That race sucked. It is a tale for another blog, but I will say that it had enough positive memories that I would never in a million years take that experience back. But that race was hard... and considering it’s the second week in January, the weather dictates the difficulty each year.. and of course, I picked the worst year to run it. Snow, slush, mud, ice, hills.. my ankles will never be the same. Anyways, we got through it and finished closer than I would have liked to the cutoff time, but we made it and icy memories were made. I won’t go into much of the winter running, just that I learned you can run in pretty much any kind of winter weather.. my sister and I did most of our training runs together and in severe weather three layers with face masks and goggles at one point will work!.. -20 with a miserable wind chill is doable, you just have to keep your hydration pack tubes next to your skin so they don’t freeze. :)

On to Earth Day 50K towards the end of April with much happier weather and another great race put on by the MUDD runners of Crystal Lake, it’s become one of my favorites. This was a good day, I felt great and got to run with a good friend! Bring on Ice Age 50 #2 in May!

  Ice Age50 holds a special place in my heart, not only is it one of the oldest (possibly THEE oldest, actually, I think it is) 50 miler in the Midwest, but the course is a lot of fun and the race is organized quite well. I love that there are runners at the starting line ready to complete their 20th, or 30th Ice Age50 trail run, they are such inspiring runners to me! With a 12 hour cutoff time, Ice Age50 is a tough 50 miler in my opinion, and some of these people have completed it 30 times or more! I hope to be there for their 50th running! #bucketlist Anyhow, I had a great group of friends, including my sister to run with and ended up having a decent race that day, I got my buckle and spent the day in a beautiful forest, what’s not to love? The only downside to Ice Age50, is that it’s just 3 short weeks before Kettle100, a pretty tight fit for a last long run.. but I love that race and decided to take my chances cutting it a bit close (4-5 weeks is recommended for a last long run preceding a 100, particularly a first 100 so your body has time to recover adequately). I used Altra 1.5 shoes during most of my training including for Ice Age50, and I then made a poor decision to wear a pair of shoes with slight heels to work (something I typically never do) 6 days after Ice Age. I believe this is what led to significant pain in my left forefoot which resulted in me taking 4 days off of running that weekend in hopes that I hadn’t messed up my foot with 2 weeks to go before Kettle.. thankfully I’m supposed to be in taper mode, so the 4 days of rest doesn’t sabotage my training too much. The injured forefoot is what determined my footwear decisions for Kettle, which ultimately caused many problems.

 

So, Kettle100.

 I think you need to be intimidated before running a 100 miles, it’s a respect/human nature kind of thing. Unless, of course, you’re one of those running freaks, who, quite possibly may be part alien or something...in which case you can consider yourself exempt from these very vital to survival kind of feelings. I was intimidated though. It’s 100 miles, and I like sleeping and pizza a lot. But I also like setting out to accomplish a goal, achieving that goal, and not to mention I really like running through the forest and spending time with like minded folks.. so I set myself up for running and forests first, followed by the reward of pizza and sleep afterwards.. and maybe some wine and beer. It’s going to be ok.. but it takes a few weeks to settle the nerves anyways.

We get up to La Grange WI mid-afternoon on Friday and pick up our packets, I’m standing in the 100 mile line.. and that feels pretty awesome!  That night I get my drop bags ready for the race.. crap.. I only have 3 drop containers.. and there are 4 drop bag spots! Poor planning on my part...but I’ve never used my drop bags during 50 mile races, so 3 should be plenty.. right? I contemplate for a good 20 minutes what I’ll need at the different mile markers and eliminate the 30 mile drop bag in the end (bad decision!!). I pack everything I can think of needing in the other three bags, including a few different types of shoes since the day was calling for rain and potential thunder storms so I wanted a pair of shoes in one bag that had good tread in case it became muddy. I think I’ve done a pretty good job, but I’m still nervous I’m forgetting something somehow.

Race morning. It’s really early, and I’m nervous and tired.. and not happy about trying to force feed myself a Jimmy John’s sandwich (trying something new.. yeah, I know, not encouraged for any first race, but given it’s a 100 miles.. there will be a lot of obstacles coming my way so I might as well start taking some chances.. besides “freaky fast” is a good slogan for a race, so I went with it)..tired, I think the normal thoughts “why did I sign up for this again?!” I want my pillow and a happy dream.. “you will remember this the next time you have the brilliant idea to sign up for a race”, I tell myself, but I know these unhappy feelings will all but be forgotten when I cross that finish line and the next race to sign up for will start to enter my brain. We arrive at the starting line early (thanks to my good friend Kim for arranging to let us stay in her Uncle’s cabin, thanks Kim, you’re the best!)

 We start to distribute our drop bags to the various tarps laid out for each mile marker where we have contemplated needing things. Next up is bathroom stops, bug spray & sun block applications, “hi” to people met at previous races and starting line pictures which are all part of the pre race shenanigans. Last minute announcements are made, National Anthem is sung, gun fired, (maybe? I can’t remember.. but it’s happened at races before) and we’re off! Well... kind of.. too many people.. we start walking due to bottle-necking.. running was a great idea.. ;) we did start running pretty quickly though and the next 10 miles went pretty well until I realized that for some reason my toes were starting to feel a bit too sore. Uh oh. I decided after my Altra/forefront injury to only use those training shoes after the 100K mark (62 miles) to prevent possibly re injuring that foot, so I decided to gamble with some older not used in awhile, but reliable in the past, shoes. Mistake #1 becomes apparent...after my 15 mile choice starts causing blistering in my toes (I had forgotten that they did that!).. great.. I can run a marathon with blisters, but there’s no way I’m running 90 more miles with them! So I change shoes at the first drop bag spot, mile 15 which I know I will be returning to in 15ish miles. Another poor choice.. I love Inov-8, and the shoes I picked for that drop bag had great tread (thinking it would be muddy if it rained, which it really looked like it might do!..) AND I had worn them in a prior 50K and they had been fine.. ok so maybe that was over a year ago but they worked fine then, so why not now? What I didn’t think about is that Altras and Invo-8 shoes have very different heel boxes, Altras being wide and Inov-8 quite narrow which hold the heel in place quite a bit more. This slight difference in footwear, I believe, is what caused the strain followed by swelling in my right Achilles tendon around mile 25-30. I changed shoes around 35 miles or so after I got back to the drop bag where I had left my blister shoes at, but by then my Achilles was swollen and painful and the damage was done.

So... what to do... I change my shoes and socks, reapply anti blister stuff to my toes to deal with the small blisters and help avoid new ones, change shorts and decide I need to eat some aid station food. It is at this time that Stormy’s daughter Windy and Son-In-Law Juan arrived on the scene and they had Pizza! I start to forget about my heel while I eat a piece.. so good.. (thanks guys!). I’ve never had pizza during an ultra, and it does not disappoint! My spirits are lifted, I can get through the next 60-70 miles now! Pizza makes everything better for a moment.. then I start moving again and I remember thee heel pain as it kicks back up. Ouch.. I take two Advil (something I typically don’t use at races because I like to know what my body is going though so pain meds aren’t usually on the menu.. but this hurt... a lot) and keep moving.

Around mile 40 or 50 I forget my heel pain as I notice my left ankle is starting to hurt, what the heck?! I ran IceAge50 three weeks ago and I was fine! Body, this is ridiculous and you need to cut it out. I figure maybe it’s just my mind playing tricks on me.. but man, it’s really starting to hurt! Uphill the right heel is misery, downhill and just in general the left ankle/shin is throbbing and radiating sharp pain up my leg. I’m starting to get concerned.. I’ve read a lot about running related injuries, and I’m really worried this could be a stress fracture. I turn on my headlight since it’s getting dark and keep plodding forward.. I have to at least make it to the 100K mark, I’m SO close.. and then I can take a look at the ankle and see what kind of shape it’s in visually.  As I make it to the 100K finish line (also the 100 mile finish line if I go back out for another 38 miles of fun) I am so relieved to see tents, food, people, lights.. it’s so comforting! When I cross the line I see my husband Tim, my sister, friends who came to crew and pace Laura and Scott! I had been running by myself for the last 7 or 8 miles since Stormy had had some stomach problems and needed to take more time at the aid station prior to the 100K, so it was great to be around people again! I sit down and everyone asks me what I need, that’s the thing about running, and ultra races in general.. they really humble you! I’m not very comfortable being waited on, I like to help so being helped is hard for me. But it is also very touching to have people that want to help you, and this race taught me to be thankful, and grateful for that care and those people! My friend Scott finds an elite runner (he’s one of those people who just looks fast, and you just know he is without ever seeing him run) who is waiting to pace another runner to take a look at my swollen ankle, he says he’s seen worse and it doesn’t look bruised so to use my discretion, but he thinks I could at least try to get to the next aid station if I check it for bruising when I can since this could indicate a fracture or break and he lets me borrow an ankle brace to help stabilize my injury. By this time Stormy has come through and Scott is ready to go back out. Stormy is going back out... I could get a 100K belt buckle and go to sleep after more pizza.. or.. finish this beast. My sister and husband tell me I should be proud of what I’ve done, and maybe I should be happy with a 100K.. there will be other 100s when my ankle is healed. I really thought about this while looking at my lumpy ankle..but the tiny voice in my head would not let up and I decided I was not done yet. I limped after Stormy and Scott into the darkness. That tea kettle was going to be mine. To be continued....