Kettle Moraine 100 scouting
After enjoying the view and signing the logbook, I can blaze past photo ops in the KM100 guilt-free!
I was thrilled to get into a 100 miler in 2022 - the Kettle Moraine 100 (KM100)! Not only is Ornery Mule Racing a best-in-class race organization, but I would finally compete in a 100 miler in my home state! The rich history of the event, one the oldest 100 milers in the United States, taking place on the Ice Age Trail brings much anticipation. To make sure I give 100% on race day, I took a scouting trip down to run as much of the race course as possible disguised as a family camping trip.
Surprisingly good weather
Driving through a thunderstorm as we exited the interstate, it looked like camp set up would be the start of a soggy weekend at Kettle Moraine Forest - Southern Unit (which we nabbed the last campsite available for the weekend). As we entered the Ottawa Lake campground, the rain was coming down hard enough my husband declined when I asked him to lower the window to grab a map. Miraculously, the rain stopped the instant we parked so we quickly set up the pop-up anticipating the rain restarting, but it never did. The start of good fortune regarding the potentially wet weekend.
The experience at the Rice Lake turnaround will be a little less low-key on race day!
Anticipation
On Saturday morning, I woke up well before my alarm and decided to grab a headlamp to hit the trails early so I could still spend the afternoon with the family. I arrived at the Nordic trailhead at sunrise and was surprised to already see several cars in the lot for the day’s training run. Within minutes, I saw a deer and rabbit as the glowing grapefruit rose in the sky complementing the beautiful chorus of birds. This weekend just happened to be a weekend training run, so the flagged intersections made it easy to follow the race course (although I downloaded the course map in CalTopo and printed hard copies so I could practice navigation). As a result, I spent the early miles doing a quality trail speedwork session.
I have been bothered by a flared Achilles, so using the cool lake and natural springs was a great way to ice it!
I hadn’t run on on the Kettle Moraine Forest - Southern Unit trails in a decade, before iPhones and Smartwatches. I had raced on trails in the northern half of the park several times. In fact, I launched my ultra running career in 2008 at the The North Face - Wisconsin 50k. I returned the next year to race the 50 mile and consistently improved each year until I broke the course record in 2011, which ended up being my last ultra for nearly 8 years as I took time off to have a family. Now I return with my children who add so much energy on our hikes.
Nordic to Rice Lake
I made surprisingly good time and enjoyed the peacefulness at the turnaround at Rice Lake. More importantly, I felt great. The tranquil lakes were the highlight of the run. On the return route, it was fun seeing all the other runners on the training run, a taste of what’s in store for race day. I kept my mind quite occupied with attempting to follow along on the topo maps I had printed out, with the luxury to pull the map up my phone to verify my location all-too-often.
Upon reaching the Nordic Trail System, the final miles tested me. I’ll definitely need to be mentally prepared to tackle perhaps the hilliest part of the race course four times on race day. The bag of potato chips at an aid station several miles earlier turned out to be a godsend as I ended up having to scour my packet for every morsel of food in the final miles. I felt like I was dragging the final miles but managed to cover the south half of the race course in preparation for race day.
R&R
The underbrush made navigation extremely slow.
Upon returning to the campsite, family time commenced as we got our sunscreen on and hit the beach. (It was a tough sell to my daughter to not pack her winter coat and instead her swimsuit when the prior day only was 43F.) Being the warmest day of 2022, the kids had a hoot splashing, playing in the sand, and collecting snail shells while I soaked (i.e. iced) my Achilles in the ice-cold lake. After prying them from the beach we hiked Scuppernong Springs nature trail where I once again got to “ice” my Achilles, this time in fresh spring water. After supper I snuck out at sunset for some Barkley navigation training, including some night navigation. My pace was Barkley-esque, covering less than 2 miles in over an hour.
Day 2
Sunday morning ended up being a late start as the showers that started in the wee hours continued past daybreak. I looked at the radar and resolved that I would spend most of the morning wet if I was going to get any training in. Once again, the rain suddenly stopped the moment I stepped out of the camper. After downing a bagel while supervising my kids in the outhouse, I hit the Scuppernong Loop. Although I had raced on the loop four times, this was my first time running the loop in the daylight. At one point I thought I had seen a hiker ahead, but it was just startled turkeys!
I continued south where my husband picked me up enroute to hikes at Paradise Springs and Shute Springs nature trails. We noted the large frog in the former wading pool, which was soon demoted after we spotted the largest bullfrog we had every seen chilaxing on a log. The raincoats we donned finally got put to use in our final leg.
I convinced my husband he could tackle a second lunch of the weekend on his own while I made the one-way run back to the campsite, which ended up being good mental training. I was soon sopping wet trudging through mudpuddles. With no topography to follow, I was forced to think about my race day mentality under potentially full sun in the afternoon (although at least the trees will be leafed out to offer shade by then!).
Hopefully the trails aren’t this soggy come June!
Although human encounters were sparse, I had plenty of company on the trails. First, I spotted the longest nightcrawler of my life followed by a plethora of wildlife. Shortly after spotting a sandhill crane, I stopped in my tracks on a boardwalk as sleuthed to identify the source of a “ker-plop”. The rain had stopped and I admired several painted turtles basking under the rays. The serenade of frogs was nearly continuous, but especially enjoyable at Brady’s Rocks (a spur I didn’t want to feel guilty about passing on race day). Brady’s Rocks was the highlight of the run, where I nearly stepped on a grass snake sunning itself. I remained accompanied by many butterflies in the final miles to the campsite.
Preparing for race day
After taking many pictures and leaving only footprints (118,000 in total), the weekend at Kettle Moraine Forest - Southern Unit sets the stage for my next ultra effort while getting in some great family time (quite the contrast from excursions a decade earlier!). I expected the southern half of the Ice Age Trail to be more technical, based on other segments throughout the state. A good thing to know when setting a time goal for the KM100. This course already was going to be the least technical and flattest 100 miler, but now a top 5 course time is within reason.
June 11 and the Kettle Moraine 100 miler will be here soon. Follow this blog for the race report!
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Barkley Fools!