One Week to Kettle Moraine 100

One week to Kettle Moraine 100. I am a lot more relaxed then I was for Rocky Raccoon. Training gives one confidence, and right now I have an abundance of both confidence and training. I'm not going to win, I might not even break the top 20, but that's not my goal. I just want to finish one of these things. And then I when I run Rocky Raccoon next year I can run for a fast time. But that's getting ahead of myself. Training has been going well considering I didn't know I was going to be training for another 100 mile race, but the stuff I was running anyway happened to be a perfect lead in to this race. I did a solid 50 mile race, and also a 65 mile run where it got somewhat warm 3 weeks before the scheduled 100. As long as I run smart and within myself I got it.

I haven't talked to that many people that have done this race. Given that it's almost 2000 miles away, and there are numerous 100 mile races between here and there, it's not surprising. From what I've read and heard this is a pretty tough course - deceptively hard. There are no huge mountainous climbs which is good, but there are numerous short climbs. Lots of blogs call them PUDS (pointless ups and downs) which after a while will suck your energy and strength. Another factor that could be tough is the heat, it has been hot there, and there are parts of the course where there is no shade, so the summershine could be brutal once the temperatures reach 80. Patience will be key to this race. I have to make sure I don't wear myself out in the heat. Keep tabs on my nutrition. And then still hope for a little bit of luck.

It's going to be a quick trip. I'm taking a red eye flight out of Seattle on the Thursday before the race, get in Friday morning. I have a hotel in Whitewater for Friday and Saturday, and then I'll have to catch a late Sunday evening flight back to Seattle. I don't think I'll be going to work on Monday. It will be fun I'm sure. There is a slight chance one of my friends from Minnesota will be able to show up and pace me for the last 20+ miles which would be awesome. I'm really looking forward to this, and getting that monkey off my back.