Anybody following my blog for a while will noticed that I go to Kettle Moraine a lot. That's because it's a great race with relatively few hills with lots of support. I need the low elevation change because I live in Winnipeg, one of the flattest cities in the world. The biggest hill here is an old garbage dump, and about 40 feet high. The fact that Kettle is a Western States qualifier helps too.
So it shouldn't come as a surprise that I'm going back to Kettle this year. Last year was a trainwreck for me. A back injury a few weeks before the race derailed my Gnarly Bandit attempt, despite having more than enough fitness to get through the race (the jury is out if I would have been able to finish Black Hills). The year before, I pulled off the race of my life and finished my first 100 miler. I want to repeat that effort.
The year I finished, I started off very conservatively and slowly picked off other racers. I want to repeat that performance. If I can get to the Scuppernong (50k) Turnaround in 6:30, and get back to the Nordic Center (100k) before the sun goes down, approximately 14:30, then I should be in a great place to walk the rest of it in if shit hits the fan. But I don't plan on doing that. I want to go sub-24 hours.
I know the course. I know which sections of trail to walk, and which sections to run. I have my drop bags dialed. There is no reason not to crush my personal-best 100 mile time.
If anybody else reading this is running Kettle Moraine this year, I can share the spreadsheets I use to prepare for the race.
