Wow, my kind of weather, rainy,cold & cloudy ! I felt like Superman walking around waiting for this thing to start. It had rained all week in Cheeseheadsville , so the Trails were a bit soggy in spots , but posed no threat to someone like me who was ready to tear it up.
The 50 Milers started at 6 ,the rest of us doing the fun run 50K started at 8. The rain had been going off & on all night & morning , it let up when we were to start our jaunt into the forest. This was the 25th. anniversary of this race , so it was a good sized field for both distances 50 Mile-(292 ) 50K (161).
Loop 1 ( 13 miles ):
The first loop was to be the toughest, or so I was told by many veterans, I ran this course once in 02' & dropped after 22mi's. The first 2 miles were smooth sailing on wide meadows on the Nordic ski trail, then it slowly turns into twisty, narrow ( so narrow at times you have to turn sideways to let other runners pass )up & down hills. It goes out & does a turnaround & right back atcha w/ what we just traversed. I thouight I am glad the toughest part was over first cause I am now felling more Like Jimmy Olsen than Superman...hey , but this is " My kind of weather "
Loop 2 (9 miles, miles 13-22 ):
As I started loop 2 from the start/finish turnaround, I could already feel my quivering quads screaming at me. Oh boy, at least these are the 2 e-z loops ahead that they told me about, wide ski trails.The loop started off w/ a good 2 miles of gently rolling meadows w/ tall pine trees, then I turned a corner and the roller coaster of e-z Ski trails began. E-Z ski trails !B.S.ski !( dang cheeseheads ) The Kettles lived up to their name on this section. A neverending pounding on the legs. By the end of this 9 mile loop I am feeling more like Lois Lane than Superman. But hey, wait what the &*^%$* up ? this is " My kind of weather "
Loop 3 ( 9 miles , miles 22-31 ):
Good thing about this loop is I know exactly what to expect, bad thing about this loop is I know exactly what to expect. I could already smell the post race BBQ ( Aready post race for some 50K'ers ), and the anticipation of the famous Milwaukee micro Brew " Louie's Demise " Well I took a few man pills ( Ibuprofen ) & had to go on my way , came too far to drop again at this damn thing again ! The first 4.5 of this loop was downright ugly to get to the first aid station of this loop ( long rows of tall pines w/ brown pine needles to run on..beauuuuuutiful ), after getting passed by about 10 runners in that stretch, I actually was passing a couple, how in the heck is this happening ? One more aid station & then the finish is what picked me up to get moving again ( oh yeah & the thought of BBQ & Louie's Demise Beer ).When I got to the last aid station it was 1.5 miles to go... I could coast in from here. Sure felt longer than that, but I am sure it wasn't, a couple of hard tight turns & out of nowhere the last 150 yards uphill to the finish...uphill ! ( Dang Cheeseheads ) I crossed the chip mat, yeah the dang thing was chip timed ! The announcer made sure to let everyone know I was from Austin Tx. What ! I was wearing Camouflage shorts & socks, how the heck did he see me ? Oh yeah , the dang chip.Wow, that was tough at that point I slipped all the way down to feeling like Perry White instead of Superman, " Great Ceasar's Ghost , I am finished " But hey, this was " My kind of weather "
I broke my watch band , so I had to ask the guy that blew by me at the end what our time was, since I was not wearing one. ( probably a Cheesehead ). I collected my finishers bonus & headed directly to the Beer tent & yes, Louie's Demise lived up to its reputation, had to sample a little sausage & chicken while I was there also, cant drive all the way back to Illinois where all the rest of the FIB's are , thirsty & hungry.Great job again by the Cheseheads for putting on a great race & weekend.
For being " My kind of weather " that was a tough run & I really was hurting the last 9 miles. I thought I had a much better performance in me at this time & was very disappointed in my time ( 6:49'ish ).
On the bright side it is the Kettle Moraine area & it was my fastest of 4 Kettles. I just had my sights set a little too high. It should be real entertainment to see me try to run the Congress Ave. Mile on Saturday.
Edit:
The guy that blew by me at the end was from Iowa, very nice gentleman by the way.( Sorry Cheeseheads )