Winter Ultras - Part 2 - Frozen Otter

Amanda and I near the start

On January 17, 2015, I set out with a few of my fellow Flatlanders to tackle the Frozen Otter Trek, a 64 mile race in the northern Kettle Moraine State Park in Wisconsin.  The race is historically a tough race, with a 25% completion rate.  The race has a set of required gear that must be carried.  There is very minimal support.  Water, Coffee, Hot Cocoa and Ramen every 8 or so miles.  We were also given one hot sausage.  the required gear added a significant burden.  The forecast called for favorable conditions so I brought the absolute minimum.

The race consists of two out and back treks from a lodge in the park.  One is 46ish miles, while the other is 18ish.  To be an official finisher you need to make it to one of the posts and back to the shelter.  The finishers are then ranked by distance covered.  

To be one of the "Frozen Few" you have to make it through the entire course in less than 24 hours. 

The race takes place on mostly single track moderately hilly trails.  My watch got about 5,000 feet of climb in the first 40 miles.  I would guess the total was not more than 7,500 feet.  

Lucky for us, the temperature was very warm for that time of year.  I don't think it got below 20 and I think for quite a bit of the time it was around 30.  Cold wasn't a factor.  I didn't have to use any of my required gear.  The conditions were ideal.

Striking a pose with Mike Mike

That being said, this was no cakewalk.  25 degrees isn't 70.  Moreover, I've never done a 100K.  It's a strange distance.  In this instance having little aid was really challenging.  I found myself craving hot food and desperately craving coke.  I never realized how important it is on long runs/races!  I bonked a bunch.

I started with my friend Amanda Runion.  Our plan was to run the entire race together.  the other two friends we ran with, Mike Mike and chuck Schultz set off on their own.  We did see each other several times throughout the race.  With 9 miles to go Amanda, Chuck and I set out to finish together.

Amanda got cold because Chuck and I were moving so slow.  I mean molasses slow.  I mean like 45 minute mile slow.  Chuck and I have been in several bonk-bunkers before so we made the best of it....hallucinating the final mile with false identifications of the finish, followed by "that's not real" in unison.

In the end Chuck and I finished in 22:14.  I joined the frozen few and my name will be permanently added to the Frozen Few plaque.  Amanda was about a half hour in front of us and Mike was about a half hour behind us.  We all had a blast.  I would do this event again, but I did miss my sled.  I think I would prefer a sled pull event if given a choice.  If I do it again I'll bring a few cokes for sure!

Gear: I nailed the gear on this one.  I wore my Hoka Stinson Trails and did not change shoes at all.  Injinji mid calf hiking socks, shorts (yep, no pants at all), Act'eryx Stryka Hooded Base Layer and Arc'Teryx Gamma Men's Hoodie  Arc'teryx Phase II Liner Gloves, Flatlander Buff.  Black Diamond Headlamp.

Finishers Dog Tags and Buff

Finishing

Partial Strava Data: https://www.strava.com/activities/242967553

TRAINING FOR ADVERSITY

TRAINING FOR ADVERSITY

          It has been a brutal winter.  I'm sure you've heard.  There has been a ton of snow and it has been colder than usual.  With that snow and cold came a few of my new, most hated, phenomena: the weather selfie (snapshot of the temperature) the projected forecast panic (a/k/a the "weather alarmist") and the....well......person who's non-stop bitching about the weather keeps it the forefront of your mind constantly.  Many of us took extra days off, hit the treadmill, found an indoor track or, just decided to wait till the weather got better.  Our training suffered.  But more importantly, our mental toughness suffered.

           Let's face it....most of us run with the ability given to us by our genes.  Sure, we may get relatively quicker or slower based on training and weight, but few of us are going from cutoff chasers to lead chasers in our ultra career.  As such, I don't think "running ability" or "training" is the deciding factor in most of our "performance."  

          I have participated in some difficult events.  Some were 100 mile races.  Others were long senseless fat-asses.  When I have been successful (which I define as completing the event) I have chalked that success up to three things:  1) my ability to eat or drink absolutely anything while running ("nailing the nutrition"); 2) the experience gained from long training runs, pacing and crewing those that know more than me (which is almost everyone); and 3) Mental toughness.

          Which brings me to this brutal winter.  Or the soon to come too hot summer.  Let's also include: the rain, snow, darkness and ice.  Let's not forget that when we are training things will happen in our lives: people get sick, family problems, work problems, stress, fear, anxiety, lack of sleep, sleepiness, boredom, sloth and lack of motivation.  All of these things are often used as reasons why we take a day off, skip a run, or explain our poor training.

          Here's a novel idea: if you want to improve your mental toughness these are all EXACTLY the times you need to run the most.  Because guess what?  All of these things can hit you on race day.  So instead of looking at the 50 mph wind outside and complaining about it putting a damper on your training see it as what it really is:

A TRAINING OPPORTUNITY