I attempted my first 100 mile run in June 2007. I came up 6 miles short and was running against the clock. Basically I ran out of time and gas. After getting home and getting some rest, I decided I needed to go back and finish what I started. I ran several other trail runs over the summer, including both the 1/2 and full Voyaguer runs, the Moose mountain marathon in Sept and the Glacial lakes 50 K in Oct. Early in the 2007 running season, I was losing steam and enthusiasm for long distance runs and even discussed with trail running friends whether I wanted to continue with the hobby or not. I am not exactly sure what took place that changed my outlook, but I applied a slightly different approach to races than I had in previous years. Rather than have everything planned out well ahead of time, I decided I would put races on my calendar, but not commit to them until the very last minute-- hence I never had any expectations of times.. and it also meant getting up at 2:30 Am to do some long drives..  it turned out that my lack of planning ended up giving me the best year of trail running I have ever had.  I did 7 trail races of marathon or longer distances.. a record for this guy---but more importantly each race that I entered, I had more and more fun.  It amazed me and it rejuvanated my running again.  Friends that I emailed early in the year, looking for some motivation (kicked me in the butt) and then turned there head in amazement 2-months later when I lined up to do the 50 mile Ice Age run. 

To get ready for 2008 Kettle:

After taking 4 full weeks off of running, I began my training for this years event in Jan, running about 30-40 miles a week and ran my first race of the year at the Securian  1/2 marathon at the end of Jan. It went ok, but the cement and asphalt took it's toll be the end.  My thought was "If my legs hurt this bad after 13, how the hell am I supposed to run 100". I moved forward. Also, January brought me in contact with my new training partner. She sent an email to the Kettle list serve looking for advice and a pacer for the event as she was going to travel here from Australia to run her first 100 mile run. I emailed her back with some information about the course and after exchanging a few more, I shared with her my time goal for the race and invited her to join me on race day...So now I hope to be able to keep up with her in June. Strange having a training partner that lives 9000 miles away, but it has been interesting and very fun. I also have my pacer for this event set and she has been doing double duty as my coach, giving my training tips and goals for the week and has helped me stay to the task. That is Vicki. I first met Vicki on a miserable 50 Km run at Ice age in 2002(my first race on that trail). She motivated then to keep moving (it was so cold, I felt I was bordering on hypothermia) and she continues to do so today. She is not 9000 miles away, but does reside in the UP and is only availabe by email. She is still snowed in there to this day and it is well into April. She is still skiing for training.

Feb, I got a few more miles in but actually did a fair amount of XC Skiing and built up some endurance. Towards the end of Feb I began getting more miles in and was starting to feel like I was coming around pretty well and was feeling strong.

March I decided I was going to call Boot Camp month. Every weekend I put in more and more miles, more and more time.

In Early March, I got a motivating email from The UltraMarathon Man-- Dean Karnazes. This got me extremely pumped

March proved to be a great month of training. I stayed focused on my task and continued to work hard, no matter what the weather gods dished out at me. Towards the end of the month I started to get pretty pumped about my training and felt everything was coming together well. I finished the month with 324 miles of running + some walking and hiking. I felt great. Possibly the best I have felt in my adult life.. WOW. I never dreamed that in just 5-6 weeks of good training I could build my endurance up from  1 hour runs to over 9 on the last w/e. I guess Wheaties really can work.

Now it is April and it is time to test the waters and bring the show on the road and do some serious trail races and get a feel for where I really am. I am signed up to do the Mcnaughton 50 mile race. (not Chippewa as some of you may have heard) I have never run this race, but have heard about it for a few years now.. I did the Zumbro Fat Ass run on Sat April 5th and each time We came to a muddy area. Alicia and Karen told me I had to run through the mud because it would be good training for Mcnaughton.  I understand it be a tough course. Hills, river crossings and Mud.. Truelly a trail runners dream. What more can we ask for.. Well how about petitioning the Race Director to run my event at night rather than during the day, when the rest of the 50 milers will be out..  that is just what I did. He agreed. He must have checked my results of the other races I have entered and figured out I was not a front runner any way--so why not.

After hammering out at Afton for 4-5 weeks, I hope to be ready for Mcnaughton. I guess I will know soon enough.

Following Mcnaughton, I have plans to do the Free State run (100 KM) in Kansas

May schedule is still being worked out, but am planning Ice Age for sure. Matt offered to drive and do the cooking.. How could I turn that down?

June will be the main event