Black Hills 100k- Beware: this does include a mountain lion

photo by Royal Hartwig

Race morning my nerves were high. I was super excited to get to run the Black Hill trails. I have been wanting to try a mountain race with plenty of elevation change. (The 100k has a total elevation change of 21,662 =gain/loss.)  I've run Lean Horse 100 mile twice, it's nothing like Black Hills 100 but it's the same Race Directors, same general area of South Dakota.  It feels familiar/homey & there are plenty of great attractions for the family. So I decided I would make BH100k my first long distance mountain race. 

An injury I suffered in August of 2012 had me worried about my endurance. The injury forced me to take some time off  running but I didn't really manage the recovery well. I was stubborn...in denial...and kept trying to run before my body was fully healed. I would get a few weeks of training in, then I was injured again.  Because of that I had months of inconsistent training and an injury that would not go away. ( please learn from my mistake & don't do that, it wasn't fun). Finally I learned and I took the time needed to get fully healed. Then I built my mileage up slowly. This meant I was going in to Black Hills with only 7 weeks of consistent training & only 2 long runs (hmmm...still maybe not the brightest idea). But I was sure nothing hurt, my body was healthy, all I was lacking was training. I thought mentally I could get myself to the finish line. I didn't care how long it took, I had to finish. I love distance running and it had been way to long.

At the start line I was sick to my stomach from nerves. I felt like it was my first ultra. I was happy to see Joy and Julie (from Chicago area). They were so warm, positive and smiling. Everything they said helped calm me down. ...trail people are awesome!

My families feet before the race (Royal Hartwig, Tasha, and me). My shoes are the pretty turquoise and navy once on the top right. Be sure to look at my after picture

The race starts and finishes at Woodle Track and field. A really beautiful stadium. I took off nice and easy, chatting with everyone around me, my stomach settled quickly once I started running. I got on pace with a man from Texas that had finished Bighorn, Leadville and Western States. I figured he knew how to manage a mountain course and I enjoyed talking with him so I decided to stay at his pace. He was walking the longer climbs and running the downhills really easy. If I was leading I would have ran the downhills faster but I thought it's probably smart to go at this more conservative pace. We ran for quite a few miles together and had a great time.

Eventually my girlfriend Jessica Pendelton caught us. She is running the Gnarly Bandit series. I wanted to run with her so when she passed I stayed at her pace. She is an excellent climber. I had to work hard to keep pace with her on the uphills. Although I was feeling like I could run the downhills quicker. So I decided to go ahead on the downhills. It was no effort for me to run these & I wanted to take advantage of that. Once I would hit another climb Jessica and the group I was running around would start to catch me on the top. I needed to run these downhills quicker to stay the same pace as them. I felt like I was running at even effort on up and downs. I wanted to be sure I didn't wear myself out on the climbs. I had no idea how my endurance would hold up. Usually you can trust your training but I did not have a big base.

There were quite a few mountain stream crossing. They were rocky and the water was cold & crystal clear. They had ropes to hold onto as you crossed. The cool water felt great on my feet. I had extra shoes in case I wanted to change but my shoes dried quickly after the each crossing. I never felt the need to change shoes all day. I was wearing my Roclite 268's. 

I caught a man that I see at races all the time. He was running with one water bottle and had ran out of water and he was thirsty. With the blazing sun & dry South Dakota heat that was easy to do. It had happened to me earlier in the day and I downed many glasses of liquid once I got to the aid next station.  Since I was carrying 2 water bottles I gave him one of mine and ran with him and his friend for awhile. It was fun hearing their trail stories....did I mention...I love trail runners

Pictures don't capture the amazing views

I got to the Dalton Lake Aid Station and saw my husband. For the last 10 miles I had a headache and was feeling nauseous. I didn't want the nauseous to get out of control. This has been a problem for me at 100 mile races. Basically every race I run I'm trying to learn how to run a 100 mile race well & that means learning how to manage my stomach. So I decided to sit down and let it settle.  I ate some pasta salad, watermelon and a drank an ice cold 7-up.

After the race I realized the nauseous/headache was from being over 5,000 feet. Looking at the elevation chart, every time I was above 5,000 feet was when I was having problems.  I would start dropping back down I would start feeling normal again. 

When you leave Dalton Lake Aid Station your at mile 29 there is a 2 mile out then back. That out and back was tough. It was a uphill the entire way. Steep, loose rocks, hot, plus I was pretty sunburned. I'm not used to that mountain sun. It was challenging but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle, I was feeling positive. I was really happy with how I was doing. It felt really good to be running an ultra again.


I hit the turn around which according to my Garmin was close to 32 miles. Then it was downhill to Dalton Lake again. I was able to run quite a bit of that. A few sections were steep and it was causing a little twinge in my knee so I walked some. There was one point that I saved a runner going the wrong way. He was thankful. I had saved a runner on the way up as well in the same area. The course was marked correctly but it was a little confusing because of an arrow that was on a sign that was not a BH100 course marking.  

Dalton Lake headed back up to over 5,000 feet

I came back to Dalton Lake Aid station. Had some watermelon and 7-up... delicious!. I had watermelon at every aid station. That was the best! Plus ALL the aid stations had ice. AWESOME! I don't know how they lugged all that watermelon and ice out to these remote aid stations but I certainly appreciated that they did. Leaving the aid stations with a couple of bottles of cold ice water was a real treat in the hot mountain sun. Thank you RD's/volunteers for taking such good care of us!

On the climb out of Dalton Lake I felt pretty good but once again when I got above 5,000 feet... Heavy headache, nauseous and moving slow. I was struggling to run areas that were run-able. I was thinking about what Shelley Cook said to me before the race, "Michele, we both know running ultras is more mental than physical".  Okay, ...so I told myself don't mentally let yourself stop running.  I had decided before the race I would never stop giving full effort. But this part was challenging me. My legs were not trashed, I was just exhausted/sluggish. My head was a "squeezing" headache and my stomach was not good. I would try running and not make it very far. I started watching my garmin way to much. I would be moving along for what felt like a very long time and find out I had only went a quarter of a mile. "okay ...don't give up...remember full effort"

I was so happy to get to run these trails. It was a treat of a lifetime

When I got to the next aid station I sat down for quite a long time. I would guess 40 minutes. I wanted my head to stop pounding and my stomach to get back to normal.  For about a second- bad thoughts creeped into my head... It was going to be getting dark soon. I would only see my family at one more aid station. I didn't know if I would start moving so slow that I wouldn't be able to stay warm. Plus- I have to admit I was worried about the mountain lion. They mention them 3 times in the runners packet. Plus I had seen one (close up) while I was running Lean Horse 100 so I knew they were around. At LH100 I was with a pacer. Now I was going to be out during feeding time alone and in the dark... a little creepy

"push those negative thoughts out"-I decided I had sat down way to long. I needed to get moving. This long break now put me about 1 hour behind my goal finish time. I put on a long sleeve shirt and a hoodie and started the climb out of Elk Creek Aid Station. Once I was moving I was feeling much better. I realized I had to many clothes on. I took off the hoodie and tied it around my waist.

I got to an open meadow area with tall grass. I was thinking "this is probably where the mountain lion like to hang out". About that time I heard a soft "meow...meow..."  This was in the middle of the mountain range...It was not an area I would expect to see a stray cat. I don't know what baby mountain lions sound like but full grown ones do sound kind of like a house cat with a much deeper vocal cord. When I saw a mountain lion at Lean Horse I heard it first, it sounded like a purring growl. I doubt this was a baby mountain lion but it didn't help me from trying to stop thinking of them. (note: this is not the part of the story that includes a mountain lion)

We were blessed with a beautiful sunset on race day

I got to Bulldog and aid station captain extraordinaire Anna Ball was there. I knew I could still make it to the finish in my goal time but I was going to have to speed up the next 10 miles. I told Anna I couldn't remember what kind of climbs I'm going to have. I had ran all this earlier but that was a long time ago. Anna said, "There is a big climb out of here then a long undulating down hill to the next aid station. Then you'll have one more small climb after that but I don't quite remember what that ones like"  ...personally I think she chose not to tell me about that last climb because it was a doozy, good call on her part

So I left Bulldog with this great calming description in my head. I climbed without ever giving up. I got to the top and started running, one big long undulating down hill to the next aid station. I could do it. I just kept going. As I clicked off the miles I was starting to get really close to being able to hit my goal finish time again. I was feeling awesome. Once the altitude sickness went away I was running well again. If I felt confident enough to race I could have ran faster, but without having the mileage base I wasn't being aggressive. I was running at a pace that I felt I could keep forever, then taking short walking breaks here and there. Finishing was my goal and I did not want to miss a turn, get sick, or do anything that would jeopardize that.

I got to the Alkali Creek Aid station. I could do it. I could finish in my goal time. I had really made up a lot of time in that last section. I beat my husband to the aid station. Him and my daughter had set the alarm and took a nap, they didn't expect me this early so they were still sleeping. Royal (my husband) says now he should know better. This wasn't the first time I had done this to him at an ultra. He's watched as I've left an aid station looking like "death worn over... then come running through the next at an all time high. I didn't mind missing him, it gave me a little confidence boost to know I had came back so well...in my head I was all cool like "yeah, I beat them here". I can be a little dorky, I know...  Plus it helped me get in an out of the station faster. All day I had been hanging at the stations longer than I normally do because it was fun to talk with my family... Love my crew.... Royal and Tasha

I left the aid station and very quickly got to the last climb. Wowzie...It was a steep. I can't imagine how hard that was on the tender legs of the 100 mile runners. I finally got to the top and the downhill was just as tough.  I tried to run as much as I could but I wasn't managing it very well. The rocks were loose, it was steeper than what I normally run on.  I felt like I was braking every step, this hurt my right knee a little. Plus there were lots of big rocks that were grabbing my toes and trying to trip me and it would have been a long fall. I  wasn't experienced running on this kind of trail. I was doing the best I could. I knew I was going to have to start making up pace soon because I was again falling behind.

I eventually got to more a runnable area. I started running at a steady pace, something I could hold until the finish line. I thought this section was a little confusing. I did not get off course but I had to stop and think a few times to make sure I was going the right direction. There were places you could have made a wrong turn. It was marked correctly but I would have liked to see a few more confidence markers in this area. 

In this section you are running through meadows and woods. Every once in awhile you would be able to see the Sturgis Woodle track/finish line in the distance. That was pretty cool. I wasn't feeling overly anxious to finish. I was enjoying the fact that I could still run. I made it to town and got off the trail onto a paved path.

I was now super close to the finish line. It also looked like I was going to finish in my goal time. So after running through the mountains all day long I'm now running on a concrete city path. I can see the finish line... It was right there... Not even a quarter of a mile... When.....

"YIKES".... off to the left I see two glowing eyes staring at me.  I notice the color of the animal. It was a tawny gold color...oh no...was this a mountain lion? Then the animal laid down...hmmm... I stopped. What the heck am I supposed to do. I wasn't sure if it was a mountain lion but I didn't want to run by it and find out. It didn't seem like a deer would be standing in the grass, spot me and lay down. "let's see...think..." The path went along side a road. Maybe I could run the road to the stadium. I decided to turn around and go back to the road. This was maybe 1/2 mile. I certainly didn't want to just wait and see if in fact it was a mountain lion and it was going to come after me. I got back to the road when a male runner came along. I told him think I saw a mountain lion up ahead. He says, "Cool ! I saw 3 of them today, no worries...they like prey that is knee high or below". He just kept running along. So I followed. I let him get ahead of me. I stayed back to make sure he got by the area that the big cat was- then I went. I just looked straight ahead and prayed. I made it safely by and to the outside of the stadium.

There weren't any markers directing you to the correct entrance.  I saw someone and asked them which entrance to go in. It was the closest entrance, kind of obvious- but I just wanted to make sure I went to the right one. I got on the track and ran to the finish line. I felt really good. I was really happy with how well I ran and how good I felt at the finish line.

I could not have enjoyed that race more. I enjoyed talking with a bunch of awesome people. See amazing views. Travel for miles on the beautiful Black Hills trails. I love running long distance on amazing trails. A short run or hike is not enough for me. I love working my mind to manage my body, then I enjoy the tiredness I feel at the finish. I could not be more thankful to be able to run these races. I am so thankful to the race directors and volunteers for all the work that goes into these events. I'm also thankful for the people that were the pioneers of long distance running. If it wasn't for them I would have never realized this was possible. I feel so good about the day & I can't wait for my next race. That one, I plan to race hard!

Much love & happy trails~ Michele

Finishing was my award but I was happy to take home this buffalo skull for 3rd overall female

Got-er-done!

If it ain't rainin' It ain't training!!!

I thought my Inov-8 shoes looked awesome all decorated up with  MUDD and sweat! Only 23 miles of trail running could get them looking this good!

Thanks Tim Kruse & Carl Galdine for getting me through a few really tough miles. 

I had a great training run on the famous Ice Age trail in Wisconsin this weekend with my friends Tim & Carl.  We started from Emma Carlin parking lot, which is the turn around area for the Ice Age 50 mile race. It's a great place to start running because one direction you get some challenging hills and nice single track then you can go the other directions for some beautiful meadows. We were happy to have a hot & humid day with scattered rain storms. The trails were wet and muddy and the temperature was super hot & muggy! It was NOT an easy run, perfect for training!  We hit the meadows for the last 11 miles. We watched the rain clouds as they moved towards us, eventually soaking us down. My drenched friend Tim simply said, "if it ain't rainin" it ain't trainin"! Suddenly we were all laughing and loving the storm. We all helped one another and rocked out an awesome 23 mile training run! I wore my Trailroc 246's and they worked great on all the trail conditions!!! 

Kettle Moraine 100k- June 4, 2011

Chuck, and me ready to go! I've learned a lot from him and appreciated him doing a bunch of training miles with me. On one of my training runs with Chuck we did 4 hours on the hilliest part of Kettle. Chuck is faster than me. My training schedule called for me to speed up to "marathon" effort pace. We were almost back to our finish and I'm dying, Chuck just casually says, "I'll race ya to the finish!" you know, I kind of wanted to kick him!

Preparing for Kettle 100k

Kettle Moraine 100k, my first goal race of the year! I decided I needed to make some changes to my training in preparation for this race. First step, good training plan. I started by backing off doing races last year around November and replace it with quality training runs. I felt I needed to have months of consistent high mileage, work on a smart race fueling, pacing, and speed work. I hired Cari Setzler from Running Depot in Crystal Lake to write my training schedule and coach me.


Soon she had my mileage high and with no little injuries going on. She had me running 7 days a week, many times twice a day. Plus she added extra core work to my schedule. (This was a huge benefit) It was challenging working 40 hours a week, taking care of two kids and coaching 2 nights a week -on top of a high mileage training plan. But I was completely focused on getting myself ultra fit. I never felt overwhelmed because this was something I wanted to do. I soon learned how to manage my time better. Many times I was starting my second run of the day at 10:30 pm, then I would get up early the next morning and run again. I got completely comfortable with this. I knew the training was working. I ran Winona Lake 50 as a training run without tapering, and it actually felt kind of easy. I was able to keep a faster pace at Winona 50 than my Kettle 100k goal pace was. This was a good sign.

I had my goal pace in mind but I know weather plays such a huge factor in what we are going to be able to do on race day. I also know everyone has to deal with that weather, heat or rain- so we just have to come in to the race at our own personal best fitness level- then do what we have trained to do. With my race pace goals I thought I would have a good shot at a top five finish, but my main goal was win 1st overall Master Female.

Tasha, me and Royal Hartwig

Tom Wilson- my pacer from my first 100 mile race JJ100

Me and my friend Tom Wilson. He paced me to my first 100 mile finish at JJ100. I was so happy to see him! He is a strong runner that has finished many of the toughest 100 mile races in the country. I greatly admire him. THE DAY BEGINS....




Kettle Moraine 100 mile/100k Starting line
I was as prepared as I could be. The weather at the start of the race (6am) was already 73 with very high humidity. The temperatures would rise to the mid 90s before the day was over. I knew any tiny nutritional, pacing, or hydrating mistakes would cost me big on a day like this. I just needed to keep my head on straight, remember to drink, eat and take salt. Plus keep a close eye on my heart rate so I knew I wasn't using to much effort early on.


I started middle of the pack. I wanted to start slow and ease in to it. It was the first time I had tapered all year, It was so odd running on fresh legs. I had to be careful not to go to fast. The course starts out on the Nordic loop. I kept my heart rate low and was running just a little faster than my overall goal pace. This was good. My race plan was to keep the same pace through out.












When I finished the Nordic Loop my shorts were sopping wet from sweat. This was the first time all year that had happened to me. I didn't feel especially hot, but I figured I better be extra careful hydrating because I was losing a ton of water. I had a great crew, my sweet 11 year old daughter and my wonderful husband Royal. They would help me remember to do everything I needed to take care of myself today.

















I was cruising through the hills and rocky trails having no problem keeping pace. I had practiced many times the months prior to the race on these same trails with many different shoes. I eventually decided my Inov-8 FlyRoc 310's were the perfect shoes for this course. They are very helpful on the rocky sections. I was running and feeling very comfortable. Drinking 2 bottles between each aid station and taking my salt every half hour. I was getting my calories from Hammer Perpetuem, Lemon Sublime Gu's and Honey Stinger Waffles. My goal calorie intake was 300 calories per hour. I was using Hammer Endurolytes for salt. One on every half hour and 2 on every hour. If I was feeling funny, I would add an extra salt or Gu. I was also careful to slow my pace after eating to keep my stomach digesting my calories. I was feeling good and hopeful the heat was not going to kill my goal pace.

Then the open fields came. Very soon in to the open fields I realized keeping my goal pace would hurt me. I did not realize it was in the 90s with almost 100 % humidity already. I just knew keeping the pace I had practiced a million times was not going to be possible for me today. I couldn't understand why. I had run so many miles on very tired legs and could always keep pace. Today I was tapered and 16 miles in to the race. I made a very smart decision at this time. Don't watch my pace, just move forward at a pace I felt I could keep in this weather for the remainder of the race. I was still keeping an eye on my heart rate, not letting it get out of the comfortable area. I ran the entire open meadows at a conservative pace.












The killer open fields!



After leaving the open meadows the course heads up to Scumpernong. Part of the way is easy Pine forest trails and part of it is fairly challenging hills, all wooded. I was more tired than I thought I would be at this point. During my vision of how the race would go, I thought I would get to the 50k mark feeling fresh. I had done so many long training runs on this course. I knew my body but today was brutally hot and humid, the first of the year. What I had practiced was not going to work today. This just meant I had to dig deep early.

I got to the 50k mark and saw so many of my friends and family. It was great seeing everyone! I smiled, gave high fives, and lied to everyone about how great I felt. Then I turned around to go run the same 50k back. The good thing about the turn around was getting to see all my friends on the ways back. Seeing them was uplifting every time!

When I got to the next aid station my husband gave me my Ipod. This was a HUGE help. I cranked my music high and was feeling great. Suddenly I was running through the trails quickly and keeping my heart rate low. I blew by a few women at this point...Woo Hoo!!!! One of them was the only Master female that had been in front of me. Yee Haw!!!! I was feeling freakin Awesome!

That lasted until I hit the open fields again. It was hot, I was tired, but this was my race! PUSH... PUSH... PUSH.... I had blown by those women so quickly I knew if I was able to run that open field the entire way, I would get a good lead on them. I know my training kept me going, the meadows were brutal. I was prepared for them mentally and physically and I was able to run them on the way out AND the way back in!!!! Yeah baby!!!

My 11 year old daughter Tasha was at every aid station. When I came in she would give me ice, fill my water bottle. She would encourage me "your doing great Mom, your 1st Master Female and 4th overall ". I wanted her to see me work hard. I wanted her to know it wasn't easy for me. She had her big 5k the next morning that she had been training for. I wanted her to be inspired by my performance. I wanted her to learn from me and show up motivated at her race the next day - to do her personal best! I was planning to show her how to dig deep and gut it to the finish line!

My Mom and Son were driving up to see me cross the finish line. For some reason my Mom worries about me running long distance. She has not been to one of my races yet. I kept thinking I should tell my husband to call her and tell her not to come up. I was pretty sure I would collapse when I crossed the finish line, and I didn't want to worry her. But every time I got to an aid station I was more focused on refueling and would forget to tell him.

I arrived to my final 7.5 miles. Bluff aid station. I hadn't thought there would be a chance in the world I may need a headlamp here, but since the heat had slowed my pace I needed to grab a headlamp. The good thing was now I was able to have my husband run with me. I had originally thought I would come in to early to be allowed a pacer.

I asked my husband, Royal Hartwig, if he could set my Ipod to play Rhianna over and over again. He did and for the next 7.5 miles I blasted her song S & M while singing loud. Okay, now you have to picture this...44 year old white women, that is tone deaf and knows about every third word to the song- running through the forest, singing risky lyrics at the top of her lungs. Normally I would be way to self consious to do something like this, but this was what was getting me to the finish line! I had to keep running because I didn't want any women to catch me now!

My husband says I was keeping a great pace. It was hard. I never gave up the entire day. I ran flats and downhills and walked the big hills. We almost made it in before dark. Soon I was to the markers counting down to the finish line, 5 miles, 4, 3, 2, 1 !!!! Then just as I passed the one mile mark I saw this tiny little girl in a blue Team Inov-8 shirt standing in the middle of the trail. I said "Tasha?" She says Mommy!!!! I was so happy, I hugged her and we started sprinting to the finish line! I finished in 15:11 as 4th overall female and 1st Master Female!!!! The next morning Tasha got up and ran a super fast 5k. She was pushing so hard to the finish line. She said it was the most focused she has ever been in her entire life. She said she could not hear anything around her and she felt like she was floating! She kicked some major booty!!!! Honestly, that was my biggest victory! I'm so proud of Tasha!