Two weeks to go until the big race starts. This weekend was my last training opportunity before focusing on rest. It also happened to be the weekend of the Susitna 100 race, so I decided to combine my training with a little spectating.
The Susitna 100 is a cousin of the Iditarod Invitational. It’s a 100 mile race for bikers, skiers and runners through frozen Alaska on trails that vary from snowmobile superhighways to almost no trail at all. While the Invitational is mostly about survival, the Su100 is definitely a race. For 100 miles. It is so physically demanding that, after I finished in 2005, I told my wife never to let me do that again, even if the painful memory faded with time. So I’m doing 350 miles instead. Yeah, that makes sense.
As with most of my training this year, I got a late start leaving the house on Friday night. After I helped put my son to bed and got packed up, it was 9:30 PM. I still had a two hour drive and then a ski before I could sleep, and my motivation was low. Fortunately, a RockStar Roasted Mocha and a killer playlist on my iPod got me fired up during the drive. By the time I started skiing at 11:30 PM, I was raring to go.
I followed the Su 100 trail from Point Mackenzie until just before Flathorn Lake which took about 2.5 hours. As I set up camp, I tried to focus on doing things warmly and efficiently, but the temperature was a mild 20 degrees F, so it felt a little silly to be wearing a down jacket and mittens.
I had a fitful night of sleep, mainly because I am still experimenting with sleeping pads. I had hoped to use only a Z-Lite foam pad in the race, but after shivering through a recent night at -5F, I decided I needed more. I’ve also got four different Thermarests that I could use either with, or in place of, the Z-Lite, but they are bulky and heavy. This time around I tried the Z-Lite with an Insulmat Air Core 3/4 length pad on top of it. The Insulmat folds up small and light, but it has no foam insulation, just air. I was plenty warm for this trip, but the race will be MUCH colder. Plus, the Insulmat was slippery and I kept sliding off it. You would think that with seven sleeping pads in our house, I’d have a decent combination for the race, but you’d be wrong. That is my biggest question mark as far as gear goes right now. Still trying to figure it out without dropping $200 on a down/air mat. Anyway, back to the Susitna 100.
Saturday morning I packed up camp at 9:00 AM and skied across Flathorn Lake. When I intersected the inbound Su100 trail, I came across the tracks of a fat bike headed out on the trail. The tracks were clearly made the night before, likely by someone doing the same thing I was. For some reason I thought it might be Epic Eric. He’s crazy enough to camp out in the middle of winter just to watch a few bikers and skiers go by. I followed the tracks through the Dismal Swamp and across the Susitna River. Sure enough, on the opposite river bank, Eric was kicking back, getting ready to build a fire and cheer on the racers. We hung out and chatted as we waited for the lead racers to come through. Some people camp out for Star Wars or iPhones, we camp out to watch the Susitna 100.
The trail this year started out a little soft in the morning, but still good for both skiing and biking. As the day went on, and the temperatures climbed into the thirties, the trail softened more. The skiers and some lead bikers seemed to handle it fine. Other bikers and runners really struggled. I kept telling them “It’ll firm up when the sun goes down,” even though I wasn’t nearly as confident as I tried to sound.
I did a little more skiing up and down the trail towards EagleSong lodge, watching racers go by. About 2 PM I realized that if I wanted to sleep in my own bed that night, I’d better get going. On my ski back towards Point Mackenzie, I stopped in the Dismal Swamp to cook dinner and melt some water for my CamelBak. I cheered on the racers as they passed. I think a few were tempted to sit down and join me.
Most of the Su100 and Little Su 50K racers I passed in the last four hours of my ski thought that I was the leader of the race, headed for the finish line. I felt like I was disappointing them when I had to say, “No, no, I’m not racing. I’m cheering YOU on.” Sorry to steal your thunder, Chet.
I stopped to say a quick hi to Bill and Kathi at the Alaska Ultrasport tent on the homestretch of the trail. See you in two weeks!
I arrived back at my truck at 7:30 PM. It was a 10 hour day, probably about 8 hours of actual ski time. The total trip distance was about 60 miles. Mostly skating, with maybe 8 miles of classic skiing thrown in for practice. I didn’t get to work on cold weather strategy as much as I hoped, but it was a good training session. It was a lot of fun to see so many friends out in a beautiful area on a gorgeous day.
Eric took a ton more photos than I did.
My photos
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