FKT: Reese Slobodianuk - Glacial Drumlin State Trail (WI) - 2020-04-26

West to east.

Glacial Drumlin Trail Report and Collections

Effort Date : 4/26/2020

To start the day at 4:00am is reminiscent of my typical routine pre Covid-19. This pandemic has cast a host of harms upon our society - harms which may take a lifetime to remedy. Though I don't wish to spite the people, families, and communities that have been directly affected, there have been some "silver linings" that have arisen from the bellows of this cumulonimbus.

The first of which has been the gift of time. After the pandemic closed the Wisconsin Athletic Club, I found myself with nothing but spare time while not coaching my many clients and classes. With an insatiable yearning for learning, I placed my energy into exploring all of my kinesthetic-questions that I hadn't yet had the time to explore. This gift also afforded me the pleasure of being able to pursue my athletic passions with a velocity far greater than what could have occurred in the "pre-Covid" era.

As such, I coupled this newfound knowledge and time to train which produced a block of running that far exceeded my own expectations. I'm not claiming that this FKT attempt or training was extraordinary by any means, however this block did lead to many firsts in my athletic ambitions. My first 100mile running week and explorations of previously foreign-to-me Ice Age Trail sections were a few of these highlights.

The second gift brought by Covid-19 was uncertainty. While this seems counter intuitive, the uncertainty of work motivated me to pioneer an online-training program in attempts to maintain contact with my clients and friends.

Having felt aerobically stronger than ever, I picked a sensible date for an FKT attempt and tapered appropriately. All I had to do was make it the start uninjured and willing to give the attempt a complete effort that would push my limits. I far exceeded these goals beyond what I thought I was capable of. Now a day removed, I type these words with the satisfaction of knowing that I left everything out on the 53mile journey across the Glacial Drumlin Trail. A chronicle of the effort follows, beginning at the sleepy 4:00am hour...

4:00am - I'd already been up for 30 minutes and laying in bed. My eagerness to start the day woke me up pre-alarm and I lay in bed mindlessly scrolling Instagram. I thought to myself, "Well, if I'm going to be putting my body through the gauntlet, the least I could do is to give it 30 more minutes lying in bed." Once the alarm rang aloud I headed upstairs to scramble 2 eggs,heat some oatmeal, and collect my thoughts for the effort to follow.

5:20am - Footsteps leaving the house were the only sounds echoing throughout the halls at still such an early hour. Donny, my mother's fiance, had graciously agreed to drive me to the trailhead in Cottage Grove. Having previously packed all of my gear allowed me to have a stress-free morning by not worrying myself with thoughts of forgetting any crucial piece of gear. Now the only thing standing between me and the start was a defecation and a 45 minute drive.

6:10am - Donny and I arrived at the trailhead right on time (even though we stopped at Kwik-Trip so that I could release my payload). We joked earlier that the heated seats would help "loosen the pipes", but truthfully I'm grateful that they did because being "cleared-out" at the start led to a pleasant first-5 hours before I would need to stop for relief again.

6:20am - Now alone after Donny parted ways to head back home, I stood at the trailhead and swung my legs briefly to liven them up for the forthcoming mission. I grasped the trailhead sign in order to give the effort a definitive start and while closing my eyes, I took a deep breath in, out, and clicked my watch before relieving my hand. The day had begun.

Miles 1-10 : I now reference the day in terms of miles because I chose to not worry about time as a way to relieve some of the psychological agony that can manifest from looking at the clock. Characterizing the first 1/5th of my journey was a sense of joy to be able to spend the entire day outside with the only goal of traversing the distance between Cottage Grove and Waukesha. Oh, and cold hands - it was a chilly, yet refreshing, 37 degrees at the start.

Miles 11-20 : Many mile-markers passed me by and I tried my hardest not to look at them. I found joy in focusing on my body while it moved through the surrounding environment instead of the minutiae of miles covered and miles to go. However, I unintentionally glanced at "mile-marker 17" and thought to myself how great I felt. I continued to eat, drink, and check in with my body in order to preserve this feeling of bliss as long as possible - full well knowing that a level of physical and mental pain were inevitable during such an excursion.

Miles 21-30 : Defecation #2 came at 4h:45min and it was the first break from running that I had taken since the start. For better or for worse I've always been a multitasker. While doing the deed, I packed my windbreaker and unpacked headphones. Anything to save time, right? With a lighter load, I sprung down the trail feeling gastrointestinally eased for the remainder of the miles. At this time I began to resent the overly sweet gels and resorted to forcing myself to choke them down. If there is anything that I have learned, it's that I have a savory palate, not sweet.

Miles 31-40 : 50k into the day I was overly excited to see the familiar faces of Judy and Gary Dollhopf, my fellow ultra-adventure enthusiasts. I had not seen their genuine faces since the phenomenon of social distancing had begun. They graciously filled my bottles, collected my trash, and wished me well on my way. I'll forever cherish this unexpected and brief encounter as it came at a time when I needed assistance, love, and stoke the most. Miles 31-40 were the highest points of the day for this particular reason.

Miles 41-50 : Every drastic high is accompanied by an equally drastic low. Now hurting both physically and mentally, I pushed as hard as I could while keeping my body, nutrition, and hydration in the forefront of my mind. It is easy to "smell the barn" and forget that an energy bonk can reduce a running-stride to a death-march no matter how close the end may seem. I was extremely exhausted by this point. However, every time I thought about how badly I wanted to take a brief walk break, I quickly lifted my head, closed my eyes, smiled, and mumbled to myself "this is why I'm here". I was running an arbitrary distance to explore the boundaries of my mental and physical limits. I can gladly say that amidst the physical and mental exhaustion, I never entertained the thought of, or even took, a walking break. The only two times that I broke my running-stride were between miles 30-32, once for the bathroom break and once to re-gear with my dear friends.

Miles 51-53.11 (End) : By this point I knew the end was inevitable as long as I could maintain my running stride. I gladly chewed (choked) the last of my nutrition, slurped the last of my water, and kept my legs turning over. Throughout the day I imagined how I would react to the sight and touch of my self-designated end, the E.B. Shurts placard. Variations of throwing my hands into the air were what I imagined - but what transpired was nothing of the sort. Heavy metal rang in my ears as I was within sight of the placard. I have always found an emotional release in music. However, I have never exploded into tears while listening to Metallica's "Enter Sandman" like I did when I collapsed onto the E.B. Shurts sign. A juxtaposition that I can now only laugh about! These tears contained the emotions of joy, pride, exhaustion, accomplishment, and touch of sorrow. Sorrow for the close of a project that I had been contemplating for years.

Nutrition & Hydration : I took in roughly 200kcal / hour consisting of gels, waffles, blocks, dates, and drink-mix. While this was as much as I could stomach in an hour, I believe that I could have trained to take in more, which may (or may not) have provided me with greater energy for a quicker pace (although I felt fairly energized all day). I consumed a total of 48oz water, 18oz of Skratch mix, and another 18oz of Hammer Electrolyte mix along the trip (totaling 2.5L (80oz) of fluids).

Effort Ethos : It was important to me that only a few people knew about this goal - and by a few I mean less than 5. I wanted this effort to test my own internal willingness to push my limits and felt that too much external pressure would only muddy this test. I wanted the effort to be a zero-pressure game, meaning that I didn’t want anyone to be counting on me to succeed. Having no start line, spectators, or crowded finish made the motivation to give nothing short of my best completely internal, which is what I wanted out of the day.

Special Thanks! I'm every-grateful for the help and support of everyone that made this possible.

• My mother and Donny for the limitless support, both in helping me get to the start line and for the day's effort.

• Judy and Gary Dollhopf for reasons aforementioned as well as their plethora of continual stoke.

• Buzz and Peter Bakwin for helping to keep a niche lifestyle alive, establishing the FKT nomenclature, and giving it a platform.

• All the friendly faces that smiled and said hello on the trail.