The Weekly Win
This week in Sioux Falls, the wind was howling at a sustained 25mph. As a flatlander, it’s easy to get frustrated when your pace drops because you're running into a wall of air. But here’s the weekly win: Wind is the Midwest's invisible mountain. Pushing through a heavy headwind on a flat path builds the exact same mental grit and quad strength as climbing a 1,000-foot vert. If you ran into the wind this week, congratulations— it’s like you just did hill repeats.
The Flatland Feature: Effort over pace in unpredictable weather
The Invisible Mountain: Mastering the Midwest Wind - For the busy professional, every training minute counts. When you only have 60 minutes between meetings and life events to get a run in, a 30mph spring headwind can feel incredibly demoralizing. You watch your watch, see your pace drop by 90 seconds a mile on perfectly flat ground, and instantly feel like you’re losing fitness.
You aren't. In the Midwest, the wind is our invisible mountain.
Here’s how you need to approach spring base-building when the weather won't cooperate:
Time & Tension, Not Distance & Pace: Your body doesn't know what a "mile" is. It only understands heart rate, time, and muscular tension. A 10-minute mile into a headwind could require the exact same physiological effort as an 8-minute mile on a calm track. Switch your watch face to show Heart Rate or Run Time, and hide the pace. If you don’t understand heart rate training, then a helpful tool here is to run based on rate of perceived effort (RPE). An RPE of 8-9 is going to be VO2 max training, an RPE of 6-7 is lactate threshold training, and an RPE of 3-4 is zone 2 training. Train the engine, not the ego.
The "Out-and-Back" Rule: When the wind is howling, plan your route so you’re running into the wind for the first half of your run. Fight the invisible mountain while your legs and mind are fresh. Then, turn around and let the tailwind carry you home. There is nothing worse than hitting mile 15 of a long run and realizing you have to fight a gale-force wind all the way back to your car… unless you’re looking to strengthen yourself mentally. In that case, end with the wind in your face just to show yourself you can!
Gear Pick of the Week: Spring Transition Layers
The Patagonia Houdini Jacket: May is the month of 'Wait, I'm freezing' to 'Wait, I'm overheating' in the span of three miles. The Houdini is the ultimate Midwest layer. It weighs basically nothing, blocks the wind entirely, and packs down to the size of a lemon so you can easily shove it into your pocket or hydration vest once the sun comes out.
The Baleaf Packable Jacket: If you’re on a budget, skip the name brands and grab a packable windbreaker from Baleaf on Amazon. They cost around $55, and also weigh almost nothing, block the wind, and pack down to the size of a tennis ball, so you can store it easily when things heat up. You can find the men’s here and the women’s here.
The Trail Scout: Kettle Moraine 100 (La Grange, WI)
If you’re running the Midwest Grand Slam, all roads lead through the Kettle Moraine 100. Hosted by the legendary Ornery Mule Racing team, this is the quintessential Midwest ultra. It’s a 100-mile Western States qualifier that looks deceptively "easy" on paper, but has broken thousands of runners who didn't respect the terrain.
Location: Whitewater, WI (Nordic Trailhead)
Date: June 13th
Elevation: ~8,800 ft. of gain (100M)
1. The Terrain: Beware the "Silent Killers" There are no mountain passes or altitude sickness here. Instead, the course is a relentless, 100-mile rollercoaster of short, punchy glacial depressions (kettles)… or the "Silent Killers."
The Vibe: 80% wooded, 20% prairie. You will run on some of the softest, most beautiful pine-needle-covered sections of the Ice Age Trail, mixed with roots, rocks, and wooden boardwalks.
The Flatland Strategy: Walk the ups. If you let your ego convince you to run up every single 40-foot roller in the first 30 miles, your quads will be entirely cooked by the time the sun goes down. Be sure to practice constant "eccentric braking" on short downhill grass repeats at your local park in preparation for this.
2. The Route & The "Mental Trap" The 100-mile race consists of two main out-and-back sections branching out from the Nordic Trailhead.
You will deviate from the Ice Age Trail to hit the wide, grassy ski trails at Nordic, Scuppernong, and McMiller.
The Trap: The ski trails are arguably the hilliest sections of the entire course, and because of the out-and-back format, you have to hit them multiple times. You will retrace the first 7 hilly miles immediately after you hit the 100k mark. You need to mentally prepare for this before race day.
Kettle Moraine 100 Course Map
3. The Aid Station Buffet According to the master logistics spreadsheet, Kettle is one of the most well-supported races in the country. There are 21 staffed aid stations (meaning you are rarely more than 2 to 6 miles from help).
What to expect: They don't just have water and gels. Stations like McMiller, Scuppernong, and Bluff are full-blown buffets. You’ll find fresh fruit cups, hot potatoes, bean roll-ups, PB&J, and some "surprise" savory treats (like hot dogs or popsicles) from the ultra-veteran volunteers.
Drop Bags: Supremely easy to manage. Drop them all off at the Nordic start line on Friday night or Saturday morning, and the race staff trucks them out for you.
4. The Logistics & Cutoffs
The Cutoff: 30 Hours. It is a very fair cutoff if you manage your time at the 21 aid stations. Don't pull up a chair and hang out too long.
Pacers: The dark miles in the Wisconsin woods get incredibly quiet. You can pick up a pacer starting at 6:30 PM (usually at the Bluff aid station).
The Weather Wildcard: It could be a perfect, crisp 60 degrees... or it could be 85 degrees with 90% humidity and ankle-deep mud from a midnight thunderstorm. Bring lube, backup socks, and take every chance to train for hot, humid weather.
The Final Mile
We’re officially in the thick of the base-building season. The miles you put in during these weird, muddy May weeks are the ones that save you at mile 80 in July. Keep showing up!
Before you go, let’s settle a Midwest debate:
💨 I would rather run in a 30mph headwind.
🌧️ I would rather run in 38 degrees and rain.
Hit reply and tell me your pick!
Ethan Poulter Founder, Flatland Ultra