Strategy For 100 Miler

I have a memory burned into my brain that I can't get out.

It was around mile 45 of last year's Javelina Jundred, my first 100 mile race. I had gotten a second wind and was feeling good. So good, in fact that I started to push my pace. Just a little. I wasn't going all-out but I certainly wasn't conserving.

I was running with a group of guys and we sped past an older man and younger girl. The haunting sentence I heard him whisper to her was "Don't worry. The race hasn't even begun yet."

I thought that was crazy talk. Of course the race had begun! And by all means....if you have the energy, you should take advantage of it! Or so my amateur, inexperienced brain thought.

By mile 80 I understood what that man meant. By mile 80 the race really HAD begun. And I had wasted my running legs earlier in the race. Now I had nothing to give. Every cell of my body hurt worse than I ever imagined my body could hurt. My lack of conservation earlier in the race came back to bite me. Not just bite me - it came back and chewed me up then spit me out on the side of the trail.

This time I'm going to try to be smarter.

On Saturday when me and the Javelina Jundred meet again I'm going to be like "Hey, wassup." And Javelina is going to be like "Hey, I remember you! You're the one who ran fast in the middle and then walked at the speed of a filing cabinet for the last five hours." And I'll be like "Yea? What's it to you!" And Javelina will be like "You're mine sucka!" And I'll be like "Oh yea? I'll get you my pretty! And your little dog too!"

Or at least that's how I imagine our conversation going. Around mile 80. If (or when?) I start hallucinating and talking to the trail like it's my sassy next door neighbor.

Countdown to 100 Miler Is On!

On Monday I ran an easy 5 miles. It was early in the morning and I'm pretty sure I slept through the whole thing.

Wednesday morning I ran 6 miles with my friend Will from work. It's a good thing I ran with a human being instead of my mp3 player - because I swear to you - if I hear one more Katy Perry song on the radio I will have to be institutionalized.

Will had never been on the Prospector Trail in Red Cliffs Desert Reserve. I'm pretty sure after this experience it won't be long before he goes back again.

I was feeling antsy to go out and run again on Thursday and Friday but I had a conversation with myself that went something like this: "Self, you should give your legs a  little break, get a little more sleep, and rest up because you're running a 100 miler next week. Go eat another cinnamon roll instead." So I did.

On Saturday, October 20th I ran 9 miles on the Guacamole Trail with my friends Cherie, Lyle, and Jason. None of them had been here before. I like showing people all the incredibly awesome trails we have so close by. This is the short climb to the top of the mesa:

 Once we reached the top of the mesa Cherie gagged down a Gu packet and then we were off.

We took a few detours to check out the views from the edge of the mesa. This involved making a few death-defying jumps. (Or not. The jumps are much less intimidating than they look.)

Lyle cheated death himself by jumping over some low lying barbed wire. Before he jumped I told him that I wasn't carrying him out if he fell. I'd just leave him for the mountain lions. No legs or manhood were harmed in the making of this picture:

My favorite part of the whole run was seeing their reactions as we came to different views along the trail. Honestly they were like kids in a candy shop. They couldn't believe how spectacular the trail was. I know how they feel. I feel the same way each time I run out here.

We stopped to take plenty of pictures along the way. It was an easy, casual run that made the miles float by. It's hard to take yourself too seriously when you're hanging out with yahoos like this:

Cherie has been into Crossfit, and I explained that she could just stop Crossfit and get into more trail running. If Spiderman was a trail runner, this is what he would look like:

We had one minor detour trying to find the trail, and before we knew it we were back at the beginning after nine miles. Sometimes it's better to slow down, relax, chill out, enjoy the scenery, not stress about pace, and have some all out fun.

I can't believe that the Javelina Jundred is in a few short days! It is such a strange feeling to know that on Saturday morning I will take my first step of a 101 mile run, and hopefully take the last step of that 101 mile run before the cutoff 30 hours later. It's going to be hard, and fun, and challenging, and amazing, and positively awesome.

In the next few days I'll give you some info about preparation, race day strategy, and live tracking of the race. Can't wait.

"You're better than you think you are and you can do more than you think you can!" ~ Ken Chlouber

Does It Always Get Worse?

A while ago I posted a question in the ultrarunning forum on Runner's World and got some interesting responses. Here is my question and then a few funny (but true) responses:

Me: I remember reading a quote before my first ultra that has always stuck with me: "It never always gets worse."

The funny thing is that in all the ultras I've done (should have clarified that this was for 100 milers), well, it always gets worse. Once I cross that line where fatigue or leg soreness has set in, I've never come out the other side of that and felt better later on in the race.

I hope I don't imply that I'm complaining. I love the challenge of ultras and can't wait to run Javelina Jundred again next month. So out of curiosity, have you had times when it DOES always get worse?

Joeja: No. It might get worse until you finish, but then it doesn't always get worse.

Weegee (a very experienced ultra runner by the way): I like to repeat to my personal Pessimist's Creed: No matter how bad it is now, it can get significantly worse, so enjoy your current dismal state and laugh as you spiral downward.

Laughing at myself actually does seem to help. When you think about all the time, effort and money you have piled into the patently stupid activity in which you're engaged, it's hard not to giggle. That, and having high hopes but very low expectations does make every little gain much more pleasurable.

Or not. But again, that's funny.

And it does get worse for me afterward. You drink that finish line beer and eat some grilled cheese sandwiches leftover from the midnight aid station crew and lie down to sleep and… Ouch! Why the hell does THAT hurt? And that? Ouch! Running is dumb.

And, for a final laugh, here is how I look around mile 90 when it has gotten worse:

More St. George Marathon Pictures

I had a little bit of a problem during the St. George Marathon. The scenery is so awesome that I couldn't seem to put my camera away. I think if I left the camera at home I'd be able to run sub-3. (Or not.)

Here are a few more scenes I caught during the race. This was our location at the starting area. It took nine minutes from the time the race started until we actually crossed the starting line.

My friend told me that he didn't know wildlife were allowed to run the marathon. Rawrrrrrr.

Around seven miles later we got to Veyo Hill. The hill is kinda steep. And kinda long. And you aren't shocked if you look to the side of you and see grown men crying like little babies.

From there you just run. And run. And eat some Gu packets. And wipe your tears if you happen to be one of those grown men who started crying back at Veyo. And then you keep running some more.

Our persistance paid off when we neared the awe-inspiring Snow Canyon.

These views are enough to take your mind off the fact that your legs feel like they are filling with rattle snake venom:

This is the last hill of the race at Ledges Parkway. I always get a chuckle around this area when I see how many pace bracelets are ripped off and thrown on the road on this hill. (Mine was one of them the first year I ran here!)

After the Ledges, the course becomes a very steep downhill. It makes for fast running, but chews up your quads like a velociraptor nibbling on your muscles. There is always a crowd of people standing at this barricade trying to stretch their weary muscles. I'd like to call it the Weeping Wall.

And then all too soon you cross the finish line......the ending of an awesome 26.2 mile journey. Then a happy volunteer places around your neck one of the coolest medals you'll find from a marathon (made of polished sandstone).

Thanks for another amazing year St. George Marathon!

Marathon and Trail Jumping For the Week

A few hours after the St. George Marathon I was good as new! I was out running around with the kids, playing frisbee and baseball with the fam, and was shocked at my incredibly speedy recovery.

Unfortunately the Grim Reaper snuck into my room Saturday night. On Sunday my legs were so sore that I wanted to sob like a little school girl. And Monday was even worse! (For me, the Monday after a race is always the worst.) The downhill pounding from the marathon made my legs feel like someone poured lighter fluid on them and then lit a match. And then dropped a refrigerator on my legs just for good measure.

I'm thankful that the soreness didn't kick in during the race and prevent me from getting in a few hops.

Thankfully by Tuesday everything started to loosen up, Wednesday even more, and by Thursday all the soreness was gone. I did an easy 2 miles on Friday to ease back into the running thing.

Saturday, October 13th 2012: 6 miles easy. I went to one of my favorite spots to run: the Jem Trail.

We got a bunch of rain over the last few days so there were a few sections that were muddy, but not too bad.

My friend Chris from The Scene Begins is an amazing 100 mile runner and photographer. He told me about some Sahara Shorts from REI that he uses for races because they have lots of pockets to carry gels, a camera, etc. I bought some and took them out for the first time. I think these will work well for for the upcoming 100 miler.

Holy Moses. The Javelina Jundred is less than two weeks away! Wait. The 100 miler is next weekend! This was my first 100 miler and I can't believe a year has passed since then. I can't wait to spend 100 miles in the beautiful, unforgiving desert with 400 of my (soon to be) close friends. Bring it on!

"Pushing your body past what you thought it was capable of is easy; the hard part is pushing yourself even further....past what your mind wants to let you. That's what ultrarunning is all about; introducing you to a self you've never known." ~ Rex Pace