We should post more pictures later after we get all the pictures that everyone took. In this post are a few of the ones that I have.
Training:
My training consisted mostly of “sandwich
runs.” No it’s not running and eating sandwiches for fuel! Sandwich runs are long runs back to back. For me this usually consisted of waking up at
2:00 AM to run 20-30 miles to my parents house, where I ate a huge breakfast
and headed off to work. Thanks Mom! Then on Tuesday I would wake up at 3:00 AM
and run 15-25 miles. I ran these around
a 10 minute mile pace except when I ran in the San Tan Mountains then it was
around an 11:30 minute mile pace. The
rest of the week I would run 6-10 miles, with one day doing speed
workouts. My training program said to
walk 5-6 miles per week at a 12 minute mile pace, but I hate walking when I can
run so I didn’t do well on that training which probably made me a slow walker in
the race.
I would have to run early in the
morning as my training was during the summer so to escape the heat I ran early
but still the temperatures were a low of 94 when I would start my run. I would carry a 3 liter camel pack and 2- 24
oz water bottles. One bottle had Almond
Chocolate Milk (good electrolytes) and the other had Gatorade. I would also usually have a V8 for the salt
before running and take a large pickle on the run for more salt. I ate every hour (a granola bar, pickle, or
other 150 calorie snack). My liquid and
food would last 3-4 hours (around 20 miles) so on longer runs I would run home
and refill. Four times I came home from
work on a Friday and told my wife I was going out running and would leave and
wouldn’t come home until the next day having run 50 miles or so (those weeks I
skipped my sandwich runs for one reason or another so I tried to make up with a
super long run). On two of those runs I
only made 20 miles and bonked. I would
come home, go to bed, and feel frustrated that I didn’t even have energy to run
more than 20. Those days were discouraging,
but I looked back on the times I did 50 miles and I knew they were just bad
days. There were many days I wondered if
I could make 100 miles, but closer to the race when temperatures were dropping
I felt more and more confident as I was able to run further, faster, and
longer.
One good lesson I learned through
this training is how much liquid to drink as I would usually cramp up on long
bike rides or runs because I didn’t take in enough liquid and electrolytes, but
during these runs I never cramped up except during the race which I will
explain about later. This training was hard
on my wife Jenny as she worried about me when running so early in the morning
or all night so she didn’t get much sleep either during this 6 month
training. I also would go to bed around
8:00 on the sandwich run days and other days as well so I wasn’t much for
conversation. Thanks Jenny for your
support and patience. I was always
running: on vacation, on business trips, almost every morning except for my
rest day after the sandwich runs and Sunday.
It was nice to have Sunday to rest and get ready for another week of
running. I tried to get my kids to join
me on their bikes on some of my shorter runs, but that only worked a couple of
times. One time, my oldest daughter,
Sammi, rode her bike for the first 12 miles of a 50 mile run. She went with me from 8:00PM to 10:00PM. Those were my favorite runs having someone
with me. Most of the other runs were
lonely early morning runs. I started
listening to books on tape which helped pass the time. I listened to the Twilight Series, and Orson
Scott Cards Ender Games series. I also
listened to “Killing Lincoln” and a number of General Conference sessions from
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
I used a mix between the following
2 training schedules:
Pre-Race:
The
Javelina Jundred started as a big Jalloween party for runners. As part of the fun they replaced all H’s with
J’s since in Spanish the J sounds like H such as Javelina (pronounced
Havelina). Jalloween, Jeadquarters,
Jundred, etc…
I had signed up to be able to camp
at Javelina Jeadquarters so I worked part of the day Friday morning and then we
loaded up the tent trailer and headed to Fountain Hills. We stopped by the Fountain to watch it go off
and have lunch in the park. My lunch was
one of my favorite pre-race meals (Chipotle’s Vegie Bowl). Jenny’s parents met us out there for
lunch. The kids hadn’t been to the
fountain so it was a new experience for them to see the fountain go off. Afterwards we drove to the McDowell Mountains
and parked our trailer at the end of the parking lot. It turned out to be a great spot as it was
close to a fire ring and the area behind us was flat and great for tents, so we
threw a tent down behind the trailer for some of the kids (although Sammi is
the only one that slept in it). My
parents came later and slept in the trailer as well. We heated up some coals and made Dutch Oven
Chicken for dinner (my brother’s recipe: Chicken, potatoes, onions, red
peppers, carrots, broccoli). It took a
long time to cook so we enjoyed hanging out and meeting the other runners. It was neat to see about a hundred tents
already set up by the race crew. These
were tents folks from out of town were able to rent so all they had to bring
was a sleeping bag and they could sleep at the starting line. I loved this idea, as the alternative would
be waking up at 3:00 AM to drive almost 2 hours to the start line. Makenna, our 3 year old, got a little excited
about the lantern and burnt her hands on it.
We didn’t realize she had blistered her fingers until we saw them the
next day. Poor Makenna but she was so
tough.
Picture is of Sammi, Becca, Kimball, and Makenna at the Fountain Park in Fountain Hills.
One of the Jalloween decorations marking the run (Lap 1, 3, 5, 7 to the left), Lap 2, 4, 6 to the right).
The sea of tents that the race crew setup for out of town guests and others that wanted to sleep at Jeadquarters.
Other Jalloween Decorations:
I
didn’t sleep well that night as I think I was too excited about the race the
next day. I finally got out of bed at
4:00 AM and started walking around. The
medics weren’t too busy so I went to see what they were doing. They were starting to tape people’s feet to
prevent blisters. I was tempted to try
it, but since I had never blistered and didn’t want to try something new I had
them just tape the back of my heel where the shoe sometimes rubs a blister or
causes a cut, but didn’t want to try taping the bottom of my feet. I usually don’t chaff when I run, but I
didn’t want to risk it so I lubricated up with Vaseline. In the end I was chaffing everywhere (even
under my arms where the shirt had rubbed) but it didn’t bother me too much as I
was close to finishing by the time it got anywhere noticeable. I have had some “bloody eyes,” (bleeding from
the shirt rubbing the nipple area) in training so I made sure and put some
Vaseline around that area and I didn’t have problems in the race. I stretched, had a bowl of oatmeal with
honey, took a 24-oz bottle of Almond Chocolate Milk and rushed my family to the
starting line just in time to hear the gun go off.
Race:
My
original goal for the race was a 23 hour run which would be an average of 12
minute miles for the first 50 and then 15 minute miles for the next 50 (they
say you run the 2nd half of the race 30% slower than the first. As I was training I felt strong and that I
could do better than that and average a 12 minute mile pace so I changed my estimate
to 21 hours, which was way optimistic, but I didn’t know any better, not having
run more than 50 miles. Right before the
race someone mentioned that you should always carry toilet paper in case of an
emergency such as if an aid station bathroom runs out. I took that advice. Luckily they were really good about making
sure all the bathrooms were always stocked.
This is such a good, well organized race.
In one
of the blogs I had read preparing for this race they talked about carrying
something inspirational with you to get you through the hard times. I decided to carry a scripture card with me
which I found inspirational. I copied
down Isaiah 40:31 “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and
they shall walk, and not faint.” I
pulled it out a number of times during the race. As I read this scripture and prayed during
the race I felt I need to re-commit myself spiritually. During a Temple Recommend interview I had the
previous week with President Guttery he talked about how he made time in his
busy schedule to attend the Temple once a week.
My goal was once a month. During
the race his words came back to me and I felt I could do better so I recommitted
to attend the Temple once a week as well.
I was one of the last runners of
400. I didn’t mind as I knew it was
going to be a long day, but when the people in front of me would just walk the
first part which was a nice easy flat I got frustrated and started trying to
run by them. I weaved in and out of
people and the trail trying to avoid the cactus (especially the Cholla cactus /
jumping cactus as it will literally “jump” into you). I did get a cholla in my shoe at one point,
but took two twigs and pulled it out. My
first mile took 12:18 as I spent time walking and trying to get around
people. My next mile was better, but it
also had the first steep hill about a ¼ mile long, so that mile was a
10:08. I wanted my first 50 miles to be
an average pace between 10:30-11:00 minute mile pace so I was starting out fast
when I could run. I did walk up the ¼
mile hill as the recommendation is to walk all hills so you don’t bonk. At the top of that hill was an aid station,
which on the first lap I skipped. The
terrain was a gradual incline which some people were walking on, but I chose to
run a slow steady pace. My next mile was
a 12:11 which was about right for the terrain.
The next few miles were up and down rollers so I walked the steeper
hills and ran the rest, averaging about an 11 minute mile pace. I drank some of my Almond Chocolate Milk each
mile and would normally run out after 8 miles or so, just in time to refill at
one of the aid stations.
I was talking with a few runners
which helped passed the time. It was
nice seeing familiar faces on this run.
I had ran with a guy named John a few weeks before on this trail and I
saw him out there running. I met a guy
named Cesar from Mexico but working in Colorado. I noticed that he didn’t have a water bottle
and the first aid station did not have cups so he skipped that aid
station. I knew he was going to need to
be drinking soon, so I offered him some of my drink. He drank a little and said he would get more
at the water only aid station coming up.
When we got there they hadn’t set it up yet so I gave him some more
drink. We ran together sharing my drink
until the ½ way aid station. I didn’t
drink as much as I had planned as I wanted to make sure I had enough to share
with Cesar which may have cost me later in the race. I also realized he couldn’t run the whole
race without a water bottle as the distance between aid stations was too much
especially as the day got more hot. I
told him to stick with me until Jeadquarters as I had my “crew” handing me 2
other water bottles and he could have this one.
We were empty of liquid by the next aid station even though we both
conserved and didn’t drink as much. From
the ½ way point it was a gradual downhill which Cesar and I ran at a good clip
at about a 9:30 minute mile pace for about 5 miles. We ran a 10:30 when we stopped for a minute
at the aid station where we “tanked up” on liquid and refilled my bottle. At these 2 aid station stops I also ate a few
items (mostly watermelon, cantaloupe, and honey dew, I ate a few potato chips,
and drank some coca cola). We finished
the first lap in 2 hours and 45 minutes which was right on time with my stretch
goal (finished around 8:45 AM). I didn’t
feel I had run too fast and was ready to do that again. The problem is I don’t know what I was eating
that was acting as a Laxative, but every 15 miles I had to stop for a bathroom
break which because I was already in there I figured I wouldn’t take chance and
would re-apply the Vaseline in sensitive parts (I know too much TMI for anyone
but true runners out there). As I ran
into Jeadquarters I gave Cesar the water bottle and wished him luck. My dad helped me find my drop bag where I
dumped my headlight as we no longer needed that. Meanwhile my mom was feeding my avocados that
she had cut up and some other food from the aid station which was so great not
to have to spend the time there grabbing the food. My family had seen me off at the starting line,
but then had to leave to take the kids to their play practice, so I didn’t get
to see them for the first lap, but having my parents there was awesome, without
their help my 9 minute break would have been much longer. As it was I was only hoping to spend 1-2
minutes at each aid station, but the bathroom breaks really slowed me
down. I averaged an 18:45 minute mile
pace for that mile (mostly at Jeadquarters).
The next lap I started good with a
10 minute mile pace out of Jeadquarters.
It was uphill so I started slowing down and my next mile was an
11:30. Meanwhile I am drinking at least
every mile (every 10 minutes or so). My
next mile was a 16 minute mile. I think
this was because I stopped and ate more at the aid station and walked a little
more. My stomach always feels weird
after eating and I heard that Ginger helps that, so I drank ginger ale at the
aid stations. They also had ginger candy
but that tasted terrible and I could only eat that a couple times before
settling with ginger ale.
My next miles were around a 12
minute mile pace until another aid station break that showed my pace down to a
16 minute mile pace. Then I dropped to
an 11 minute mile pace. I was stopping
at each aid station to drink Coca Cola, Ginger Ale, and eat potato chips,
pumpkin pie, and melons. I also would
usually eat a hammer gel. I should have
taken an extra hammer gel and ate it half way between aid stations as looking
back I realized how much better I did even with just that little bit of food
when my cousin Jenny and my friend Kirk gave me those as we were running. It’s strange how food affects you so quickly
when you don’t have any energy left.
Lap 2 ended a little slow at 3
hours and 20 minutes (35 minutes off my overly optimistic goal time). Once again on this lap I also spent some time
Jeadquarters (probably 15-20 minutes).
My mom once again refilled my bottle with Almond Chocolate Milk and
Gatorade in the other. She also gave me
another pickle for salt, and Avocados, and some other food. I also tried to eat a sub sandwich but could
only stomach about ½ of it. Food was a
chore to eat and my body didn’t want any of it, but I still ate the best I
could and as much as I could. I would
still need to drink ginger ale to sooth my stomach. I believe this was the last lap I wanted the
Almond Chocolate Milk as I didn’t want that anymore. I ended up using the aid stations water,
HEED, and Gatorade for liquid the rest of the race. Once again at this stop I had to use the
restroom. I don’t like to wear sunscreen
if I can avoid it so I kept my long sleeve shirt on. It was a light weight dri shirt. I also had a shade hat that covered my neck
and ears. I didn’t think about my legs,
so I asked my mom to grab some sunscreen and she sprayed my legs. I ended up not getting sunburned at all which
is always a good thing for someone fair skinned as myself.
My brother Jedd and his family
came.
It was good to see them and feel
of their support.
They were cheering me
on and asking questions which is great to keep the mind off the run.
Thanks Jedd, Casi & Amelia!
The bottom of my feet were feeling hot so I
decided to try to tape them up and stopped by the Medic’s where they taped them
up.
What noble people who are willing to
work on my nasty feet, dirty, sweaty, and ugly.
They would spray the feet down and wash them off then put the tape
on.
Great people to do that for us.
They said that people running with Gators
(covers over the shoes) don’t have dirty feet because the Gators keep the dirt
out, and on this course they are a necessity because the also keep the rocks
out, which was a problem for me as I kept emptying my shoes every lap as I was
always collecting rocks.
My mom went to
purchase me some Gators from the sponser’s tent but they had sold out and
weren’t able to bring any back in.
I
highly recommend the Gators for anyone who runs in sandy terrain like
that.
Someone mentioned that the best
ones to buy are from a company called “Dirty Girl.”
No I don’t recommend Googling those terms.
Here is the link so you don’t have to Google
it
J http://www.dirtygirlgaiters.com/
I also took my phone out and hooked up my headphones and started listening to
my last Enders Game book.
I ended up
finishing that right before my first pacer came so it was perfect timing.
I had been running now for 6 hours
and 5 minutes and was feeling great. It
was now noon and it was getting hot. I
think the high got to 87 degrees. I
think the heat beat a lot of people and that’s why we had such a high drop out
rate this year (something like only 40% made the 100 miles, 150 out of about
380 people). The heat did wear on me and
I felt my legs threatening to cramp up on me.
I worried that my trying to conserve liquid on the first lap was going
to come back and bite me. I’m not sure
that was it, but I haven’t cramped up in a long time because of how well I
learned to drink and take salt. I had to
refill each of my water bottles at each aid station as I was drinking like
crazy. They had great people spraying us
with cold water as we ran by. At one
stop they even put ice in my hat to keep me cool, that was wonderful. I was drinking about 1 ½ gallons of liquid
per lap (3-4 hours). Which was exactly
what I had trained doing. I was using
the restroom every hour to pee which meant I wasn’t over hydrating nor under
hydrating. Unfortunately within 4 miles
of Lap 3 the cramp hit me with a vengeance.
I felt it coming on and I heard that pinching your upper lip would cause
it to go away, so I tried that, but that was a little awkward to run holding
your lip so I bit down on it.
Unfortunately the charley horse hit me right there while I was biting my
lip so I bit harder and caused it to bleed, so I had a nasty cut on my lip for
a week after the race. I had to stop and
breath through the pain. Luckily it was a
short stop of about 30 seconds, after which I tried to walk it out and then
shuffle, and then run through it. I made
it through that one, but it affected my pace and I slowed down. I ran with the threat of the cramp coming
back to the next aid station and ate and refilled my water bottle. I walked a little more on this lap on the up
hills trying not to aggravate the charley horse in my leg.
My mom ensuring that I ate plenty, me stuffing my face with anything that I could stomach. This was probably at the end of lap 3.
My boys in the trailer holding the cape that Casi made.
I finished this lap in about 3
hours and 50 minutes. It had now been
almost 10 hours of running. My family had
returned along with my brother Jedd’s family, and my parents. It was great to see them and feel of their
support. It gave me new courage to
continue on as quickly as I could. They
gave me lots to eat. They had Pizza but
I just didn’t think I could stomach that so I kept with the same diet I had
been keeping (including the pumpkin pie, that stuff always went down
good). It was still hot and I had
cramping in both legs. On this lap I
cramped a couple of times and had to walk through them. I was always able to start running again
shortly after which a great improvement from times past. On this lap the Medic’s were open at one of
the aid stations so I asked them about cramping. They immediately had me sit down and took my
blood pressure which I didn’t want to take the time to do, but oh well. They said my blood pressure was fine and
asked about liquid intake and how often I was peeing. When they heard I drink 1 ½ Gallons of water
per lap and pee at least every hour they said I was fine. I came out of there 5 minutes slower and
without having solved anything. Oh well,
I just suffered through the cramping in my legs, but I tell you what as soon as
the sun set and the temperatures started dropping any signs of cramping
immediately went away. It was amazing, I
felt like a new runner which was good as I needed to step it up so my pacer’s
wouldn’t be bored with such a slow pace.
I was looking forward to have someone to run with. My cousin Jenny who is training for the Santa
Barbara Marathon a few weeks after this race accepted my invitation to run with
me. I was hoping I could run early with
her (around 5:00), but because I had so grossly overestimated my abilities, it
wasn’t until about 8:00 that evening that we started running together.
They say a lot of people start
hallucinating during these long runs. On
this lap one of the runner warned me that a rattle snake was in the trail up
ahead. I immediately stopped running and
slowly walked ahead. I didn’t see
anything so I was about to start running again when I saw it slithering off the
trail into the desert. I started running
again, but everything seemed to be moving.
I would be putting my foot down, but end up quickly moving it ahead a
few more paces before landing because I thought I was going to land on
something that moved. I thought I saw a
Desert Tortoise move in front of me, but nope, it was a rock. I thought I saw other little animals scurry
under my feet, but nope they were rocks.
After I got done with this lap that all went away, as I was getting
exhausted avoiding every rock that seemed to move on that run.
I finished lap 4 in the same time
as Lap 3 at 3 hours and 50 minutes.
That’s about an average of 4 miles an hour or 15 minute mile pace. My goal was 5 miles an hour or a 12 minute
mile pace. I now had been running for 13
hours and 30 minutes. It was 7:30 and
dark. I had run with my head lamp the
previous lap as I knew it would be dark by the time I finished and I didn’t
drop off a bag at the ½ way aid station as I didn’t feel I needed a bag
there. My Garmin is supposed to last 10
hours, which I got a low battery warning at 9 hours. However, I was pleasantly surprised when it
finally shut off after 13 hours at the end of Lap 4 at mile 60. It showed that I had averaged a 13:05 minute
mile pace for the first 60 miles. It was
great to see my family again and they made sure I was well fed. In addition to my parents, jedd’s family, and
my family, my sister Janet also came out and was there rooting me on. Thanks Janet!
My cousin Jenny was there and it
was good to see her and she looked ready to run which gave me a little more
motivation to keep moving as quickly as I could. The problem on this lap is that as quickly as
I could was actually quite slow. I don’t
have my Garmin to tell how well we did but since this lap took 4 ½ hours I know
I wasn’t too fast. I remember walking
most hills and I spent a good deal of time walking up the steep inclines. This lap I also got the Cholla cactus in me
which has happened enough to me that it’s not a big deal as I just grabbed it
between two sticks, pulled it out and pulled out the remaining needles with my
hands. I felt bad that I was so slow for
Jenny, but she was so good about encouraging me to just keep going. I brought a jacket on this lap as I was cold,
for Jenny and my other pacers it was nice and they didn’t need jackets, but my
body didn’t want to expend energy on trying to keep me warm. When we started the gradual decline I started
going a lot faster. We probably ran a 10
minute mile pace or so. I’m not sure how
long I could sustain that but it was a lot longer and faster than I had
been. Jenny was a great pacer and I was
so glad she came out to support me.
Thanks Jenny! After I was gone
Jenny told my family she was worried about me as I was really struggling out
there. I struggled on that lap, but
really struggled on the next lap.
It took us 4 ½ hours to run that
lap. It was now midnight and I had been
running for 18 hours. 1 ½ laps left to
go. When we crossed the finish line our
good friends the Smiths and the Kettrings were there with their families along
with my parents, Jedd and his family, and my family. I had a lot of support out there at midnight. It was awesome. Thanks Everyone! I am so lucky to have such good friends and
family what a sacrifice they made to come out and support us. They left a short time after I left for a
late drive home. My next pacer was my
good friend Glade Smith. Glade is the
one I can contribute this insanity to. I was happy just running a couple of times a week
in the San Tan Mountains. Then Glade
introduced me to Triathlons and so we rode bikes together and did some
triathlons before attempting something I never thought I would do… A Full 140.6
Triathlon (Vineman in California). We
ran the St. George Marathon together (my cousin Jenny was also there at the
same time), but after the Ironman I felt like the ultimate challenge (for me)
to run a 100 miles so I signed up for this crazy race! Glade has a 14 year old son that also enjoys
running so he joined us on the race. I
felt bad that I was so slow as it was more a hike than a run. I
think I did ok for the first 3 miles to the aid station with a walk / run
sequence, slow but not bad for having ran over 75 miles. We ate at the aid station then started
off. Glade and Rhett were good company
having someone to talk to really helped.
Food wasn’t lasting very long and after about a mile after the aid station
I was running on empty. I was so
exhausted and really started to slow down.
Glade was good to keep encouraging me on. I stopped a couple of times to stand and
rest. Towards the end when I did that I
almost fell asleep standing up. I have
never been so tired in all my life. I
didn’t have much sleep the night before and all the running and no sleep of the
race were starting to wear on me. It was
crazy how I felt I could actually fall asleep standing up. It was a full moon out and just a perfect night
for running. We were lucky enough to see
a couple shooting stars fall from the sky.
I was so exhausted at this point I had a hard time even saying good job
to the runners we saw. Even talking
started to be a burden and challenge that cost too much energy. Although there weren’t very many runners at
that point. We would go long stretches
without seeing anyone which seemed odd as during the day we saw so many
people. Glade got me running down the
hills. He got me running the best I
could, but I was so tired and sore, every step hurt. I started “whimpering” trying to get sympathy
but Glade wouldn’t have anything to do with that. At the ½ way aid station I sat in a chair and
Glade and Rhett brought me food. It was
a chore to eat as I just wanted to rest.
There were a lot of people laying down at this aid station. One guy was in a cot with 2 heaters warming
him up. Oh that looked so nice and
comfortable, just let me sleep in front of the heaters for a few minutes. Glade got me up after a few minutes even with
my protesting asking for a few more minutes.
We got going and hiked out of the aid station. It seemed like this way was all up hill (even
though there were a lot of downhill). At
the last aid station we rested another minute and ate. When I had met John on my run a few weeks
before on this trail, I had also met a nice lady named Honey. She had given me some good advice for the run
and said she would be working at this aid station. I hadn’t seen her all day, but as Glade and I
came in she had just started working so it was fun to see a familiar face. We then took off to the finish. I tried to run the best I could but ended
running this loop in 5 hours. Ouch so
slow, but we did it! Thanks Glade and
Rhett.
Once again my family (all but a few
of the kids who slept through this one), Jedd and Casi, Janet, and my parents
were there rooting me on. What great
support. It was now 5:00 AM and I had
been running (walking L) for almost 24 hours. My buddy Kirk was there ready to run the last
lap with me. He was originally going to
come at midnight, but once again my over optimistic timeline was way messed
up. It was so nice of him to come out
that much later at 5:00 AM. I believe he
had been there since 4:00. I first met
Kirk a few years ago at the Tour de Tucson 109 mile bike ride. He is a strong rider and runner. He has done Triathlons as well and is signed
up for the Texas Ironman in May. I am
still debating if I can join him on that event.
I sat and rested for a while at
this aid station, eating, and resting.
We probably rested about 10 minutes and I was off for the last lap. That 10 minutes kicked new life in me and I
was able to run ¾ mile then walk. We did
that twice then hit the steep hill and hiked to the top to the aid
station. I forgot to mention they had
hot soup (Raman) which I had tried earlier in the race, but one sip and I felt
like gagging. The stuff was awful. I knew they would have it so I tried it on
one of my training runs and I stomached it just fine then, but after such a
long run I just couldn’t stomach it. I
ate at this aid station and we were off.
It was that steady incline so I walked and with Kirk’s encouragement ran
a little. Kirk gave me a Hammer Gel and
some liquids which I can’t remember and it was amazing how fast that stuff
kicked in. When I was out of energy and
had nothing left but will power that nutrition would kick in and I could feel
the difference. It gave me new life for
about 10 minutes before petering out. It
was strange how quickly energy came and went.
While we were walking we got passed by a more serious walker. It went to show me how much time you could
save if you could carry a quick walk. We
ended up passing him on the run down, but wow, how much faster I could have
been if I knew how to power walk. My
mom’s great at it. I should have had her
give me lessons.
We finally made it to mile 96 (5
more miles to go). We had 4 miles of
downhill and then the last 1 mile to the finish line. I was able to run for 8 minutes or about ¾ of
a mile at a time. We did that run walk
routine all the way down the hill. We
probably did between a 10-12 minute mile pace.
At the bottom of the hill we started our home stretch. I wish I could say I put it into gear and
sprinted the last mile, but I continued our run/walk routine as that’s all my
body had to give. Kirk and I quietly ran
across the finish line with no fan fare as we had ran so much quicker that my
family wasn’t ready for us. I sat down
and took in the accomplishment. 25 ½
hours, 101.4 miles, so tired, so sore, but no damage except for chaffing,
especially under my arms where my shirt had rubbed. I was taking it all in when I saw my oldest
daughter come looking at the finish line waiting for me to come. With what little energy I could muster I
called her name. She couldn’t hear me, I
tried again, and again, finally she turned and saw me. She looked disappointed that she didn’t see
me come in, but to me it was about the journey not the destination. They had been there for me throughout the
whole thing and the culmination of all the laps were a beautiful memory to me. Shortly after the rest of the gang (including
my brother Jess who had come out that morning) came over and congratulated
me. When everyone got there, they had me
go through the finish line again so they could do the official finish
cheer. My sister in law Casi had made me
a Javelina Jundred superman cape so I put that on and everyone held out the
banners they worked hard on making. It
was awesome. If I could get emotional I
would have cried. It was great having
Kirk the last lap. He shared a lot of
his family stories with me which was very interesting. It made the time go quickly. I wasn’t much for conversation as even
talking took too much energy, but I was able to listen. Thanks Kirk for the stories and
encouragement!
Finished!
I was walking and feeling rather
good, other than I had no appetite and just wanted to sleep. I went over to the Medic’s and thanked them
for their hard work. They immediately
went to work to see what they could do to help me and I assured them I was
doing great. I weighed myself and found
out I had lost 6 pounds. Perfect. That meant I drank enough that I didn’t lose
too much water weight. I burnt about 15,000
calories which is about 5 pounds of fat, so losing 6 pounds is to be
expected.
I got some really nice stuff from
the race. A cool belt buckle, a nice gym
bag, shirt, socks, etc… I collected all
that and we went over to the trailer. I
kind of told everyone how to take it down and Jedd and Jess went to work taking
it down. Sammi also was a great help and
within a short time we had it loaded and ready to go. Jenny said Sammi was a great help the whole
time making sure the kids were taken care of.
The kids did ok, playing games and keeping themselves occupied while I
ran. It was nice when the Kettirngs and
Smiths came as they had friends to play with.
Some of them even went on a night run while they were there. Rebecca joined them for that. Maybe I do have a runner in this family after
all???
I was so exhausted that I crashed
as soon as I got in the passenger seat of our Suburban. I don’t even remember leaving the parking
lot. I woke up half way home and vaguely
remember feeling lost, the “where am I?” type feeling until I saw the 202 sign
around Higley. Within seconds I was back
asleep. I woke up again when we got home
and unhitched the trailer and immediately went in and took a shower. Oh how wonderful that shower felt. I felt so dirty from all the running. It felt so good to be clean. Meanwhile Jenny cooked a great protein
recovery meal (egg burritos). I was
still not hungry, but ate one burrito and then went to sleep. I slept for 2 hours, then got up and visited
with the family, then slept another hour before driving to my parents for
dinner. What troopers, spending all
weekend camping with us, then attending the church meetings, and still having
family dinner. They were tired so we
quickly visited, talked about the race, ate, and came home. I went to bed around 9:00, woke up off and on
all night and finally got up at 5:00 and worked around the yard. I still couldn’t believe how well I
felt. My legs were sore, my feet were
swollen, but overall I was feeling good.
That night I woke up with headaches and took Advil which helped. The next night I woke up with leg pains,
nothing too serious but kept me awake a little.
The next night I woke up with my rib cage hurting. Not sure what all the different pains were,
but they each went away the next day.
It’s been a week now and everything
has returned back to normal, except I still have a little numbing in my left
foot. Originally both feet on the bottom
were numb (kind of like after a dentist visit how your mouth feels numb). It was probably that I ran on the same pair
of shoes for 100 miles and they didn’t have the padding to protect the bottom
of my feet. I should have brought a
second pair of shoes to run the 2nd 50 miles in. That too healed and only a small spot remains
which I am sure will go away in the next day or two.
The person who won the race is
named Michael Arnstein from New York.
He
is a fruitarian.
I read up on his
website:
http://www.thefruitarian.com/.
Kind of interesting.
He ran the course in 14 hours 38 minutes (wow
puts my feeble attempt to shame).
Hal
Koerner came in 2
nd about an hour later. Last year Hal made the course record at
13:47 (2 hours faster than this year, I wonder if it was the heat???).
Do I have any regrets the way I
ran? No, I had some unexpected delays
but I think I did the best I could do under the circumstances. I wish I could have ran faster, but in the
end I gave it all I had. Kirk taught me
that I might have done better if I had eaten in between aid stations, so if I
could change that aspect I would eat more in between aid stations.
The body is an amazing tool. The fact that it can go on and on beyond our
mental limits is a true testament to how awesome our bodies really are.
People have asked me why I would
run 100 miles. I can’t really say I know
why. I do know that there was great
growth for me personally. To me it was
as much a Spiritual Experience as it was Physical. Out there on the trail for so long and seeing
the sacrifice my family and friends were willing to make for me drew me closer
to them and I came away with a greater depth of love and appreciation for
them. I don’t know what it was, but I
feel I am a stronger, better person because of the training and the experience
of doing something that hard.
Here are my minutes per mile from
my Garmin (up to mile 60)
1.
12:18 (started at back, walking first 5 minutes, trying
to get around people),
2.
10:08 (steep ¼ mile hill).
3.
12:11 (gentle incline, walk and run)
4.
10:54 (Same)
5.
10:50 (Same)
6.
11:38 (steeper inclines and declines, walk up hills)
7.
11:27 (Same).
8.
10:48 (Same)
9.
12:31 (Same with aid station break)
10.
9:56 (gentle decline)
11.
9:38 (Same)
12.
9:35 (Same)
13.
10:20 (Same with aid station stop)
14.
9:34 (Same)
15.
9:41 (gentle decline with up and down rollers 30-50
feet up and downs).
16.
18:45 (Headquarters break for food, restroom, hat from
drop back, gentle incline). Reverse loop heading back the way I
came.
3 hours into run.
17.
9:57 (gentle incline)
18.
11:37 (Same)
19.
16:01 (Same with aid station break)
20.
12:06 (Same)
21.
11:28 (Same)
22.
12:17
23.
16:18
24.
12:16
25.
12:33
26.
10:47
27.
11:08
28.
10:09
29.
16:07
30.
11:59
31.
20:27 (Head quarters break), 6 hrs 15 minutes into run.
32.
25:56
33.
10:48
34.
17:23
35.
13:19
36.
12:52
37.
15:22
38.
13:24
39.
12:20
40.
14:17
41.
10:05
42.
11:27
43.
9:35
44.
13:41
45.
9:55
46.
12:01
47.
29:37
48.
11:15
49.
14:41
50.
17:07
51.
15:35
52.
12:29
53.
12:56
54.
20:23
55.
12:21
56.
13:07
57.
13:39
58.
11:29
59.
11:32
60.
11:30
Here is my Garmin’s elevation map.
