OK, so Javelina is here!
So much preparation, so many hours running, travel plans, training camps, fuel testing, hydration and electrolytes trial and error, all building up for tomorrow.
And that is just my side of things.
My in-laws drove from Minneapolis to Arizona, bringing most of our gear down here. My wife has put in so much time planning and organizing. She takes the kids to practices while I’m out running and keeps our house from falling into shambles.
They are going to spend 24-30 hours sitting through the cold, rain, and night that the desert will give us over the next couple of days.
The sacrifices my team makes to help me succeed are amazing!
TAPER TIME
I did a 12-day taper with my primary focus on getting to the starting line healthy. At Zion, I was battling an injury the weeks leading into the taper and was never able to get to the point that I felt great going into the run.
Javelina is a different story. I feel great.
Since October 19th, I have only run 6 times for a total of 36.7 miles, including only one run this last week.
Even though my time on feet wasn’t as high as usual, I was still prepping for the race. I hit the sauna for over 3 hours throughout those 12 days, had an appointment with my PT to check on a few things, and had a massage before flying out.
Also, I am coming in at a great place mentally. I feel confident but have 100% respect for the course, the conditions, and the distance.
Having my body feeling good coming into the race for sure allows my mind to be at peace. We aren’t trying to hide anything or pretend issues away.
What would I have done differently during the taper?
Probably been more consistent in the sauna and spent more time doing some mobility. But ya know what…I am good with it. The phase of life I’m in allows a certain amount of time dedicated to running and I think I got about 90% of it right.
CANDY > POTATOES
My family recently hired a sports nutritionist. My wife is very active, I am trying out this ultra running world, and my kids (10 and 12) are getting more and more into sports and we felt that this was one area we all needed a little help.
She highly suggested a carb load heading into Javelina…and when she says carb load, she means CARB LOAD!
So her plan for me was Tuesday 520-600 carbs, and then Wednesday through Friday 800+ grams of carbs per day. Perhaps you are asking yourself, how many carbs is 800?
14 large potatoes
18 cups of cooked white rice
24 regular sized snickers bars (now we are talking)
21 12-oz cans of coke
19 cups of cooked pasta
16 bagels
30 bananas
57 slices of bread
One of my favorite lines talking to her was that for just these 4 days, candy might be better than potatoes. They are both carbs, but I would get too full on potatoes. Obviously this isn’t a long term diet plan, just leading into race day.
Ultrarunning is the greatest thing ever. Only here could a person trained in nutrition offer you Twizzlers over white rice!
How’d I do?
I think pretty well. I started easing in on Monday, so a daily early, but here are my totals.
Monday: 634
Tuesday: 589
Wednesday: 810
Thursday: 614 (Travel Day, was a bit higher, but missed tracking a couple of things in the airport. Likely 700ish)
Friday: 649 (I am too full to eat more!)
I would say my stomach handled the carbs fairly well. Definitely felt full going to bed, but I woke up every morning feeling good. Now we will see if it pays off tomorrow!
OK - RACE DAY EVE - LFG
We went to Javelina Jeadquarters today to set up our Crew Tent and I love our spot. The goal was to be near the Everyday Ultra crew tent which is close to where you exit the course after a loop and re-enter the course to start your next one.
The weather held off while we set up the tent, but then it rained like crazy, but bring it on. We are here to do hard things, so might as well throw everything at us.
My wife, her parents, and I were able to walk the horseshoe-shaped corral and check out all of the different tent setups and get a feel for the lay of the land. Such an amazing event that is well thought through and the volunteers and Aravaipa workers are AMAZING.
Got back to our crew tent and the highlight of today was having Peter, Nick, Lauryn, her boyfriend Nick, Kareem, my wife and in-laws, along with Will and Joe from Everyday Ultra all hanging out for a while.
I highly recommend that you find a coach, run club, or group of buddies that love running together. The community aspect of ultra running might be my favorite part (aside from earning a belt buckle at Javelina!)
SO…ABOUT TOMORROW…TIME TO SUCCEED
Race day is here!
One unique thing about ultra running compared to marathons is how infrequent you race. For me, this is my first 100 mile attempt since April, where I DNFd at Zion at mile 52.
Zion was my first attempt at an ultra distance and it chewed me up and spit me out. I went in like an arrogant rookie and quickly learned what it meant to “respect the distance.”
And now I have sat with that feeling of failure for 6 months.
I have been training to fix my weaknesses and avoid the mistakes I have made since then.
Finally, tomorrow I get to put that work to use. I sure as hell am not going to let rain be the reason I fail. I may fail, but it isn’t because I don’t want to get wet.
With Cocodona 250 my next registered race, it is time for me to push myself to succeed at the 100 mile distance to prove to myself that I am physically, mentally, and emotionally capable of this.
LOGISTICS AND GEAR
Our plan is to leave the Airbnb at 4:00am and we have about a 15-minute drive to the Jeadquarters. Traffic around there can be chaotic due to the fact that there is only one road in and one road out, so we are going to try to beat traffic and chaos and get there early.
I would much rather sit for an hour in our tent than be stressed about not getting there in time and getting pre-race anxiety.
As of right now, the weather looks like 61 degrees and dry with cloud cover at the start of the race. It will warm up to the mid 70s in the afternoon before going down to the low 60s with rain into the night and hard rain going into Sunday.
With that weather forecast in mind, I am planning on wearing a T-shirt and shorts, not straying far from my original outfit planned but I will have plenty of cold weather clothing and rain gear for the changes in weather we will be facing.
STRATEGY THAT I’M SURE I’LL FOLLOW (or will I…)
Now we get to talk about running! Here is my “write it on a napkin” gameplan.
I want to hit the single track part of the trail (about ¼ mile in) in the top ¼ of runners in wave 2. I want to avoid being behind walkers at the beginning of the race where it’s hard to pass.
My plan is to skip aid station 1. I am going to carry 3-500mL bottles of water so I should have enough to get to aid station 2. If I end up consuming more water in the first 4 miles than planned, I can definitely refill, but skipping is on the radar.
I am going to walk as little as possible, but I am open to it when needed. There is one climb that I will likely walk even on loop 1, and then I am going to listen to my body.
Goal is to not sit at any aid station other than the crew stop.
Zero complaining about weather. It is going to not be ideal. Sweet. Nothing I can do about it.
I will pick up my NiteCore power bank, head lamp, and extra layer as I leave for the 3rd loop. Hopefully that is around 3:30pm.
My optimistic goal, but the one I am focused on, is finishing in 24 hours, which is a lot of people’s goal. Last year, 775 people ran the 100 miles at Javelina, 492 finished, and just 218 people finished in under 24 hours.
My SFL (Success/Failure Line) is 30 hours. I have to remember that. 24 hours is my optimistic goal, but finishing within cutoffs is a clear success.
I would like to keep my heart rate below 150 the entire time through the first 2 loops.
Get a feel for using a pacer. This is my first time running with a pacer other than my wife, but my friend Katrina will be joining for loop 4 or 5. I am excited to get a feel for how that goes.
I have a 20-minute timer on my watch. Water, sips of Precision 90s, and salt capsule if needed. This reminder will help me make sure I get to my goals of 75 carbs per hour, and approximately 1 liter of water per hour, and 800-1,000mg of sodium per liter of water.
And here is the thing, stolen from the famous philosopher Mike Tyson, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”
I have learned that ultra running is Mike Tyson…that’s a comparison that isn’t made every day, but it will absolutely punch you in the mouth and it will make the best laid-out plans go awry.
How do you respond to that?
I didn’t think it was going to rain, but it will. Punch.
I didn't realize how quickly I could fry my quads at Zion, but then I did. Punch.
The trail could be more technical than I anticpate. Punch.
Fuel might be a struggle, electrolytes might get off, an aid station might run out of something, blisters might happen, stomach might turn…Punch, punch, punch, punch, punch.
Ultra running is going to punch and counterpunch. It’s going to find your weaknesses and expose them.
For me to be successful, I have to come in with a great plan, execute it well as long as I can, and then excel at adapting when it starts throwing haymakers my way.
That is how I can be successful tomorrow.