OCTOBER 31-NOVEMBER 1, 2026 | FOUNTAIN HILLS, ARIZONA
FINISH TIME: 28:30:37
I DID IT!
I finished my first 100-mile race.
28 hours, 30 minutes, and 37 seconds.
And somehow, despite spending nearly 15 hours feeling like I was going to throw up while running through a desert that had rivers springing up out of nowhere, and absolutely destroying my feet, I had one of the most memorable and amazing weekends of my life.
Maybe that just shows that I’m a bit nuts, but that’s ok.
I earned my first 100-mile buckle. A “trophy” that couldn’t seem more random, but as an ultrarunner it’s what we all strive for. It will go on my wall and every time I look at it I will remember the stories behind it.
This was my second attempt at a 100-mile run. In April, I made it to mile 52 at the Zion 100 before dropping. The lessons that I learned in that failed attempt were some of the main reasons that I was successful this time.
So, let’s get into it.
BEFORE THE RACE: THE DESERT was moody!
My in-laws drove from Minnesota to Phoenix, arriving Wednesday afternoon and got most of the race day equipment unpacked before my wife and I arrived Thursday morning.
Friday morning was all about getting our crew tent set up at Javelina Jeadquarters and picking up my bib.
Crew setup at Javelina is a bit unique due to the fact that it’s a looped course, so your crew stays put and you come to them between all 5 loops.
My wife Amanda, her dad Joel, and her mom Verlinda were there to help (when I say help, they pretty much did everything and I was just there!). We had reserved a 10×10 space (HIGHLY RECOMMEND) where we set up our canopy tent and stored all of the stuff that you need to spend 30-ish hours running in the desert.
We were set up by 7:30 Friday morning and we made sure to anchor the tent securely. The forecast was for some heavy storms overnight, and of course this was the time that the meteorologists were actually right! The ten minutes of extra work we spent adding extra anchors and support to our tent ended up being the best idea we had all weekend-thank you Joel!
We stuck around for bib pickup at 10:00am, and I met with my Everyday Ultra Running Team at 11 for some words of encouragement. Bib pickup was chaotic because everybody was trying to get inside the large tent to stay out of the weather.
After that, we went back to the Airbnb which was a quick ten minute drive.
I had ramen for lunch, pizza for dinner, and then spent some time in the hot tub before bed.
Not a bad way to spend the day before running 100 miles.
Mentally, though, I was nervous.
Not necessarily about running in the rain. I knew it was going to rain, and had been mentally planning on it for the 10 days leading into the race.
What concerned me was the race getting canceled. I didn’t hear any chatter about it, but after seeing what happened at the Moab 240 just weeks before, I was definitely nervous. At that race, some runners were 200 miles into the race before getting pulled off of the course when they canceled. Friday night I watched some videos of the flooding throughout Arizona and I was getting nervous. Note to self, worry about controlling what you can control
After months of training, traveling, preparing, getting everyone together, and telling everyone about the race, the idea of not reaching my goal due to something outside of my control was hard to grapple with.
Friday night wasn’t a great night of sleep, which I figured would be the case. Standard pre-race anxiety coupled with storms and lightning wasn’t a recipe for success.
When we arrived at Jeadquarters Saturday morning, the scene was surreal.
Some tents were completely destroyed others were mangled. Holes in canopies, peoples gear was wet or ruined. The night storm definitely took its toll.
But our tent? Still standing. Huge credit to Amanda, Joel, and Verlinda for making sure everything was secured.
And despite the chaos and added stress for so many runners and crews, the atmosphere around Jeadquarters was awesome. Especially around our crew tent people were gathering, talking, joking around, and getting ready for the race.
It was exactly the kind of environment that I would hope for leading into a 100-mile race.
THE STARTING LINE: LET’S GO RUN 100 MILES
The crazy thing about this race is even though we were there plenty early, the start snuck up on me. We were sitting around chatting and all of a sudden it was like “oh shoot, we gotta get to the starting line!”
There was a group of four of us, Peter, Lauryn, Kelsey, and myself, that planned to run together at least at the beginning.
Our plan was to position ourselves towards the front of the 6:30am wave so when we got onto the single track portion of the trail we wouldn’t be behind some slower runners or walkers in an area that was difficult to pass. Then we were planning on skipping the first aid station. We had plenty of water and supplies to get to the second aid station, Jackass Junction at around mile 11, so no need to take time at the first stop (Coyote).
As far as goals, I entered the race with 2 real goals:
Finish within cutoffs: This was my success/failure line (the line that I create before the race that separates success from failure)
Finish under 24 hours: This was my “everything goes right” goal
I wanted to keep 24 hours realistic as long as possible, but I wasn’t going to risk blowing up the entire race in pursuit of it. I learned that lesson at Zion.
Standing at the starting line was a really special experience. It’s difficult to explain the feeling of having months of training, planning, and preparation come down to one moment.
I was confident because I knew that my fitness level was good and I was healthy coming into the race. Mentally I was in a really good place, but you just don’t know if that will continue when you hit the night time around mile 60.
I felt ready - but ready for what? I was about to find out what I was getting myself into.
LOOP ONE: WAIT, THIS MIGHT BE EASY
The first loop was approximately 22 miles with the next 4 loops being just under 20.
I honestly think that we nailed the beginning of this race. We worked our way to the front as planned and we skipped the first aid station. We were moving well, under control, and the conversation was great and attitudes were positive. Things were going according to plan, even if that plan was thrown together haphazardly in the starting corral.
Kelsey eventually took the lead spot through lap one and she was so good at it. Slowing when needed, not pushing unnecessarily, and just crushing the consistency that is needed in these long races. She deserves a lot of credit for how well we did to start the race.
We didn’t get caught up in the excitement of race day too much, we weren’t trying to win a 100-mile race in the firstloop. We were running smart.
Our first 18 miles were very consistent, hanging around the 11-12:00 per mile pace, with my heart rate staying in the 140s. Pretty much exactly as drawn up.
The weather was also beautiful at this point. After losing sleep worrying about rain, the trails were actually in pretty good shape. A little wet in some places, but that also reduced the dust.
The most difficult section of loop one is the additional Escondido section. That trail is tough. It is a bit more technical than the rest of the race and has some steady gradual climbs.
I think all four of us were very happy that we only had to do that section once.
We finished that loop in 4:32:19 which was almost exactly on pace for a sub-24 hour race.
So far so good. Which, in ultrarunning likely means something brutal is coming.
LOOP TWO: STILL FEELING GOOD-too good?
Loop two continued pretty much according to plan.
We recognized that the climb from Coyote to Jackass was something that we had to be intentional about backing off a bit. The climb is very gradual, but it is still there, and it’s there for over 6 straight miles.
This is an area that I feel like I have improved on, running maturely. Understanding that walking uphills isn’t taking the easy route, it’s sometimes the smart thing to do.
The weather was actually getting warm enough that we implemented a cooling strategy; ice in our sleeves and in an ice bandana. The sloshing of ice in the bandana drove me crazy!
At 3:18pm I sent my wife a text:
“It’s possible I lost a toenail. We shall see”
Ouch!
That was my first real issue. Somehow, the toenail next to my big toe on my left foot tore upwards. I have no clue how it happened, but I felt it as soon as it did. And only 30 miles into a hundred mile race.
Was it a devastating blow? Nope.
Did it hurt at an annoying level? Yep
No big deal, didn’t plan on being comfortable the whole time.
Overall, I felt great throughout lap 2.
We finished lap 2 at 9:29:48 elapsed. Just over 40 miles down. 24 hours still a real possibility, though our legs were starting to feel some of the fatigue.
The plan was working, but then….
LOOP THREE: MIKE TYSON ENTERED THE CHAT
Before Javelina, I wrote about a famous Mike Tyson quote:
“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth”
I compared ultrarunning to Mike Tyson. You can have the best plan possible, but eventually the course and the race is going to make you earn your finish. It isn’t going to be easy. They are going to start throwing punches, and lap 3 is where the punches starting coming.
Time to adapt.
And one thing about Tyson is he isn’t coming out for a friendly sparring session, he is coming out throwing haymakers looking to knock you out. So be ready.
The weather started changing. It got colder. The rain started coming down. The wind picked up. The hills felt steeper. The miles felt longer.
But worst of all, my stomach started to turn and I would get mildly nauseous anytime that I would consume anything, especially the gels that I planned on using throughout the race.
I tried fighting through using Joe Corciones mantra: “Eat the damn gel” but that was a solid no go.
I switched to liquid nutrition, rotating between Tailwind and Gatorade. The problem was that I was consuming too much fluid (I was peeing every 40ish minutes) so getting all of my carbs from fluids wasn’t a long term solution.
Precision Chews (which are delicious) also didn’t sit great.
How about real food at aid stations?
Cheese quesadillas, pickles, watermelon, candy, ginger chews, peanut better sandwiches, wraps, rice crispy treats, ramen, rice, and broth. Some of these were better than others, but none of it was sitting quite right.
I spent months trying to nail down my fueling strategy, and ended up building it on a foundation of Precision 90 gels, aiming for 75 grams of carbs per hour, and that plan was falling apart already.
When I got back to the crew station I brushed my teeth and used some mouthwash hoping for a reset in my mouth but that just caused me to gag.
At various times throughout the race, I desperately wanted to throw up, and did what I could to try to make that happen, but it just didn’t. I felt like if I could throw up one time, I would feel much better but I just was never able to.
My stomach was fully committed to making me uncomfortable for the duration of the race. I battled significant nausea for approximately 15 hours. Not enough to make me throw up apparently, but enough that made fueling almost impossible.
The sickness wasn’t something that worried me as far as finishing the race, what concerned me was whether I could finish nearly 3 full loops with drastically reduced fueling.
But mentally, I was dialed. I never thought about quitting. Not one time.
Here is an important lesson I learned:
Adapting is so important in ultras.
And sometimes adapting works, but sometimes it doesn’t. Then you have to adapt from the failed adaptation. Then maybe adapt again. Keep your mind working on solutions instead of feeling horrible for where you’re at.
That became my nutrition strategy. Adapt and then adapt the adaptation.
Losing My Running Buddy on Lap Three
Another Mike Tyson haymaker came at Jackass on loop 3.
I met my friend Peter at the Everyday Ultra Training Camp just three weeks earlier, had been running with me from the very beginning.
We both DNF’d at the same place at Zion earlier in the year and were excited to crush Javelina together-our redemption run.
Peter is one of the most positive people I know, and I thought we were crushing the race and feeling great at this point.
When we arrived at Jackass on Loop 3, he mentioned that he was afraid that he was experiencing hypothermia and thought he needed to go to the warming tent. It caught me and Lauryn both off guard because he never once complained about it, but I haven’t heard Peter complain about anything during any of our runs.
I have a text to my wife at 9:43 that says:
“At Jackass, I’m battling nausea, Peter is afraid of hypothermia. Might be here for a minute.”
That pretty much sums up how things were going at this point. The punches were coming and we were counterpunching sometimes and at other times we were just trying to duck so we didn’t get knocked out.
I went into the warming tent to check on him before heading out, and he was in a tough spot. Ultimately he made the correct decision to drop, but it was a bummer (He is going to CRUSH Tahoe 200 next year!).
Losing a friend on the course is never fun, but losing such a positive mindset as things were going to get tougher was going to make the next 50 miles more difficult.
Thankfully Lauryn was still with me, and she is an absolute beast. She had her own issues she dealt with but she kept moving foward in what was a remarkable first 100-mile race for her.
We finished loop three at 15:40:55.
Sixty miles down, forty to go.
This is where Javelina made it very clear, earning a 100-mile belt buckle isn't going to be easy. I was going to have to earn this thing.
LOOP FOUR: PACER, COLD, WET, BUT STILL MOVING
Coming into Jeadquarters after loop three, I was still in a really good mental place.
Physically, maybe not as great.
Lauryn was starting loop 4 with her boyfriend Nick and was able to get out of Jeadquarters a few minutes before I did. I picked up another friend from the Everyday Ultra Training Camp, Katrina and we were off for 20 miles in the rain, cold, and darkness.
I mentioned to Katrina that we were probably going to walk more than I had initially planned. She was really understanding on that, but did an amazing job of encouraging me and was able to get me to run stretches throughout the loop.
At Coyote we found another Everyday Ultra friend Nick who was battling the cold himself and was mentally strong enough to sit at that aid station for a few hours trying to get warmed up. I was so impressed by that, any moment of weakness, all you have to do is say “I drop” and you are done. For him to go hours and not utter that phrase is amazing.
We spent a bit of time allowing him to get himself ready to go while we did a quick reset of our own. When we left we planned on walking a bit to get his legs back moving and get my legs a little bit of rest, especially as we were climbing our way to Jackass for the fourth time.
We eventually got to Jackass and then things got a bit interesting.
I was still feeling really nauseous so I told Katrina that I was going to go down the trail a bit to see if I could throw up and she was going to wait for some others in the aid station. All good.
But then I got cold, and decided to start running on the trail, assuming Katrina would easily catch up to me. The problem was that I didn’t communicate well that I was actually going to start going again.
Eventually, I realized she should have caught up to me but hadn’t, so I turned around and headed back to Jackass. Not ideal, but 100% my fault.
I ran into Lauryn and her boyfriend shortly after turning around and they said Katrina was looking for me (oops!) Thankfully her boyfriend volunteered to head back to find Katrina and told me to keep going down the trail with Lauryn until they caught back up.
Once Katrina was back with me (and after some necessary apologizing on my part…she was extremely understanding) I told her that I had to run to warm up. The cold had gotten to me, and if I didn’t get my body moving I was afraid I was maybe going to see myself get in trouble from the cold.
For about 2 miles we ran at a pretty steady pace, and it did the trick. I felt much better. I warmed up. And it also showed me that even 70 miles into the race, I had running legs left.
The rest of loop 4 went reasonably well. The nausea was still there, the 24-hour goal was out of sight, but mentally I was in a great spot.
I had to remind myself, 24 hours was A goal, not THE goal. 30 hours was the SFL (Success/Failure Line), and I was well on pace for that.
We finished loop 4 at 22:15:07. I had almost 8 hours to finish 20 miles.
LOOP FIVE: AMANDA VERSUS THE ARIZONA MONSOON
Coming into the final crew stop, I wasn’t entirely sure who was going to pace me. My wife, Amanda, knew that it was a possibility but it wasn’t anything that was written in stone. And actually I called her during loop 4 and told her I didn’t think it was a good idea due to trail conditions and the weather worsening.
To her credit, when I arrived with Katrina, Amanda was already geared up and ready.
She had spent over 22 hours crewing the race for multiple people. She’d been dealing with the rain, cold, and the chaos around Jeadquarters.
And to that point, the furthest she had ever ran was 13 miles. Now she was volunteering to do 20 miles in what would turn out to be the worst weather of the day.
THE DESERT BECAME A RIVER
The weather throughout loop 5 was comically bad. When you thought it couldn’t rain harder it would. When you didn’t think the wind could be stronger, the rain would come in sideways. How could my feet get wetter? The trail became a running creek.
What a fun introduction to ultrarunning for Amanda.
After “running” through a brutal patch of slippery mud, we got to Coyote Camp pretty quickly.
At this point, nutrition was out the window. Anything I consumed was a bonus, but my mind was on finishing, even if that meant I was going to do the last twenty miles without carbs.
Definitely not a great nutrition strategy, but that’s where I ended up at for loop 5.
I really wanted to maintain substantial cushion on the cutoffs because my paces were slow and the weather was bad, so we didn’t spend any extra time at aid stations. Get what we needed to do done, and get back on the trail.
We headed towards Jackass and that is where things got a bit ridiculous.
As I mentioned earlier, the trail was more of a running creek and you just walked through it because once your feet are that wet, they aren’t going to get worse.
There were sections that were completely dry earlier in the day that now had flowing water. Not puddles, but actual flowing water going through.
We encountered 2 or 3 significant water crossings, one of which you had to use a rope to cross with water calf deep. They had an aid worker on each side and you would shuffle along this rope line to help manage through the water.
I can’t give Aravaipa Running enough credit for how they handled the conditions. Just as runners adapted, the race organizer had to constantly adapt to unprecedented conditions.
Remember my biggest fear from the night before the race? A weather cancellation.
Well, that fear came back. I started worrying that the conditions were going to cause a cancellation.
When we reached Jackass, I told Amanda I wanted to get in and out of there quick. It felt like the most likely spot to hold runners, so let’s just get back out on the trail and let that fear go away.
Once we were on the trail, I felt like we were on the home stretch to my first ever 100-mile finish.
TWENTY MILES TAKES A LONG TIME
One thing about loop 5 is that it feels like it takes forever. The fatigue in your legs, the sheer number of hours on course, the anticipation of finishing, I think all of that makes that last stretch go on forever.
I would think Jackass was coming up, but it was still 4 miles away.
Rattlesnake must be around this corner, but nope still had more trail between.
I was still able to run some short intervals, 2-3:00 of running followed by some walking.
And honestly, I felt good about where I was at. Not a death march in.
Eventually though, I noticed something. Amandas gait had changed. She tried to hide it, but she tweaked her knee somewhere along the way and she wasn’t able to run.
By the time we reached Rattlesnake, it was pretty obvious that she was hurting.
I obviously wasn’t going to leave her behind, or ask her to push faster through the pain. We had cushion, my legs were exhausted, I had no problem walking the final 3.7 miles in to the finish.
So from Rattlesnake to the coral, we were on a date through the desert.
We chatted.
We reflected on what we both just went through.
We talked about how happy we were for my friends that had finished or were going to finish and how I knew Peter would crush his next race.
She told me she was proud of me and that our kids would be so proud of their dad (maybe some tears from that)!
I told her how thankful I was of her and her parents.
And, we just enjoyed the final hour on the Javelina course together.
I wasn’t stressed. I knew I was going to finish. I knew it was going to be a success. I knew I gave the course everything that I had.
There was no panic, no desperation, no anxiety.
Just the realization that the months of work were going to pay off.
THE HAPPIEST I HAVE EVER BEEN TO BE PASSED
With around a mile or two left, something happened that might have been my favorite part of the race.
Nick came running up behind us.
Remember Nick (not Lauryns boyfriend Nick…cold Nick)?
After spending hours at an aid station warming up, he came running behind us and looked great. He found his second wind and was cruising his way to the finish line.
We talked a bit, he said some incredibly kind words to me, and I told him to go get his buckle, and off he went.
I have always been an embarrassingly competitive person, I despise losing, and I don’t particularly love hearing “on your left”.
But this was an exception. I was so happy to see him, proud of the effort he gave the race. And it was honestly something that I discovered about ultrarunning throughout the weekend.
More on that later….
THE FINISH LINE: 28:30:37
As we approached Jeadquarters, Amanda and I talked about how I wanted to finish.
My only thing is that I wanted to run across the finish line. Unfortunately, with her knee, she wasn’t going to be able to run with me so we deiced that she would watch from the finish line as I came through the coral.
Coming up the small hill into Jeadquarters, Verlinda was there and gave me hug, Joel gave me a high five, and then I was off, running the final quarter mile for my buckle.
By this point in the race, many of tents were gone. Runners who finished, and runners who DNF’d had headed out. The weather had taken it’s toll.
But there was still a great crowd at the end welcoming us in. Cowbells, cheering, congratulations, an awesome atmosphere for someone that came in 324th place.
There were a couple of runners ahead of me that I reluctantly passed as they were walking their way to the finish line. I wanted to ensure that they got their moment but I also wanted to run across. It ended up working out and there was enough space between us that we all got our time.
As I approached the line, I “jumped” to touch the Javelina Start/Finish sign. In my head the jump was solid, on video it is quite pathetic, but whatever, I finished.
28:30:37. One hundred mile FINISHER.
I broke down emotionally, knowing that the work I had put in had paid off. I had family there, the head of Everyday Ultra Joe Corcione was there, Nick was there. Other members of Everyday Ultra were there.
Hugs all around, high fives, and celebration.
I got my buckle. I earned it.
THE PART I DIDN’T EXPECT: ULTRARUNNING AS A TEAM SPORT??
OK, it technically isn’t, but…
You run your own race, you get your own time, and receive your own buckle.
But one of the biggest things I took away from Javelina was how much I loved the relationships and teamwork on the course.
This part surprised me. I am ultra competitive. Maybe, if you ask my wife, annoyingly competitive. In most things, I am doing what I can to win.
But at Javelina, I wasn’t torn when someone had to slow down or needed another five minutes at an aid station. It was an easy decision. I’d slow down, I’d wait. And they did the same for me at times as well.
And, I want to be clear, I didn’t sacrifice my race or my time for others. That isn’t what happened at all. They helped me every bit as much as I hopefully helped them.
Here’s something to put it into perspective.
At Zion, I barely spoke to anyone on the course, didn’t know the name of one person running.
I was in my own world.
At Javelina?
I never once turned on my headphones. Not one time.
No music.
Not podcast.
No audiobooks.
For 28:30:37.
I was talking to my friends and enjoying our experience on the course. Fully present.
Heck, I barely used my phone. Between my wet fingers and the rain and the lack of service, it wasn’t easy to operate anyways.
Fully present. Enjoying time with my friends achieving a goal that so few people attempt, let alone achieve.
One of the most rewarding weekends of my life.
WHAT WENT WELL and what i’d change
I think there is a temptation after finishing a race where your goal time was 24:00 and you finish in 28:30:37 to look back and identify all the areas you could have saved time.
And there are absolutely areas that I will improve on moving forward.
But honestly, I am thrilled with how this race went. 28:30:37 is as good as I am right now.
PACING
I think we executed the pacing at the beginning perfectly.
We ran intentionally controlled and managed our effort level. We didn’t allow the excitement of the race to push our pace.
There were maybe a few times that I could have gone a little bit faster, but those moments could have hurt me down the road. I did that at Zion, pushed pace early, and it blew up in my face.
Maybe later in the race I should have ran more often or for longer stretches.
But, I arrived at Javelina Jeadquarters at mile 100 with an empty tank. The plan was executed.
NUTRITION
This is the big one, and I am sure people will say it’s something I need to fix, and they would be right.
But it’s also one of the areas I am most proud of.
My nutrition was a dumpster fire for 15 hours. During the final 2 loops I was maybe taking 20 carbs per hour instead of 75. I think in loop 4 I got through one Precision 90. On loop five I had two packs of fruit snacks and 2 pancakes.
Nowhere near what I needed.
So why am I proud of it? Because I didn’t quit. I didn’t feel sorry for myself. I didn’t just say I can’t fuel so I am done. I tried a wild range of different fuel options. I was working the problem in my head over and over, trying to come up with a solution. And sure, I never found that solution, but sometimes that happens.
Moving forward I will likely try to come up with a backup gel option. I might plan on some more real food options.
It’s for sure something that needs to be fixed before Cocodona because 20 carbs per hour for 250 miles isn’t going to work and 250 miles of nausea sounds awful.
But I love that I was working the problem.
FOOT CARE
My feet went through the wringer, but so did everyone’s.
Blisters have been an issue for both of my 100-mile runs and I have to continue to look for solutions to help in that area.
I thought we did a good job being reactive; shoe changes, sock changes, bandages, KT tape, etc…My wife has been asking me to be preventative and pre-tape for a while now. That might be an option.
Also, I would like to publicly reprimand my left toenail that decided to bail 9 hours into the race. Soft.
GEAR
Overall, my gear was great.
My rain jacket (Nice ACG Storm) was extremely comfortable and did it’s job and I am thrilled I packed more warm clothes at the last minute.
I probably need to look at a better pair of waterproof pants.
Otherwise, I was happy with all of my gear.
AID STATIONS
There was some room for improvement here. I know we had a 40 minute crew stop which is just too long, but we did get a ton done during that time. We had all of us doing full kit changes and taking care of various issues.
Could we have been faster? For sure. But I think it was worth taking the time to make sure we were in good shape before heading out for another 20 miles.
TECHNOLOGY
I had plans of lapping my watch entering and exiting each aid station, and eventually I just forgot to do it. I wanted to see how much time was spent at aid stations and crew stops. I wish I could get more organized with my watch.
I also would like to come up with a better way to communicate with Amanda. With the water and lack of service my cell wasn’t a great option, but it makes life much harder and more stressful for her without having communication.
One piece of technology I really enjoyed was the DJI Nano camera, was so easy to pull out and video and then put back away. That was a good buy!
But, this race for me was pretty light when it came to technology. Just enjoyed the run.
ZION VERSUS JAVELINA
I don’t look back at Zion and think that I didn’t give that race the same effort I gave Javelina.
I think I tried really hard. I just made rookie mistakes, which makes sense because I was a rookie.
And now I am better, because I learned from that failure.
At Zion, things went wrong and I reached a point that I couldn’t continue on.
At Javelina, things went wrong as well (a lot of things), but I never allowed my mind to get negative. I never gave up. I had people around me that helped.
I was physically tired, sore, and nauseous, but mentally I was enjoying the race, I was dialed in, and I was working through the problems as they came.
WELCOME TO THE 100 MILE CLUB
(Completely different than the mile high club!)
The hours after finishing were pretty tough physically. My feet hurt and they still do. The first night, even if the bed sheet grazed them it would wake me. My ankle is still a little swollen. My hip was extremely sore, but now is better.
I was exhausted, who knew that would happen after 100 miles.
But, by 6:00pm the night after the race, I went to bed and slept fairly well.
Now, 4 days later, I am still sore, but improving daily. I will likely get a few miles in tomorrow or the next day.
Mentally?
I feel incredible. No postrace emptiness. No regrets. No wondering why I put myself through this. No woulda/shoulda/coulda going through my head.
I am as fulfilled by this experience as I could be. The accomplishment hit me as I crossed the finish line. I think having that final stretch with Amanda and just talking about the experience helped sink in what we just did.
And now I went from someone that signed up for 100-mile races to the club of people that finish them.
After DNF-ing Zion, there was a voice that questioned if I could do this. And now I know that I can.
I think about some of the cool moments from the race:
Starting with Peter, Lauryn, and Kelsey
My wife and in-laws working so hard at the crew stop
Nick passing me with a couple miles to go
Seeing Peter in the warming tent
The insane water crossings
Watching Lauryn cross the finish line knowing that she absolutely battled to make it happen
The positive energy in our crew tent
The hugs at the finish line
The thoughts of my kids knowing that I finished.
Speaking of my kids, I talk to them a lot about working hard, setting goals, and being willing to try and accomplish hard things.
And now I have been able to demonstrate that. They know I didn’t just show up to run a 100-miles on October 31st. They have seen the long runs at home. The hours on the treadmill. The times I bring them to practice and sneak in my run while they are practicing, and get back just in time to bring them home.
I don’t care if they ever want to run 100 miles, it’s not about that.
Maybe my son wants to be a starting running back.
Maybe my daughter wants to be the best soccer player on the team.
Maybe they want to write a book, put together a 10,000 piece lego set, or clean their rooms (likely not the last one). It takes consistent daily work.
I hope they see that it wasn’t about setting a crazy goal, it was about doing the crazy consistent daily work to achieve it.
They saw me fail at my first attempt at Zion, but that didn’t make me a failure. I picked myself up and learned from that experience.
Failure taught me a lot, once I was willing to learn from it.
SO WHAT’S NEXT
Well, I will likely take 5-ish days off of running. My feet will really appreciate that.
But mentally, my mind is on Cocodona. I didn’t finish Javelina and dread the fact that I had 250 miles already on the schedule. I cannot wait for it.
250 miles in 6 months. Time to work.
28:30:37. Javelina Jundred Finisher. Proud owner of a new belt buckle.
Not a bad weekend in the desert.