The Quick ONE SENTENCE MIND HACK That Works Like a Charm!
If you’re anything like me, I know I can be my own worst enemy when it comes to being ‘in my head,’ not only when running, but really anytime. Does this happen to you, too?
YOUR RUNNING (and LIFE) MINDSET
You may not realize this, but your mindset is actually a huge part of your running. There’s a much bigger mental component to running than many newer runners may realize. Now, you may already know that it’s really easy to want to compare ourselves to other people. I just did a video with tips to avoid comparing ourselves right here so go check that out, if you’re interested. I have one very specific mantra that I like to use that helps me get out of my head. Keep in mind that this takes practice, so don’t just expect to be able do it one time and ‘magically’ get it completely out of your head! But the more you practice your ‘mindset muscle,’ the better you will get at this.
MY FAVORITE MANTRA RIGHT NOW
So my favorite mantra right now is: “I am writing my own running story.” First of all, if you think about it, we’re all probably worried about what other people are thinking about us when we’re out running. But, in reality, guess what everybody else is thinking about? They’re all thinking the exact same thing! So they really don’t care about you as much as you might think, because everybody else is too busy being worried about themselves! So there’s that. Why worry about it? Because, trust me, nobody else really freaking cares. And if they do, who cares?? Does this really affect you at all? I think not.
But truly, when I think about my own running story – and I’ve met thousands of runners since I’ve been doing this and everybody has their own story all coming from different backgrounds – anything could be happening to you on that very day that is not normal for you, either. So when you focus on the idea that ‘you are writing your own running story,’ you get to figure out what those chapters are. You get to figure out how you want to do. And you get to figure out how long you want to go or how fast you want to go.
Repeating that mantra for myself really does help me out, so I hope that it helps you out too.
Most Runners Compare Ourselves to Others At Some Point
Hey, I’m a running coach and I still have issues with my self-confidence. Don’t get me wrong, I’m getting better at it, but, you know, there are a lot of times that you can really get in your head when it comes to running, especially when it comes to comparing yourself to everybody else.
Running is really one of those sports that it’s so easy to compare yourself to other people: you can compare your paces, how much time others run, how far everybody else is going. It can be really hard on your mind and you can they can really make you feel like s*#& and, honestly, that’s really hard to deal with, especially when you’re in the middle of maybe a run or a race and you just start going down the rabbit hole.
Strava and Garmin
This is one of the reasons that you won’t find me on Strava. I am on Garmin, but I keep that very I keep that secret and it’s only available to my TRU Tribe team to see. I’ve listened to people or watched people on Strava say things like, “Oh, the reason I was slower this time is because I was with so and so.” I’ve actually seen people stop their watches when they take walk breaks, so it’s only tracking their running. Hey, to each his own, I always say. Everybody’s writing their own running story, so I’m not judging, but for me, Strava was one of those things that, by comparing myself to other people, was just driving me crazy, so I just chose not to care. You won’t find me on Strava, because I just don’t need that extra pressure. So the great thing is that I continue my running journey and I keep learning more and more. So I’m going to share some of my tips about how you can really work on stop comparing yourself to others.
I’m sure you’ve heard the quote that ‘comparison is the thief of joy,’and it really is! Think about it. When you compare yourself to other people, it doesn’t really serve any purpose, whatsoever. Also, you really don’t know what everybody else is going through, anyway, right? I’ve been in races and I’ve talked to people and discovered that somebody maybe did a marathon the day before, because of whatever their crazy training plan is. You know I’ve been in races where you have people who were sick just the day before, and they’re going to be a little slower than normal. There are so many reasons that can affect what’s going on in your run, and it really doesn’t matter what’s happening to everybody else. So here are some of the steps that that work for me that, hopefully, will help you out, too.
Becoming more self-aware of your thoughts
Number one is really just becoming self-aware of when you’re going down that ‘comparison rabbit hole.’
Self-awareness is basically just being aware and realizing when you start going down the rabbit hole. For me to improve my self-awareness, I really found that meditating (that could be a whole other video, lol) really helps. The more you meditate, the more you become self-aware of your thoughts (especially negative thoughts!) that come your way. So, as soon as I notice those thoughts, the first thing I really do is I sit with it (but not for too long, though). So, I just sit with those feelings for a little bit. I’m going to just kind of pay attention and observe what feelings I’m having, and just to allow myself to feel and consider them. So, that’s the first thing I do. I recognize it. I sit in it. Maybe take a couple of deep breaths to slow everything down mentally.
find a favorite running mantra
Number two. The next thing that I do is I think about my favorite running mantra: “I am writing my own running story.” Then, I think about whomever I might be comparing myself to, who either just sped by me, or whatever the case is, and try to focus on the fact that they’re writing their own running story too, right? I don’t know what their story is (and, really, it doesn’t even matter if I know their whole story), I just need to be focusing on myself.
I remember one thing that really struck me, when I was going through my meditation practice one day. One of the first meditations that I learned was from Deepak Chopra, and it was this whole idea of feeling inferior to other people, which is really what you’re doing when you’re comparing yourself to others. It’s not often that you’re thinking, “Well, I’m faster than everybody else.” When you’re comparing yourself to others, you’re more often in a bad place, because other people are faster than you, or are going longer than you, or something they’re just doing better… than you. This insight is something I go back to a lot now, when I think about comparing myself to other people:
If I am thinking that I’m inferior to maybe one person, then it probably means that sometimes I’m also feeling superior to another person. When I realized this, it really didn’t sit well with me.
I don’t want to feel superior to people, either! So, that’s one of the things that I always go back to. It’s always a constant in my head just to think about those words, because I don’t want to feel superior to anybody. And again, I’m writing my own running story. It doesn’t matter what everybody else is doing, really.
Practice Keeping Yourself Out of the Comparison ‘Rabbit Hole’
So, those couple of steps work for me, but here’s the deal. We each have these neurological pathways that we have created because of our life experiences. Over time (especially if you are somebody who finds yourself going down the rabbit hole and comparing yourself to other people quite a bit), you know that’s a pattern that you’ve built for yourself and it’s not going to go away on its own.
So, what I would recommend that you do is just to keep practicing. Anytime you’re out there, whether you’re in a training run, or you’re with a group of people, or you just realize that you start going into your head and comparing yourself to other people, follow those steps and I really hope that help you break these old ways of thinking about yourself and about those around you and creates more positive habits.
I hope you’ve gotten some helpful info here and hope to see you soon!
Since I’m the Community Manager of our Online ChiRunning/ChiWalking Community which is all ChiRunners and ChiWalkers, I definitely see that we have a different mindset than most other runners. Add that to reading some of these posts in running facebook groups and sometimes I can’t help but cringe at some of the questions and advice given there!
Then I remembered that Danny Dreyer, the founder of ChiRunning, had addressed this in the ChiMarathon book. Here is what he shared on page 11:
The difference between ChiRunners and Runners
In this video I combine a few and add my own spin to them but here it is in a nutshell:
Mind WITH body, not mind OVER body: we don’t push through pain. We are our own body detectives. If we feel pain while running, our body talks to our mind, we reach into our toolbox to figure out why that pain may be happening, and then make adjustments in our technique to help the pain go away. You learn how to listen to your body and body sense.
Intelligent movement vs physical exertion: our goal is to maximize running economy. Yes we do hill repeats, speed workouts etc. But we have a different spin: we try to figure how we can “push” our bodies but without increasing physical effort. How can the movement be more efficient? How can we maximize gravity, balance and relaxation vs powering through?
Conserve energy vs burning it: as mentioned in the last one, this is a priority. Instead of pushing through to go faster or longer, we listen to our bodies, take into account external and internal factors and work from there.
Core strength vs leg strength: we prefer not to use our legs for propulsion. This is a good way to get injured as well as wasting a lot of unnecessary energy. Most runners use their legs to propel forward. We use good postural alignment, which requires core strength, and gravity to help us move forward. When your legs aren’t working so hard, you’re less likely to hurt yourself and running is more effortless because you are not using all the muscle to push you through.
Learn and listen TO our bodies, we don’t test or push: our bodies have the answers. Too many times people push through pain hoping it will go away or they will get over it. I’ve had too many people come to my ChiRunning workshops who have said, “I wish I knew this information before my {insert injury issue/surgery here}. If you are in pain, your body is telling you something. Ignoring it can possibly make it worse.
Who wants to be sidelined with another running injury? Not us!
Who wants running to be exhausting and hard? Not us!
Who wants to feel like crap right after a race or the next day? Not us!
Who wants to keep running in a way that your likelihood of injury is so much lower, where running can be easier and you can have a joyful, sustainable running practice for the rest of your life? That’s us!
They say sitting is the new smoking. What we do with our bodies all day effects us when we are walking and running.
In my latest video, I give you a quick tip on how you can maximize the time you spend sitting on your butt all day in under 2 minutes.
When you first start lifting from the crown of your head, make sure you do this for small periods of time. You are working out your core muscles with this practice so you want to do it gradually. I recommend setting a phone reminder or alarm every hour to mindfully practice this for a minute or two to get used to it.
Bonus Tip: I work on this while I’m sitting in my car as well. I lift my rear view mirror up a little higher to keep my spine lengthened. I bring the back of the chair a little closer so I do allow the seat to help me but I’m still doing the work just with a bit of assistance.
Another distance checked off my bucket list!
Warning: this is a bit long so grab a coffee or beer and get comfy! It took me longer to write this blog than to do the race!
Seriously, WHO AM I? If you would’ve told me 10 years ago that I would be doing 100 miles, I would say you’re crazy! One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned from running is “Never Say Never”
But why 100 miles?! 🙄🤣
Let’s tackle this question first. I have two major Why’s:
The longest distance I’ve done so far is a 100K (62 miles) at one time and 120 miles in 6 days at the TransRockies stage race. Every time I go up a distance, and feel good after finishing it, I wonder….can I do the next one? In most trail races, distances jump from 100K to 100 miles…..which is about 38 miles. That’s a lot more miles! But I got it in my head that I wanted to try it. My original goal was to do this race in 2020 going into 2021 as I entered my 50th birthday year. But this race was canceled last year due to COVID so I changed it to this New Year. I purchased the 48 hour option (more on this below). I decided I would do my longest distance on the first day, go take a shower and sleep a bit (Greg’s Mom lives 10 minutes away from the race venue!) and then come back and finish the rest on 12/31 so I could ring in the New Year doing something epic!
This might be the first time I put this in writing. I’ve started saying it out loud because this 100 miler was the first test for me. In 2020, Aravaipa announced a new race: Cocodona 250. That’s right…250 mile race! I remember reading all about it and watching the video….thinking what an amazing event to do in 2021 (the inaugural year) when I turn 50. Then, reality set in. I just became one of the new owners of the ChiRunning company and let’s face it, I was definitely not prepared to tackle this distance yet. I loved the idea of running through most of the state of Arizona.! I was lucky enough to get to volunteer and pace my friend Andre in May this year. The seed was planted but they have a requirement that you have at least one 100 mile race under your belt and their cutoffs were definitely out of my league. So, I figured, getting this 100 miler done would be the first step to deciding whether doing a longer distance was even something that I wanted to do. I’ll admit it, I think I’m addicted to longer distances! My next step will be to do another 100 miler or two but not until 2023. While I am excited at the possibility of Cocodona, I need to be realistic about my work load as well as my training and experience. I don’t want to rush into anything so right now it’s on the 2-4 year plan.
I remember when I first heard of it from one of my ChiRunners. Sounded ridiculous to me! It’s a 1.05 mile loop and you basically go around in circles for hours…or days! Wait…what?! You read that right!
I’ll admit it, it’s definitely not my favorite type of race. I’m a trail girl at heart. However, there is something about this race that is truly special.
I remember the first time I went to just check it out. It was years ago. Some of my ChiRunners from Prescott were doing it and they invited me to come and visit and do some laps with them. Again, not my cup of tea but I totally could see how this type of race would work for a lot of people and a lot of reasons. After this experience, I decided to start volunteering. The Running University now fills the entire volunteer shift from 9am on New Year’s Eve to 9am on New Year’s Day. It’s my favorite way to spend this holiday!. Of course, every time I volunteered, I got more and more intrigued. I had the chance to run the race several times due to my volunteering but I never choose to do the full 24 hours. I would only do what my training plan called for. (One of the dangers about these types of events is that you get caught up in adding the mileage and it’s easy to get injured when you haven’t trained for the distance).
Some crazy distances are covered by athletes of all ages at this race! If you want to check out some of the results, click here. For example, the winner of the 10 day race, did 690.471 miles!
When I decided I was doing my first 100 miler, I had to pick which race. I knew it had to be an Aravaipa race. I did my first 50K and 100K with Aravaipa Running. They are one of our local trail racing companies and they put on amazing races. I basically “grew up” and became a trail runner and ultra runner through their races. I also considered the difficulty of a trail 100 miler and after lots of thought, I decided Across The Years would allow me to ease into it, do it over 48 hours, it would be a great social race as I always know a lot of people who are either running or volunteering, and my team would be there on my last day volunteering.
Training for races is important to me. LOL that’s one of the reasons I’m a running coach. Not conditioning yourself for a race, especially a long one, is an injury waiting to happen. Unfortunately I knew I wouldn’t be able to train the way I would’ve normally done for this type of race. At one point in early November, I almost considered canceling it. I circled back to my why and it was really important for me to reach this milestone during my 50th birthday year. At that point I decided to buckle down and I was able to increase my training mileage and get a few long runs in. One day I even did a 50K in loops around the Kiwanis park lake. I did that several times for some 10 and 20 milers. Although I still wasn’t sufficiently trained, I felt better about it. Of course, knowing ChiRunning/ChiWalking technique is a huge asset!
My plan was to take it easy. I had a few calculations in my head as far as my pace but I knew I would be doing lots of walk/run intervals and I wanted to be realistic. My goal was to do my longest mileage on Day 1 so I could get that PR under my belt and then finish up later on 12/31 when all my peeps were volunteering.
It’s weird to me that I wasn’t really nervous before the start. It wasn’t a trail race, there was an aid station on the 1 mile course and there was no risk of getting lost in the middle of nowhere (this is usually my biggest stressor on a trail race). The mileage was intimidating but I also knew I was in a very safe space. As usual, the weather was my biggest concern…I was refreshing my Weather app on my phone constantly the whole week leading up to it. It was supposed to rain on both days…and in typical fashion, it kept changing. It looked like Thursday was going to be the better day which was good since I decided I was going to do the most mileage this day.
I found Lori’s tent (one of my trail wives and BFFs). She was also doing 100 miles but as a different race. She had the AZ flag on her tent like we do for our TransRockies camping. Although I had my car as home base, Lori’s tent was right off the track so would take less time to get things when I needed them. She let me keep my stuff there. I headed to the start line…..race start was 9am on 12/30. The 1st 24 hours was 9am-9am.
There were several reasons for that. When I’m planning a big mileage event, especially out of my comfort zone, I always like to raise money. I used to be a Board Member for our local chapter. I love this charity because I wish I had this when I was growing up. I started running late in my life so I love to see how GOTR makes such a big impact on these girls. As a matter of fact, as a running coach, I do the same thing for women only at a later stage in their lives. Running is such a great sport and we can learn so much from it. I love helping transform peoples lives with running and walking. I wish I had it as a kid! I also decided I wanted to walk in memory of Ila Brandli and Bob Hanson.
From my fundraising page! https://www.gotrmc.org/fundraiser/Coach-Lisa-The-Running-University
They were both big Girls On The Run supporters and passed away in the last few years. I would see Bob and his wife Cindy volunteering at aid stations during XTerra trail races (they support GOTR!). He had one of the best smiles and was always so positive.
Miles and smiles for Bob ❤ I wore this for both days
Ila used to raise money for GOTR too and used to do Across The years as well. As a matter of fact, she was one of the record breakers there! I wrote a blog about her in 2016 because she was such an amazing lady! I kept the cape on most of the first day. It ended up serving as a great conversation piece too! One girl ran by me and said she used to be a participant of the GOTR program and that’s how she became a runner! This made my day! Several people commented saying their daughter was in the program. Then, I made a new friend from Germany, Simi. I am bummed that we didn’t get a picture together because we had some great conversations! She’s doing some great things with women runners where she lives and it was fun to swap stories about how we motivate our athletes.
My goal for the first day was to do the highest distance I’d ever done. This happens to be the Black Canyon 100K (62 miles) but according to my Garmin, it was actually 63.06 so I had to get at least 63.5 done before going to shower and rest. I didn’t really have a strategy other than trying to keep between a 12-18 minute mile between running and walking intervals. They weren’t set intervals and I just body sensed when I felt like walking or running. I tried to run a bit more up front knowing that I would get more tired later. I knew quite a bit of people that were either participating or volunteering so it was a fun way to catch up with friends. (2 min Instagram Live at my start)
At one point, my friend Joshua handed me Ila’s In Memoriam race bib which I wore this for several miles. If you ever do this race, once you get a bib number, it’s yours for life! Many people come back year after year and you get swag for hitting milestones too. If you pass away, an In Memoriam bib is made and participants are able to wear them during the race. (3:46 min Instagram Live at mile 25)
Ila’s bib ❤
I got a visit from Melissa and Miggie and they even came back with a Cafe Americano for me because I knew it was going to be a long night!
Melissa did a lap with me!
Outside of the weather, the other mindfuck was the actual distance covered on each lap. While I had my Garmin on, the official race lap count did not match it. This is because the course is 1.05 miles and of course I wasn’t on the exact trajectory of when the course was measured. The path was pretty wide in some parts and there were bathroom breaks slightly off course, etc. I tried not to look at it but as I was getting closer to my daily goal, I was off by 2-3 miles. The hardest part of the entire race for me was the night of Day 1. I wanted to be done but was too tired to run so it was taking longer to do laps. I never ever thought of quitting but there was a lot of self talk and pumping sunshine 🤪there were fewer people on the course as people going for days would take longer breaks at night in their tents or RVs.
Gritting it out at night with Lisa Lee!
It all became a blur. The highlight of that early morning, was some food at the aid station. You pass it on every lap and you definitely don’t need to stop at every mile. At that point I was getting hungry and was about to grab a bag of potato chips, when Jon, the aid station captain, said, “we have tater tots!” Wait, what?! Keep in mind they make some great meals for us like hamburgers, pancakes, etc. I wasn’t expecting tater tots but they were the best thing EVER at 3am!
Finally I was getting closer….at first I wanted to reach the 64 miles on the race lap count…but when I was at mile 63 on my Garmin and still at 61 on the race count, I was over it! I did my last lap and hit the 64 miles on my Garmin and called it a night. I knew I had to get the official time for the total 100 miles but I would deal with that the next day. I think I left the race about 330ish. I went to my boyfriends’ Mom’s house which is about 6 minutes away, took a hot shower and went to sleep.
Ringing the PR Bell and feeling bad because it was 3am and people were sleeping in tents nearby.
I slept for about 4.5 hours and then starting getting ready for Day 2, New Year’s Eve. I was jazzed up because I “only” had 37 more miles to go. My plan was to end within an hour of midnight and 1am on New Year’s Day. Many of my TRU TRIBE members were volunteering on this day, including Greg, my boyfriend. I knew this was going to be an easier day.
Started Day 2 with Kisha!
TRU TRIBE after their volunteer shift doing a lap with me!
AND I had a few ChiRunning Instructors joining me on this day! Master Instructor Vince Vaccaro, one of the four co-owners of ChiRunning with me and Laurel Flax, a Certified Instructor in NH. These timed events are right up her ally and this was going to be her longest. Vince was going 24 hours and she was doing 72 hours. I didn’t get there until 12:30ish and I tried to find them first right away. I tried keeping up with Vince for a bit but he was fresh (well jet lagged from the late flight the night before) but fresher than me!
Some of my ChiRunning family! Vince and Laurel 😁
Long story short, this day started out better than I expected physically and mentally. I had to stay focused though because I’d get caught up at the aid station talking to friends. I had plenty of time as far as the cutoff of 9am the next day but I really wanted to finish right after midnight. I had more company this time around but I was also mostly walking at this point. I am pretty sure that I walked most of the 2nd day. My sister and my friend RJ came out to do a few laps with me. Alina, one of my TRU TRIBE members from Tucson, drove in a crazy storm to come out and walk with me too.
At one point, I started having lower shin pain. I knew there would be a possibility that something like this could happen because I didn’t really train as much as I wanted to. I told myself that I would stop if it was bad enough that it may take me out of commission for awhile but it never got that bad (so I thought). Of course I was even more hyper-focused on my technique but the overuse injury was starting to set in. I never take ibuprofen but did this time. I would normally drink alcohol but believe it or not, I drank none at all while I was on the course! First of all it was too cold! Second of all, I didn’t want to mess with how good I was feeling. Outside of the shin pain, I was in great spirits and people commented on that quite often.
This is actually a huge part of my mental strategy. I say this over and over again but due to my daily meditation practice, I am able to be self aware and mindful of attitudes and emotions as they are happening to me. I purposely pump myself up mentally before any big race with as many positive things that I can. I got myself so excited to finally get started on this bucket list race! I knew it would “only” be 2 tough days and I can do hard things! I can also tell when my mind wants to take me down the rabbit hole in a bad place. I usually catch this early enough so I can change it. The first thing that I do to get out of my head is a Technique Body Scan (start at the bottom with my foot placement and then go through each area to see if I’m in good form). I can’t be in my head judging myself if I’m doing this! I usually follow that with a 5 Senses Meditation (learned from Danny and you can find it here!). Same concept though…if I’m focusing on my senses, I’m not in my head going down the rabbit hole.
The thing bumming me out the most was that I was slowing down and had to take more breaks than I expected. This meant that I wouldn’t be finishing close to midnight anymore (which is when the volunteer shift ends and several of my friends (and boyfriend) would be done volunteering. I had to get over this and not let it bother me. My other ways to get distracted were to listen to music or podcasts. Between that and the company, it went better than I expected.
It was finally midnight and we got to ring in the New Year together! The whole race stops, everyone gets together at the start line, we have a champagne toast and everyone does a loop together. Most of the people I knew left after the celebration. I can’t remember how many miles I had to go at this point but I think it was a few more hours. (2:47 Instagram Live at mile 91)
I got to spend several more miles with Simi. Vince decided to stay with me and keep me company. The weather had held out most of the day and go figure, at 1am, it started down pouring. I was pissed! So freaking close to being finished…and my Garmin was 3 miles ahead of the official timer….but I kept pushing through with Vince. Then all of the sudden, I saw Elaine coming towards us! I can’t remember if it was my last lap or 2nd to last lap but it was so good to see her face! Elaine was one of the first people to get me into trail running, helped me train for my first night race and ultra, is one of my trusted pacers, and one of my besties!
With Elaine! Photo taken after the finish. Alina brought me those balloons. She risked her life coming up from Tucson in a crazy storm with these balloons in the back of her car! All I could think about after my race is “don’t let me forget my balloons”. Elaine made sure I didn’t. (as of 1/25/22 they are still floating around in my living room!)
It was finally over! I turned right for the final stretch, I started running because you just have to cross a finish line running! I went through the aid station, rang the PR bell (and didn’t care about waking people up this time!), crossed that finish line and got my buckle! Thanks to Jan for getting this video of me!
As of today 1/28/22, I am taking a little break from running as I heal. I am going to see Jody from Longevity Wellness Clinic of AZ for my 3rd acupuncture appointment in 2 weeks.
As of today 1/28/22, I still can’t believe I did it! If you made it this far, thank you so much! It seriously took me longer to put this together than it did to run it!
The final numbers!!
Race Director Julie 😊
Race Director Jubilee 💜
OF course I wore my buckle the first chance I had at the Aravaipa Group Trail Run the following Wednesday!
Noooooo! It was Day 6! I wasn’t ready for it to be over!
The most exciting thing that happened that morning is that I got a free bag of Stoked Oats. This is seriously the best oatmeal I’ve had in my life. They are one of the race sponsors and I had it for breakfast there every single day. I asked about them midweek and was told that they are from Canada and that the only way to get them in the US was at a Costco in L.A.
I was told that if there were leftovers at the end of the week I’d be able to get a bag….and I did! I am finishing it up now but I just ordered a new one on Amazon because they are available there now! These are worth every penny in my opinion and I’ve only tried the Stoned Oats flavor.
I honestly have to say, I was bummed that it was the last day. I tried to stay as present as possible the entire week so I could keep as many memories as possible in my mind. Today would be another long day of 22 miles with 5300 ft of elevation gain. Because the sunrise was later, the early start was only about 30ish minutes before the regular start. I started on my own and even though I was bummed, I was looking forward to my last day on trails that I had never been on before. This was one of my Why’s for this race and it propelled me every day. It’s almost as if I couldn’t get enough of seeing new trails this week!
Where had the time gone? Were we really already on Day 5 of 6?
I wasn’t sure whether to be happy or sad….that’s really not true though…honestly I was sad.
Sure it had been a tough week but I wasn’t really ready for it to be over yet! I had to remind myself to stay as present as possible.
Stage 5 was sponsored by Mammoth Creameries. We had the option to have this tasty, keto friendly ice cream every single day! Check them out!
This was the longest stage with 24 miles and the 2nd most elevation gain (see the elevation profile at the bottom of the picture below).
I was amazed at how good I felt! Between ChiRunning/ChiWalking, my training, the poles, using the Elevated Legs the 2 days prior, I felt great!
“The creek was redirected so there won’t be anywhere near as much water as there normally is”…..they said the night before during the race briefing. I never found out if they said this on the purpose (I think they did!) but several people boood this comment that night. I was actually bummed too because there was supposed to be a long water crossing that I (and many others) were looking forward to.
Stage 4: Sponsored by Kahtoola 15 miles/23 kilometres with 3600 ft/1100 m gain
This was another “short” day (only 2 days under 20 miles!) but there was a good amount of steep climbing even though our highest point was “only” 11,700. But our finish line was at Mango’s Bar and Grill in Red Cliff. 😁
We started in Nova Guides where we spent the previous night. It was nice to stay in one location for two nights so we didn’t have to pack. We also didn’t have any service during these two days which was a blessing in disguise. I kept my phone turned off during this stage as they told use when we got a bit higher we may have connection…..I really didn’t want to get bombarded with notifications or be back in the “real” world again.
Several people have asked me what my favorite stage was….It’s so hard to say because they all have their own unique character about them. However, I do believe that Stage 3 may have been my favorite.
We had spent the night in Leadville, in a WET baseball field. It had rained and they kept apologizing for the conditions like it was their fault it had rained. You just roll with the punches! I hadn’t been sleeping well the past few nights so this time I opted to do the regular start even if it was the longest stage. I checked the elevation profile and knew I could finish in time. Joan left early. I knew I would be by myself most of the day which was absolutely fine with me. My goal for this week was to enjoy this vacation and recharge…although I am mostly an extrovert, I have introvert tendencies and really love alone time in nature.
This was the longest stage at 25 miles. As I’ve said before, my Why for this race was so strong that I started every day like a giddy little kid on Christmas morning. I couldn’t wait to see what the trails had in store for me. Since I had volunteered, I was also excited about getting to Nova Guides as it’s one of the most beautiful locations I’ve been to. I also knew we wouldn’t have service for a few days but that was a blessing. I was happy to be as disconnected from the outside world as possible while I was reconnecting with nature and myself.
BTW I forgot to mention in my Hope Pass blog that I forgot to wear my Garmin! I ended up downloading Joan’s profile since we were together 95% of the time.
Last ultra in my 40s 3 years older than my last 100K
24 minutes and 33 seconds faster
But this race was so much more than this! I can’t believe that I finished 63 miles in 19:22:34 this year and felt amazing the whole way. I honestly still feel a little guilty about saying this but it’s true!
As a quick reminder:
I always like to do races that challenge me out of my comfort zone in February because it’s my birthday month. Turning 50 this year made it even more epic (I was supposed to do my first 100 miler in January of 2021 but it got canceled due to COVID)
I’ll share my post race reflections on why this race was so amazing for me in hopes that I can inspire you to have some of these amazing experiences too…..then a quick recap of how my day went.
6 feet apart at the start line with a wave start
Jubilee! One of my favorite Race Directors 💜
This race was close to being canceled due to the escalated COVID cases in AZ, more specifically Yavapai County which is where most of the race is located. I kept my fingers crossed until we received the email that IT WAS HAPPENING! On 2/2 (11 days before the race) we found out that there would be wave starts (standard with COVID now) AND that I would only be able to have one pacer (instead of 2) and no crew. This threw a wrench into my excitement about the race.
Since I am a back of the packer, they try to avoid having people pass you on the trail (COVID) which meant my wave start was 10am rather than 7am. This news hit me because it meant I would be spending more time at night. Don’t get me wrong, I love night trail running but I’ve been lost on this course before. It’s also pretty remote so this just added some anxiety now.
For most ultras, you can have a crew and pacers. They are there to help keep you focused, moving forward and taking care of the details when your sole focus as the runner is to get to the finish line. In the original race, you can have a pacer for the last 25 miles (two different segments). With the new rules, I would only get one for the last 12 miles. This added stress because it meant more running in the dark alone.
At this point I had the option to not accept these changes and post pone it until next year. My first reaction was to do that. I was really bummed about these changes (although I absolutely understood them to be necessary for the race to happen safely).
Not gonna lie, I was freaking out about them! But thanks to my meditation practice which helped me go from REACTING to RESPONDING and a few texts from friends, I made the decision to go for it. If I tell my athletes that the magic happens when you get out of your comfort zone, I had to practice what I preach!
Key Lessons
One of the reasons I love running is because it provides an avenue to learn more about myself.
Things that went well:
I canceled track the Thursday before. I didn’t want to have an alarm clock wake me up during that whole week. Thankfully I can do this since I’m self employed. I used to underestimate resting and learned how important it is. I allowed my body to wake up whenever it wanted to the week before knowing I’d be on my feet and awake for 18-20 hours on race day.
I was prepared! Speed is not a way I measure my running success but this time around I wanted to be faster so I knew I had to do some different things. I followed a training plan from McMillan Running to try something new and then added my ChiRunning/ChiWalking form focuses. Due to COVID, I was able to do more running alone which allows me to train at my pace. My training plan had various types of runs that I had never really focused on before because I run so much with my TRU TRIBE. I found these challenging and fun. I also happened to do more road running due to my Every Damn Street Virtual race and I feel that helped me build my stamina in a different way. There is no doubt that being prepared had a huge impact on how I felt on race morning: prepared and ready to go!
I followed my nutrition plan from Sparks Systems. I am fat adapted and my body felt like a well oiled machine. I’ve never had any gut issues when running long distances so I keep doing what’s worked for me.
What surprised me the most was how good I felt the entire time! We always say that there are many highs and lows during an ultra race and you learn to “ride the wave”. The wind, the rain, the dark….none of it brought me down. I brought my Noxgear 39g and was prepared with music, podcasts, audiobooks to keep me company.(Use code RUNNINGU1 for 35% off the Noxgear 39g. I love mine!) I may have listened to these for maybe 3-4 hours during the entire race. My goal was to be alone as much as possible. I run with people all the time (and I love it!) but this was my race, my pilgrimage, if you will, into my 50th birthday year. I was really looking forward to just being alone, out in nature for a “few” hours by myself…and that’s exactly what I did.
The week before I started working on visualizations of the course and seeing myself out there having a great time. I meditate daily with the Insight Timer app. That week I found meditations about grounding, receiving and gathering energy. My plan was to take in as much as I could and conserve it until race day. Sounds almost cheesy but I believe this really worked for me. In addition, the week before, I was getting so many texts, emails, social media comments from people wishing me well and I took all of those in. I kept mentally conserving all that positive energy I was receiving. I felt it really propelled me on race day and was literally drawing me towards the finish line…like I almost had no control over it. We call this YChi in ChiRunning and I don’t ever think I felt it as strong as I did on this day. I could definitely feel the energy of my TRU TRIBE with me too. Here is just one of the positive messages I received that week:
I’m glad I decided to have a pacer for that last 12 miles! I had left it to my friend and colleague Henry Walker to decide between him and his girlfriend. I trained Henry last year to become a ChiRunning/ChiWalking instructor (the only other one in AZ!). He pulled his calf muscle lightly the week of the race so they decided it would make most sense for Laura to pace me. As much as I know I could’ve done it by myself, she helped me stay focused on moving forward. I would’ve slowed down for sure if I was alone.
I always have to mention ChiRunning/ChiWalking because I would never consider doing these distances without it. I was lucky enough to get to zoom with my mentor and founder, Danny Dreyer, the week of the race. He gave me some last minute tips. I focused on my technique quite a bit during the race. While I was pretty sore the first few days after the race, I felt great after that! I swear by ChiWalking especially during my ultras. There is a big difference in regular walking and I believe this also had a huge impact on my energy levels all day. The goal is always conserving energy and one can waste a lot of energy when running and walking. In addition to technique, several time during my race I visualized gathering energy from the earth every time my foot hit the ground.
I PRd by 24 minutes and 33 seconds! That’s about 24 seconds per mile faster for 62 miles! My technique, training and mindset all came together that day and I rocked it!
Things that didn’t go so well (yes there were a few things)
I always say never try new things on race day. This is common knowledge. While I was trying not to freak out about being in the dark longer by myself, this was one thing that was giving me anxiety. Most of my TRU TRIBE uses the Kogalla light for night running. I’ll be honest, I haven’t been crazy about these because they can be pretty bright and if someone is coming towards you, it can be annoying. (come to find out there are actually 20 brightness settings!) A few of them suggested I should try one out. I bought one the weekend before the race hoping it would get to me on time. I borrowed Jan’s the Tuesday of race week so I could try it out. It really did light the trail up quite a bit and she let me borrow it in case I didn’t get mine in the mail. I happened to get mine before the race but only tried it that one time. I have an entire different view on these now. The light was awesome and really increased my confidence of being out there alone. Since I only tried it that one time, I didn’t know how it would effect me on the switchbacks going uphill in the canyon. I am afraid of heights and used to having a headlamp. When you have a headlamp, it points wherever your point your head so although you have more limited lighting, it’s focused in the direction your heading which is in front of you. Well, the Kogalla, was on my waist (race belt) and lit up the entire trail in front of me (that’s the point!). What this meant that when I was going up a single track uphill, I could see the periphery which meant the slope down into the abyss and bottom of the canyon. It didn’t dawn on me to move my race belt towards the mountain side more (which I would’ve figured it out had I practiced with it more) so this slowed me down. I was more tired, it was dark so I really had to focus on looking ahead and not letting the ledge of canyon effect me. Aside from that, I am new fan of the Kogalla!
Kogalla lighting up the water crossing
Not having crew there until the last aid station effected me. Your crew will normally be able to meet you at various aid stations. They are there to help you make whatever changes and help you get in and out of the aid stations as quickly and efficiently as possible. I tell my runners all the time: DFA (Don’t F*#k Around) at the aid stations. You can waste a lot of time if you are not focused and the clock is ticking (only important if you care about your time and I was trying to PR). I really could’ve used a crew at Black Canyon City. This was mile 39 of 62 and I had been in the dark already for several hours. I was getting tired (I was about a little over half way) and I had ultra brain. I fumbled around with my drop bags, trying to figure out what I needed and what I could get rid of. I had to change my shoes and get into some warmer clothes, refill my pack, eat some food…it was a lot to handle on my own and if I had someone there with me, I probably would’ve saved at least 10 minutes. I stayed here longer than I anticipated. I didn’t have a choice as crew was not allowed there but I felt the loss of not having one.
I second guessed myself at one spot that ate up about another 15 minutes. I’ve gotten lost on this trail several times although only during training runs. The course was well marked! There is a point as you head in and out of Black Canyon City that you have to take a different way so you don’t go back the way you came. The course was well marked but I was paranoid about going back the wrong way. At one point I was feeling like maybe I missed it so I turned back around to that spot. Then I stopped, pulled out my All Trails app (where I had downloaded the course map in case something like this would happen) and realized I was going the right way. Better be safe than sorry but this “cost” me another 10-15 minutes.
Race Day
The silver lining about starting at 10am, meant that Greg (my boyfriend) could actually drive me to Mayer High School to drop me off at the start (this is a point to point race which means you start at one location and finish at another.) This adds some additional logistics to the day. The race offered a shuttle for the runners. I have a thing about shuttles and buses before a race. It depends on the race but I really like to be in my own space and energy before a race, especially a big one like this one. The erratic energy of a bunch of people in a shuttle tends to mess with me so I was grateful that I could be in the car with my honey for about 90 minutes getting myself psyched up.
I had created a spreadsheet like last time with my tentative pace from each aid station, taking into consideration the course profile, my strengths, time of day, etc. The first time I did this race, I finished in 19:46:01. The cutoff was 20 hours. For any first time experience, I never focus on speed. I know it’s my first time doing that distance, it’s all about enjoying it as much as possible. I was messing around at the aid stations, drinking some beer here and there, and just having a good ole time. This time would be a bit different. I wanted to have a PR (personal record) so I needed to be more focused. I felt stronger going into this race (I had just PRd the Coldwater 52K race the month before by 52 minutes!) so I had two different goals. First goal was to beat my time by an hour and the stretch goal was to finish in 18 hours (1hr 45min PR). I knew this was aggressive but I wasn’t attached to it…just hoping I could do it.
Fifteen minutes before my start, I got this text message from my buddy Archie (one of our TRU TRIBE mascots)
As usual, I started faster than my predicted time. I knew this would happen but I was still holding back knowing I had a lot of miles ahead of me. The course has a negative profile (more downhill than uphill) which is deceiving. Downhills are my jam but this time we had some serious head and cross wind. While I love downhills, I am afraid of heights too. These downhills are single track and so much fun but the wind added an element of uneasiness as I was cruising down. Probably a good thing that it slowed me a down. Click here for the live video where you can hear the wind.
One of my favorite spots: the iconic windmill
downhill!
In addition to the wind, there were some pretty big clouds looming around. On the drive up, I had noticed that now the weather app was showing possibility of rain. Ugh! Not the biggest fan but this race has been unpredictable (I dropped to the 60K at my first 100K attempt due to some serious bad weather) so I was prepared. I already had packed an extra pair of socks in each drop bag (in ultras you get to have drop bags at specific aid stations where you can have extra stuff you need so you don’t have to carry it all while you are running) and had a poncho in my hydration pack and thankfully brought my purple wind breaker. I lucked out and got sprinkled on a few times during the day. I stayed ahead of my predicted time until about mile 35. Night had already started to fall so I slowed down as I expected I would. I approached my first water crossing which was a few miles before the Black Canyon Aid station which is where I planned to change as much of my apparel as possible as it was getting colder. One of the hardest parts of an ultra in my opinion is dealing with the major temperature change between night and day. Especially here in AZ. I attempted not to get my feet wet in the water crossing but then remembered I was going to change my shoes and socks anyways so I just walked right through it…it was barely covering my ankles so it was uneventful. Oddly the cold water felt good on my feet and climbed out of the canyon. I was looking forward to this aid station. I have to give a shout out to Altra Running shoes! I’ve been a sponsored athlete for 3 years now and I can never say enough about them. It’s all I wear! I chose my Superior 4.5 for the first part because they are more minimal and flexible and my Lone Peaks 4.5 for the second part as they have a bit more cushion.
One major thing I love about our trail/ultra community is the most amazing people you meet. Even if you only see people at races a few times a year, they are your friends. As much as I was bummed that I was losing time at this aid station, it was great to see some familiar races. Huge thanks to Dawn. She works with Medstar Solutions and was at the medical tent. She popped over to say hi and I was venting about having to go change my wet bra in a porta potty. She was so sweet and let me go into the medical trailer to take care of that! It was also great to see Crystal volunteering who I know from Girls On The Run. So I changed everything except my pants, refilled my pack and got some hot potato soup which was exactly what I needed. I headed back out and now I was 40 minutes behind my predicted time. Changing into warmer clothes, socks and shoes and that potato soup totally reenergized me and I felt great.
The rest of the race was a meditative trance. I can’t even explain it. It was dark and I was just following my light and moving forward. I was alone pretty much most of this time in the dark. I remember thinking this was going to be the hardest part but I was actually enjoying the peacefulness of the night. I could see this huge big black cloud that I was running towards and I was hoping that I wouldn’t get rained on. I got lucky again and only a few drops.
I approached Table Mesa Aid Station where I would either pick up Henry or Laura to pace me the rest of the 11ish miles. I could see them both as I approached and Henry had jeans on so I knew right away who was pacing me. He also had a thermos and filled my cup up with one of the best things I had tasted: Hot Apple Cider Skratch.(electrolytes) OMG, I couldn’t get enough! Not only was it nice and warm but it tasted so good! Between that and having Laura for company, those last miles flew by. We chatted and of course I bitched about the rocks. This is my least favorite part of this course. There are several parts that are pretty rocky so it’s hard to get any momentum forward while running. We passed an awesome Saguaro forest that I didn’t remember from the year before, hit the last aid station and were almost there! I had been in great spirits all day but the only time I would get slightly irritated is when I knew I should be approaching an aid station and I couldn’t see it. We starting seeing lights but couldn’t tell if that was the finish. Finally, there it was! Due to COVID restrictions, no one could be at the finish line. I was so happy to know that I had 3 of my TRU TRIBE members who had volunteered that night so they could be at my finish! (Alina had to leave because she drove from Tucson to volunteer and I didn’t get back in as early as I was hoping) I could see Jubilee, the race director, and I jumped up as I crossed the finish line. Even though I knew I hadn’t met my original goal to PR by an hour, I still had a PR and felt amazing!
Small section of the saguaro forest at night lit by my Kogalla
I walked to the aid station to see Mindy and Catherine. They had a birthday goodie bag for me and I got to hang out with them for a few minutes. They offered me alcohol to celebrate (because this is what I would normally do) but I just wasn’t feeling it. I never had a beer until later that evening!
As I reflect on my journey to that finish line, I am 100% sure that my attitude and mental state going into this day were THE biggest key to my success. Being trained and using good technique of course go without saying. I was so excited about this race and this day, I couldn’t wait to get out there and have that experience all to myself. I am so thankful that everything flowed for me that day. As I was finishing, 19 hours plus into the race, I knew that if I had to, I could keep going……..and you know what that means?! Hmmmm ?! 😁
