If you’re anything like me, you hate getting sunscreen in your eyes!
I’m here to help you put the fun in your run and learn all the things that’ll help make running so much funner instead of hating it. So today I want to talk about a very specific product that I love. It took me a while to find this, but I finally found it and ironically today, as I’m shooting the video for this blog, I’m in beautiful sunny Tempe, Arizona. This is where I live and usually, it’s very sunny. Of course, the day I’m talking about sunscreens, it’s NOT! 🤣 But you know that it’s very important to use sunscreen on your runs, even when there’s cloud coverage, right? So today I’m going to share with you my favorite sunscreen.
You can probably already tell by how much I love this, because I have the biggest size bottle possible! The brand is Zelios and I absolutely love this product.
If you go to their website, you can see all the science behind why it’s a great product. I don’t like to get all sciency on stuff, but I do like to have products that are as good and as natural as possible, so I always look for that in a product. But the thing I love most about this brand is the way they’ve created this sunscreen so that it doesn’t drip down into your eyes.
Since I live in Tempe (a suburb of Phoenix, Arizona) and it’s (USUALLY! lol) always sunny here, I have to apply sunscreen pretty much daily. So, once I found Zelios, this is now absolutely my favorite sunscreen. They have it in a couple of different sizes. I just showed you the biggest size (32 oz), because that is my absolute favorite (the one I buy and the best value). They also have these little trial sizes. I usually order these because I like to give them away here locally to my people and as samples at different events.
Chapstick / Lip Balm
Finally, they also have my absolute favorite chapstick. Again, I’ve gone through I don’t know how many different brands of chapsticks in my life, and I have finally found this one. The reason I love this one so much is that I just love how soft it is on my lips. There’s also no flavor (I’m not really big on flavor with these things.), so I just love it. I even put it on before I go to bed at night. It’s just my favorite chapstick and, of course, here in Arizona. It’s very important that we take care of our lips as well, being out in the desert and sun.
Other Team Zelios Products
Zelios also has other products, by the way, but I’ve never used those so I can’t honestly say whether I like them or not. What I can say is that a number of my TRU Tribe ladies have used some of their other products and have told me that they absolutely love them, too.
Here’s an affiliate discount link, if you’d like to try out any of Zelios’ products and get 15% OFF. Regardless of where you live, putting sunscreen on is really important, especially if you’re a walker or runner spending lots of time out in the heat and sun.
Where else can you find me on social media?
Hey, out of curiosity, did you know that you also can find me on Instagram?? I’m at @TRUCoachLisa. I do post there daily, so hopefully, I can inspire you over there, too. If you go check out Zelios, I’d be interested to hear what you think about their products, too.
I Was Dead Effin’ Last & Here Is What I Did About!
First, the Acronyms…
I just got back from a race weekend in Colorado with my true tribe team – literally, I just came back – and I trained them for this event, but somehow I came in DFL! If you don’t what DFL means that means ‘Dead F__ing Last’!! That’s right! The coach was Dead F__ing Last@ Do I look worried about it at all?? Of course I’m not! Well, outside of the fact that my ultra sign up score is going to get affected by it. lol But really… who cares?
First, let’s talk about a couple of these acronyms that you may have (or may not have) heard, depending on you where you are in your running journey. Right now there are three acronyms:
DNS which means Did Not Start, then there’s
DFL which is Dead F__ing Last, and then there’s
DNF which is Did Not Finish.
There’s a common running community saying that says, “It’s better to be Dead F__ing Last than not finishing than not starting.” And, honestly, I used to subscribe to this idea, but not so much anymore. Why? I’ll tell you a little bit about that in a bit, but let me get back to my story.
My Race Goals…
So, on Sunday morning we were getting ready to do the race. We were doing an 11K and this is a really hard race. It starts at 9200 feet of elevation. You climb 1700 feet in three and a half miles. Then you turn around and come back down the same route. So, it’s a lot of elevation very quickly. It’s a very steep race.
So, as I prepared for this race myself, I really only had a couple of goals. The first goal was that I really wanted to keep working on my pole technique because at this point, I knew that I would be helping out at the TransRockies race – I volunteered to lead the back of the pack group and we use poles a lot. With this in mind, I just wanted to keep honing in on my poles technique and this race was perfect for that.
My second goal was that I just wanted to get more experience at altitude, because, again, I’m going to be back in Colorado at altitude for the TransRockies race. So, my two goals for this race really were not to ‘race’. My goals were really more to focus on those skills and experience. I wasn’t really focused on ‘racing’ that day.
DFL
As I started, with a couple of the ladies in my tribe, we kind of just really noticed that we were at the back of the pack. We were ‘leap frogging’ with some other people for a while, but then, as we got farther and farther into the race, I kind of felt like we were going to be last. And, as a matter of fact, if you go look at the race stats right now for that race.. I ended up being Dead F__ing Last!
When we came in more-or-less together, they were a little bit ahead of me, but really, much of that was intentional on my part. I may have started the race thinking I didn’t care when I was going to finish. I was there to have fun with my tribe. Also, I had already decided that I was there to work on other things – elevation, poles, and altitude. I was not there for speed at all, so that was that. So, basically, even though I was DFL, I really don’t care, since the purpose I had chosen for my race that day was about the elevation, poles, and the altitude. So, I reached my goals for that race! That’s awesome!
How I Measure My ‘Running Success’
Generally speaking, I’m not the type of person who who measures my running success based on speed. If you go to this video, you’ll hear a little bit more about what I do, as far as what my success is and how I measure my success in a race.
So, let’s go back to that idea where we say a DFL is better than a DNF, which is better than a DNS, and break this down. Basically, this says that coming in last is better than not finishing is better than not even starting. Now here is why I don’t believe that anymore…
I used to believe this, but because I’ve grown in my running journey and I’ve coached more people along the way, really all of those just really depend on what’s happening on that day. Once you start your race, pretty much anything could happen to anybody.
DNS
A DNS is a Did Not Start. I also had one of those once. You know I very rarely get injuries, since I use body-sensing and ChiRunning, but making a call that morning of deciding not to start was very important for my growth as a runner. I had a little bit of an injury – I had ignored some signs recently and had overextended my running, so I was starting to get some plantar fasciitis. I had made some changes in my shoes, so I could have started the race that day. I had already spent the money on the race and I started thinking about all the training I’d already done to get to this start line. But, at the end of the day, I decided NOT to start. So, yes, I have a DNS on my record, but it was a really good call, because I could have made that injury so much worse if I had decided to push through and run.
So, I just decided not to start, and guess what? I volunteered instead and still had a fabulous time! I got to help out the other runners. So, if you decide not to start a race, maybe because you’re feeling a little injury or for some other reason, and you’re making the call not to start, that’s a great idea! That’s a much better and smarter plan versus starting it with an injury, then possibly injuring yourself Then maybe you won’t be able to run for the next six months. So really, at the end of the day, it boils down to what are your goals and how will this decision affect them?
DNF
If you think about a DNF (Did Not Finish), another great example that I have for a Did Not Finish was the same exact race last year. I did the 12 miler I was training for to get more mileage and I know that, at the top of the race, there’s a pretty steep short scramble up some rocks and loose gravel to get to the turn-around point… and I happen to be afraid of heights! lol So, when I got to that point in the race, I kind of looked at it, wondered if I should give it a good college try, and then I was like, “Nope! I’m out!” And that was my very first DNF. Of course, again, it goes on my ‘permanent record, on UltraSignup that I didn’t finish, but who cares? Right? My goal for that race was to get the elevation and the altitude and it was training I had done a for marathon the day before, so for me, the question was, ‘What is my goal for this race?’
‘Racing’ A Race
I’m rarely ever really ‘racing’ in a race. For me, they’re ‘events’, not ‘races’. Most of my races are training runs for another race and when I DO ‘race,’ I’m usually not racing others, but trying to beat one of my previous times or distances, instead. I know I’m not a fast runner. I’m not going to win the race, so, for me, it just depends on what goals I set for myself for that event.
Writing Your Own Running Story
One of my number one mantras that I’ve learned to use (and I really encourage all my runners to use) is to think about the fact that I am ‘writing my own running story’ and that everybody else also is writing their own running story. You just don’t know what’s going on in people’s lives and, you know what? Who cares if you’re there to do your own thing? Just keep focusing on yourself, regardless of whether it might be a DNS or it might be a DNF or it might even be a DFL. YOU have to make that call for yourself and for that one race.
Develop Your Own Personal Running Mindset
I believe this really speaks to the whole mindset part of running. It’s very easy to be disappointed in yourself if you’ve made a decision not to start or to DNF a race because you might hurt yourself. Or even just being Dead F__ing Last. Who cares, right? But these could be things that could affect you mentally, so these are exactly the type of things that we go over in my Tribe community. Who is the TRU Tribe, you ask? The TRU Tribe is my group of ladies. We train together. We learn together. And we grow together. These are the types of things that I teach in the TRU Tribe, so, if you’re interested in checking us out, send me an email at Lisa@TheRunningUniversity.com and let me know you are interested in a 30 day free trial. 😊
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.
This was possibly the day I was most excited for! We were doing Hope Pass! “Only” a 13 mile day but a tough one!
Hope Pass is known as the iconic climb of the Leadville Trail 100 Race. Those runners have to do the race up and over and then back again as part of the 100 mile course. It’s at 12,508 feet of elevation, steep climb on both sides (Outbound runners tackle 3,200 feet of elevation gain over 4 miles, and an average grade of 15%. Inbound runners will face 2,400 feet of elevation gain over 2.5 miles for an average grade of 20%~from the Leadville Race Series Facebook page), with promises of outstanding views.
Thankfully we “only” had to do it once….but the weather was not good that day and there was concern about lightening and safety for runners.
Stage 2: Sponsored by Elevation Culture (they made our buckles!) 13 miles/21km with 3300 FT/1000m of elevation gain. The elevation gain was all in the first 2.5 miles so an average grade of 20% (you can see this in the picture within the picture at the bottom). I have a few quick short videos in my photo gallery.
Course map of Stage 2
My ONLY goal for TransRockies Run was to finish ALL the mileage. I wasn’t worried about how fast I would be but I wanted to do all 120 miles of the race. This plan failed on Stage 2. 😥 But it was a decision that I made mindfully so even though I was bummed making it, it was for good reason. I planned to do the early start already because they were really worried about the weather/lightening and the first 2.5 miles are the hardest and take the longest. I was good with that but then I found out that they were dropping the Dawn Patrol people (early start) 1.7 miles into the course already so we would start on the trail right away. This meant I was missing that mileage of the race. My ego was crushed. It may not sound like a big deal, it’s only 1.7 miles but since speed was not my goal, and my only goal was doing ALL the mileage, this really bummed me out. At first I debated doing the regular start but that was at least an hour later putting me at higher risk of hitting the worst weather. Then I thought, maybe I’d have them let me start 1.7 miles before the trailhead because they drove back some early start people to let them do that. I could hear and feel my ego getting in the way (I thank my meditation practice for this “superpower”! I always say self awareness is a bitch but it’s always for good reason.) I went through the pros and cons and tried to be as detached from the outcome as possible. Then I let it all go and really listened to my gut while trying to put my ego aside. Hard to do but then it hit me like a slap in the face!
“What was I thinking?! 1.7 miles? Come on Pozzoni, I would get that mileage just walking around camp….and did it really matter? It was 1.7 miles of road and I was still doing epic shit! So off we went……. My other faux pas of the day, more importantly, was since I was so preoccupied about the issue above, I didn’t put 2+2 together. The first aid station was at mile 1.7 before the big climb….duh, it wasn’t ready yet because we did the early start (we are told to provide for ourselves so my bad here!) so I didn’t have enough fuel with me. Thankfully there are always friends on the trail willing to share so I was able to get more food in me but that could’ve been a dangerous situation between the weather and difficulty of the trail.
Stage 1 was changed from the previous years. I am not sure exactly why but we moved the start location.
Stage 1:
19.5 miles/31.5 kilometres & 2300 ft/700 m gain. Note the elevation profile at the bottom of the picture. Great visual of the course from a few views.Before we started the race on Monday though, we had a few days in Buena Vista. We learned it’s not pronounced the way you would say it in Spanish but ““BEW-na Vista”. The town’s name has been pronounced “BEW-na Vista” instead of the Spanish “BWAY-na Vista” ever since it was founded.” Apparently this is still debate about this but….we learned this because every night after the race briefing, we’d get to hear the history of the stage we were doing the next day. I loved this!
We got to do a shake out run with Trail Sisters and hang out with Gina (the founder), get all of our goodies at the expo and then pack all of our stuff in our TransRockies duffle.
Tents were our home away from home for 5 nights to add more challenge to the run.
PINCH ME!
It’s been a week since I crossed the Stage 6 finish line and I still can’t believe I finally did it!
Finish line Stage 6!
What is the TransRockies run?
120 miles in 6 days, in over 8K+ feet of elevation with 20K+ feet of elevation gain!
“The route of the Run will take place at elevations between 7,400 and 12,600 feet above sea level. Based on the preliminary route proposal (subject to change and approval by the U.S. Forest Service), the percent of distance at various elevations is as follows:
7,000′ to 8,000′ – 3%
8,000′ to 9,000′ – 31%
9,000′ to 10,000′ – 28%
10,000′ to 11,000′ – 27%
11,000′ to 12,000′ – 10%
12,000′ to 13,000′ – 1%”
Here is the 6 day course!
This was one of the most epic and memorable experiences of my life!
Although I had it on my bucket list for years, it wasn’t until February of 2019 when it started becoming a reality. It was definitely out of my budget (totally worth every single penny!). My friend Joan sent me an email asking if I knew anything about this race. They needed volunteers for 6 days. I was beside myself as I would be able to get race credits for volunteering and finally do the race! I wrote about my volunteer experience here. We were supposed to do the race in 2020 but….
COVID. 🙄
2020 came and went and it finally got approved for 2021! It was finally happening! 😊
The AZ Girls (as Houda, the race director, nicknamed us while volunteering), started training in early April. We followed a plan that was recommended in the TransRockies Facebook Group. As you might imagine, the training was not easy. It was a decent amount of mileage but we also had to do it in the heat. Not only because we didn’t have a choice with our AZ summer but also because they recommend heat training to replace elevation if you don’t have it available.
Because this was a 6 day stage race, there are too many things to share and I don’t want this blog to be a bazillion words. I am recapping here. I plan on writing a blog series which will include a recap of each stage of the race over the next 6 weeks (hopefully! 🤞).
What went well….
I can’t believe how great I felt overall over the 6 days. We averaged 20 miles a day with some days being harder than other depending on the elevation gain and elevation we were in. I attribute feeling great to:
ChiRunning/ChiWalking: Technique is always one of the biggest factors that contribute to MY running success. I am pretty sure I power hiked over 50% of the race due to the elevation gain but technique was always at my forefront. Not only does it make it easier to move when you are in proper form but your recovery time is less because you are moving more efficiently. I only took 4 Advil during the entire week. One of them was for a headache and 2 of them were on the last day when I could feel a twinge in my left knee (more on that below)
Training: This is not a race you can get by without training. We found a training plan and I was able to complete 86% of the mileage in the plan. Ideally this would be higher but happy that I was able to get this in considering my crazy schedule lately.
Poles: I’ve always thought of getting running poles but never did. They were recommended for this race so I finally got some and trained with them. These were a game changer. Poles definitely helped with efficiency. I also had some great technique aha moments with them. I can’t help it, I geek out on technique. 🤣 I didn’t have a great way to store them when I didn’t need them. I held them horizontally (still full length) and kept my arms at a 90 degree angle as I swung my elbows back. I couldn’t rotate my upper body (waste of energy and a lot of people do this) so my arms actually swung freely from my shoulders while staying stable. The length of the poles must’ve assisted in balancing my movement because I could really feel my pelvic rotation happening. This was fantastic for some fast ChiWalking but even more effective when running down hills. I was flying! I used the Black Diamond DISTANCE FLZ TREKKING POLES – WOMEN’S.
Elevated Legs: They were one of the race sponsors. I did some stretching in the evening but on I decided to use these on Day 3-5. I did 10 min on Day 3, 20 min on Day 4 and 30 min on Day 5. The idea is that the compression increases blood flow and helps to clear fatigue causing metabolites and reduce inflammation.
My Why?: I always have my athletes write down their Why? when they start training for an event. It’s important to know why you want to do something. It must be a strong Why too…..one that will help you get motivated when the going gets tough. I had 2 major Whys. Both of these motivated me to complete that 86% of my training plan (I am sure it would’ve been a lower percentage) and also helped me through some rough spots while on the course:
I wanted to see 120 miles of trails I’ve never been on before!
I wanted to push outside my comfort zone. The longest I’ve ever done is 100K in one day but I’ve never done this much mileage at this high of elevation in this amount of time.
Altra Running Shoes: I am an ambassador and these are the only shoes I wear for all my running. I brought the Timps 3 (first time using this model and loved them!) and the Lone Peaks 5 (a regular shoe for trails). I love everything about my Altra shoes.
Daily strategy: I was not in a hurry to get through the day! I had no to do list other than get the mileage done every day! It took me 46 hours, 18 minutes and 31 seconds. I came in 9th to last....and I don’t care! My plan was to enjoy all those miles of trails that I’ve never been on. I probably ChiWalked/Hiked 50% of the run (note it’s called the TransRockies Run and not Race. Although it is a race, they are strategic with that title). I have no interest in racing. As a matter of fact, 4 of the 6 days, I did Dawn Patrol. This was created for people (thank to Mirna the Mirnavator) who wanted some extra time. I was able to start earlier and not worry about the daily cutoff. I ran on flats and the downhills and ChiWalked the hills. I just wanted to enjoy this different nature landscape and I wasn’t in a hurry to get through it.
What I could’ve done better…
While I am very happy with how the week went because I felt so good, there is always room for improvement:
Specific Training: While I followed the mileage on the plan, and did a decent amount of hill training, I could’ve done a better job doing steeper hills (up and down). On Day 5 I felt a slight twinge in my left knee. I am great at body sensing (we teach this in ChiRunning) and I knew exactly what it was. It was overuse of the steep downhill technique. Even though I had my poles and ChiRunning to help me, I didn’t do enough of this movement in my training so I wasn’t used to all of it. While I wasn’t able to get it to go away, I was able to alleviate it by focusing on my alignment, increasing my cadence and focusing on pelvic rotation. The training also called for Stairs. I did the elliptical a handful of times but could’ve used more hill work and stairs.
Strength Training: This is one of my weaknesses even though I am a personal trainer. I did more than usual but more wouldn’t hurt.
Camping Prep/Weather: Part of the race is camping out for all 5 nights (there is a hotel package option as well). While I enjoy camping, this added a level of difficulty. It really wasn’t necessarily the camping but the weather during the 1st few days. I managed to keep my stuff mostly dry but the grass was wet and cold. I didn’t sleep as well as I would’ve liked and waking up in the middle of the night to use the porta potties when the ground is wet and cold is no fun. But I sucked it all up because I was living my dash!
Be more social? One of the things I love most in life (and about TransRockies) is community. I am an extrovert in general and I LOVE people. I got to see a lot of people I met in 2019 as well as meet some new friends. I used a question mark because this was fairly strategic for me too. I love running but it’s also what I do a for a living. I love cheering on my athletes and helping them celebrate finish lines they never thought possible. I issue a lot of energy with my job and this was my time to renew before my Fall programs started. This race was all about me and for me. I was in a much more self reflective mode during this week…I couldn’t believe it was finally happening. While I spent several miles with friends, I spent many miles alone. I didn’t listen to any music and tried to be “in the moment” as much possible. These were some of my most enjoyable moments during the race.
Bottom line
This event helped me realize that I can do anything I put my mind to. I can’t even explain how driven I was every day to get out there and enjoy 7ish hours of new trails, even with bad weather! It was almost like I was in a weird trance.
This race strengthened my love for trails and endurance running. It’s one of the best well run events that I’ve been part of (as a volunteer and runner). Huge props and thanks to the TransRockies team! Kevin “Houda”, the Race Director, is one of the best leaders and coolest humans I know! Also a HUGE thanks to all the volunteers!
So the big question is…….. Will I do it again? 🤔
It’s honestly too early for me to say. 2022 is the 15th Anniversary and it’s already sold out! I could still volunteer? I can’t really make any commitments right now but I am pretty sure that this year was not the last time I’ll be there…whether it’s as a volunteer or a runner, who knows but I am sure I’ll be back!
