What 37.5 miles taught me  – Wildcat 100 Recap

What 37.5 miles taught me – Wildcat 100 Recap

“Well, how are you changed?” My wife asked me two days after I finished running 37.5 miles at the Wildcat 100 in Pensacola, FL.

“I feel satisfied…like I don’t have anything left to prove and ready to move on to the next thing.” I replied.

It was a crazy race. I came with the intent on running 100 miles in 40 hours. I had gotten some good tips from Jeff and Barb, reflected and learned from my 24 hr race last year and some good takeaways from a solid showing in Boston this year.  I was mentally and emotionally ready to tackle this race.

We set up the night before the race which I was very thankful for. It would be an additional stress to do that right before the race. The race organizers were fantastic, supportive and had us great facilities including a covered area for our tents, showers, full restrooms and a great aid station.

The course itself is very deceptive. You think FL and you think nice and flat ground. This had a variety of hills and included running along a few of the hills. (Meaning you were running at an angle).

 

 

Lesson 1: Everything multiplies.

Nearly all ultramarathons are some type of loop. This one was a 2.5-mile loop. With loops, all the nuanced pieces of the course are naturally multiplied. One of the sloped sections was a little over 100 yards and at about a 30-degree angle, which would not be that big of a deal if you are just running through it on a normal race. In this circumstance, I ended up running over a mile on it.  Those small technical pieces can grind you down without you even realizing it.

 

Lesson 2: The mind will try to take you out at some point.

Any race that I’ve done that’s longer than a half marathon, (and even some of those) The mind comes in and tries to take you out of the race. This is often referred to as The Wall and typically hits between mile 18 – 20 of a marathon. If you know it’s coming and are mentally prepared, you have a better chance of pushing through.

It can come at any time at the ultra and can even leave for a while and come back later since the race is so long. I had an unexpected bout really early at mile 12. It was more of self-doubt than anything. At that point, it was mid to upper 80s with the sun beating everyone down. How do I keep that up for 30 hrs? I eventually broke through it and embraced the situation I was in.

 

Lesson 3: Your race can change quickly.

In the afternoon, it began to rain…..hard. Here’s a video where you can hear how hard it came down at some points.

 

 

I’m fine with running in the rain and I actually enjoy it most of the time. One of my favorite runs ever was during a tropical storm. The wind, water and changing environment is oddly exciting to me. It was during this race as well.

It rained 3 inches between the first storm and the last one that night. The rain itself didn’t bother me at all, it was when the rain took on the multiplier effect of lesson #1 that I was in big trouble.

The amount of water wrecked my feet. Part of the trail was underwater from the flooding and grass kept your feet wet even between the storms. As a result, I got several blisters on my feet in a short amount of time. I stopped after every 2 laps to lance all the blisters, apply a special type of band-aid to them and change out socks.

My mind was strong, but my body was starting to fail me.

Old injuries came creeping back as well. Both sides of my hip, my right knee and my upper and lower back were killing me.

As night fell, I made the decision to up my body care, but it’s a one-way ticket. It involves wrapping the affected area in medical grade sports tape. It works fine on the feet, but the after effects on places like a man’s hairy legs are awful. They must use this stuff as the basis for Gorilla Glue, because the glue stays long after the tape is gone.

I taped up a large portion of my legs and got back out there with my headlamp in the dark and turned in one of my faster times of the race. Halfway during the second lap, the rain came back. Imagine yourself driving down the road at night with no windshield and only one headlight working.  Still, my spirit was strong, but a whole new round of blisters popped up and within a mile my body had broken.

 

I was disappointed and felt like I had let so many people down.

 

My wife took me back to the hotel and I got a good amount of sleep before heading back to the course the next morning. By then, I had made peace with being satisfied with my 50K. I only got a stronger confirmation of this when I checked in with our tent neighbors and found out that two people were put in the hospital during the night. Both of my neighbors dropped back like I did, and when a couple that runs 300-mile ultramarathons says that this was their hardest race, you believe them. The first place runner also quit after being 75% done.

 

 

Lesson 4: Friends and family are everything.

I ended up running this race solo, which is not how I planned to going into it. Sharon organized a phone schedule and a bunch of my friends called me while I was out on the course. It made all the difference. Julia was the first to call and it was right during that early mental battle. Just having someone to talk to helped me overcome that hurdle. I also talked to other friends while running in the rain, navigating flooded paths, taking some breaks and out at night. Thank you all that took to the time to call, text or message me on social media. It was more impactful than you know!

I do have the best family. Sharon would often be waiting on me as I finished my lap, had me a Powerade and would either apply Biofreeze to hurt areas or reapply sunscreen as I walked. She was like a rolling pit-stop in Nascar! Beth walked a lap with me when I was really hurting and she helped me really make it through the heat before all the rain came. My son just entertained people and explored the area. He enjoyed being out there as well.  I could not do what I do without you.

This was the cap to my race season. I ran 1 5K, 4 10Ks, 4 half marathons, 3 marathons and an ultra marathon.    I do have a few bonus races left in the calendar year with a really fun finisher prize for the next series in October.

 

Keep pushing yourself to reach your personal goals. You are capable of much more than you think!

Mentally Overcome your Obstacles

Mentally Overcome your Obstacles

Mentally Overcome Your Obstacles

GA Marathon 2018

 

I recently ran the Georgia Marathon as part of a running challenge in the Atlanta. I had just completed a 48-mile series about 8 weeks prior so I felt that, while challenging, the race would be doable. The race had other ideas and it turned into one of the most challenging events of my life. At mile 14 I felt a little tired. By mile 19 both of my calves had severe cramps, both sides of my hips were burning and I had a pulled muscle in my lower backside. One of these can knock you out of a race and I had seven at once! I eventually went on to conquer the course and was reminded of some good life lessons along the way.

 

When you are holding someone back: Let them go. 
I have a running partner that runs the vast majority of races with me. We have been through thick and thin together on and off the course. There is a difference between helping and supporting someone through their challenges and them dragging you down.  I knew that day that I had turned from needing help to a liability. Finishing the last 6 miles was going to be even more challenging alone, but I had to cut her loose. It was a bittersweet moment with a few tears shed, but she eventually went on without me.  In the business world, this may be holding someone back from a promotion because they are so essential to you. Let them go. In your personal life, it may be someone that continues to take from the relationship and offers nothing in return. Let them go. Have the self-awareness to know when you are dragging someone down and the courage to break away from those that drag you down.

 

When everything in your head tells you to stop: Keep moving. 
We all hit rough patches in life and work. I was certainly in a rough patch mentally for those final six miles. There were times I just wanted to stop, call my wife and tell her to come get me. Instead of focusing on the mental battle and the physical challenges I was having, I chose to instead focus on just getting a little further. Let me get down this hill. Let me just get to that light pole. Sometimes you have to focus solely on whats right ahead of you. It’s too overwhelming to take in the everything at once and you’ll mentally break. The same mentality is often found in the first responder field. A firefighter doesn’t look at a highrise fire and take in the distance, the weight of the equipment, the heat, the danger, and pain. They focus on getting up the steps, then to the door and then clearing a room. When you are in that tough spot, narrow in your focus to just keep moving forward. If you become overwhelmed, narrow your focus to help you get an edge and get back in the game.

 

When temptation arises to take a shortcut: Hold to your integrity.
There were two out and backs on the course at the exact wrong time. One at mile 22 and another at mile 25. All I had to do to cut some length off of the course was to step over a cone and go back the other way. Extremely easy to do and no one would have stopped me. At the end of the day remember that how you got there is just as important as actually getting to the finish line. Avoid taking those tempting shortcuts in work and life if it means compromising your integrity or ethics. Your sense of accomplishment will be less and it lingers on you longer than the joy of completing the project.

 

When pain dominates your story: Remember why you are on this journey. 
Sometimes physical pain, grief, depression, or hopelessness tries to dictate our story. Remember why you are there and why you need to push ahead and finish. My mind was trying to remind me of the pain constantly. I had to remember and hold on to the reason I was there: to finish this 50+ mile challenge. I only had 6 miles to go and if I didn’t complete it that day, I would just have to come back and do it all over again. I wasn’t coming back! You are the author of your story, not your pain, not your guilt, not your grief and not your hopelessness. Remember the journey.

Never give up on yourself. You are capable of so much more than your mind lets you believe…. and don’t forget to smile.

Make a better tomorrow.

-ZH

 

Setbacks

Setbacks

Setbacks

 
Anytime you face a setback or disappointment, put your head down and plow ahead. 
 
 
 
I recently had a pretty big setback personally that put me in urgent care.
As many of you know, I’m trying to do all the Disney races this year with only two other people in the US that are also trying to complete the task. I’ve been planning this for almost four years and saving money for over two years. It would require me to do 24 races in 8 series on both coasts of the US this year. My first two series were back to back in January. During the first series I ran a 5k, 10k, half marathon and a marathon in 4 days. I was tired after the fourth day, but was ready to fly out to California three days later for three more races. The morning I traveled home from FL I had a tickle in my throat. By the time I made it back home, I had a 102.5 fever and was miserable.
The next morning I went to urgent care, where the doctor told me I had destroyed my immune system and I had a bad case of bronchitis. He said I shouldn’t go to California, and if I did I would be risking getting pneumonia and possibly being put in the hospital out there. I was devastated. I remember sitting on the patient table crying in my wife’s shoulder because I felt four years just went out the window. I had just completed what .00002% of the yearly US population accomplishes just a few days prior and I felt like I had failed. This was a setback, and it hurt.
So what do we do when we have a setback?
You really only have two choices, no matter what the setback is or the circumstances of how it happened. You can let it define you and dictate your future, or you can push through it. Satan wants nothing more than for us to wrap ourselves up in our setbacks and take home defeat. It’s the easier path for sure. I could stop signing up for races. I could punt the last half of my season and save a lot of money. The Lord gives us strength to rise above our disappointments and setbacks. Sure, its harder, but we must push through tough times.
If you’ve had a setback recently, be encouraged and don’t let it define you. The people that work with you care for you, you have family that loves you and the sun will rise again in the morning. You get to chose what defines you. Don’t let these things be among them.
I’m a runner and you are too!

I’m a runner and you are too!

The time from the Wine and Dine half to the Disney Marathon weekend has flown by. I’ve walked, run and  biked right at 600 miles since August 12th and I’m looking forward to next week. I know I said at the beginning that I didn’t consider myself a runner, but several things came together for me to work through my self imposed obstacles.

Just a week before the big event!

Just a week before the big event!

 

    1) My training pushed me to do things that I would not have done otherwise.

I never cared for no frills races as an adult. That’s why I got into obstacle racing. I needed something to break up the monotony and something to convince myself I was doing something besides running.  Still today, I’m a race snob. If it doesn’t have some kind of twist and/or some rad medal I’m probably going to opt out unless it’s one a friend wants to do. The flipside is that if it’s a unique course with a good medal, I’ll kill myself to reach that goal.

Fast-forward to my training. I’m pulling half marathons+ in the Atlanta hills and there is no medal. No support team. No water/snack stops. There’s just me, my thoughts to keep me occupied and my legs to get me home. Literally. Sharon drives me up into the mountains and dumps me out, so the only way home is to run. Two years ago I would have called you crazy if you said that I was going to be doing 13-20 miles at a time just for kicks. Now it’s just called the weekend.

 

     2) The gear. All the gear.

I have more shoes than my wife. I’ll be wearing four to five different pairs just for marathon weekend. I have winter outfits, rain outfits, fall outfits, and different levels of hot outfits. I’ve got the running watch, the running belt and about 567 pairs of sunglasses. I now stress out about it being 53 degrees because it falls in between outfit types. Stupid? You betcha!

I’ve also tried so many different combos of snacks/protein bars/gummies/gels its ridiculous. Right now my jam is a pack of Clif bar shot blocks and some iced oatmeal cookies on long runs. I have also really enjoyed those soft peppermints that you can suck on.

 

     3) I stopped hating it and embraced the suck.

You know it doesn’t matter how far I go, the first mile is always the worst. Once you’ve suppressed the demons telling you to stay home and your body wrestles them away as it gets going, it’s actually not bad. The majority of time the biggest battle was just getting out the door. I never regretted going out for a run(even when I got injured) but I always regretted not going.

The joys of long runs!

The joys of long runs!

     4) I adjusted to running life.

Chaffed nipples is a real thing. I now own a large box of Band-Aids to pre-emptively treat before runs. I also started to heal much quicker. Typically I can be jacked up physically from a long run, but be fine for the most part the next day. I also started getting blisters in weird spots on my toes on long runs.

 

 

There is no magical racing moment when you consider yourself a runner.

 

If you get out and move your body in a forward motion with intention, congrats! You are a runner! Placing in a race or making a certain distance doesn’t magically make you a runner. If you run/jog you are a runner. It’s a simple as that. Honestly the most “magical” moment I had when I realized I was a runner was when I went to the store to buy that big box of band-aids. Sometimes it’s the odd moments in life that show you how far you’ve come.

 

A quick update on my health. Several people have asked how I’ve been managing my knee and leg/back pain since my injury and the Wine and Dine races that followed. The Dr. told me that I would be living with a good amount of pain that would not go away until my running break in May. I’m very happy to say that through some PT, a bit of medicine and adjustment in my own expectations, I’m now pretty much pain free!

(more…)

Injuries and the race that should not have been.

Injuries and the race that should not have been.

The Disney Marathon was supposed to be my first event. I’d saved up for the Runner’s World Challenge. It’s a get treated like a king experience and you get to hang out with the Runners World Crew which I thought was pretty fun.

To make it through this ridiculous challenge of doing all the races I have to overcome the first obstacle….not getting shut out of any registrations all year. My wife and I had heard some of the crazy stories of how quickly some of the races sell out; especially the challenges.  We are talking minutes. We watched the Disneyland Dumbo Double Dare sell out super quick. I remember sitting in a parking lot in North Miami while she clocked the percentage for me. This was going to be harder than I thought.

The next race registration was for the 2015 Wine and Dine half marathon and 5k that happen on the same day. The 5k is 7am and the half marathon is 10 pm. This time we did a dry run to see if we could get in. I had a CPU up and Ipad and Sharon had her Ipad and CPU going. We loaded up right at the opening and got in pretty easy……and then the “I live life to enjoy it” part of me kicked in and the next thing I know, I had signed up for both races and my daughter for the one-miler. We hadn’t planned it, nor talked about it, but here I was with a confirmation printout in my hand.

I’m thankful for a wife that puts up with me.

We looked at it as a good opportunity as a warm up for what we are about to get ourselves into. I started plugging away at the Runners World training plan and everything was going well. I was knocking mileage out and enjoying life. I guess that their plan assumes that you live in a normal terrain area… on one of the weekly runs it says to run the hilliest route to grow your strength. Well I live in Atlanta where even the hills come with a side of hills. If you know me, you know where this is going. I think to myself, “Alright run all the toughest hills then.” It was a good idea until something tweaked in my knee one day. The pain eventually took over my whole knee and by the next week both knees were in extreme pain.

2735827

….It was my body.

Again, my lovely wife comes to the rescue and gets me a DR. appointment (sports medicine) the week of the race. It was a bit comical to tell him about what I was planning to do. After I acknowledged that it was not a great idea, he agreed. He then dropped a little DR. wisdom on me. “I need you to know that after you get back from that first trip to California, your body is going to be broken.” Something to look forward to! He also said that I’ll likely have to live with this pain until May when I can take 6-8 weeks off before the second half of the season.

So here I am today, injured and about to do two races that I originally had no intention of doing.  It’s not all bad. I have this weird track record for doing really well right after a big injury. I finished third at a mud run when I had a back injury the week before that was so bad that I couldn’t walk.  After another back injury I finished in the top 4% in two back to back Spartan races. Here’s hoping that I can make it through this weekend!

20th Anniversary of the Food and Wine Festival

20th Anniversary of the Food and Wine Festival

IMG_5102

 

The beginning of it all

The beginning of it all

So here I am , at the beginning of it all. I’m not sure exactly how I got here because even today I don’t truly consider myself a runner, yet I’m about to undertake something very few people have ever done….. complete every Disney race in the continental US in a year.

I would say I’m a pretty competitive person overall even in my hobbies. I have a tendency to go all in, become one of the best in the field and then quit cold turkey. My wife and I geocached for several years, reaching the top 1% in the world and then quit. I took up gaming and became one of the top .5% of players in the world on the PlayStation platform and then didn’t play seriously for several years. I went from that to obstacle racing where I’ve topped out of nearly all of their awards. (I once ran three Tough Mudders in 24 hrs. to get their highest level headband.) I took a survey over at Strengths Finder to find out my #2 strength is Achiever. Color me surprised.

We went all the way from TX to NC to finish this out last year.

We went all the way from TX to NC to finish this out last year.

Their highest level is 10. So in my insane drive to get there, I bought a season pass and squeezed them all into three race weekends.

Their highest level is 10. So in my insane drive to get there, I bought a season pass and squeezed them all into three race weekends.

 

So instead of just doing one Disney race series, here I am about to do them all. That means I’ll do two 5ks, two 10ks, two half marathons and one marathon in about 10 days in January. I’ll earn the coast to coast medal four times and will log hundreds of miles and thousands of air miles as I go back and forth from Disney World to Disneyland. Its taken a long time to get here… I’ve been saving up for two years for this series. (It’s expensive!)

 

 

My first Disney race is actually a warmup. I’ll be doing the Disney wine and Dine 5k and half marathon next weekend. (On the same day).  I’ll then be kicking off the official start in January during the Disney marathon week. I’ll also be running for LifeWay and be a part of the WDW Radio Running Team.

Thanks for checking in on my progress. It should be an interesting year!