Zion 100 Race Report 2018

I thought I'd mimic last year's Zion 100 race report by telling you about my experience in hashtags. I almost didn't run the Zion 100 this year. My legs were still kind of buggy from running a 100 miler on a cruise ship three weeks ago. The biggest issue is that with my limited time before the family wakes up or after they go to bed for the last three months, I've been completely focused on wrapping up my new book Into The Furnace: How a 135 mile run across Death Valley set my soul on fire. More info HERE. Instead of taking that time to run, I've been working on the book. #couchto100miler

Ultimately the night before the race I decided to give it a shot. I didn't want to be left wondering "What if...". I asked my daughter Kylee if she'd make a few baggies of wet wipes for me because #iassumepineneedlesarescratchy . When I came home, she had these awesome baggies prepared for my drop bags. I prayed I wouldn't have the kind of intestinal issues that would require this many wipes, but better safe than sorry. 

At the start line I spent some time talking with my friend and #lumberjacklookalike Danny Widerberg. Danny, the legendary Pam Reed, and myself are the only people who have run the race consecutively each of the 7 years since the Zion 100 started. This is generously due to the fact that Danny, Pam, and the RD were willing to count my solo run of the Zion 100 a few days before the actual race in 2016 because I committed to work at the finish line of the official race. #iwouldkilltogrowabeardlikethis

It poured rain for hours making trail conditions similar to running on a Crisco-covered Slip And Slide. It was around 2.4% enjoyable. While running with friend Maria, she said she thought the rain was a fun challenge. #shewouldnotpassaliedetectortest

There is always some kind of weather issue at races. Either we're pointing out how hot a race was. Or how rainy it was. Or how windy it was. Or how cold it was. Or how muddy it was. There is always something. Perfect race weather is like mermaids, unicorns, and enjoyable Celine Dion music. #theydontexist

When we got to the first aid station we saw delicious snacks like these M&Ms. #ithinkiwillpass

Then we had the distinct pleasure of going down the Flying Monkey Trail. #criscoslipandslidesthatgoupmustgodown

As difficult as the trail conditions were, it does help keep you hyper-focused on staying upright and distracting you from grumpy knees and feet. Mercifully once we got off the mesa, the rain eased up and trail conditions became much better. #icouldntthinkofawittyhashtagtoputhere

From there we traveled the long Dalton Wash dirt road to the trailhead of the Guacamole Trail. The trail is miles and miles of punishing slickrock that leave your legs feeling like guacamole. #puremush

The parts of the trail that weren't slickrock were still slick and slimy like creamy peanut butter. #myshadowsaidhello

A couple of hours of slickrock brought us back to the Guacamole aid station before heading back down the road we climbed earlier. #nomorepeanutbutter

At the bottom of Dalton Wash Road, Mel and Kylee met me with a cinnamon roll and a cup of hat Ramen Noodles. They basically rock. #everyaidstationneedscinnamonrolls

We crossed the desert floor between Smith Mesa and Gooseberry Mesa. It's always cool to look across the valley and think "Hey! I was up on top of that mesa a few hours ago!" #whileslidingoncrisco

Next on tap is the punishing climb to the top of Gooseberry Mesa. The trail ascends around 1,500 feet in less than a mile. It. Is. V E R T I C A L. But the great views at the top make you forget that your lungs have filled with molten lava. #okaythatsalie

Unfortunately, for some reason, I had the Beach Boys song Kokomo stuck in my head on repeat. I suppose it could have been worse. #celinedion #spicegirls #backstreetboys #aruba #jamaica #ohIwanttotakeyoutobermudabahama "comeonprettymama #wellgettherefastandthenwelltakeitslow 

The top of Gooseberry Mesa is another hefty chunk of slickrock that puts your legs through a cheese grater. The twelve miles up here feel like twenty. But then you get to an overlook called The Point and all your hard work is rewarded. It's my favorite part of the whole course. #themesakindoflookslikeacheesegrater

Many of my hours on Gooseberry were alone. By this point the miles were catching up to people. For some reason I was feeling pretty good overall. Every once in a while I would catch up with people who looked like they had entered the pain cave. #whoknewpaincaveswerethisbeautiful

While running on Gooseberry I finally broke down, pulled out my phone, and started listening to some ESPN Dan Le Batard podcasts I had saved. #kokomowasmakingmecrazy

I was almost to the Goosebump aid station as the sun was setting. Watching the sun go down was seriously beautiful. These are the times when you stop running and pull over to truly enjoy a magical moment. #patrioticsunset

I ran almost all night by myself. I always suffer intensely at night while running 100s. I get so tired that I start sleep walking and the sleep monsters are absolutely suffocating. For some reason it didn't kick in this time and I was able to keep my steady pace going. Once I made it down the vertical descent off Gooseberry, the miles become much more runnable. The problem is that most of the time, my legs are fried by this point. This year I still had some energy so I was able to keep pounding. #couchto100mileplanpayingoff

The last 24ish miles cover a variety of trails in the Virgin Desert. There is a red loop, white loop, and blue loop, all on different trails. While on the red loop I saw this beautiful sunrise over Zion National Park. #herecomesthesun #doodoodoodoo

When I finished the red loop, I took off my night tights and changed into shorts. I didn't realize until ten minutes on the white loop that I forgot to remove the timing bib from my tights to put back on my shorts, meaning that it would show I didn't check out of the aid station. A few months ago an ultrarunner got caught cheating. I wanted absolutely nothing to do with that. Fortunately between my Garmin tracking of the race, volunteer Laura Western who checked me in after each loop, talking with friends during each loop, and a couple hundred pictures and videos I took during the race, I've got plenty of proof that I covered each step of the race. I pushed as hard as I could for the last five miles. It was so strange to feel so good. That NEVER happens! #expertdeathshuffler

After 28 hours and 42 minutes, I crossed the finish line of the Zion 100. It was only the second time in my life where I felt like things clicked for the whole race. (The only other time was when I ran a sub-24 hour race.) It has been so many years since the last time everything clicked like this that I forgot what it felt like. I truly couldn't have been happier. I then went over to the awards table and looked at all the custom belt buckles. I waited until one said "I love you. I want to come home with you." #iloveyoutoo

It was great to see Jackson who had been working at the finish line all day. #isthisblackmailmaterial

One of the happiest moments of the day was waiting at the finish line for my friend Jared Thorley. He desperately, desperately wanted a sub-30 hour finish. I saw him a few hours earlier and didn't think he had a prayer. But with 11 minutes before that 30 hour goal, Jared made it to the finish line. He dug SO deep for that. His finish was a beautiful thing to watch. #achievetheimpossible

I love how every race is an adventure. As you are standing at the starting line, you have no idea what is in store. I love the people and the atmosphere of the ultra community. An ultramarathon is an opportunity to see beautiful places, breathe fresh air, then breathe molten lava as you climb ridiculous hills that fill your lungs with burning magma, and be surrounded by people who are willing to dream big. This is a race experience I will always cherish. #gettherefastandthenwelltakeitslow #thatswherewewanttogo #waydowninKokomo

I must thank Mel and my amazing kids Jackson, Danica, and Kylee. I love them so much and am so thankful for their support. Huge thanks to all the incredible race volunteers. And thanks to Altra, Tailwind Nutrition, Injinji, St. George Running Center, and UltrAspire. I feel so blessed. 

Announcing My New Book - Into The Furnace

I am SO excited to announce the title and cover of my upcoming book! It's called Into The Furnace: How a 135 mile run across Death Valley set my soul on fire.

It’s a book about taking chances. It’s about suffering. It’s about bravery and heartache and hope and courage. It’s a book about the Badwater ultramarathon, and the pure love of running. The book was co-written with Luke Thoreson who is a phenomenal and enormously hilarious writer. Dean Karnazes wrote the forward for the book. Check out this clip about the book:

The book (along with other fun rewards) is now available for pre-order! I'm nearly bursting with happiness. Click HERE for a link with more book info and details on how to order. Thanks SO much for all your support and encouragement!

Running 100 Miles On A Cruise Ship!

I inhaled two ice cream cones like a vacuum sucking up dust bunnies. Then I kissed my wife and walked to the running track on the deck of the Ruby Princess cruise ship. And then I clicked the Start button on my Garmin to begin what I hoped would be a 100 mile run on the deck of the ship.

Why attempt a 100 mile run on the first day of a vacation? Well, mainly because that's the only opportunity I could think of to vacuum up as many ice cream cones as I want while running 100 miles. Thus far, none of the trail races I've done have had an all-you-can-eat ice cream machine at any aid stations. This was my view for many, MANY more hours to come:

Some creative friends came up with some great names for the run. Some of my favorites were:

• Andrea Bond: My Run Will Go On 
• Colleen Rue: Seasick 100 
• Kristyan Williams: Ship Happens 100 
• Mike Beckwith: You’ve Got To Be Shipping Me 100 
• Hollie Reina: Soft Serve 1600 
• Andy Pearson: The Dumb As Ship 100 
• Rob Steger: Finding Cory…yeah dad joke 
• Sean Melican: The Ship For Brains Challenge 
• Howie Stern: Chicken Of The Sea 100

We were on a California Coast cruise. We went with our friends the Coopers and lots of their extended family. This was a bonus because they were more than willing to be an informal aid station. Every once in a while people would kindly bring up some food or water or ice cream. 

The first night and day were at sea. I didn't feel like the run took away from family time much. Mel was happy as a clam hanging out and visiting with friends. And my kids are teenagers so it's safe to say that hanging out with dad probably wasn't at the top of their priority list. But the running track was right next to the basketball court where they spent a lot of time so we saw a lot of each other.

Plus the kids were awesome about bringing snacks whenever they got bored.

The night was bitter, BITTER cold and it was so windy that it felt like trying to run inside a tornado. During the night whenever Mel brought up some food, she would stay out just long enough to hand me a plate, and then would dart back into the warmth. I didn't expect that it would be this cold so I didn't have as many layers as I would have preferred.

At 3:30 a.m. I was freezing cold and a fierce wind was tossing me around the track. If you think a gale force headwind is miserable, don’t worry. In 20 feet it will be a tailwind. Which will momentarily be blowing you sideways before becoming a ferocious headwind again. I hadn’t seen anyone for hours. And then a worker showed up with a hose. He told me he had to clean the track and I could come back in an hour. I concluded that to continue my run, I’d need to succumb to some miles on a treadmill for an hour. I wanted nothing to do with Satan's Sidewalk, but I didn't know what else to do. Then I realized that the fitness center was closed. In an act of desperation, I ran up and down the long hallway of the cruise ship for an hour. 

The absurdity of this scene was not lost on me. Fortunately I’m a licensed clinical social worker so I was able to give myself therapy for the trauma I was putting myself through. Eventually I headed back to that hamster wheel of hell called the running track.

Let me tell you about this hamster wheel of hell. The surface is hard steel. (As opposed to soft steel??) Do you know what feet and knees and legs don't love? Hard steel. And it takes 16 loops to make a mile. SIXTEEEEEEEN. To make this sound infinitely more heartbreaking, that means it takes 1,600 loops to make 100 miles. If that doesn't make you throw up in your mouth a little bit, nothing will.

By the time the sun came up, I was around mile 52. I was convinced that we had been tricked into getting on a cruise to the Antarctic. #imnotrobbingabank #isthisworsethanprisontime #sanityoverboard

In the morning our friends Henry, Sid, and Mandy brought me an omelette and waffles that tasted like they had been made by the hands of angels. This may have been the only point in my life when I was so cold that even ice cream didn't sound appealing.

Around mile 72 I learned that Princess keeps an imaginary pain cave on board. This pain cave is worse than listening to Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On" played on repeat. Now that's saying something. What made the pain cave even more of a mental challenge was looking down at the pool and seeing people relaxing with their drinks and books and happiness. Their eyes weren't looking glassy with big bags underneath them like my eyes were looking. Mel came up to join me for a few miles which helped minimize the sleep walking.

I actually felt fairly decent overall and ended up running the second half faster than the first. I don't think I've had a negative split during a 100 miler before. Finally after 27 hours and 47 minutes I finished the 100 mile run. My family was there with a belt buckle that we brought along just in case I finished the run. I basically love it.

I'm not aware of anyone running a 100 miler on a 1/16 mile loop of a cruise ship before. After this experience I think I understand why. I can say with certainty that I underestimated how challenging it would be, both mentally and physically. I used a Garmin foot pod to track my distance because I knew GPS wouldn't work on a moving ship. You can see my Garmin data HERE. Just for fun, I started Strava for my run as well. You can see that data HERE. I love how the route looks like I ran across water.

The brutal part was that after finishing the run, I had around 7 hours to sleep before we needed to get up for the adventures we had planned for the day, which included Alcatraz:

And heading over to the Golden Gate Bridge:

Though I was stiff as a board trying to walk around, I think all this walking around was incredibly helpful to loosen up my tight muscles. Two days later, I had absolutely no soreness and felt like I could run again if I wanted to. (I didn't.) I credit the lack of soreness to all the walking around we did.

I got to enjoy lots of family time for the rest of our vacation as well. We saw some awesome stuff in San Diego, Ensenada, and Monterey.

In Monterey we caught this jumping picture. It only took 13 tries to get a shot where we were all up in the air.

My highlight of the trip was being able to spend time with my family at Muir woods. Our family vacations aren’t 100% fun. Much of the time, siblings are wanting to strangle each other. Parents are wanting to strangle kids. Kids are wanting to strangle parents. But we are creating memories we will look back on with happiness. Exploring Muir Woods with my tribe felt like heaven.

Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure this is what heaven will look like. Except that there will be a trail side all-you-can-eat ice cream machine.