Getting ready for race day.
The race took place at the 7iL Ranch, outside of Cat Springs, Texas (1.5 hours West of Houston). The course format was simple. Run .5 mile down a dirt road, turn around at the cone and run back to the start. That’s 1 mile. Now repeat that as many times as possible in 24 hours and you have the Jackalope Jam.
Friday after work, I headed out to Cat Springs to pick up my race packet and bib so I wouldn’t have to worry about it in the morning. I had decided to get a hotel to avoid having to drive 2 hours before the race. I figured I might could use the extra sleep.
I picked up a few last-minute items from CVS and made it to the hotel by 7:00. Then laid out all of my gear to make sure everything was organized. You don’t want to be digging around in the dark looking for your headlamp after you’ve been running all day. You want to know exactly where everything is. This step was especially important to me because I didn’t have a crew or anyone to help out with food, hydration or gear issues. I was on my own and needed to be prepared.
During the check, I realized that the power bank I had brought was not working. I wanted to be able to charge my heart rate monitor during the race, so I went back to CVS around 10:30 to buy another cord. It still ended up not working but I knew I needed to try to get some sleep.
I didn’t sleep well at all, woke up at least four times (there was no doubt I was properly hydrated) but at 7:30 I was out the door. Thankfully it was not raining like had been forecasted. I had a waffle and a cup of coffee at the hotel before making my way to the 7iL Ranch.
I found a parking spot, grabbed my gear and went searching for a patch of grass near the course to set up camp. Most people had pretty legit spreads, big tents, full blown cooking stations, crews of people the whole nine yards. My set up was pretty spartan, it consisted of a chair and two small bags but I didn’t care. (the pictures below were taken at the end of the race so most people had left, but you get the idea)
Ready..Set..GO!
At 9:00 the race began and the clock started.
I had purposely situated myself at the back of the pack until everyone had spread out and got some distance between one another. Didn’t see the point in rushing and having people trip me up. Afterall, I was going to be here all damn day, what’s the hurry.
The first 10 miles flew by, I shared some small talk with a few runners but mostly minded my own business. I have never been a very chatty runner. I made sure to take the time to eat/drink on every loop because if I didn’t, I knew I would be running on a serious calorie deficit later in the day.
I stuck to dried berries, nuts and pretzels at the beginning. Not for any reason besides that’s what sounded good at the time.
The clouds cleared and the sun came out by mid morning. It warmed up to the mid 70’s (or at least that’s what it felt like) I knew the sun had the potential to drain me, so I covered up with a hat and neck wrap to try and avoid the direct light. I also slowed my pace down to compensate because my heart rate was a little higher than I liked.
Unexpected surprise.
At mile 21, as I was approaching the start I looked up and saw two of my good buddies, who made a surprise appearance. I selfishly wished they would have let me know they were coming so I could have had them pick me up some real food. But it was a good unexpected boost for my moral and we agreed to meet up in Katy on Sunday morning to eat breakfast at Snappy’s Café.
After they left, I changed into a pair of road shoes. Felt good to mix things up and I figured it would help with blister prevention. Also put on a pair of compression calve sleeves, never worn them before but figured they wouldn’t hurt.
From mile 21-30 I adopted a run/walk strategy in order to consume more calories and still be able to digest without getting sick. This helped my energy levels drastically and was probably one of the keys to my success. For the most part I was still eating dried berries and nuts, along with animal crackers, goldfish and the occasional handful of gummy bears. I was alternating my drinking between coconut water, Gatorade and Tail Wind.
Coming around the cone!
The sunset was gorgeous, but it faded away all too quickly around mile 37 and I knew the real battle was about to begin. I hadn’t done any training at night and knew it would be a long time before the sun came back up. (but at least I knew right where my headlamp was). Tried to stay focused on the process and not think too far ahead. Knowing the task at hand would be too overwhelming if I looked at the big picture.
One step at a time… This too shall pass… Is what I kept repeating to myself.
At mile 40, I decided to go to my truck, rest for thirty minutes and charge my phone so I would have music for the rest of the night. This is when I unexpectedly hit the wall, I had zero motivation after the nap. The temperature dropped to the mid 40’s and I could hear the wind howling. I wanted to call it quits and get the hell out of there.
I sat up and looked out the window and saw all of the headlamps still bouncing up and down the course. And decided to say fuck it, I put on some fresh socks, threw on warmer clothes. I opened the door and slowly rolled out of my truck onto my sore and stiff legs.
Surreal Experience
A few steps into mile 41 I realized the pain was going to be unavoidable so I might as well try to run. At first it was excruciating, my legs felt like they weighed twice as much as normal. Eventually after a quarter of a mile, step by step I could feel my legs loosening up and I was gaining speed. When I looked down at my watch I was blown away, 7:58 pace! I was moving faster than I had all day by a long shot! Had to do a double take to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating.
It was the most surreal experience I have had while running. I had run further than this in the past, but I have never been able to recover after I’m reduced to a slow jog/walk. Until now. It was the breakthrough I had been looking for. My mind finally convinced my body that I was not stopping, so it might as well sync up and join the show. I knew “this too shall pass”. I wasn’t sure when, so I just ran as fast as I could, with complete disregard that I had already been over 45 miles that day.
Crash
Sure enough, at mile 50 I crashed and was no longer able to keep the same pace. I was still moving forward which was all that mattered though. I celebrated mile 51 with a Redbull because that was the furthest, I had ever been. Then I grabbed a cup of ramen and went to my truck to grab my phone which had been charging for a while. As I sat there, I started to feel a bit sorry for myself, 12 more miles seemed so far to go to reach the 100K mark.
Is this some sort of joke?
It wasn’t as difficult to convince myself to go back out this time, but I still wasn’t exactly happy about it. Then as soon as I step out of my truck, I see some dude approaching,
“Hey man, my battery died do you mind giving me a jump?”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I asked, as if my face didn’t say it all.
The guy seemed a little confused at my response, but it seemed rather obvious to ME that maybe he should find someone who is not in the middle of a race. I realize it was 3:00 AM but there were plenty of spectators and crew members around that I am sure would have been much happier to help than I was.
None the less, I got in my truck, moved it way down to where he parked and popped the hood. Luckily it started up pretty quick. He told me “thanks a lot” and I said “yup” as a slammed my hood and stumbled back towards the start.
Almost there.
The last 12 miles were slow and painful. I would run, (if you can call it that) for a mile, then I would get a hot cup of Ramen and eat that while walking for a few minutes. Then repeat. I did change into a pair of trail shoes sometime before the sun came up which did wonders for my feet and helped me speed up a little.
When the sun finally rose, birds began chirping and flying all around. I got the burst of hope and energy I had been waiting for since the sun had set the previous day. I knew I was going to get through this and get my first buckle.
The last few miles I reflected on the experience and couldn’t help but smile at the lessons learned. I was thankful for the opportunity to spend a Saturday pushing my limits to the max. On my last lap, I’m not sure why, but I flipped the bird to the cone at the turn around and laughed as I ran back to the finish line!
A couple of race volunteers told me congratulations as I crossed the finish, one of them handed me a buckle and I asked her to take a picture of me and that was it.
It was all over!
Overall,
I was extremely content with my day. I went 13 miles further than I had ever been, got my first buckle. And most importantly I was finally able to stay on top of my nutrition and hydration for the entire event (which had been a serious problem for me in the past). I was also able to remain positive during the low points and keep moving forward when I had serious self-doubt. This was a game changer for me and a skill that took a lot of trial and error to learn.
The biggest lesson learned: Pain is not what makes you stop, it is your reaction to pain that does. And you are always in control of your reaction.
I will be writing about this shortly : )
Now I just had one more stop! SNAPPYS CAFE!!
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