Western States Lottery

Well, my odds in the lottery are about 7.1%.  Not great but better than nothing.  They draw the list of successful applicants on December 10th!

Great quote, Great picture

I realize that I have been blessed with health and strength to overcome not only the miles on the road, but also to overcome the hard times in life when you want to throw in the towel. When I cross the line now, it is a celebration of the fact that I didn't quit.

Tasya Lacy, U.S. Navy Human Resources Officer
 
This was an unrelated picture but I really liked it too!
 

Body and Mind by Davina!

When asked why and how we do the things we do, refer to Davina'a wise words.

"It is your feet that move you forward. - It is your spirit that gives you strength and pushes you on."
~Davina Jackson

Hypernatremia with over-hydration

I was thinking about some things that went right and some things that didn't at the Bear this year after visiting with Amy King this week.  She just ran her first 100k and did really well.  She was able to do a pretty good self assessment of what worked for her and what didn't.

One thing that worked for me this year was having a proper balance of hydration and electrolytes throughout the Bear for the most part.  I think I was a little dehydrated in the night because I wasn't thirsty with it being so cold.  That will be one of my areas for improvement next time.  Just because it's cold doesn't mean you don't lose fluid.

Last year when I paced with Sam at the Javelina Jundred I had no idea about electrolyte replacement.  I had never had an S-Cap before that day.  I drank like a fish and popped S-Caps like they were M&Ms (I had lots of those too by the way!)

Anyway, I thought I would post the link to the Succeed website to remind everyone of the symptoms of the different conditions as well as my pictures to show what hypernatremia with over-hydration looks like. This is the top right box at the bottom of the link.


Mile 93 at the Bear (Hydration OK Electolytes OK)



After pacing at Javelina Jundred for 50 miles (Hydration High Electrolytes High)

 Being familiar with the symptoms can help with diagnosing problems.  I was able to eat and drink normally throughout the Bear.  Keeping things balanced also kept me from experience any digestive / nausea problems.  There is a lot of great information on the Succeed website besides what I have here.

Foothills Frenzy 50k

The race went well...for about 22 miles. After that it was all downhill (literally and figuratively). The 31.7 mile course has about 5700 feet of elevation gain and loss and about 4000 of it was done by mile 11.5. It is very steep up the hill and for the most part a gradual downhill.


I decided to run to my HR and just see how the time came out. The mile I was happiest with was mile 11 with 750 feet of gain in 16:45 and it was all walking! Anyway, when I got to the ridge road at mile 11.5 there was a short out and back from an aid station run by our friend Mike Blessing. Mike was kind enough to set me and Mark Hutchinson up with some refreshment. Mark and I tore out of the 13.5 mile stop and headed down the hill.

I was at mile 18 in 3 hours and 8 minutes, which included nearly all the climbing. Then it took me 2 hours and 43 minutes to go 13.7 miles and it was nearly all downhill. At mile 22 I tried jumping over a metal bar used to keep motorcycles off the trail. I consequently tripped and the first thing to hit the ground way my eye. Then palms, shoulder, knees..... Luckily I wasn't wearing my sunglasses because who knows what would have happened to my eyes when I hit. I was bleeding from every spot that hit the ground. They wanted to check me out but I kept moving anyway. There were a lot of people there to witness my stupidity too because they were waiting to cheer in their family member!

Anyway, long story short I felt pretty bad the last half. Every step of the day was hurting my left foot. I mentioned it to Mark and he said I should go get it checked out. I told him it just felt like a bruise and he told me he had the same thing last fall and it turned out to be a stress fracture in the same spot as I have. (left foot, second toe, third digit) It doesn't always hurt because you have the other toes and parts of your foot to compensate until you really push it.

So, I spent the morning at the doc's office getting x-rays, waiting to hear back. I am hoping I hear nothing but thought it would be best to have it checked. I hurt it at my race in September but thought it was just sore from taking a pounding for 100 miles.

UPDATE: I am fine, need to stop boobing, and get back to kickin’ butt! X-rays negative……

I finished in 5 hours and 51 minutes, 9 minutes better than my goal. I wanted to be walking at the end but wanted to meet my goal even more. My wife did the 50k with me and she finished as well, this was her first finish and I was super proud of her. In fact I had more fun sitting in the parking lot cheering other people in than I did running. It might have helped that I was drinking a beer at that point too!

Happy trails.



 

Sometimes things are truly this simple

I met Dave after he saw my video on my youtube channel the other day.  I went to his page and at the very top it says.....

Success is never giving up!

Yes, it is that simple.  Thanks for the reminder Dave.  I have been pondering lately what made me want to run a 100 mile ultra marathon, and the simple answer is....just to see if I could.  People asked me questions like how do you train, what do you eat, how do you prepare mentally, etc. etc so I'll know if I am ready to tackle something like that. 

All good questions.  I decided to sign up for the race once my will to continue exceeded my desire to quit. It was then that I knew I was ready.  Physical ability will take you only so far.  It's the space between your ears that allows you, and pushes you to continue.  Doing something like this is not normal. Your body and common sense will tell you to give up along the way MANY times.   My job was simply TO NEVER GIVE UP!

There are so many people out there who will tell you that you can't, what you've got to do is turn around and say, WATCH ME!

I feel like this could be applied to any goal that someone may have.  It doesn't have to be running.  It could be weight loss.  Who wouldn't love to lose some weight and get in shape?  I think just about everyone would.  But how many people give up when things don't go as planned and fall right back into their old ways.  Everyone wants to be successful at one thing or another but not many people are willing to put in the required work to make their dreams a reality.  I was that guy for many years. 

This was the motto I lived by for many years

Prior to 2009, my will to lose weight wasn't as great as my desire to stay on the couch and do nothing.  Once I truly committed myself and turned that mental corner that I was going to change, I was ready and haven't looked back.  I believe you can do anything you set your mind to if you want it bad enough.

Set a goal, tell everyone who will listen, stick to your plan, don't be afraid of failure, and never give up!

Idaho Trail Ultra Series Video

You won't want to watch these unless you have time to go for a run afterwards!


Idaho Trail Ultra Series 2012 from Emily Berriochoa on Vimeo.

Pickled Feet Ultra Running - Idaho Running from Emily Berriochoa on Vimeo.