DNF - Rails to Trails 100 Miler

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 NIV
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

I don't like these verses much. I am not a fan of weakness and especially have a hard time with the idea of celebrating my weaknesses. This is probably why I could easily see myself jumping in with the people of the Tower of Babel story; ready to show off our great accomplishments. But like God's response to Babel, His desire is exactly what Paul tells us; to make His power shown in our weaknesses. Whether we want to admit them or not, our weaknesses are an important part of who we are.

This brings me to my latest race. In my over-confidence I made the decision to sign up for a recent 100 miler after racing the KC Marathon the week before. And to make it even harder, I ran it still planning to be at church the next morning. Bad decision. 

And I learned about weakness and failure. Even as I began the race, I calculated how long it would take to finish. I knew I could run this race because last year I finished in under 23 hours and in 6th place, but could I get done in time to get some sleep before church? And how soon would I feel the tired legs from a hard marathon the week before?

In every ultramarathon I feel the miles earlier than I want to. Usually somewhere in the 20's of miles I begin to feel tired and start worrying that I won't make it all the way. What I've learned is that the exhaustion doesn't continue at the same rate after that initial feeling. So my legs often don't feel that much worse after 40 miles than they do after 20. But this time was different. Right about the 8 mile mark, I began to feel that familiar tired feeling. But it wasn't until around the 41 mile mark that I started to feel like this may not work. I was noticing during the 10 mile stretch to the turnaround station that I was slowing down more and more. My legs were tired, I was already sick of the singular trail surrounded by trees, and the hours were going too fast. At this rate I was not only going to miss my goal of 20 hours, but I may not even be able to reach my last year's mark; which means I'm not getting much sleep at all before church. 

I hate to fail. I had never had a DNF (Did Not Finish) before, and I was proud of that fact. Even in my first 100 miler when I pulled my quad muscle 40 miles in, I had still finished the race. Not this time. At the 51 aid station, though my crew tried to talk me out of it, I was done.

What do I learn from this failure? 

First, people are generous in failure. We often think we'll be ridiculed and mocked when we fail, but people are incredibly gracious when we're down. I was almost frustrated by the kind words I heard from so many after this DNF because I didn't want to belittle the failure I'd chosen. But so many people were encouraging, I couldn't help but feel better. 

Second, I was forced to embrace this important fact, "...my power is made perfect in weakness.” My weakness is real and necessary. I am prone to the pride that I don't deserve, and my failure is a reminder that I am made for God's strength, not my own. In that story of the Tower of Babel God doesn't scatter the people because He's threatened by their accomplishments. It's because they've forgotten their purpose. We are created to need our God and to live in relationship with Him. As His created beings leaned more on their own abilities, they forgot their weakness; and forgot their God.

So fail boldly. It's frustrating. It's disappointing. And it's necessary. 


See you at the next starting line... and maybe at the finish line too.




Photo credit: Mile 90 Photography.

Hood to Coast and the legacy of #suckitpoverty

I always go into these things skeptically. And I'm even more skeptical when surrounded by true believers. And this Team World Vision thing had tons of true believers. I just wanted to run.

Let me back up. I care about the work. Team World Vision is raising funds to provide clean water all over the world, and specifically in South Sudan with this Hood to Coast race. I care about people made in the image of God having the opportunity to drink clean water without traveling miles a day for access. But I was still unsure about all this.

It all started last year when Katie and I ran the KC Half Marathon with our 10 and 12 year old sons. At the expo we came across a booth for World Vision and memories of 30 Hour Famines and child sponsorship made me stop. I met Nick Muroki and signed up for more information. I mean, why not do some good while running? That led to a meeting where I was invited to get my church involved in Team World Vision, where we would run/walk the KC Marathon/Half and raise money for this clean water initiative. And as I shared about my own ultrarunning, Nick had an idea; maybe there was room for me to run Hood to Coast.

The fundraising would be the hard part for me. I am not a good fundraiser. I don't like putting people on the spot, or making them feel pressured. And especially in my position, I don't want people to think they're obligated to give because I'm their pastor. So I put it out there on social media and planned for the race.

What a race it was. Over 19k racers, 3k volunteers, and a ton of vans made their way to Mt. Hood to begin the 199 miles run to the beach at Seaside, OR. By the time the race began, Team World Vision's 11 teams had already broken $1 million for South Sudan. We would eventually eclipse $1.1 million; the most in TWV's Hood to Coast history. Each of our teams had 12 runners, including an Honorary Captain that we'd "drafted" weeks earlier. My team from Kansas City called "#suckitpoverty" had chosen Brianne Theisen-Eaton as our Honorary Captain. Brianne was the Bronze medalist in the Heptathlon in the 2016 summer Olympics. (As the ultrarunner of the team, I was hoping for Michael Wardian to join us, but luckily I was outvoted.) Brianne was a great teammate, a joy to have in the race with us, and a killer on the course. She was a perfect choice for our team. (I did get to meet Michael Wardian and he is awesome too.)

The race is broken up into 36 legs, with each participant responsible for 3. I made sure in our choosing that I had the most miles and most difficult legs. I mean, if I'm not the great fundraiser, at least I can run the worst stuff. So I was in Van 1 with the first 6 runners, and I ran leg 5, 17, and 29.

My vanmates were great. Brett Rinker took on the first leg, with a 2000 foot decline in a short 5 miles. It had to be a killer on his quads. Then Susan Mohn took off on leg 2 with a bunch more decline; handing off to Sean O'Donnell for his first leg. The 4th leg was a long 7 miler and Brianne let Corey Mohn - team captain and driver - get in on the action taking over for her first leg.


My first leg was a 6 miler that gained about 400 ft of elevation. As usual I started off too fast and had to adjust a bit, but was glad to find a solid pace; and more importantly started getting some "kills". "Roadkills" are what it's called at HTC whenever you pass someone on your leg. Many racers add up their kills in each leg and write them on their vans. I was all about the kills. Instead of worrying how far I had to go or how fast I was running, I just kept reeling in the runners in front of me. It made each leg seem faster and easier than usual. In my first leg I ended up with 19 kills. This was getting fun.

I handed off my slap bracelet baton to Katy MacMann and she was off and running to the next exchange. It was there that we would meet our teammates in Van 2 for their turn to run the next 6 legs.

Now we had time to go get some food. Brianne took us to a nice little restaurant to eat and then what I think has become a tradition for her, taking her team to Salt & Straw for ice cream. Soon we were back on our way to meet Van 2 for our second legs starting in downtown Portland.

After a great meetup in Portland with all of our team, Brett was off for his second leg, running across the city bridges as the sun finished setting. It was now time for our nighttime runs. My second leg started at 12:30am and I had an 8 mile stretch with little elevation change. I was going to fly! This was my fastest leg. After getting "killed" by a couple guys at the beginning of the leg, I had 27 of my own kills the rest of the run, including the guys that passed me early. The sun was down, the weather was nice, and it was a great run. After handing off to Katy, our van was almost done with leg 2. Maybe we could soon get some sleep.

Nope. There was not much sleep to be had on this night. After handing off to Van 2 and heading to the next major exchange, we tried to catch a few hours of sleep. Several from the van went out to sleep on the ground in their sleeping bags, Katy was feeling sick and went to the first aid tent, and a few of us tried to sleep in the van. I laid down on the seat with my sweatshirt as a pillow and slept; but not much and not well.

Our final legs would pick up in the morning and this set would get complicated. As the race got further along, the van traffic got worse and worse. By the time we sent Brianne off on her last leg, we were so backed up that she ended up passing us while we were a couple of miles away from the exchange. Finally, when we were still a mile and a half out, I just got out and ran. Brianne was likely already at the handoff and we weren't hardly moving. So on my hardest leg of the race, I added a warmup. I would regret it.

When I got to Brianne and took the handoff, I was off for the most elevation gain I would have to endure. The first few miles all made their way up and the lack of sleep and long day and night in the van had its effect. I was tired. My legs were burning. I was over this. But finally, I reached the top of the hill and knew that the rest would be down. Here we go.

It's amazing how much you can recover going down. After letting my legs get their strength back on the way down, I was able to take off. As I ran hard downhill for the last 3 miles, it started to mist outside and I made up time. With 35 kills on my last leg, I was finally done. Even better, Katy rallied from being sick and was able to finish her last leg as well. We would meet Van 2 for our last exchange and head to beach for the finish.




The beach at Seaside. What an event! Food, drinks, music, tents for merchandise; there was a lot going on. Our van got there in time for a few hours of downtime before Van 2 would make their way to us. After eating, getting some HTC swag, and playing in the ocean, we were excited to find our teammates come in just in time to meet Rebecca as she finished the last leg. As a team we ran through the finish line; finishing in 32.5 hours.

This was an amazing experience. I am proud of my team of runners and the great job they all did. Corey Mohn and Darrell Bolton were great drivers, with the hardest job of any of us. Our KC team raised over $100k for South Sudan and we got an incredible relay race experience too. Thanks to Team World Vision for this opportunity.

I can't wait for the next opportunity to "run for water; run for life."


#suckitpoverty HTC Team: Bret Rinker, Susan Mohn, Sean O'Donnell, Brianne Theisen-Eaton, Regan Stoops, Katy MacMann, Jonathan Going, Adahm Faehn, Kat Mallett, Tammy McCalla, Missy Wolfe, Rebecca Dawson, Corey Mohn, Darrell Bolton

Kansas Rails to Trees... I Mean Trails

Before 100 Miles

I almost didn't get registered for a 100 mile race this year. Busy lives and high registration fees meant I may just not be able to make it work. 100 mile ultras are a lot of training commitment as well as require help from my crew and taking a Sunday off of work. Though I'd done a 100 miler each of the last two years, maybe I wouldn't get to this year. After my annual Booneville Backroads Ultra in May - which was crazy hot and took forever to finish 100k - I wasn't thinking I had trained enough through the summer to be ready for 100 miles anyway. Then on my birthday, I decided to go for 38 miles on my 38th and figured a hundred could still be in reach.

The Kansas Rails to Trails Extravaganza is a fall race with distances of half marathon, marathon, 50k, 50 mile, 100k, and 100 miles. It takes place on the Prairie Spirit Trail, which I'm told is a former rail line that has been filled in and turned into crushed limestone trails for walking, running, and biking. It's a beautiful trail, with most of it surrounding by why my family calls tree tunnels. It's also a flat trail with very little elevation change.

I had lofty goals for this race. Unlike the Heartland 100 and Booneville Backroads 100, this isn't a course of rolling hills and constantly changing elevation; so I figured I could shave quite a bit of time off my PR. My "A goal" for this race was an under 20 hour finish. My "B goal" was to keep my finish under 22 hours if I didn't have as good of a day.

And as usual... I went out too fast.

When I started, I knew that I needed to keep my overall pace just under 12:00 min./miles in order to stay under 20 hours, and I had this great idea. Instead of being slow and steady, I would push the pace at the beginning because there wouldn't be hills to brutalize my legs late in the race. This was a bad idea. For the first 35 miles I averaged a 9:30 min./mile pace, and that is with aid station stops included. For the first 35 miles, I didn't stop once to walk, and though my awesome crewman, Matt, was there at every aid station, I didn't stop long. Now to be clear, I realize this was a bad strategy, but I had thought it out a bit. My experience in these ultras has been that I go through rough periods from about 40-75 miles. It's there that my legs feel the worst and miles feel the slowest. But I always get a second wind at the end of the race. So I thought that if I could make up time at the beginning, I'd get tired late, but find my second wind to finish strong. That was the plan.

35 Miles In

When I hit 35 miles, I decided I had permission to start walking occasionally and slowing my pace a bit. I still hadn't start feeling it in my legs too much, but I knew it would eventually catch up with me. At the Colony aid station - 41.25 miles - I was beginning to notice the difficulty. And worst of all, it was 10 miles to the turn around, and that sounded like a long 10 miles. It was. And I was worried that I wouldn't have a pacer to start at the turnaround in Iola because my wife and son - Katie and Carson - were coming after my boys' flag football games and were cutting it close on being there in time. The idea of leaving Iola without a pacer was not going over very well in my head. In most races, I find other runners I can run with and chat with as much as possible. This race, I found myself in 2nd place early and was by myself ALL DAY. I was out of podcasts and sick of being alone.

The best moment of the day came as I came upon the Iola station as our friend Jolie was pulling up with Katie and Carson jumping out and running over. They were there just in time!

The second half of this race was rough. My "go out fast" strategy was not going to do me any favors as we started the long road back to Ottawa. My 12 year old son Carson was going to be my first pacer and I was ready for his company. Carson had run the KC half marathon with me the week before in 1:55:37 and I knew he could keep me going. We talked about his flag football game that morning, how my day was going, and everything else. He a jabberer, so he talked and talked and I got to just push through. It was a good 10 miles.

Back at Colony it was time for Matt to go with me and during that next 8 mile stretch, things started to get really tough. I was having to walk more, chafing was getting worse, and the pace continued to slow. It was during this stretch that the first person passed me. I was down to 3rd place.

At Welda - mile 69 - Katie and I took off and I continued to struggle through the miles slowly. I kept waiting for my body to kick back in and so far it just wasn't happening. Matt jumped back in at Garnett - mile 77.5 - and conversation helped get us through the dark slowly. On this trail every mile seemed like forever. The same trees and the same trail prove to be a pretty difficult mental combination for an easier physical challenge. At the Richmond station - 86.5 - Katie went out with me one more time as our pace continued to slow. Finally, I picked up Carson at Princeton at 93 miles to head to the end. We were slow and for the first time, I got no 2nd wind. My legs had nothing left so we ran as much as possible but struggled to keep going fast enough to keep my spot. A group of two runners caught us and passed us in this leg and I knew I'd lost my top 3 place. And I knew I'd lost my 20 hour goal. But in the last mile Carson and I turned and saw in the distance behind us a light. So off we went running as hard I could for the last .75 of a mile to the finish at 21:46:02; at least making my "B goal" for the race.

After 100 Miles

This was a well-organized race and a fun day. I'm so grateful to Matt, who was up and ready to crew for me by himself while my family was busy. And having Carson there to experience his first 100 mile ultra in person was awesome. I can't wait to include my other two boys in these in the future.



Gear:

• Vibram FiveFingers V-Alpha shoes - they were amazing!
• Garmin Fenix 5X watch
• Aftershockz Trekz Air headphones
• Injinji compression socks
• Goodr sunglasses
• Booneville Backroads Ultra buff
• Ultimate Direction AK2.0 vest
• Tailwind Nutrition
• Flipbelt
• Road ID bracelet

Thanks to the awesome photos by Mile 90 Photography.

38 Miles for 38 Years

I've been wanting to try to do this. I'd heard of people who run their age every year on their birthday, and it sounds like a cool idea. The last couple of years, my birthday has fallen near a race or on a day I was busy, but this was the one; a Friday birthday. So my kids and wife were at school and it was my day off; I could totally knock out 38 miles.

I decided to take the day slowly, run then rest, then run again. It was another hot 95 degree day and I knew it would be a long one. I didn't expect it would be that long.

38 miles isn't that far, I figured. I've run 100 miles, multiple 100k's, and several marathons and 50k distances. So this wouldn't be too bad. What I underestimated was how different it is to run in a race versus my own planned run. There were no other people, no volunteers, no aid stations, and no stakes. It was just me trying to do something I was stupid enough to announce on Facebook. In fact, at mile 14 I looked down at my watch and thought, "If I hadn't told everyone I was doing this, I'd quit right now." To my credit, that's why I posted about it. I knew it would force me to finish.

The run started awkwardly. The kids went to school and I spent a little time fighting crime on Arkham Knight, as I only get time to do on my days off. I figured I'd start around 10am and so I took my time drinking coffee and eating a little. At about 10 I was getting my running stuff on when the doorbell rang. Jason - a friend - had offered to run some with me and was ready to go long before I was. So I grabbed my stuff and we took off. I wasn't quite prepared but I wasn't going to miss out on company. Jason is a good runner who has tended to finish ahead of me in local 5k's and 10k's. I knew this would be a slow run for him since I was planning to go all day. We took off and I immediately had stomach problems. The nerves were hitting me as I questioned whether or not I could complete this, and was frazzled from not being quite ready to go. But 8 miles with Jason was great. We ran a little too fast for what I was doing but definitely slow for his kind of training. We made our way back to my house by 8 miles so I could hydrate and he could get back to his house with a 10 mile total run.

After a little cooling off and getting my bottles full of Tailwind, I took off for the next set of miles. I'd take my nice route out of town around Celebration Park. It would usually end up around 9 miles and would get me a little further in my total. I was trying to get 26 miles done before 3:30pm when my friend Matt was going to run with me for the last 12 miles as he trains for his first marathon. This was not going to happen as I planned.

My solo run was rough. It was getting hotter outside and I was feeling the miles in my legs. I don't think I'd run further than 13 miles since May when I ran the Booneville Backroads 100k in the heat. I really wasn't physically trained for this run.

When I got back to my house at around mile 17, I was over this idea. I'd already considered quitting so I took about an hour to eat some lunch, drink a lot, and cool off on the floor. Finally I convinced myself it was time to go again.

The next section was a route I often run to get about 7.5-8 miles by running to Moonlight Rd, then past Grandstar Elementary to the trail at Gardner Rd. I hit halfway just before the school and couldn't believe how much further I had to go. After Grandstar I found a spot of shade and sat down to rest and cool while looking pathetic as bus drivers waved on their way by. (Shout out to Christelle who saw me and had her bus kids ready to yell "Happy birthday!" on their way back by.)

As I reached the Gardner trail turnaround by I35, I got a text from Matt. He was home from work and ready to go, with Jolie on her bike to join us. I was only a few blocks from their house but I wasn't going to be at 26 miles. I was only at 21.5 miles at that point, so I would owe 4.5 miles to the roads even after Matt's 12. We got together and took off for a slow slow run. We ran back to my house to meet up with my son Carson who wanted to do some miles with us.

Then we hit the Greenway trail, which was great for a little shade, and then a hot run to the high school and back. By this time, I was needing occasional walk breaks and just wanted it to be over. Also, it was getting late for dinner and our tradition of going out to eat was in jeopardy.

So I had an idea... We'd finish Matt's 12 miles at his house, Katie would pick me up, and we'd clean up to go to KC Joe's BBQ. Then, after we got home, I'd knock out the last 4.5 miles when the sun had gone down.

Joe's was a wasted trip. I mean, it was good company and everyone else had a great meal, but I was too nauseous to eat much. Running all day in the heat had taken too much out of me.

When we returned home, Katie decided she would go with me for the last bit of running. I always love having her with me to finish, so it was a great idea. But unfortunately the break from the heat wasn't coming. Though the sun had gone down, the humidity had gone nowhere. Katie and I ran a humid, difficult last 4.5 miles to finish my day at about 10:30pm.

It was just under 7 hours of running separated by cool downs, bottle refills, and BBQ. But I had done it. 38 miles on my 38th birthday. And one major question was answered: could I go further than 26.2 miles in my Vibram FiveFingers on concrete. My V-Trains kept my feet comfortable and blister-free all day, even on hot blacktop and concrete.


Maybe next year I'll run my age in kilometers instead. ;)



PS. I'm so proud of my son Carson, who a week later ran his age on his 12th birthday. He killed it.

The Backroads in Hell

The very first ultra I signed up for, the Booneville Backroads Ultra is my favorite race. The people are awesome, the experience is awesome, and the race is hard. There are no race markings, long distances between aid stations, and inclement weather every year. After completing the 100k in 2016 and the 100 mile last year, I decided I'd come back and give the 100k another go. I am looking for a trail 100 miler this year since my last two were gravel roads, so I didn't want to take the Sunday off to do the 100 miler here. Plus, why not try to break the 12:17 hours that I finished in last time?

It was not going to be a day to run a PR.

For the first time in 3 years there was no rain in the forecast during this race. It hadn't rained for days leading up to it, and Saturday was calling for full sun and heat. I would have never imagined that a hot sunny day would be worse conditions than rain and hail that we ran through last year. But it was hot! The temperatures reached 97 degrees with 104 degree heat index. Adding to that, there wasn't a cloud in the sky or any chance for shade all day. And for the first time ever, no breeze in Iowa.

At first I thought heat would be okay. I run through the summer in the heat of the afternoon, because I hate early mornings, and I was sure it wouldn't affect me.

The race started cool enough and at the 10 mile aid station I was feeling great. As usual, my awesome crew was there - Katie, and our friends Matt and Jolie.

The second aid station isn't until 23 miles in, and I knew that would be a hard 13 miles. It was getting hot and I could tell I was going to go through tons of Tailwind on this day. But the worst part was my feet. My experiences the past two years at Booneville have been wet and that meant soft gravel roads and awful muddy B roads. This year, the roads felt like concrete. And though I was initially ecstatic that the B roads were dry, they actually felt even worse than the gravel. I hadn't realized the break that the mud was on my minimal shoe-wearing feet. My Vibram FiveFingers V-Trail are definitely up for the challenge, but the bottoms of my feet felt it more than I remembered.

By the time I got to the 30 mile aid station, I was hot. And worse, I was chafing. At the 23 station Katie put some ice in my buff and it helped keep me cool around my neck, but it also melted and got my shorts wet. So now they were wet and rubbing my thighs and I'd never chafed this early before. But the ice was a necessity and I took off for what I expected to be the hardest part of the race: the last 12 miles before I get a pacer. And that was a tough stretch, but it didn't prove to be the worst.

At the 42 aid station I thought that I was okay, though I was hot and tired. I don't know if it was the heat or my less than impressive training that led to my very tired legs. But I figured I'd be okay now that Matt would run with me to 53 and then Katie to the end. I was wrong again.

Matt and I took off and soon we were walking at best. More like trudging. I was completely out of energy. And I was hot. Every time I saw shade, we stopped. And after awhile, my bottles were hot and I was starting to feel like I needed something cool. There was nothing to be found. And the hills kept coming.

Matt helped get me through this awful section. He was patient and encouraging, and probably the only reason I actually made it to the next aid station. Several times I had to stop and dry heave on the side of the road, which was a new unwelcome experience in ultras.

Aid Station 53 finally appeared and I took my sweet time cooling off, eating, and getting myself back to form. The volunteers were amazing and helpful, and I started to feel better. And I got to have Katie run with me to finish the race. Most of all, the sun started to go down and the temperature started to drop. And we started to run to the finish.

This was a tough race. Instead of finishing under 12 hours like I planned, it took me 15:07:37 and I finished in 5th place. Everyone took extra time and many of the 100 milers dropped early. But I learned a few things. Like, mud roads are better than super hot days. I can't ever underestimate an ultra. I definitely need to train better.

Next time, Booneville. I'll tame you, yet.

Gear: Garmin Fenix 5X watch, Vibram FiveFingers V-Trail shoes, Injinji Compression socks, Ultimate Direction AK2 vest, Camelback insulated bottles, Tailwind Nutrition, Aftershockz Trekz Titanium bone-conduction headphones, Booneville buff, Goodr sunglasses, Road ID bracelet (in case I died on the side of the road).