Singing Ultra

What Now?

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” 2 Timothy 1:7

It’s November… Another election is going to finally be over tomorrow. We will have new representatives, the phone calls will stop, television commercials will end, and yard signs will disappear. For this we can be thankful.

But many are afraid. Christians and non-Christians alike are fearing for the future. What happens to this country if – fill in the blank—gets elected? What about Supreme Court justices? What about immigration, healthcare, taxes? What about religious freedoms, economic inequality, race relations? What about terrorism?

I get it. These elections polarize us against one another. They convince us that one side is completely right and the other are the enemy. They tell us that if you disagree about an issue, you have no value. They shout that everything is a conspiracy from the other side to destroy our values.

But stop for a moment. Whether you read this before the election day or after…

"That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life-whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. "So don't worry about these things, saying, 'What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?' These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” Matthew 6

The world can change around us, but we are reminded that we are to have hope. We don’t have to fear, we don’t have to be anxious, we don’t have to be depressed.

So what do we do in the wake of such an election; such a divided country; such a tumultuous time?

First, we keep our eyes on Christ. We seek out His Kingdom over and above the kingdoms of the earth. That means we do the things that Kingdom people do. We love our neighbors, even when they voted for the other candidates, disagree on issues, or just drive us nuts. We try to be a positive, hopeful influence on the people we’re around, because our Kingdom is not of this world. We live out generosity to people that need to see a generous Kingdom.

Second, we pray. I don’t always know how prayer affects the outcome of things, but I know that when we pray we please God. He wants to hear from us. And our prayers change us. If I’m praying for the new representative—even if it’s the one I didn’t want—my heart changes toward that person. It’s hard to want bad things to happen to a person you’re praying for. And as we pray, we take Jesus’ advice to ask God to make things here on earth look more like heaven.

Our witness as disciples of Jesus isn’t tied to who we vote for or which party we agree with. Our opportunity is to make an impact on this world through the way we live out Kingdom values no matter the outcome of elections. Let’s choose not to be afraid together.

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).