Imagine that treadmill belt having sand and rocks of all shapes and sizes...
Imagine running on that treadmill for thirty two kilometers (or twenty miles)...
This was how it felt like on the first loop of the Javelina Jundred Endurance Run (at least for me).
****
Loop 0
I signed up for the Javelina Jundred (JJ) Endurance Run 100K for 2018 because I wanted to achieve a personal record in terms of distance. It had been almost three years since I attempted to break the 50 mile distance, when I attempted to jump from a 50 miler to a 100 miler (at Rio Del Lago) and spectacularly failed. You can read it at my previous post for that race at (http://iamtheroguerunner.blogspot.com/2015/11/rio-del-lago-100-miler-race-report.html).
I chose JJ 100K because of the generous time cutoff. You almost had the same amount of time to finish the 100K as you did the 100 mile distance (a whopping 29 hours for the 100K and only 30 hours for the 100M). Of course I had no plans of spending an entire 29 hours looping throughout the desert. I estimated that I would probably take anywhere from 16 to 20 hours, depending on how easy I took it as far as pace, how much I ran versus walk, and how long I took at transitions, especially at Javelina Jeadquarters. Jeadquarters is where you start and finish the race, and also where the "loops" start/end, so it is a perfect time to meet your crew (if you have one) and do your laundry list of necessities to make sure you are prepared to do another lovely jaunt along the JJ course.
For those unfamiliar with JJ, it is a "loop" race. For the 100K in particular, you have to complete three loops. The first loop is the longest, at 22 miles, and the remaining two are 20 mile loops. They achieve this by having you do a beautiful detour after the third aid station you see out in your first loop, which adds the two miles. Afterwards, the distance from the third aid station to the Jeadquarters is a thankfully shorter 4 miles.
For my 100K race, I decided to ask my dear friend Eileen to be both my crew and pacer. Since I have never done any finished any race past the 50 mile distance yet, I think I needed the assistance of someone to get me beyond the 50 miles, which sounds inconceivable to me at this point. Also, I highly recommend always having a pacer when your trail race involves night running, which it will do if you do anything beyond a 50 mile ultra marathon. It helps to have a friend navigate the trails with you in the dark, especially when you are probably already fatigued from doing an already amazing amount of distance. I also asked Eileen to double as crew for the two times I will see her at the end of loops one and two. She happily obliged and I was truly grateful as although JJ makes it easy to be "crew"-less since you also have so many volunteers throughout each aid station, it helps to have a familiar and friendly face greeting you after every endurance loop that you've endured!
Eileen and I flew in to Phoenix, Arizona from the San Francisco International Airport and arrived early Friday afternoon. We then grabbed our rental car and proceeded to the "La Puesta Del Sol", the new location for the packet pickup. It was a bigger amount of square footage compared to the previous location of the packet pickup at 2015, at We-Ko-Pa Resort Conference Room. It would be more convenient to those staying at We-Ko-Pa if it were still at the conference room for the packet pickup, but I'm assuming it was either a financial cost saving measure and/or getting a bigger area for all the vendors, bib pickup, etc that JJ decided to move the packet pickup to another location. I highly recommend doing the bib pickup the day before to avoid the "rush" of getting your bib on race day. It's always better to arrive at the start/finish relaxed and with time to spare, rather than rushing through. I also learned the hard way that it was better to drop off your drop bag for the "Jackass Junction" aid station (situated at the half way distance of each loop) the day before the race. Otherwise, you have to drop it off early, by 5:45 AM on race day, or you risk not having a drop bag at all (or in my case, lugging it around for 10 miles until you can drop it off!).
JJ didn't disappoint when it came to the "swag" that comes with your race purchase. You get a mini "cooler bag", a bunch of JJ stickers, a JJ buff, a JJ shirt. You can also pre-order a JJ hoodie (for an additional price), which I did, since I didn't know if I would do this race again (and I still don't), so I wanted a good memorabilia to wear, in addition to the buckle that you get, of course, when you finish! They also had other JJ gear to purchase from previous years, as well as gear from "Run Steep Get High". I thought I would be able to make some last minute purchases for gear that I somehow can't find at home that I thought would be crucial for my race (which ended up to be the case). I didn't have my arm coolers (similar to arm warmers except you wet them constantly at aid station, and it helps cool your body for hot races), and gloves (when I get cold, it's usually my hands that gets the coldest the most). Luckily my friend Eileen was able to get both at a running store on race morning as I did my first loop. The arm coolers were a tad tight for me as I had bulging biceps from the Barry's Bootcamp workouts I had been doing (Thanks Nichole! Haha), so they worked to cool me off, but I took them off as soon as the sun came down during the race.
It helps to have other friends who are doing the race. My friend Kate and her crew and pacers brought their canopy for the race and set it up along the start/finish route. JJ has a party atmosphere to it as you run through a bunch of canopies with crew, pacers and supporters cheering you on as you start/finish each loop and especially after you head towards that fabulous finish! They also have tents that you can rent if you or your friends need to sleep or rest in between loops. Since my friend Eileen and I flew, we didn't really have room to bring a canopy, so we were eternally grateful to Kate and her team for letting us crash with them for the entire race, and even helping us along the way as I completed each loop. Thank you again, Kate and Team (Heather/Beauty/Eric)!
Eileen and I were both tired from the long day of flying, packet pickup and scoping out the location of the race, so went back and checked in to our hotel afterwards and just ordered dinner at the hotel restaurant. We stayed at the Courtyard Marriott near the Mayo Clinic at Scottsdale. It was a lovely hotel, the only complaint I would have is their walls seemed thin since I can hear our neighbors on the other side on occasion and it did wake me up in the middle of the night twice (once for some unrecognizable noise, which I don't think was love making, and the other one was just a loud snore). I was still able to get some sleep and Eileen didn't seem to have any problems with the noise, which was great.
We planned to leave around 5 AM even though the race started at 7 AM, because I wanted to see our friend Kate when she starts here 100 mile race, which started at 6 AM. We left a little bit later than planned (around 5:15 AM), and arrived around 5:45 AM. I texted my friend Kate that we might not be able to see her, but I was pleasantly surprised to see her when the swarm of runners started running along the Jeadquarters and I was able to cheer her on by loudly shouting "Go Kate!".
We then searched for where to drop the drop bag for Jackass Junction and where my heart sank when I re-read the course guide I downloaded on my iPhone. We should have dropped the drop bag before 5:45 AM and it was way past that time. Eileen and I were discussing whether I needed my drop bag or not. I didn't even think about it, but she told me that maybe I should consider "running" (or more like walking) with it, since the first half of the loop is mostly uphill anyways. It would be mentally hard to not have a drop bag at Jackass Junction in case I needed any items. I decided to go with the suggestion, and it actually turned out to be a good costume suggestion.
***
Loop 1 (22 M)
The first loop started promptly at 7 AM. There were about 300 of us, based on ultrasignup.com numbers, and amazingly less than the number of those attempting the 100 mile distance (one would think that there would be more runners for the smaller distances, but apparently this was not the case for JJ). It could be that JJ 100 mile is a "Western States Qualifying Race". This means that if you finish it, you get a "lottery ticket" that allows you the chance to run the renowned (to ultra runners, at least) 100 mile ultra marathon that is probably even harder than the Boston Marathon (or London?) to get into. You get more tickets every year that you don't qualify, and JJ is one of the last few races to give you a qualifier for next year's Western States (the other one being Rio del Lago).
When we started the race, most of us ran through the Jeadquarters, as who would want to walk while all the spectactors lined up to cheer you, right? As soon as we left Jeadquarters though, I started my planned walking strategy. I planned to walk the first half of the loop and then run the second half (as much as I can, at least). This thinned the herd of runners that were at my place immediately as others chose to just start running. Kudos to them and I hope that strategy worked out for them! Since I was on an easy pace, I did get to chat with a few of the runners as I walked/hiked at their pace. I chatted with a runner doing the 100K as her first ultra (I was flabbergasted), a runner who had attempted the 100M last year but opted to the 100K this time around, and another runner who did the same (as she only went as far as 40 miles last year, but that's already a feat most runners won't even attempt). It was nice to get a few conversations as I went about my way for the first loop. I even took a few pictures along the way since I had no pressures of cutoffs at all. I do have to say that although the desert can have some pretty views, after a while it kind of looks the same (especially when the heat starts making its way into your head). I do have to give it to Aravaipa Running, the racing company that manages the Javelina Jundred, for their themed aid stations at Coyote Camp, Jackass Junction and Rattlesnake Ranch. These aid stations are like an oasis in the desert. When I saw the first aid station, Coyote Camp, I kiddingly asked another runner if I was seeing a mirage and she said I wasn't.
The aid stations are well stocked with water, soda (coke, ginger ale, mountain dew), sugary treats of all kinds (cookies, peanut butter sandwiches), salty treats of all kinds (pretzels, peanut butter pretzels, potatoes and salt). They would also have some real food at perfectly timed parts of the day. I had my tummy satiated with a sandwich, pizza and a burger throughout the day and kept me going like a well oiled machine! They also had medical crew at each aid station to help out with any issues. Each aid station was anywhere from 4-6 miles away. I made sure to have my water bladder pack filled with water at every aid station, with ice too during the day, as I was in unfamiliar territory in the desert. I also had very little heat training, with one 50K race at Berkeley Trail Adventure, which ended up to be one of the "cool" races, so it wasn't really much heat training at all. The temps for the first loop seemed to start around the mid 70s all the way to the higher 80s towards the middle of the day. What made JJ a difficult race in my opinion is the heat. There is nowhere to hide in the looped course, except when you get to the aid stations, where you can temporarily be under shade for a few minutes (or as long as you wanted to be in). Other than that, you are under the intense glare of the sun. I had a hiker hat to protect my head and face from the blistering heat, but even that wasn't enough towards the end of the first loop. I was even shockingly surprised that my full water bladder was emptied in just a span of 6 miles as I traversed from the last aid station (Rattlesnake Ranch) towards the end of my first loop. I had two miles left to go, but I was walking at a glacial pace and out of water. I tried to run a few times to see if sweating would cool me down, but I backed off from that strategy very quickly as I would also get thirstier in the process. What also was challenging that it didn't seem to help my throat no matter how much water I took the whole time, as my throat still felt dry in the process. I highly suggest to anyone trying this race to get the heat training usually recommended: hot yoga, sauna, running hot trail races, some have even done heat training by wearing a thick jacket or layers when it is hot outside (although this strategy might get you some looks coining you as crazy).
I finished the first loop spent, but happy to see my crew/pacer Eileen. I was so happy that I suggested she get me a smoothie at the end of the first loop. I happily drank that as I also ate the half ham sandwich I got at the Jeadquarters aid station. I had also given myself a "sponge bath" (simply a bucket with ice water they had where you can pour ice cold water on your face, arms, and anything else), and also filled my bladder with ice/water to help check that off our list of things to do at the end of each loop. It wasn't a serious thought, but I had the beginnings of "What was I thinking?" forming at my head. I still had the energy to run at least another loop, but doubts started forming in me as to whether I could muster the energy for two loops. I took my sweet time at the canopy with Eileen and Kate's friends (who also happily helped crew for me). I had the option to cross the timing mat at Jeadquarters as soon as I finished the loop, or before I start my first one. I opted for the latter. It made for a bad "finish time" for the first loop, but I didn't really care about my times since all I wanted was a finish (and a buckle)!
***
Loop 2 - (20M)
The second loop for me wasn't as bad in terms of the heat. Maybe it's because I have had the ample time to recover at Jeadquarters and I had cooled down by pouring ice water on my head and arms, changing to a cold and wet singlet (great idea, Eileen!), and putting on the arm coolers that Eileen had bought for me which were now cooling my arms while the ice on my hat and the ice on my bandana wrapped around my neck continued to cool the rest of my upper body.
JJ gives you a different view of the course on the second loop as you run it in "washing machine" style. This means that I start from where I ended up in the first loop (minus the extra 2 mile detour), and then run the course I did for the first loop in the opposite direction. This definitely gives you a different perspective of the course, almost as if you were running it again for the very first time. The second loop had an "easier" first half as the uphill climb was not as rock infested as the "rock garden" that defined the first half of the first loop. Even with this, I decided to walk/hike the entire half of the second loop, leading up to Jackass Junction.
When I got to Jackass Junction, I got my drop bag and then retrieved my second headlamp and spare batteries. I had already one headlamp with me, the Petzl Nao, which can be as bright as car headlamps on its highest setting, but unfortunately can only last for five hours on a full charge. I noticed on race morning that I only had charged it partially on one of the three bars, so I definitely needed the second headlamp with me just in case my Petzl Nao died during the night portion of the second loop (spoiler alert: it did die and I was so happy that I brought my drop bag to Jackass Junction and took the second headlamp with me).
I was happy to arrive at Jackass Junction when they were just starting to fire up the grill for a hamburger. I thought those would be available at Jeadquarters at mile 40, but I can't complain of getting some good old carbohydrates and protein, so I ordered a cheeseburger and added some ketchup and mustard to it. It tasted like the best burger in the world to his hungry ultra runner!
The volunteers at Jackass Junction changed outfits from the time I did the first loop. My memory was hazy though of whether it was the same set of volunteers from the first time around. The first set of volunteers wore bee costumes and formed a bee line for the next runner that came after me. I was slightly disappointed I didn't get a bee line but I did get taken care of with all the ice in the world for my bladder and for my hat and bandana! The second theme in the second loop was the 60s (or was it the 70s?). Two women were dressed with puffed up yellow afros and were dancing groovily to the music. I wish I had taken a picture or a video but the moment was very quick before they returned to their task of assisting runners with water, electrolytes, soda and food.
I sat down for a moment to take sand and stones on both my shoes. I just then noticed that my left sock has some red on it. I didn't even notice I had been bleeding on my foot, but I did slowly but surely started getting some discomfort on both feet, mostly with the left side. I could have seen the medical tent at the time, but I thought nothing of it, and was hoping it was already a dried wound if it was one. I then started leaving Jackass Junction, at the half way point of the race (32ish mile mark), and was happy to notice that the sun was starting to go down and it has been getting cooler, not to mention that it will be going downhill from this point on. And it did go downhill from here, both literally and figuratively.
Normally any runner would like the downhill portion of the trail race as it represents a chance to actually run and to make up for the slower portion of the trail race when they were going uphill. The second loop of JJ though doesn't really allow one to go downhill as fast as one can, especially for my case. Going down a trail filled with rocks was no fun endeavor, as my current shoes doesn't have the "rock shield" or cushion that other trail shoes I believe have. This means if I happen to step on a rock on a certain angle and with a big impact, I can pretty much "feel" the rock like a dull hammer hitting the bottom of my foot. Given this, I chose to pretty much walk/hike downhill. It didn't help that by that time it was also dark. Even with headlamps, running downhill on rock garden can lead you to the unfortunate face plant, twisted ankle or worse.
It took me a long time to go downhill from Jackass Junction to the next aid station, Coyote Camp. It was mostly a blur. The highlights of that part of the race was watching the sun set, getting scared when a cute runner showed me his big snake (it was a fake rattlesnake, pun intended), seeing two runners in hot dog costumes run uphill in rock garden (only to realize they were probably running with elite ultra runner Tim Tollefson, based on pictures I saw post race), and seeing Kate's friend Heather. Heather was supposed to pace my friend Kate, but I had heard the bad news from Eileen that Kate had dropped due to IT band injury issues, as I was messaging Eileen about my status of leaving Jackass Junction and my proximity to the next aid station, Coyote Camp.
From Coyote Camp on to Jeadquarters, it should have been a smoother downhill run but I suddenly started noticing an issue with my left foot. I'm not sure what type of issue it was, but at the top of the base of my foot, the tissue around the ankle was not a happy camper at all. I cannot run at all with my left foot and for me to go uphill requires me to lead with my right leg, not my left. I somberly walked to Jeadquarters as I was happy to finish another difficult loop, but dreaded the fact that I still had another twenty mile loop to go on a bad foot.
I grabbed two slices of Costco pizza which was at the aid station at Jeadquarters and a piece of Ferrero Roche chocolate. Costco pizza was in abundance that I felt they could have given me the entire box of pizza if I asked for it. Same went for the chocolate. I also had some much needed coffee to start waking me up for the rest of the night (and morning), and also as something to warm my body on a night that's beginning to get a lot colder.
When I arrived at the canopy, Eileen was ready for me with a cup of hot chocolate, which I gladly sipped. She was her cheery self as always, now ready to pace me for my third and final loop. Little does she know that I am having foot issues and she will have her work cut out for her as she paces me for the rest of the race.
***
Loop 3 - (20 M)
Eileen was her usual chatty self and very conversational. I still had the energy to talk and laugh and chat about anything and everything. This didn't last too long though. I think about just two miles in, I had to tell Eileen that I can't really talk much anymore, even though we were only walking. It was taking a lot of energy for me to ignore the dull pain of my left foot (thankfully it was dull, not sharp, as if it was sharp pain I would have definitely had to make a decision to cut my race no matter how close 20 miles would look like to some other runners). I never thought for a moment along the entire time of taking ibuprofen or advil, as I am against taking pain killers during a race. I lost a lot of weight and became healthier through running, and I don't believe in taking pain killers to hide any pain, especially during a race, for its possible consequences on my liver/body, not to mention the potential of seriously injuring myself by hiding the pain. I believe pain is a signal from our body to tell us to either slow down, or maybe even stop. For good or for bad though, I think ultra runners develop higher and higher pain thresholds as time goes on. I think if you talk to ultra runners, every one has a different pain threshold. I even know of an ultra runner who finished the difficult The North Face Endurance Challenge 50 miler, on a split knee that happened early around mile 15-20, I believe, and still finished it by walking. It was stunning but at the same time I'm not sure if everyone would have agreed that finishing would have been the right decision, but ultimately every runner knows their limits (and hopefully the consequences), and the consequences of pushing those limits.
I had made the decision to hide my left foot problems from Eileen. I think she noticed that already something was wrong since I was moving slowly, even for a walking pace. She would ask me what I'm thinking and I had said I was thinking about nothing. I didn't want her to worry about me. I don't think she would have convinced me to pull out of the race, but she might convince me to see the medical tent and I was afraid that they would be the ones to pull me out of the race. I think it was a difficult situation for Eileen as she is used to talking and chatting, as that is how she gets her energy, as an obvious extrovert. I did warn her already prior to the race that I don't usually like to talk when I am paced, but I welcomed her to talk. I would try to acknowledge her talking every now and then with some words, but I learned later on they came across as mumbling to her, which she barely understood what I was saying but she was very understanding and just pretended that she knew exactly what I was saying.
When we got to Coyote Camp, I sat down for the very first time at that aid station. I had planned to sit down at the three aid stations for that loop since I was getting my energy depleted as the hours and miles passed. We were going at a glacial pace of 2-3 miles per hour, which would still make us get through the only cutoff, the finish line cutoff of 29 hours, but I had already passed my race record as far as time on feet when I started my first loop, as I believe I finished the second loop at around the 15-16 hour mark of the race. Given a 2-3 mile per hour pace, we were looking at finishing the last loop at a stupendously slow 8-10 hours! The silence didn't help Eileen. She tried to improvise by still talking but not expecting any responses from me. She would catch herself asking questions from me still, only to say "forget that" and then moving on as if I had answered the question and moving on to another topic. I was smiling in the dark and would still try to acknowledge her efforts at times with my random "mumbles" and grunts.
As we neared Jackass Junction, I told Eileen that I wanted to lay down for 10-15 minutes. After time passed and we were seeing the aid station on the horizon though, I changed my mind. I can sit down, but I don't think I should lay down. That would be the end of the race for me, as I don't think I would want to get back up. 52 miles would have still been a great accomplishment, I thought to myself. I briefly thought of quitting at Jackass Junction at that time, while wondering where the naked guy with only a buff to cover him was (probably put on more clothes due to the cold at 2-3 AM in the morning). I had heard of reports of this guy from Kate's friends at Jeadquarters, through Heather/Eric who passed by Jackass Junction, with Heather running the new night trail race and Eric somehow ending up pacing an elite woman ultra runner at a blistering pace of 10 minute miles for the entire 20 mile loop. The volunteers had a "diner" costume of sorts from the 70s/80s, with hats resembling those who serve the burgers/fries at In N Out. I sat down, shook the rocks/stone from both my shoes and hoped Eileen didn't see the big red stain on my left foot. I wondered what was the cause of that wound. I imagined impaling myself on a small cactus unwittingly. I later found out it was a bloody blister that I still have as of writing.
From Jackass Junction, we continued on with our death march to the next and last aid station before the finish, Rattlesnake Ranch. We both bundled up, with me wearing my windbreaker and gloves, and Eileen borrowing my puff jacket which I luckily placed in my drop bag. We were both thankful for our cold gear as I think we would have been miserable (or worse, hypothermic) if we didn't have those to warm us through the last 10 miles of the race. We saw a runner down and covered in blankets by three medics and another runner, who I'm guessing is/was her pacer. This race has definitely claimed a lot of injuries, as Eileen saw another injured runner just a few hours ago, with blood gushing out of her knee, and a medic rushing to her just a few minutes after we kept on going. I hope they are both okay, as well as any others who might have had some unfortunate incidents (a picture of a runner with some cactus impaled on her come to mind).
We made it slowly and silently to Rattlesnake Ranch, with a few other 100K runners, to my surprise. I thought I was the only one at the glacial pace. One of them seemed exhausted, but they all looked uninjured. Maybe they were all just taking their time like I previously opted to do. From Rattlesnake Ranch, it was only about 3-4 miles left, but that 3-4 miles felt the longest 3-4 miles of my life, just like each stretch of the aid station.
As the sun rose, it did give me renewed hope. This was the magical sunrise that 100 mile runners talk about. It wasn't something I was expecting to see for my 100K, as I was expecting to finish still under the cover of darkness, around 2-3 AM. It was uplifting to see it, and I'm glad my friend Eileen took some pictures of me, even though I was still a grumpy grumperson at the time.
As we saw the Jeadquarters rise from the distance, I started smiling. I still didn't run until the very final stretch and I already warned Eileen that I was probably walking to the finish mat. I was surprisingly able to run the last 20-30 feet, although with a limp. As soon as I hit the mat, I started tearing up. This race was freaking hard. The heat, the foot problems (which was later on discovered to be a bloody blister and a still unknown foot mechanic issue I still have to see my chiropractor and/or doctor on), the distance and the time on feet was all a challenge for me. Was it fun? It was fun at the start, but any runner who would say to you it was fun the whole time for a 100K or a 100 mile is most probably fibbing.
An ultra marathon is called an ultra for a reason. It will challenge you. It will change you. Despite the best of plans, things will happen which you didn't expect or plan for. You can't control what will happen to you during an ultra, but you can control how you react to it. I'm glad I was stubborn enough to finish it, despite a whopping 24.5 hours of running, walking and grimacing. Was it a smart move? As long as I didn't permanently injure my left foot, I think it was (knock on wood).
I set out to complete the longest distance that I have ever completed to date, and I am happy. On to my next adventure, my next challenge, my next goals in life.
***
P.S. A million thanks to my friend Eileen for crewing, pacing and taking care of me from the time we drove to the airport to the time we got back home. You no longer owe me your first born! ;-)
