Javelina Jundred: What I’ve Learned So Far

I can’t believe I’m only a few short days away from undertaking my first 100 mile race! What began as a 15 month journey, has whittled down to a matter of hours. Eek!!! When I signed up to do Javelina Jundred on the morning of January 1, 2016, after deciding to do it back in July 2015, I had no idea what to expect for the next several months. I knew long runs would be on my plate, as well as, back-to-backs, night running, heat, and mental training, but there were a few other things I didn’t know would happen as training got underway.

Laundry Time

I don’t have a whole lot of running clothes to begin with, but I pretty much went through most of it on a weekly basis. There were times I’d have to wash my running clothes twice during the week so I had stuff to wear. Before training focused on Javelina (when I was primarily focused on Miwok 100K), I would have a few items to include with my regular clothes, but eventually, I’d have to do an entire load of just running clothes alone. The amount would exponentially increase whenever I did double workouts in a day. Once Javelina is over, I’m looking forward to going back to including a few items with my regular clothes. My quarters will thank me.

Weight Loss

Umm, yeah I’m still weighting for that. Get it? I mean, I’ll be honest here, I thought with the amount of mileage and training volume I endured over this year the pounds would melt off like a popsicle on a stick in 100 degree temperatures. Why am I not the size of Nicole Richie?? Nope. I will say though, I definitely increased the amount of strength training I did so while the number on the scale didn’t budge much, yes, it did move down slightly, I know I gained muscle and got stronger because of it. At least that’s the story I’m telling myself. Or maybe it was the amount of Rice Krispie Treats I consumed. Oops.

Gimme Hills

Who knew I would grow to love hills?! Hills do not scare me anymore. Hills do not make me look around to find an alternate route. I knew hills would be unavoidable since I’d be on the trails, so why not make peace with them and embrace them as being an essential component to training? Without hills, I wouldn’t have been able to reach the views I did and most of the time, the views were absolutely breathtaking and beautiful and well-worth the huffing and puffing all the way up. Besides, I could never find the escalators on the mountains.

A Trail of Tears

Never have I endured crying during training runs as I have this year. There a few times when I was training where I’ve come close to them, but a couple of times I simply couldn’t stop the tears from arriving. Those times were actually with one particular person involved, but it’s okay. It really is. I learned a lot about myself and about feeling broken down and I suppose feeling that way and yet, continuing to keep going. I think those tears have made me stronger but I won’t be surprised if they show up at Javelina.

Paranoid Becomes Very Real

I don’t think I’ve ever been so paranoid as a runner. Someone near me coughs and I think “don’t you dare get me sick!” Oh no, did I rub my nose or touch my eyes after pushing the elevator button or touching the handrail? What is this pain in my heel?! Agh!!! I’m careful to wash my hands but people and out of the sort aches made me a little more paranoid. And now that I’m down to a few days until the big dance in the desert, it’s even moreso.

So Much Stuff

A few weeks ago I flew to Chicago to run the marathon and I’m pretty sure I only had about 10% of the things I need to do Javelina. And that 10% was pretty much one set of clothes, shoes, and fuel. For Javelina, I have clothes, extra clothes, shoes, extra shoes, socks, extra socks, fuel, extra fuel, gaiters, headlamp and flashlights and extra batteries, hydration pack and everything that goes in it, not to mention blister kits and everything else that goes into drop bags. I have a 3-page checklist of every single item I’m taking with me to Arizona and I’m still adding items. Who knows if I actually use all of it, but at least I know it’s there.

Planning and Prep Work

Now that I’m in the stages of packing my gear, the amount of planning and prepping is beyond what I did for any of my 50 mile races. For one, those 50 mile races only had 1 drop bag location where you accessed it twice. Javelina has 2 drop bag locations and I’m trying to figure out what I should have at each one. Do I duplicate items? What if I need something but it’s at one location and I’m still 10 miles away? Not to mention figuring out when I’m taking my fuel, and refilling it at what station. I also have to plan for traveling and where to eat and what to eat and communicating with my crew and pacer. There is a ton more prep work going into a 100 mile race than any other race I’ve ever done before in my life! But you know what, it’s actually quite fun. This is probably the most fun of it all. And I’ll admit a little stressful because I don’t want to forget anything, but I guess that’s where the 3-page checklist comes in.

Focus

If someone told me I would become so focused and determined training for one single race, I’d think they were cray cray! Me? Focused? But that’s exactly what happened. I found myself kicking myself out the door when I didn’t feel like training. Those miles aren’t going to run themselves. Do I actually want to finish? I signed up to run this, so I better train for it. Do I want to look back at this year thinking, you know, I could’ve trained a lot harder. 

A part of me feels I could’ve trained a lot harder, but for the most part, I trained as well as I could with what I’ve got. I did my best. I know I did. At least I hope I did. And I think the most important thing is, I’m heading to that start line — knock on wood here because I still have 5 days to go — healthy and injury free. And that’s all I could ask for right now.

I’m Not The Same Person

After I signed up for Javelina and as time went on, I noticed a shift in me. My mentality changed. My priorities changed. My perspective changed. I became more annoyed with people who were negative and complained, about anything. It’s too hot. It’s too cold. It’s too humid. This run sucked. Blah blah blah. Yadda yadda yadda. Then don’t run. The End. Of course, whenever runners complained about something they were choosing to do, has always been a pet peeve of mine. Always. Hey, nobody is perfect, but I learned to try and embrace all the training runs even in the face of difficulty and I’ve had my fair share of difficult runs. No doubt. I would’ve loved to have every run go smoothly and in perfect conditions but it’s those runs we learn the most from. I chose this race. I chose this distance. Even knowing what I would be up against. In the process, I learned I love the beauty and community of trail running probably moreso than road running. It’s just different. It’s a different atmosphere. I also learned I’m capable of doing a lot more and pushing my body beyond where it’s comfortable. Yeah, I needed this.

Why?

There is no doubt I’ve asked myself this question so many times. Why am I’m putting myself through this? Why am I making my body ache and hurt and become sore on purpose? Why am I making these sacrifices all for 100 miles?

What I’ve learned is, I’m curious with the unknown. I don’t know how my body is going to react, or what my mind is going to do during a 100 mile race. That intrigues me. It’s this big huge scary challenge that has drawn me in, even when I know I’m going to  be broken down in one way or another. But I want to know who I am out there. Or who I become. I’m terrified of the distance, but not enough to make me not want to do it. Yes, a part of me is scared, but that’s all the reason I need to at least try.

Thanks for reading!