Javelina Jundred is a 100 mile foot race, located in Phoenix, Arizona. With the start date being in late October, temperatures can reach 80-95+ degrees F. There's minimal shade and coverage. It's a "Jalloween Party" in the desert.
There are a ton of awesome reports and videos that nail the total Javelina Experience. I'll spare you the details... The neat part of this race and what drew me to register is that it's a looped course. 5 loops of roughly 20 miles, with the first being the longest with an added section.
I've lived in Phoenix going on 8 years. In one of my first summer's I trained for St. George 26.2. A marathon that is in October. After crossing that finish line I swore off training for a marathon during a Phoenix summer. There were countless runs where I had to bail out due to over heating. It is an absolute struggle with the early wake ups and temperatures hitting 90 plus before 7am.
Two summers later, I ran JFK 50 miler, a November race, where I trained through another summer. A much better experience but I am sticking to my words, I have not and will not train through the summer for another marathon, just a couple of ultra marathons...
With a decent amount of summer training experience, I was able to move through this 100 mile training cycle efficiently. There were runs over 5 hours where I was fighting the oppressive sun but I kept up well with hydration and fueling. There were days where I was easily sweating out 4lbs. Training was tough but it being my first 100 mile training cycle, it was "easier" than I had thought.
Looped courses are an interesting challenge. With 5 loops of the course, I've heard several Javelina 100 vets say they refuse to step foot in the park where the race is staged. They hit a point during the race and started hurling expletives at some innocent cactus. Swearing off the race and all it encompasses. It's a different type of mental challenge, in preparation many of my runs were ran in loops.... I went with and without music, for the race I didn't break out my headphones until mile 80.
I've easily been able to occupy my mind. As a kid whenever I couldn't sleep I'd stare at the wood paneling in my bedroom. Creating shapes and characters amongst the wooden groves amongst the wall. I'd give the shapes stories and they would interact with each other. There was a cyborg looking character and Abe Lincoln character and he had a droopy nose... You could have told me to go watch paint dry and I happily would have obliged.
Boredom was not and has not been an issue.
Mile 75, loop 4 is where I think I hit my darkest spot. I was 5 miles out from my final crew point. It was cold, dark, and it was just past 2:00am. I hit mile 80 and my crew point mentally done. I wanted to be warm and sleep.
I had decided before the race if I needed a nap I would take a 5-10 minute nap. I dosed off in my chair for a solid 5 minutes where 3 minutes were deep. I woke up a little fresher, it was enough to get me started on my fifth and final lap and to kick start my brain.
I think we're too quick to grow up and forget the power of a time out and naptime. By giving my brain a quick 5 minute break, my mindset changed to "Why am I so tired, why do my legs and feet hurt," to "This is the situation I'm in... Things suck, but I just crushed 80 miles... another 20 miles is just a *walk in the park." *Death crawl in the desert.
That last loop was the hardest. There were 3 points were I thought about crashing on the side of the trail and letting the course sweep or coyotes take me away. I kept moving forward without any expectations, taking whatever my body would give. At mile 87 the sun began to rise. That was a huge mental boost. After a night of fluctuating between cold and even colder, the warmth of the sun felt energizing.
There was a point within the last few miles where I was physically, mentally, and emotionally DONE running. Any built momentum was instantly greeted by a loss of all energy and motivation. It was a slow trot into the finish area where my crew awaited. When I first saw my crew awaiting the final section, I commented that my slow trot was my max speed but as soon as I saw the finish flag, a wave of energy came over me and that slow trot started to drop below 8:00min/mi for the last quarter of a mile. That was my last energy burst for the following few weeks...
I've been slow to write a race recap and to create this blog. There are so many details and directions where I could take this post and blog. I wanted to get it right and hit every detail, but quickly realized it would take the form of something longer that I have no interest in. I then ran into the stress of covering the most important aspects... Important to me? To You?
This blog is my space... Like running, my hope is that through writing I will create a process for discovery. A space to explore myself, ideas, culture, and running. There will be structure, but like a Dalí piece I want to explore the unconscious and the juxtapositions I face as runner, a black male, a desert dweller... I want to challenge conditioned thought. I'm not going to get this right, but like in my 100 miler and life; I've learned that there's no fun and little learning in doing things right.
I approached Javelina 100 training and race day, with several goals, none were associated with time. My goals surrounded self exploration, health, and mental/physical strength. I'm naturally hard on myself and am terrified of failure, neither of which are conducive to running your first 100 miler.
"Control the controllable, let the rest fall into place. Be patient and allow yourself to F*ck up."
On the pre-race call with my coach, he asked me to break the race up into sections and to create a mantra. A mantra that will get me through hard times without beating myself up. I'm already at war with the sun, dry desert terrain, the heat, and keeping hydrated. There was no point in adding another battle during that race. Only through keeping things simple, moving forward with minimal expectations, and allowing my self space to f*ck up I was able to run 100 miles.