Jackpot 24 hour race report 2020

 Jackpot Race Report - spoiler alert it’s long.

I completed 100 miles during the Jackpot 24 hour in 19 hours 14 minutes. I ended up 4th place overall. 

As highlighted in a previous post, this was my first race in a year after a near-death experience during a race in Japan. I have run one 20 miles long run in the past year and it was in January. As you know ultra running is a mental experience and my mind wasn’t ready.

I figured that Jackpot would be a good safe test for my body and mental health. Jackpot is put on by Ken and Stephanie. Their racing company Beyond Limits Ultra is one of the best I’ve experienced. If you haven’t checked out one of their races take this as an endorsement and recommendation. You will be able to push yourself past your limits at their races in a supportive environment with the best food and aid station in the business. Their next race is BLU on April 2nd-5th. You might just see me there!

I didn’t feel that I was in ultra shape and it made me very nervous. Truly I think I had forgotten what it felt like to push past physical and emotional boundaries. Normally when I race my body is physically fit and so I can just rely on pushing through the mental hurdles. Having no substantial long runs under my belt scared me. I signed up for the 24-hour race rather than the 50K, 50M, 6H, 12H or 100M because I felt that it gave me the most flexibility. I could run a 50k, 50m, 100k or 100m and still be a finisher. My weekly mileage was consistently around 70 for several months and lately, I’ve been mostly in the 90s with the occasional 100. Last week I got 117 miles. I’ve been waking up every morning a 4:30 am and running and then running again around 5:00 pm. Simulating tired legs and lots of headlamp hours. Although the runs were long my legs were consistently tired and I often had to fight through fatigue to complete the run. Most importantly working on the discipline of mental toughness. 

Things get rusty when you haven’t raced in a year. I forgot all sorts of things while packing. Most notably my Tupperware bin of all my tapes, lubes, medicines and magic potions. I just left it sitting on my bed. I packed 5 left socks and 1 right sock. Guess I wasn’t changing socks mid-race. It all added to the nervousness and feeling of being ill-prepared. 

I gave up sweets this year and so this would be an interesting development in my race day diet. Normally, I rely heavily on sweets like licorice and candy to get me through the calorie deficits.  Due to the uniqueness of seeing my aid station every 2.5 miles I based my nutritional plan on easy availability. I also had Lauren to assist me which made my life easy. I ran carrying no food or drink. When I got to my setup I would eat 1 saltine cracker with 2 TBs of avocado on it, a couple of drinks of Redbull and some sparkling water. I did this the entire race with no issues. Lauren also got me a huge Starbucks ice tea mid-race which was incredible and helped me pee. The plan was simple and it worked but it was unique to the race.

The startline had vegas showgirls and a singing Elvis. It was a brisk morning in the 40s with a slight cloud cover. Overall the weather was mild, peaking around 70 but with a nice breeze coming off the lake. The night was a different story. It got cold. I stayed shirtless but eventually had to upgrade to gloves. My last 2 laps I probably should have thrown on a shirt. But when you’ve run 95 miles in just shorts sometimes you do things just to say you did them. I wouldn’t recommend it. I kept repeating Robert Frost’s poem “Fire and Ice” over and over to get me through it. “Some say the world will end in fire. Some say in ice. From what I've tasted of desire I hold with those who favor fire. But if it had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate to say that, for destruction, ice is also great and would suffice.”

The course consists of a 2.5 loop that goes through Cornerstone Park in Henderson Nevada. It goes around a lake and is a mix of dirt, cement, asphalt, and bridges. It’s mainly flat although there is a slight bump that gets progressively harder as your legs get tired. I think I got 2,500 feet of vert over 100 miles so about 65 feet per loop. This is challenging though because the entire course is very runnable.

I started off strong and felt good. I’ve done no speed workout and normally run quite slow between 9 and 11-minute miles daily. My first 25 miles were in the 8s. I ran my first marathon in 3h 40 minutes. 50k came around 4h 30m. 50 miles around 8h 02m. 100k at 10h 30m. I was happy that my body was responding to the demand I was putting on it. Miles 47-55 I hit a low. My body was starting to feel some pain, the legs were getting heavy and my mind starting telling me that 50 miles were good enough. That mind of mine will attempt to convince me of anything to get it out of the painful experience of running. I was just testing out the waters after all, why not quit at 50? That’s respectable. Next race I’ll increase it to 100k and then we can focus on 100. You don’t want to injure yourself. Is that soreness or injury? Think about how great a nap would be right now. You’ve only gone ⅓ of the time. You still have 16 hours to go. We should quit now. My mind is a fucker.  Lauren joined me for my mile 50 loop. It was nice to chat with her for a bit and she got to see the course. But my mind wanted me to stop so badly. I’m not sure how I forced myself to start another loop. I turned inward with my mind and used motivational saying and quotes that speak to me. My favorite being “no one cares, work harder.” I said this a lot to get me moving again. When things weren’t going my way I used Jocko Willink’s ‘Good’ speech to get me through. As I continued my mind and body woke back up. I started thinking about how I was only 10 miles away from 100k and started focusing on time goals. Next thing I knew I was feeling better physically and mentally. That ultra rollercoaster is quite dramatic. Miles 60-80 went by quickly. I kept anticipating a mental low but it never came. When I started getting into the 80s my legs were much slower but they were still moving well. I wasn’t in a hurry and just kept moving forward.

When I hit 90 they were in revolt. This wasn’t a rollercoaster but my body unable to do what my mind was telling it to do. You can only whip the horse for so long before it dies. My legs died. My last 2 loops were 14 to 16-minute miles. Even on the fun little downhill section, I couldn’t make them move fast than 14-minute miles. I decided that 100 miles were where this journey would end and embraced the happiness of completing a huge distance. I left 5 hours on the table and was in 2nd place overall when I stopped but I just didn’t want to walk for 5 hours so I could get a bigger mileage total. I had come to run and I ran all 100 miles. 

Races in this format are great for positive motivation. I’m used to being out in the mountain darkness alone for long stretches of time, only seeing people at the occasional aid station. But at Jackpot, you are constantly interacting with other runners. I met a lot of really great people out there. And although I can’t remember your names because delirium takes care of short term memory, I really enjoyed talking with you and hearing about your story. 

Am I back? I hope so, I definitely need to do a mountain ultra before UTMB to knock off those cobwebs. But for today I feel good. I’m sore, I’m tired and hungry. I got to hang out with my friend PAIN again. He definitely missed me and I missed him. Thank you to everyone who gave me encouragement and inspiration. And big Thanks to my wife, who is my biggest fan and supporter. I wouldn’t have gotten through all this without you. 

Smile or you’re doing it wrong.