Category: Motivation

“Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.” -Mike Tyson-

Ok folks, we are less than two weeks out from the Allison Woods Halloween Hobble 100 Mile Race. I’ve planned my nutrition, my pace, my clothing, my first aid kit, contingencies, my positive self-talk, and anything else that I could think of. There is no guarantee that you’ll finish a race of this distance, so the goal is to put as much as possible in your favor. You control what you can control, and you don’t worry about what you can’t control. Then you show up, try and stick to your plan for as long as you can, and then just gut it out when the wheels come off. That’s why I like Iron Mike’s quote up there. You will get punched in the face, several times, and the difference between finishing and not finishing, is what you do AFTER you get punched in the face.

So, in that vein, I have put together a list that I will print, laminate, and post at my aid station with my crew. When I get punched in the face, I will read it as a reminder of what I need to do if I am going to finish this race and get my beloved buckle. And while I have helped others accomplish this goal, and certainly been around these types of events, I am still humble enough to look for advice.

I am sharing my list here, with you, so that I can get feedback and add any nuggets that you give me to the list. This way, not only will I get great advice from the running community, I will have some of you with me out there on the course. My success will be your success too! So please, leave your advice in the comments. Here is what I have so far:

• Eat and drink like it’s your job! No screwing around here, you need calories and electrolytes.
• Don’t start fast, like a maniac, and don’t be a wimp at the end. Just keep moving…
• When you think you’re smarter than the plan and want to change it, don’t. You’re stupid, you just paid to run 100 miles. Stick to the plan.
• Don’t let small things become big things. That pebble in your shoe at mile 5 is a baseball size blister at mile 40. Take care of business; immediately.
• When you want to quit, go one more mile. You will bonk and recover and bonk and recover… This isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon. No wait; it’s like 4 marathons.
• Beware of the chair. It’s an aid station, not a rest stop. Get in, do what you need to do, then get out.
• Make mile 90 your b@*ch! Why mile 90? Because why not?
• Run the mile you’re in. Until mile 90, see above…
• Know your why. You will not get motivated at mile 75, you need to have a deep understanding of why you are doing this that carries you through the darkness. Remember, this will pass, and you will recover.

For behind the scenes photos and comments on my training and personal life, follow me on Instagram: joe_the_runner  Strava: Joe Randene  YouTube: Joe Runner  Facebook: Joe Randene

Questions, comments, feedback? Please leave them in the comments section BELOW and we can have a discussion!

“When something bad happens, don’t make it worse.” -Unknown-

For all my faults when it comes to running, and there are many, I’ve always been good at one thing. I can grind. For some reason, I have this uncanny ability to find a gear and then just run and run and run. It’s why I fell in love with ultra-distance running. I didn’t need to be fast to be good at it, I just needed to be able to manage pain and keep moving forward. So, when I heard these dreaded words from my doctor last week, “We’ve got to shut you down for a bit and get this under control.”, it took me some time to process it.

Most of you who follow me know that I have been dealing with swelling and pain in my right foot and especially the big toe for the last six to eight weeks. It would balloon up and get really dark, and I would take a few days off or cut back on distance, and it would get better. My first thought was that it had to be some kind of impact injury from one of the times that I tripped. But when the swelling occurred in both feet, even when I wasn’t running, I knew I had to go see the doctor. This wasn’t something I could run through, and with my hundred-miler just seven weeks away, I needed to put this to bed.

Doctor: “I think you have gout. We’ll start you on meds and take some blood.” Me: “So what’s the next step if my blood comes back and I don’t have gout?” Doctor: “Um, yeah. You have gout.” I have gout. Honestly, I cannot say that I am surprised, some of my family have gout and I lived a life with a lot of alcohol and I was obese for many years. I was running up a tab and the bill came due. It would be easy to be angry, but I’m not. It would be easy to have regrets, but I don’t. I did it to myself and I cannot change the past, so all I can do now is focus on the future and continuing to work on improving myself.

This post isn’t about running with gout or even what you can do regarding training when you are shutdown. I’m sure I’ll have some posts about that in the future. No, this is about getting your head right. I have a herculean task ahead of me and it’s time to simplify things, so instead of paragraphs explaining how I’m processing this, I’m going to give you some bullet points that are quick and to the point. Kind of a Joe’s 101 on how to deal with things when they go south. This may not work for everyone, but it works for me.

• I have gout. Own it, accept it, be honest with myself and move on.
• What can I do about it? Work with the doctor, change my diet, ice it every day, and get it under control to the best of our ability.
• Be realistic. Due to having to miss days and weeks of training, I have readjusted my goals of running a sub 22-hour 100 miler to simply finishing under the cutoff of 30 hours. This is not Western States and I am not trying to set a course record. This is my first 100-mile attempt and finishing is the goal.
• Don’t be dramatic. Yes, I’ve missed some training, but up until about a week ago, I have run 6,000 miles in the last three years. I probably have some fitness in the tank still!

So, that is my magic formula to getting your mind right when bad stuff happens. Own the problem. Figure out what you can do about it. Be realistic with where you are. Don’t be dramatic, you are in better shape than you think.

For behind the scenes photos and comments on my training and personal life, follow me on Instagram: joe_the_runner  Strava: Joe Randene  YouTube: Joe Runner  Facebook: Joe Randene

Questions, comments, feedback? Please leave them in the comments section BELOW and we can have a discussion!

Have you ever had one of those runs where you get about half way through and everything just feels wrong? You’re training for a marathon and after five miles you are just dying, and you start to walk. Then this thought pops in to your head, “If I can’t run five miles, how the hell can I run 26.2 miles?” Maybe you are half way through your training program, or more, and the grind is getting to you. And, it’s probably hella hot and humid for the tenth run in a row. Welcome to the summer swoon.

I thought this would be a good time to discuss this, because I have had this conversation with more than half of my clients recently, and have experienced it myself, like EVERY summer… This could easily turn in to a post about beating the heat, but it’s not. You have all probably read the “get up early”, “run later in the day”, and “hydrate” summer articles a million times. And, if you’re like me, you probably squeeze most runs in when your life allows. So, you will be running in the heat, and it will take a toll on you.

But here’s the good news. If you trust the process, all of your suffering will pay off during your fall racing season or goal race. Despite how mentally challenging it is when you have a difficult short run in the brutal heat, the fact is that your body is adapting. The runs feel harder because they are harder. When you run in the heat, more blood rushes to your skin to assist with cooling and less blood is going through your heart and to your muscles. Your body responds by thickening your blood and increasing your heart rate to get oxygen to the muscles you are using via your blood stream. However, inevitably, your active muscles are getting less oxygen and you get tired faster. THE STRUGGLE IS REAL PEOPLE!

So, what to do? This is going to hurt… Slow down. Even if it means some walk breaks. If it is extremely hot, stop worrying about your splits and do your best to get the work out in based on your perceived effort. And then rest easy that you will be fine come race day. It is so easy to start and play those mind games with yourself that if you struggled with five miles, you’ll never run 26.2 miles. But you will. Most of our country will start to see cooler temps within the next four weeks or so, and suddenly all of that work you did in the heat will pay off big time! Your perceived effort will come way down, and your pace will improve! Long runs won’t seem as difficult and the miles will increase. YOU WILL BE FINE. So, the next time you feel like a run that you should be killing is giving you fits, smile, slow down, and look ahead to September…

Disclaimer time! We do live in litigious times after all. There are risks associated with running in the heat, so please take them in to account. I am not a physician, so please ensure that you work with yours to stay safe. Hydrate, and hydrate often. Monitor your sweat output. If it is hot and you are not sweating, stop. Find a cool place and hydrate slowly. This post is NOT encouraging you to run in the heat, it is simply discussing what we runners go through in the heat and helping people understand that what they are feeling is real and that their training will be impacted. But alas, the summer will pass, and we will be stronger!

For behind the scenes photos and comments on my training and personal life, follow me on Instagram: joe_the_runner  Strava: Joe Randene  YouTube: Joe Runner  Facebook: Joe Randene

Questions, comments, feedback? Please leave them in the comments section BELOW and we can have a discussion!

I feel that familiar vibration on my left wrist and hear that gentle chime and sneak a peek at my watch. It flashes two miles. Two miles? How can it be only two miles?! I’m exhausted already and have completely sweat through my clothes. I’ve got 11 miles to go and this is after the 26 miles I ran a day ago. Over the course of the last six months, I’ve run 1100 miles, sweat, bled, vomited and fell. Welcome to training for an ultra in North Carolina.

While the miles pile up, it is truly difficult to simulate the impact of a 100-mile race on your body and your mind. Most of us try to do this with the dreaded back to back long runs. The debate rages within the ultra-community about whether or not the benefit outweighs the risk. One camp feels that pushing your body to exhaustion on consecutive days exposes you, unnecessarily, to injury. The other camp argues that short of running 100 miles, this is the closest you can put yourself to feeling what you will endure during the race. As with most of these types of arguments, the answer, in my opinion, is that only you will know what works for you.

As you can guess from what I’ve written so far, I personally believe that there is a benefit to the back to back long runs. It’s hard for me to say that the increased risk from running 26 miles one day followed by 13 the next is any more than the increase in weekly mileage. Most training plans for a 100 mile ultra will have weekly mileages that reach 55 to 70 miles. This alone can increase the potential for an injury. So, I don’t see the risk outweighing the potential benefits. And what are the potential benefits?

Physically, I think that your body adapts, and gets used to running on tired legs. I’m always amazed how I can start that second run and really not feel strong, but then somehow manage to reach an acceptable pace and complete the run. I also take these runs as an opportunity to train my stomach. I eat and drink just like I would if it were a race. This way, my stomach adapts to digesting while moving, even at mile 35 or 40. And while these benefits are important, I feel that the mental benefits are even greater.

While the physical preparedness for a race of this distance is kind of binary, you either trained enough, or you didn’t, the mental preparedness is anything but. I’ve entered these back-to-back long runs with minor ailments to my groin, toes, calves, and other extremities, and have had to learn to deal with the pain for the duration. Keep in mind, I am not saying injury, I am saying ailment. When I’m injured, I shut it down and heal, but part of being an ultra-runner is running through soreness and pain. And if the first time that you ever have to do it is during a race, you won’t have any experiences to draw from. And, if your running 100 miles, there is a very good chance that you will be managing pain for long periods of time.

Pain isn’t the only thing that you have to deal with either. After long hours of running, your body and mind are absolutely gassed. There seems to be nothing left, and you may still have 12 plus hours to go. That’s a lot of time to be alone with your thoughts and a lot of time to continuously assess your level of exhaustion and pain. This is a time rife for convincing yourself to quit. Doing back to back long runs can help put you in the hurt locker quick enough on that second run, that you are forced to troubleshoot and cope with your thoughts for an extended period of time. Important skills for the ultra-runner.

Despite all of this, you will still never be able to truly replicate the same conditions as the actual race. Improving your skills will improve your chance of success, but until you have been out there, in the dark, in the heat, in the cold, in the rain, and exhausted to the point of hallucination, you just won’t know how you’ll react. There are simply some things that you will just have to deal with when the time comes.

For behind the scenes photos and comments on my training and personal life, follow me on Instagram: joe_the_runner  Strava: Joe Randene  YouTube: Joe Runner  Facebook: Joe Randene

Questions, comments, feedback? Please leave them in the comments section BELOW and we can have a discussion!