“Come on, my soul Oh, don't you get shy on me. Lift up your song 'Cause you've got a lion inside of those lungs. Get up and praise the Lord!”
That was gnar gnar, Ya'll!
But what an amazing experience with even more amazing crew and support (aka coolest friends on the planet)! Started out from Badwater, Death Valley around 4:45am on October 13th, feeling good the first 3-4 hours. After that temps slowly started to rise, but having ice somewhere on the body at all times helped considerably. Not sure what everyone does for their feet during the Badwater race, to keep them from frying… maybe they practice by running on hot coals?
Had to continuously change my expectations from about mile 80 or so, as I slowly got more and more tired and the darkness started to settle in. By the time I finally hit 100 miles, and knowing I still had 48 more to go, the discouragement started to creep in. But, I had incredible support around that time, with someone running with me during 10pm to about 5am, which are some of the darkest hours for me. Once the sun started to rise, so did my spirit, but the body was still failing not having slept all night. As we neared Keeler the temps started to creep up again, allowing for more blisters to form, which took more time to deal with.
I had imagined by the time I got to Lone pine and the bottom of portal road, I would be energized with renewed motivated to get to the top of the mountain, but the sleep deprivation outweighed the “mind over matter” method. I was extremely doubtful about being able to make it up the portal road at all at this point, knowing I had already gone 123 miles, and still had over half my gain to go with most of it now at elevation. I had taken about two 20min rests at this point, which entailed either sitting or lying down with my feet propped up, and ice on my knees, and decided about 3 miles up portal road to rest another 20min. The short 20min breaks helped by giving short bursts of rejuvenation, and it was only my support crew and God that kept me moving forward at this time. I was walking at this point and by the time I was about a half a mile from the top of the portal, my feet were pretty much worthless, with blisters everywhere except my heels. After advice from support crew, Gina at the moment, I took off my shoes and walked in my socks up the last portion of the portal road, until someone was able to bring me flip flops. After reaching the top of the portal at 39hr 45min, I made my way back down about a half a mile to our campsite and was planning to sleep 90min and then continue up to the peak. After 90min we decided it best to sleep at least another two cycles of REM and then continue on. This ate into the time even more, but felt it was best to rest at the campsite, than to try and push on and end up having to lay down and sleep on the side of the trail multiple times. This ended up being the best decision, and kept us all safer and successful in the end.
Lessons learned and highlights:
1) Your support crew is everything and you are just one part of the team to make the effort happen and the goal a realization
2) Heat + time on feet = blisters, regardless of how many calluses you have built up, bc you will just get blisters under your calluses. So consider bringing an 18 gauge needle with you so you can pop through the hard calluses.
3) DuoDerm(extra thin) is a lifesaver and always have it with you for callus control/care
4) Different styles of shoes aren’t enough, you need bigger sizes too, for when your feet swell up like sausages and can’t fit into your normal size, and maybe some trail sandals(like chacos) as a last resort.
5) Sleep deprivation has a strong affect on performance physically, but more so mentally, so our motivation drops and our filters are removed. I was reminded by my sister that sleep deprivation is a form of torture, and I can see why.
6) Running on the road is exhausting in its own way, especially when having to constantly step off to avoid oncoming traffic
7) It’s ok to change your expectation even to the point of just finishing the goal set before you, regardless of it taking longer than you expected (I think I’ve said this before, but have to keep reminding myself of this)
8) Yes, we could have pushed the run to later in October, hoping for cooler temps, but possibly running into weather on Whitney AND would have missed the comet Tsuchinshan–ATLAS!
9) God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in times of distress. Psalms 46:1
“…We shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight on the beaches and (deserts), we shall fight on the landing grounds and atop (Mt Whitney). We shall never surrender.”
-Winston Churchill
() emphasis added ;*)
And thanks be to my support crew, as none of this would have been possible without them!
-Gina Steinhoff (the brains behind the whole event)
-Shannon Beasley (who took most of the photos and one of the main vehicle operators and encouragers)
-Matthew Nelson (who carried a good amount of gear up Whitney and who’s camper trailer we so greatly utilized/needed at portal)
-Matthew Randall (who carried most of the supplies up Whitney to keep us safe)
-Margo Lella (who ran with me throughout the entire first night and into the morning, knowing what to say and do to keep me moving forward)
-Lorelei Dennis (who biked and talked to me along the way and gave me a sense of security when creepers were creeping)
-Darren Dennis (who biked along side me and kept me entertained with stories of old)
-Cedar Dennis (my youngest and biggest fan of all, cheering me on without reserve)
-Bri Demirci (who lit a fire under me coming down Townsend pass)
-Bonnie McKay (who drove next to me and kept me supplied during the second heat wave)
-Jeff Kozak (my coach who’s wisdom and instruction helped prepare me for this endeavor)
-Cherokee Wells (who’s prayers carried me through to the end
-And last but not least, The mercy of the living God (who gave me strength to endure to the end!