The G Running Diary

JJ 100, Part 1: The Beginning of the End: 11/10/03

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So there I was in November, with a full year of running events coming to an end. I'd had various levels of success and unsuccess. The biggest event by far was 500 miles in 13 days on the Bay Area Ridge Trail. The most recent event was the Angeles Crest 100, where I DNFed at 67 miles, missing the cutoff by 30 minutes. Even the DNFs I had were complimented by other people because I had attempted so much this year. I just felt tired. I was proud of my finishes, and for the events I didn't finish, I learned about myself and had a good time anyway. I wasn't sure why I was signed up for the Javalina Jundred. Another one? But technically, I hadn't completed a 100 mile race in 2003. Badwater was 135 miles, and other things I did were not official. So, it would be good to finish one. But a little voice was whimpering that I just wanted to rest. I ignored the voice.

I was curious if I could manage my energy at nighttime better than I had in other runs. When people ask about 100 mile runs, they wonder how you can run all through the night. "You don't stop to sleep?" they ask, incredulously. "Nope." But I do get sleepy. I've had the experience of falling asleep on my feet and losing so much energy that I couldn't walk any faster than about one mile an hour. It can be discouraging when that happens. I thought this time would be better.

Javelina was supposed to be an "easy" 100 miler. Ultrarunners should pay attention to how that sounds to a non-ultrarunner. Running 100 miles is never easy. Still, as Don was talking about trying to break 24 hours for the first time, I wondered what kind of time I could plan on. It certainly wasn't as hard a course as Western States, and probably not even as hard as Rocky Racoon. I had done Rocky in 27 hours a few years ago, and I had my additional experience since then to give me a time advantage. The number in my mind was 26. I knew my tired body wasn't ready to attempt sub-24.

The pre-race checkin wasn't until 4pm on Friday. So, I booked our flight for Friday morning at 9am. This meant the night before the night before, we got a good sleep at home. That's important, because race eve often is not the best night of sleep. You have to try to get your dinner and get to bed really early if you want 8 hours of sleep before a 6 am race start. Counting backwards with race checkin in the morning, driving to the race, and doing some prep in the morning means getting up at 4 am. Could we be in bed by 8? Doubt it. I think it was more like 10. But that was still pretty good.