Bring the cheer, no-nos and cheese crackers

Last weekend I had the great pleasure to cheer, crew and pace at the Javelina Jundred, 100 mile race outside of Phoenix, AZ. This year I had multiple athletes pursing big goals in record breaking heat promising to melt your face. FUN!  I was reminded of important lessons watching each athlete push harder and farther than ever. 

1. BRING THE CHEER. I saw what a pick me up it was for athletes to come back to a big crew full of helpful and supportive faces. Doing hard things is hard, but it does feel easier surrounding your self with support and cheer. I know you can do these on your own, but the team sport aspect of ultras is THE BEST. It helped push amazing performances. 
2. BRING THE CONSISTENCY. The most successful athletes I have worked with have consistency in common. Consistent mileage leading into a race. Consistent practice with fueling. Consistency executing on a plan for fueling, pacing and keeping a good attitude. 
3. BRING THE GOOD ATTITUDE. What would you do in the face of extreme chaffing? Extreme blistering and trench foot? Extremely behind your goal time? Extreme temperatures? I don't think I heard one complaint about the heat, painful blisters or slower than desired times. Each athlete was able to troubleshoot, stay positive and KEEP AT IT. You can't control the weather but you can control your reaction to it. 
4. BRING THE LUBE. Salt is a mean, nasty cube. Cubes have sharp edges. It isn't just the cactus that cuts hard in the desert. 

The other thing each successful athlete had in common was regular strength training. All are doing some sort of strength work with weights for durability and strength over these long distances. Be like them! JOIN ME for strength training tomorrow night. Info here. 

BONNIE
There is a new YouTube video, Bonnie. If you are a woman who rides a bike, you need to know this story.  "In 2008, Bonnie Tu founded Liv—the world’s first and only comprehensive bike brand dedicated exclusively to women. She knew it was risky to invest in women-first research, design, and engineering. She knew it was unconventional to make bikes, gear, and opportunities that optimize a woman’s power. And she knew it could be a lot of trouble to do things differently—but that’s exactly how she made a difference in women's cycling." 2008! This means lots of years of women riding on ill-fitting bikes shrunk down from men's dimensions. 

FKT NO-NO
Park Rangers Charge North Face Athlete for Cutting Switchback on FKT Attempt.  "No matter the outdoor objective you’re pursuing, if you break NPS rules and get caught, there will be consequences." Stay on the trail y'all. 

SEARCH AND RESCUE
This beautiful short video featuring a rescue on Mt Washington was a great peek into the minds of lost climbers, search and rescue personnel and turning tragedy into something worthy. "I don't think you should stay home, even if you are a beginner. You got to go out if you are going to learn anything."

OUTRUNNING THE DARK
Thank you to a reader who sent me this story from the podcast the Moth, it is a doozy. The Moth titles her story, "Outrunning the Dark. Carol Seppilu finds a unique way to brave her depression." Worth a listen. And her stories continue on her Instagram page. 

EMOTIONAL SUPPRT TREATS
If you are in my coaching universe, you will have heard me talking about emotional support treats. These are fuels that may not be ideal ratios of glucose to fructose and may contain ingredients that make internet health gurus clutch their pearls, BUT fueling is complex and expensive. Sometimes delicious, cheap and craveable are good supplements to the other fuels with the optimal ratios science promotes. Sometimes crying into an Oreo (double stuff of course) is about the finest way to get up a hill. Sometimes after slamming eight gels in a row a gas station pack of cheese crackers is just what you need to get your brain back in the game and that salty reward is enough to keep you going for another 5 hours of gel packs. As we go into rainy, cold and dark running, these treats can be especially great for forgetting that there is water pooling in the elbow of your coat. Happy day after Halloween candy sales to all who celebrate and go ahead, stock up on those emotional support treats you will need to get through training and make it awesome. 

Happy trails!