September 22, 2025 • 62 mins
#29 Jamie Harcar- Hallucination 100
Wanted to catch up with Jamie and talk about her 2nd place finish and new 100 mile PR at the recent Hallucination 100 #live #full #tech #gear #nascar #knowledge #travel, #luxury #foxnews #sexy #x #hunting #diy #men #country #jesus #lego #play #fishing #free #expericne #follow #goal #exercise #over #starwars #marvel #dc #trump #biden
#speed #nature #life #nba #tutorial #mlb #funny #comedy #outdoors #beautytips #submarine #beauty #fashion #productreview #healthcoach #tips
#tricks #fitnessjourney #mind #motivation #inspiration #drinks #food #foodies #education
#children #learning #entertainment #vlog #gaming
#weather #school #controversy #icecream #marathon #pittsburghmarathon #bostonmarathon #ultramarathon #backyardultra #longrun #race #5k
#trailshoes #hydration #speedworkout #distance #competition #runfast #stretch #relaxation #meditate #yoga #nutrition #fuel #faith #joerogan #camhanes #theovon #shawnryan #sallymcraeMiler in Michigan.
We covered a ton of of different topics during the conversation on top of the race itself. Things such as training, faith, and other races she's has run.
I got to see the cool swag she was awarded and how she approach races.
She is participating in the Midwest 100 mile grand slam this was race #3 of 4 for her. Mohican 100 and Burning River 100 were her first two races, Indiana 100 is the final of the four. There are 5 total races and you just have to run 4 of the 5.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:09):
Welcome to the Only Eye Athletics podcast to show the
Vice. Hearing your stories.
We're living your adventures andlearning information that can
help us improve in all aspects of our lives.
I'm your host, Dean Banco, and Iknow you enjoyed today's episode
as much as I do. All right, today I have Jamie
on. She's a phenomenal runner.
(00:30):
She recently did Hallucination 100, finishing second overall in
22 hours, 25 minutes and 31 seconds.
She's also done a few other hundreds.
Mohican 100, Burning River, likeRabbit or Raccoon.
She's been to like Rocking the Knob, the Fat Fall Classic, you
(00:55):
know, Baker Troll Ultra. So she's pretty diverse in all
kinds of troll races and runningin general.
So I want to get her on and talkabout her most recent 100
Miller, which is the hallucination 100 and touch on
some of the other races that shedid this year.
So thank you, Jamie, for coming on and I'm looking forward to
(01:16):
this. Yeah, thank you for having me
on. It was and a pleasure to be
here. So thank you all.
Right. So we were talking already about
the hallucination 100 as I was before we started just a couple
minutes ago, that there's two different hallucination, one
(01:36):
hundreds and you did the one. It was here in September on the
5th and 6th, and that was in Michigan.
Yes, in Gregory, MI And then it is just a little fun fact.
It runs the course, runs to hell, Michigan, which if you
(01:59):
didn't know, is a place you can actually run to hell, which I
did and I made it back. That makes things a little bit
more special when you get to do something added extra into not
just racing, but you know, just a little bit more of an event.
Well, let's just start off with some of the basics, like what
(02:20):
got you into running or trail running in general.
Oh man, I've been running since I was in high school.
I joined my local running group there back home and just really
enjoyed it and I've been runningoff and on ever since, you know,
not always super consistently the kind of fall off here and
(02:43):
there, but always found my way back into it.
And just over the last few yearshave really started getting into
the trail and ultra running and I just love it.
I love being out on the trails in nature and I love the concept
of going far and pushing your limits, so it's been really cool
(03:05):
to to get into that world. So you're basically I would, I
would say I see you more troll races than anything.
So do you do any more road or you're just more like I?
I just want to suffer and I wantto do the troll races.
I do like Rd. races still, but the ones that I like have that
(03:28):
aspect of suffering in them still.
So like we went out and did the Blue Ridge Marathon in Virginia
last year or the year before andthat's named like America's
toughest road race. I would compare it to like rock
and the Knob, but on road. So I like I like those kind that
(03:51):
are still very challenging. Or if it was a scenic, you know,
I'd love to go out and do Big Sur or something like that.
But for the most part I stick tothe trails.
Yes, I mean, yeah, see, you wantto get your money's worth, I
guess we'll put it that way. If you're going to, if you're
going to waste the, I don't wantto say waste the weekend, but if
you're going to spend the whole weekend racing and traveling,
(04:14):
you want to get your money's worth.
So what made you decide to do the Hallucination 100?
So Hallucination is actually part of a series or challenge
(04:34):
called the Midwest Grand Slam ofUltra Running.
And with that you can either do a Grand Slam or a super slam.
But they have 5 races in their series and with the Grand Slam
you just have to pick four of those five to complete and then
(04:54):
the Super Slammers do all 5. So I am doing the Grand Slam of
Ultra Running or the Midwest Grand Slam this year.
So it started with the Mohican 100 which was at the end of May,
and then Burning River towards the end of July hallucination.
And then my next one is going tobe the Indiana Trail 100 in just
(05:18):
a couple weeks. It's the middle of October.
So that'll complete the Grand Slam for me.
Nice. See I didn't even know about
that. So that's I just I know of
burning River Mohican so. I just kind of been doing the
races and I haven't really shared with many people that
that that's what I was doing so.Too.
(05:40):
I guess too late now. Yeah, I know you're the lucky 1.
So you've done what? Let's see what 5 hundreds this
year now? Or 4 hundreds?
This was my third that I finished this year, 4th that I
(06:01):
finished total. So I did Rabid Raccoon 100 last
year and finished and then I came back to Rabid Raccoon this
year and DNF at mile 67 and thatis kind of what spurred the
whole Midwest Grand Slam thing. I did not even know that that
(06:24):
existed. I was just really upset with
myself after Rabid Raccoon for not finishing because I knew
that when I DNF it was all just me really having a mental day
and deciding like I don't want to be out here.
And so I just started looking atraces.
(06:45):
I was like, well, I'm already trained to do the 100 Miller, so
maybe there's one you know, thatI can sign up for coming up.
And that's what led me to find Mohican and Burning River and
looking at those who and then realizing at the Midwest Grand
Slam is a thing. And I was like, Oh well, you
(07:07):
know what? Better way sign up and come back
to Rabid Raccoon next year. What better way to train for a
100 than to just run for other one hundreds?
Well, unconventional, yes, but Ithink it's working so far.
(07:28):
Yeah, it it makes sense to me. I think most ultra runners that
would make perfect sense to likethe redemption factor.
Yeah, yeah. I mean, I, I would, I mean, I'll
be honest, I wasn't going to bring up a rabbit raccoon
because I remember that race andyeah, you were having like
stomach issues. But I mean, that happens when
you run so long in that we're called environment because, you
(07:52):
know, the temperature in like, what was it?
Yeah, it's March. It's so hard to judge and things
go so wrong early in the season like that too so but.
Yeah, yeah, you to go through getting the DNF like mentally,
like I said, especially just knowing it was a choice that I
(08:13):
made at the end of the day to pull myself out.
It's not like I got cut off on time or or anything.
So I like really grappled with that and that was like, no, I
need to go. And because then in the moment
in my head, I just didn't have astrong why I just, it was like,
well, I run 100 miles before, soI know I can do it.
(08:36):
It's not like I'm trying to prove that to myself.
So and I had a time goal that day and I didn't, I knew I
wasn't going to make my time goal.
And so it's just kind of like once I had stomach issues, I
just kind of checked out. And so doing the Grand Slam has
really helped me to figure out like how to find that why and to
(08:59):
come back to always just the goal is just to finish no matter
what. And having that as as the main
thing, it's just, it's just beenhelpful.
So you're touching on that. No, is what your motivation and
why is So you're just saying it's the finish or do you have
like a more of like a mental type motivation or like a saying
(09:23):
or anything like that? Or you just want to prove to
yourself that you can do it typeof why?
Yeah, I think right now I just, I just want to finish them
because I, I did not like the feeling of choosing to quit.
And in the moment I thought thatit wouldn't matter, it wouldn't
bother me if I quit. But as soon as I quit, I
(09:45):
realized like, ah, it was just snagging at me.
So sometimes I think we have bigreasons when we go into races
for our wise. And right now I don't really
have anything that's like, oh, I've really got to do this for
for this. It's just, it's just learning to
(10:09):
teach myself to not quit. So how do you mentally stay
focused during a race or during training?
I think what's nice with the Grand Slam at least is that they
are all so close together. So really not a lot of time in
(10:30):
between to fall off. Like one severe week or so after
a race of then it's like, OK, I,I need to, I need to get my
miles and, and everything in because my next one's in two or
three weeks. So I actually have really
enjoyed having them all close together like that.
(10:52):
I do really well. I've realized if I have races or
that are along the way points tokeep me in line training because
that's I've definitely always struggled with the consistency
(11:14):
and that's what led me into doing the run streak that I've
been doing. Now I'm on day 25 I think.
So that's been really helpful. But staying focused in the race,
I just, I just focus on being inthe moment.
I don't usually think too far ahead.
(11:34):
I try not to think about what mile I'm at or how far I have to
go. And there's something that Sally
McRae had said before, and it was that you need to expect it
to suck and expect it to be hard, but expect that you're
going to get through it. And so that's just something
that I keep in my mind for the moments that it does start to
(11:55):
feel like, I don't know if I cando this.
And it's like, no, I knew that Iknew that I was going to feel
this, and that's why I came. But I know that I can overcome
it. Yeah, 'cause low points are
inevitable during an ultra race.If anybody says that they don't
have those low points or, you know, a moment of maybe regret,
sometimes they're full of it, I guess.
(12:19):
Yeah, I I have the moments of almost every single hundred
mile. Why am I doing this?
Why did I sign up for this challenge?
Why did why did I need to do four more?
Like, you know, and then you finish it and you know, the next
day you're looking back and you're like, wow, that was that
(12:39):
was awesome. That was so much fun.
And then you go do another one. It's just this vicious cycle.
I. Don't.
I don't know if it's, well, I guess it is fun, but I'm looking
back, but I don't know if I've ever rejoiced that bad.
It I got it with fun but. You were talking about your run
(13:05):
streak and you're on day 25 I think is what you just said.
So what's this run streak going to entail, and what motivated
you to start it? I just, I went out one day.
I didn't want to go for a run, but I knew I needed to get back
into my training cycle and I wasjust dragging it all day long.
(13:29):
And then I finally went out and literally within 1/10 of a mile,
I was just sitting there like, wow, like this is so awesome.
I'm having such a great time. I was only going out for a
couple miles that day. And I was like, man, I wish,
like, I wish this was a long run.
I wish I was going to be out here for a couple hours.
Like this is incredible. And it just was a reminder that,
(13:52):
you know, you don't always feel like getting out and going for a
run, but that once you start, you can often feel differently.
And so I just decided that day that I'm going to do a run
streak. And so it's just a mile every
day. And a lot of times I end up
doing more, but it's just pushing myself to do at least
(14:14):
that mile. And I've loved it because like I
said, I usually struggle with consistency.
And so it's just forced me to toget in the habit of lacing up my
shoes every day and going out and putting in some amount of of
mileage. Even on the day after my
(14:38):
hallucination 100 I got on the treadmill.
And so it was a little rough at at first, but we got through it.
Now, do you have a goal, say like a year, two years, or just
when it ends, it ends. I think no goal.
I think I would just like to keep it going for as long as I
(14:59):
can. I think a mile is very doable.
You know, they roughly 10 minutes average for somebody to
go out and do a mile. So I don't think there's a lot
of reasons that I could give myself that like, oh, I can't
give myself 10 minutes today. So yeah, I'd like to keep it
(15:23):
going as long as as long as I can.
Yeah, there's some people that do it 20 plus years and I'm just
like, how do you not get sick oryou don't have something
unexpected? I'm like.
There's people have run streaks where they do like 8 miles every
day or you know, and I'm just like, wow, that's awesome for
you. I love that for you.
(15:46):
Yeah, something I don't want to do now.
What's your typical training for100 or just in general like a
like your weekly mileage and maybe elevation?
I really don't plan it very much.
Usually I try to give myself 4 meaningful running days.
(16:10):
I try to get a speed workout in each week.
I try to do hills each week and then I try to have my 2 like
back-to-back long runs during the week.
I don't really have a huge a setgoal during the week of how many
miles I try to get. And even if I do, I usually
(16:34):
don't stick to it. I I usually just go off like
Willy nilly. Whatever, whatever I get, I get.
That seems to be working pretty well.
I think so. Do you, do you prefer to train
with people? Because I see you.
Well, I don't want to say all the time, but you know, even
with your like daughter Sean or like your friends, I don't want
(16:58):
to say her name wrong, Maya. And then the I think I forget
who it was the other day. You're like, do you spend most
of your time training, say, withpeople or without people or?
Varies and I think it goes. I think there are certain
seasons where I'm, I'm very muchmore secluded and I like running
(17:21):
alone. I have no problems running by
myself. And then other times I do like
running with people. I, I think I'm very particular
about the people that I run with, but I do love, I love
running with my daughter Aria. She is one of my biggest
inspirations. So she keeps me, she keeps me
(17:41):
motivated and inspired and I would love to be like her when I
grow up. Well, I, I think she has two
good role models to look up to herself.
So keep off the good work on that part.
So the hallucination itself, I noticed it started it.
(18:03):
Well, I guess we'll transaction back in out of the training,
back into the race itself and some other races.
It was a 2:00 PM start on Friday.
Yeah, that was that was different.
I didn't really, I kind of had aplan going into it in my mind.
I was like, OK, I'm just going to stay up really late on on
(18:26):
Wednesday night so that I sleep in on Thursday and then I'll be
able to to do the same thing going into into Friday.
It didn't really work that well because I wake up early every
day, so it was really hard. I ended up still getting up at
like 9:00 AM on Friday. I just could not sleep anymore.
(18:46):
And so it was just, it was definitely weird.
And then with starting at 2, youknow, typically you, you start
early morning, like between 4:00to 6:00 AM and you're probably
like 50 miles, 100 KN before it starts getting dark.
(19:06):
So with hallucination, I think Iwas only about A50 KN and it was
dark. And so it just, it really threw
off, you know, I, I was running through the night and feeling
like I should have felt more tired or slow, but I felt like I
was still moving really well. So it was definitely
(19:28):
interesting. I don't, I don't know if I love
the 2:00 PM start, but it it was, it was a cool, cool switch
up. I I think I might enjoy a later
start because I hate going to bed.
I can't get to bed early, so if it's like an ultra, it doesn't
matter what distance it is. I'm only getting like 3-4 hours
(19:49):
of sleep anyhow, so if I could sleep into like 10 I could sleep
all morning. So something like that.
Like Ironstone, it starts late and there's a couple other ones
like. Black Forest, yeah, which is
also a weird, weird time to try and cord.
(20:10):
I guess it's good for those people who say like work night
shift or something, they might really thrive at something like
that. So did you have a strategy go?
I know you, you said you had a strategy for your sleep.
Did you have a strategy going infor the race and did it change
at all mid race or you know, towards the end?
(20:32):
I mean, not, not really. I like I said, my main goal is
just, I just want to finish it, Sean had mentioned to me.
Because at Burning River I was actually really nervous going
into Burning River about whetheror not I was going to be able to
make the cut off. So I almost did the early start
(20:54):
and then I ended up running. I finished in 24 hours and I was
like, wow, that was incredible. So Sean joked, I don't know, he
joked, but for hallucination he was like yeah, you should aim to
get that 24 hours. And I joked I was like I'm going
to go for sub 20. And weirdly the 1st 100K of the
(21:17):
race I was like on about a 20 hour finish time pace.
So that was cool. That was not my goal.
The goal was just to finish, butonce I realized that I was
feeling good that day and and I did try to just keep up the best
(21:37):
pace that I could, I tried to just run everything that was
runnable and hike really fast onthe stuff.
It wasn't. But yeah, just just finishing it
and yeah. Now with your watch, like
obviously you have carry a watchwith you, do you set up like a
(21:58):
pace pro plan at all or anythinglike that?
No, I actually I don't even see my pace most of the time because
I usually have the course loadedonto a GPX file.
I just like that for my Peace ofMind, even if it's like the
course was very easy to follow, very well marked.
It's a loop, so you know, once you've run it, you pretty much
(22:20):
know where you're going. But I like having it on my watch
and so with that, it doesn't tell me every time I hit a mile
and I don't really see my pace on there unless I'm actively
looking for it. So I didn't pay attention to
that at all. No is is yours a Garmin or?
Yeah, it's Garmin. Yeah, 'cause I, I, I do the same
(22:42):
thing. I load the course.
So then like with mine, mine's a945 Forerunner, so that I make
it. Usually I make a Pace Pro plan
and then I have it set up where I can look at the elevation
chart. I don't know if you do that as
well as the map. Yeah, that that makes, I tell
(23:03):
people it makes such a world of a difference where you look at
the elevation and you can see like the profile of it and tells
you how much the hill is, how many feet left, what the incline
is, and then it counts it down as you go.
It makes world of a difference to me in ultra running.
Yeah, I bet. Especially a race like rocking
(23:23):
the knob or something where you have some some hefty climbs in
there. Yeah, OK.
I mean, if you're not using it now, it might be something as a
little tip or thing to practice with just looking at it like
setting up a a route around yourhouse or whatever and just
looking at that profile showing you like, hey, I got 300 feet of
(23:45):
climb left in 2/10 of a mile. I know how to like back.
I should back off a little bit or go a little bit harder
because maybe only got 50 feet left like type of deal.
Like that's the that's why I useit.
So I know like, hey, this is 1000 foot climb.
Maybe I shouldn't try to go at like a 7-8 minute pace.
Maybe I should drop back to 10. So you don't, you don't burn out
(24:06):
a little bit. Yeah, that's, that's a good tip.
I'll have to look at that. Usually I am very not data
oriented. I just kind of go out and run.
Sean is my data. He is like, he's the only reason
I know like what pace I should try to run at or anything in
(24:29):
regards to the race. Like I literally I just show up
and I run and and he's he's my watch and my mental everything.
Yeah, and. Maybe it's a guy thing because
like I like because I again withthe watch is like I flipped
through like the different screens.
So the one like my main screen is like the time of day,
(24:52):
elevation, heart rate, pace. I took it off now because I
showered, but there's I have like 6 things on my main screen.
So like it's it's all heart rate.
So like I have that all on my screen and then I get I I guess
Scroll down or whatever you wantto call it, push the button down
so I could see the elevation andthen the course map.
(25:13):
But I mean with a loop. Hopefully you don't get lost in
a loop. Yeah, hopefully.
I I know it does happen when people get tired and, you know,
their legs get weary or even in the dark, they forget all
there's that turn they just get too.
Yeah, focused, I guess. Yeah.
And that's why I like having it just as a backup that if I do
(25:37):
happen to get off course, I knowit's going to tell me so.
Now this was 6 loops for 16.6 miles each loop.
Do you like loop server point topoint or like big looping
circles like? Do you have a preference on
(25:58):
that? I don't know if I have a
preference. I think I kind of like it all.
I didn't think before I did a looped course that I would
really like the loops. It sounded monotonous, but I
like, I like that it's it makes it an easy way to break the race
(26:20):
down. So like rabid Raccoon, for
example, is 8 loops. There's I think like 13 miles
ish per loop, but I just know inmy head I'm like, OK, it's 8
loops. 8's a small number that'svery doable.
And so I don't look at it as 100miles.
And then with hallucination, with it being 6 and me being so
(26:43):
used to running on the rabid course, I think it made the race
actually like fly by a lot faster because it was like, wow,
I'm already on loop 3. And that's like halfway where I
was, you know, before I'm so accustomed to running 8 loops.
Now it's like 6 that's even smaller.
Like it doesn't translate to 100miles in my head, you know, but
(27:06):
I do. I like the loops and I like, I
actually liked a burning river. That was my first time doing an
out and back course. And I didn't think that I was
going to like that either. But again, it was like it just
broke it into two chunks for me.And I was like 2 is a small
number. It's just out and it's back.
Like how hard can it be? So I actually I kind of like
(27:27):
them. I like both of those.
I have not done 1 yet. That is just, you know, 100
miles round trip. So I I don't know how that would
be but. I think the only really big one
in PA would be Eastern states. Well, I think yeah, it would be
the only one really in PA. So you'd have to go Westmore or
(27:49):
South to get anything like of that distance.
Yeah. I mean, they all have their
benefit like a loop course, likeyou said, you know what's
coming. But then you, you know, you the
aid stations and stuff, you could have more of a centralized
aid station where, say a crew isn't chasing your butt around
all day going, you know, here and there.
(28:10):
You can do it with like less crew and less supplies, I guess.
Whereas even a point to point, oh, I guess point to point in
the big circles are the guess the same thing.
It's just what you know, one straight and one's a loop.
Yeah, yeah. You always have to.
Screwing perspective, I'm sure Sean enjoys the looped courses
(28:33):
more because if you know my husband, he is very prepared and
if you have never seen him, we're missing something special
because that man brings I mean, I don't even need the race
people there. I don't need aid stations.
Like he's got it all. He's, you know, so I'm sure he
(28:55):
he likes the looped courses a lot because then it's isn't have
to unpack every everything and and pack it up and remove it
again. I I will say because I noticed
it since I've seen you guys at your aid stations, it's
basically like a a small grocerystore.
(29:16):
Yeah. I mean, it's, it's not a sheet.
It's an actual like grocery store.
It's like, what do you want? Here we have it.
I think really because we've worked a lot on my nutrition.
And so in the interim where we were like really trying to
figure that out, it was like every race was different what I
(29:40):
was able to eat and every training run felt different on
what I could eat. And so when we go to a race, it
was like, well, you got to have all of this that worked on this
run and and then you got to alsobring all these things that
because that worked in this race.
And then I would end up not eating any of that because it
wasn't working in this race. But I always had to have
(30:02):
options. But I think, I think we've
figured out the fuelling now, which is nice.
So the food aspect is at least condensed.
All right, so on that note, whatare your like go TOS or what do
you like to have then at an aid station to eat and drink?
Aid stations our it's pretty much mashed potatoes and I like
(30:26):
broth and like ramen noodles. Those are pretty much the only
things that I'll usually eat during the race.
That's from the aid station. The rest of it is doing liquid
and gels. Sometimes fried rice, I'll throw
that in there too. But.
I mean, is, is is that what he brings for you too?
(30:50):
Or what else does he? Does he bring anything different
or special for you? Oh yeah, so he always potatoes
also. And then he'll bring usually
like Mac and cheese, rice. He'll bring stuff to make,
quesadillas, grilled cheese, PB and JS.
(31:12):
I mean, I have a lot of options.I don't usually end up eating
most of it, but it's always there available.
Now what? What do you use for hydration?
What is it precision or I love it because it's not flavored.
(31:34):
Some of the gels are flavored, but it's very mild.
But a lot of the ones that I do like are unflavored.
So I think that helps is it justdoesn't, just doesn't have, I
don't know, all the extra stuff in it that might upset your
stomach. Yeah, I'm a little bit cheap, so
(31:55):
I just use like the baking soda because that's basically, I
guess what it is with maybe an extra ingredient.
And the first couple times that I've used it, I was, yeah, that
wasn't pretty good. That wasn't good at all.
We'll have to have Sean make youa sample bag of, I call it
Sean's famous. So you can, you can try that one
day. We'll patent it.
(32:15):
We'll get it. I didn't notice well, what it
was is I was taking it like before breakfast too.
So like I'd take like a teaspoonor table, whatever it is,
teaspoon, tablespoon before I ate my actual breakfast.
And you can just feel like the acid just getting so neutralized
too quickly. And then you're like, oh, so you
(32:35):
have to. I learned that you actually have
to eat food if you're going to take it before you take it.
OK, Yeah. So if you, if you guys get in a
bind and you're just going to use like baking soda with water,
you at least got to have some food in your stomach.
Your stomach's just going to be like so neutralized.
You're like, it just feels like,it's like squeak, like
(32:57):
somebody's just wrapping their hands around your stomach and
squeezing. Have in 100 Miller.
So the race itself, it's a loosenation, but it's like Bron
Woodstock I guess is like a theme.
(33:18):
So was there a bunch of like Woodstock type theme aid
stations or like designs or anything like that or like how
do they try to incorporate that I guess?
So they do a whole festival thatweekend.
They have a number of different races going on.
They have a couple of different 5 cases I think throughout the
(33:39):
weekend. I think there's a 5 Miller,
definitely a marathon. I think A50 Miller, 100K100
miles. They have live music playing
different bands throughout the weekend.
People are camping there. They have stand up paddle
(33:59):
boarding, yoga, food trucks, so just a whole festival going on.
I don't think any of the aid stations we're really like
decked out in any way, but I know they give awards for people
for most decorated campsite and grooviest costumes and that kind
(34:20):
of a thing. No, it's saying it's on 140,
what they call incredible acres,but that's just like basically
the base camps. The 140 acres you're still going
through like other wilderness then?
Yeah, I think so, yeah. Most of it is on bike trails.
(34:42):
And then there was a little bit of, I think like dirt, Dirt Rd.
in there. But most of it, yeah, it's just
bike trails. It is very pretty, very scenic.
So can you describe the course alittle bit more, like go into
details or compare it to some like other races, you know,
people can get a general idea ofit?
(35:08):
Yeah. I mean, you go over, there's a
lot of you go by, go by a couplelakes, I think go over a lot of
like wooden bridges like you would see on a on a mountain
bike trail. It's really not very technical
and it's very runnable. I think there's like eight 9000
(35:33):
feet of elevation gain over the entire course.
So for someone who lives in Pennsylvania, like, it's just a
very runnable, not rocky, not rocky course.
It was very fun, very pretty, Lots of flowers and yeah.
(35:57):
Yeah, 'cause well, you're talking about the elevation
cause I don't want to. Yeah, Michigan is a pretty flat
state, I guess compared to say, US or West Virginia.
Yeah, yeah, that was definitely the lowest elevation game that
I've had in 100 mile or so far, and it was nice.
(36:19):
It was like the whole thing. I felt like I could run the
whole thing for the most part. Now since it's 6 loops, I don't
know how to word this. I guess like like did you have a
low point at all or like what lap was that or anything like
(36:42):
that it? Was lap one.
I was probably like a mile in mile and 1/4 and I took my first
and only fall. But I was like for it not being
a technical course, I tripped somuch that it's, it's like I
(37:03):
don't even know what I was tripping on, but I fell so hard
in that first mile and hurt my knee.
And from then on, like both knees were bothering me.
And I just, I remember I kept coming into aid stations just
like, man, like I just want to go home already.
Like, is this not done yet? I feel like the first 50K was
(37:27):
like, wow, why did, why am I doing this?
And then it got dark and I put in my headphones and, and I
think I slowly like got myself out of there.
But yeah, the first, the first like 30 miles I think was was
low. Now when the sun came up, did
(37:48):
you get that rejuvenation type feeling?
It sometimes happens. Yeah, I think so, because I
think about the time that the sun was coming up, I had one
more loop, so I knew that I was almost done, which was nice.
(38:10):
Now how is the course flagged ormarked?
They just have little, dependingon which distance you're doing,
they have different colored likelittle flags that just stick in
the ground and it's really not hard to follow.
(38:32):
There's not a ton of bike trailsthat like intersect with one
another, so they don't have it flagged super often.
The way I feel like here in Pennsylvania, you'll see it
like, you know, every 10th of a mile or something with with that
one. I think you could go a little
bit of a ways before you'd see flags, but they were very easy
(38:56):
to to find and to follow. Now, do you prefer flagging,
hanging up or down on the ground?
I guess down on the ground because you've got to be looking
down there anyways, so it's niceto not have to be looking up and
then start tripping. Yeah, I'm sort of me personally,
(39:21):
like when a course allows it, I prefer the ground markings.
Not like you just said because you could, your head's already
down there. But then like you said, like
rabbit, raccoon, if people don'tknow they have markings on the
trees like permanent markers. And then like say other PA
races, they have the flagging, Iguess maybe eye level or above
(39:43):
hanging from trees. So it's there's a wide variety
of ways to do it, but I think ground I think is the way to go
if the course allows. Yeah, I I like it.
Like I said, you're already looking down there, so.
Yeah, keeps you from tripping asmuch, I think.
I think maybe some race directors that have a twisted
(40:05):
sense of humor are not going to mention any names.
Like to hang things up higher soyou have to like, look away so
you could trip more. All right, so you set APR for
this race. We'll just call it a couple
(40:26):
hours. Yeah, it was like a 2 hour PR,
right? Like an hour and a half, yeah.
So what are you learning or haveyou learned that benefiting you
to be able to drop your times oris there anything that you
figured out that's helping you drop times or is it just better
(40:48):
training in general? I think it was two things.
I think 1 was the nutrition. I really struggled at Mohican
because I wasn't able to eat andI was stick sick to my stomach
and then I slowed down like immensely.
(41:10):
So figuring out the fuelling I think has made a world of
difference. The other thing is after Rabid
Raccoon, I had had an idea around that time, but it was not
until after Mohican, I think that I officially got test
(41:33):
results back and found out that I had been anemic.
And so going and getting my blood work done and I ended up
getting iron infusions. And then I'm still keeping up to
date like on my my blood work and keeping track of that.
(41:55):
That has also made an immense difference because I could
notice that in my running and inmy training, it would make me
like extremely fatigued just in day-to-day life, and then I
would notice it in my runs as well.
City after a race, do you sort of reflect or do you try to look
(42:20):
back and see what you can learn from that race specifically like
and take it on to the next one or is there anything?
Yeah. Yeah.
I think every race is different.So every time like you think
that you have something figured out, you're like, yeah, awesome.
And then you go to the next raceand you just have a totally new
(42:42):
problem come up. So I feel like I figured out
nutrition and and that's great. And then, you know, I go to
Burning River and get like blisters.
I've never gotten blisters running before and I got like
the worst blisters of my life. Chafing is like a new thing.
(43:05):
So it's always just like problemsolving and like figuring out
and then I'll figure those two things out and something else
I'm sure will come along to to have to learn from.
Now, off the top of your head, is there anything you're already
looking to improve on or try to figure out to make you better
down the road? I think I would like to keep
(43:26):
working on. I'd like to see, you know, what
PRI can set on the 100 mile distance and maybe I regret it
as I say it, but maybe I will look at longer races one day
(43:50):
too, as it comes out of my no, we don't want to go longer, but
I kind of do. So I don't know.
We'll see. I mean, the, the longer you put
off say a 200 Miller, the more 300 Millers are going to be
available. So I'm just saying.
(44:15):
Son keeps trying to get me sold on on doing coca dona.
I'm like, oh, I don't know, every time I that sounds like a
good idea. And then you go out and do 100
and you're like, that's a terrible idea.
Yeah, I mean, there is the push for threes now.
So it's, yeah, I'm not saying, I'm not saying sooner the
(44:36):
better, but you know, no better time to jump in and see what
happens, I guess. Yeah, and then there'll be
fours. I think there's already there
might be a 450. I want to say there's a 450
somewhere. Maybe not.
Maybe it was just a different type, maybe it was an adventure
(44:57):
race, but there's a 450 somewhere.
Yeah, I'll keep that distance. Now, for being second overall,
what kind of award or prizes didthey offer or give anything
special for that race? Yeah, everybody got a medal for
(45:18):
all race distances. You get the belt buckle as the
100 Miller finisher and then for2nd place they gave me the
sweatshirt. I got have it with me.
I got a cool hat, has a button on it.
It says finished it man and and AI don't know what do you call
(45:41):
it? Like a winch, but yeah, like a
little. And it says second, second
female on it. So all kinds of gifts.
It was it was actually very coolcoming into the finish line.
They were like, are you're stillrunning?
And I was like, no, I'm done. Like you're done.
(46:03):
It's like, yeah. And you're like, oh, stay, stay
right here. And they just started like
showering. I was like, wow, best, probably
best finish line experience I'veever had.
Does. Does it really say you're done
man? Or whatever?
Or you're finished in the hat. Yes, it's finished it man
Hallucination 100 mile Runwoods dog.
(46:25):
That's definitely different. I definitely like that.
So I guess it does have a sort of like hippie laid back type of
vibe to it. Yeah, for sure.
I I was like doing the 100 miles.
I don't feel like I really got to experience the the festival
part of it. Maybe if you're doing like the
(46:49):
100K, but I feel like, I feel like you definitely got to be
doing like the marathon or something if you if you want to
be able to enjoy the festival aspect of it.
So maybe another year we'll go back and not do the 100 maybe.
(47:09):
Now when you're racing, do you mentally take note, like where
your placements at? You try to keep track of that at
all. Sometimes if I, like Sean had
told me that he knew that I was second with it being a loop.
(47:31):
He didn't know where the 1st place woman was.
So I'm not super competitive, like I am just out there to do
my best and I know that I'm competing with myself.
But I do also try to pay attention and just use it as
(47:52):
motivation, especially in the later miles when it's like it
just gives you a little extra push.
So I did, I passed a lot of women on that last loop and I
didn't know until I came in or not if any of them were were the
(48:13):
100 mile. But the the girl who finished
first absolutely crushed it. I think she was like 19 hours or
something like that, very fast. Yeah, I guess, I guess it's a 2
fold thing because, you know, sometimes it could get mentally
taxing if, if you're worried about your placement.
But then again, if you don't worry about or if you don't know
(48:35):
it and then you, you know, you start taking it easy because
you're like, oh, you know, just enjoying this.
And then you get passed away like two people ending up like
4th and you're like, Oh well I could easily like finish first
or third, you know? Yeah, it's one of those two fold
things. Yeah, and I think 3rd place
woman who is also doing the Midwest, she's doing the Super
(48:58):
slam. I think she was about like 10
minutes behind me. So definitely like knowing that
I where I was at in the race helped because any moment that
it was, you know, it went through my head like, oh, I
could just walk a little bit. It's like, no, you don't.
You don't know where anybody is in relation to you.
So just keep going. It helps you move faster I
(49:20):
guess. Keeps your times lower too.
If you worry about, well, I don't want to say worry, but I
guess. Pay attention.
Yeah, pay attention. It's definitely a lot better.
So in the Grand Slam thing, since you mentioned again, do
they have like awards for say top three of the finishers?
(49:42):
I know they keep track of the placement of them.
There is an overall just award that you get for completing the
slam. And right now I, I think, I
think there were like 15 or 16 people that started both the
(50:04):
grand and the Super slam. And right now there's seven I
think left between the two. And I, I think I'm the only
woman that's left in the Grand Slam.
The rest of them are all super. I think there's me and one other
guy that are left in the grand. I might be wrong but.
(50:27):
Hey, until somebody proves us otherwise, we're we're going to
say that you are. I mean, I mean, why not?
There's getting a little dry. So let me see out of the races
you've done what you plan to do.How does this compare?
(50:49):
Like you're burning river, like what did you did you like this
one better say like than burningRiver or Mohican or do you have
like one race really special to your heart, I guess.
I think they've all been specialin their own way because
Mohican, I was really proud of the finish.
(51:09):
I was, even though I I finished like 15 or 20 minutes before cut
off. I know how much of myself that I
gave, like I didn't leave anything out there.
I gave everything to finish thatrace and I was really proud of
myself for that one. Burning River was really cool
(51:31):
because it was the first time I came in around 24 hours, like
totally knocked like 8 or 9 hours off my off my time.
So that was cool. And then Hallucination was just
I think like a fun pretty run. I think course wise I liked
(51:51):
Mohican the most. I like the hills and I like the
more challenging aspects of the races and it's just a very
scenic and and and beautiful course, so.
So if you like the challenges, are you looking forward to say
(52:15):
maybe in the future more of a say, Georgia Death Race, Western
states type races or any others type?
Yeah, I would consider them. I have a few things that I have
my eyes on. Nothing, nothing set in stone
yet. Georgia Death Race keeps popping
(52:39):
up. When we, we went to Utah
recently and someone kept or multiple people brought up the,
I think it's called the Tour de Grand, which is more of like a
stage race. I think that one is like 150
miles through the desert. And I don't know if that's, if
(53:00):
that's not necessarily on my radar or not.
But yeah, I, I, I'm open to whatever, whatever God puts in
my, in my, in my path. I don't know all.
Right. I I could see you guys.
Well, I guess stage races are more of an individual where you
(53:22):
can't have family for the most part, but.
Yeah. I I know you guys are into like
the triathlon community a littlebit, so maybe an adventure race
or anything in your future. No, I think I I'll leave like
the triathlons and that kind of thing to Aria.
(53:42):
I like the running that I'm yeah, I'm not a swimmer for
sure. I'm a drowner.
I'm not a swimmer. So I mean, I hate to say that,
but yeah, I'm, I can't swim to save my life either.
So. I feel like I'm, I feel like I'm
(54:04):
like suffocating or something when I swim like my forms off or
something's not right. But I, I feel like I can go run
hills and I'm good and then I get in the pool and I'm like.
No, I asked you beforehand for your permission to ask this, but
if you want to touch on the Rison runner and like the
(54:26):
meeting behind that or what that's all about, because I know
that's sort of you guys thing right now.
It's sort of a. Tricky.
Yeah, well, it came, you know, we had our it, it just came
(54:47):
from, I guess, a place of where we were at a very low point in
our life, facing a lot of challenges and struggles.
And I think it was a way my husband manages the account and
it's it's kind of his, his baby or his project.
(55:10):
But I think it was just a way tobring God and bring hope and
bring life into a period of our life where it felt like that had
been absent. So we're a way to share our
(55:30):
faith and, and to share my running journey.
And he'll, he'll share a lot about Arya and her races on
there usually, too. Yeah.
So I, I guess with that being said, how has your faith helped
(55:51):
you in running and any tips for other runners in the, in the,
the faith community or any of that aspects?
Faith is, well, it's the most important part of my life.
It's definitely the most important part of my running.
(56:12):
I, I think, you know, it's, it'sa way for me to spend time with
God one-on-one. It's often like, I'm out there
just praying, talking to God thewhole time.
Usually hallucination 100 was cool because it was the first
hundred that I've done where I didn't have a human pacer And I,
(56:37):
I was like, you know, it's OK. I've, I've got Jesus, like Jesus
is my pacer and he was like, talk to him the whole time and
listen to worship music out there.
And I had a great run. So I think running and, and
faith are very intertwined. And I think running has taught
(57:00):
me a lot about faith and faith has taught me a lot about
running. And it's it's just cool how they
how they intertwine like that. I know there's weird questions
to ask her. It's it's hard for me to even
ask them like the word it because I know, I know you guys
are pretty old about it, but some other people were when you
ask them that question, it's just they get weird looks or you
(57:23):
know, they don't want to explainit.
But so thank you guys for explaining that a little bit or
going into it because I know sometimes it's a touchy.
That's why I asked you before westarted today about it, because
I didn't want to. I don't want to say insult, but
you know what I mean? Like dive into a more personal
thing. So thank you for sharing that.
(57:45):
Yeah, I'm happy to. Like I said, I'm very open about
it. And I did not grow up church or,
or, or reading the Bible or anything like that.
And I, I never thought that I would be who I am today.
Like I, I really don't listen toanything other than worship
(58:10):
music. Like I, you know, God saved us
at a time in our life where where we were just felt
absolutely consumed by, by the world and, and just felt like we
were drowning and God saved us. And so I am happy as can be to
(58:33):
to tell anybody, friend Jesus and.
And yeah. Well, I will say I'm probably
the opposite spectrum when it comes to racing for music.
I need something that's like, you know, aggravates me.
No, Sean, I was in the gym. He'll listen to like some
(58:55):
Christian. It's either metal or I think
it's Christian metal. He he put it over my ears
sometimes when we're lifting andI'm like, I can't do that, but
he loves it. Well, I, I mean, I'm more like
the Wu Tang outcast, you know, old school Tupac.
So it's it's completely. I think NF is about as I get
(59:22):
like NF. Well, I will say I think my
favorite Christian song is The Who You Say I Am by Hillsong
Worship you're from. All right, So you're familiar
with that. Yeah.
That it doesn't matter. Whenever you listen to that
song, for some reason that song just always puts me in a good
(59:45):
mood, whether I'm in a good moodalready or a bad mood.
Like you play that and it's. Yeah, it does something.
So it does. Help.
Yeah, yeah. So I guess we've been on here
for a while. So I guess sort of bring things
full circle a little bit. I like to ask people, do you
have any tips for new new runners or tip in general that
(01:00:09):
you want to share with people tohelp them out a little bit?
I think the biggest thing is just consistency, getting out
and challenging yourself, whether it's a run streak or,
you know, whatever it is. I think just building that
consistency and reminding yourself, like I said, it's,
(01:00:35):
it's going to be hard. You're choosing to do something
that's hard that not everybody is going to go out and do.
And so just to remember that it's, it's, that's why you came
and but you are capable. You are strong enough to to
finish the race to overcome whatever the challenge is.
(01:00:55):
You know, if it's whatever it is, you are capable of doing it
and just reminding yourself thatyou have that strength inside of
you to to overcome. I think that's the biggest thing
all. Right.
I like that. I like it.
You know that that should help some people.
(01:01:15):
So I guess that's a good ending point right there with that
information and tidbit, unless you had anything else you wanted
to add or touch on real quick. No, I think we think we covered
a good, good bit. All right.
Well, I thank you for coming on and I'm looking forward to wait.
What was the What's the fourth race in a couple weeks?
(01:01:38):
Deanna Trail, All right. Looking forward to seeing how
you finish and how much you kill.
Well, I don't want to say kill the field, but crush the field
in that race. So good luck, be safe and have a
nice training block and I'll hopefully I'll see you guys.
It's been oh geez, 6-7 months now, so hopefully I got don't I
(01:02:02):
get to see you guys sooner than later so.
Yeah, absolutely. All right.
Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you for listening to the episode today.
If you or anyone you know has any amazing stories, adventures,
or interesting information you or they may want to share,
(01:02:22):
please reach out to me anytime. On the next screen, you could
scan the QR code or type in the Linktree website to easily find
all the social media locations only iathletics is located.
Take a second and hit the followbutton as you visit each one.
Welcome to the Only Eye Athletics podcast to show the
Vice. Hearing your stories.
We're living your adventures andlearning information that can
help us improve in all aspects of our lives.
I'm your host, Dean Banco, and Iknow you enjoyed today's episode
as much as I do. All right, today I have Jamie
on. She's a phenomenal runner.
(00:30):
She recently did Hallucination 100, finishing second overall in
22 hours, 25 minutes and 31 seconds.
She's also done a few other hundreds.
Mohican 100, Burning River, likeRabbit or Raccoon.
She's been to like Rocking the Knob, the Fat Fall Classic, you
(00:55):
know, Baker Troll Ultra. So she's pretty diverse in all
kinds of troll races and runningin general.
So I want to get her on and talkabout her most recent 100
Miller, which is the hallucination 100 and touch on
some of the other races that shedid this year.
So thank you, Jamie, for coming on and I'm looking forward to
(01:16):
this. Yeah, thank you for having me
on. It was and a pleasure to be
here. So thank you all.
Right. So we were talking already about
the hallucination 100 as I was before we started just a couple
minutes ago, that there's two different hallucination, one
(01:36):
hundreds and you did the one. It was here in September on the
5th and 6th, and that was in Michigan.
Yes, in Gregory, MI And then it is just a little fun fact.
It runs the course, runs to hell, Michigan, which if you
(01:59):
didn't know, is a place you can actually run to hell, which I
did and I made it back. That makes things a little bit
more special when you get to do something added extra into not
just racing, but you know, just a little bit more of an event.
Well, let's just start off with some of the basics, like what
(02:20):
got you into running or trail running in general.
Oh man, I've been running since I was in high school.
I joined my local running group there back home and just really
enjoyed it and I've been runningoff and on ever since, you know,
not always super consistently the kind of fall off here and
(02:43):
there, but always found my way back into it.
And just over the last few yearshave really started getting into
the trail and ultra running and I just love it.
I love being out on the trails in nature and I love the concept
of going far and pushing your limits, so it's been really cool
(03:05):
to to get into that world. So you're basically I would, I
would say I see you more troll races than anything.
So do you do any more road or you're just more like I?
I just want to suffer and I wantto do the troll races.
I do like Rd. races still, but the ones that I like have that
(03:28):
aspect of suffering in them still.
So like we went out and did the Blue Ridge Marathon in Virginia
last year or the year before andthat's named like America's
toughest road race. I would compare it to like rock
and the Knob, but on road. So I like I like those kind that
(03:51):
are still very challenging. Or if it was a scenic, you know,
I'd love to go out and do Big Sur or something like that.
But for the most part I stick tothe trails.
Yes, I mean, yeah, see, you wantto get your money's worth, I
guess we'll put it that way. If you're going to, if you're
going to waste the, I don't wantto say waste the weekend, but if
you're going to spend the whole weekend racing and traveling,
(04:14):
you want to get your money's worth.
So what made you decide to do the Hallucination 100?
So Hallucination is actually part of a series or challenge
(04:34):
called the Midwest Grand Slam ofUltra Running.
And with that you can either do a Grand Slam or a super slam.
But they have 5 races in their series and with the Grand Slam
you just have to pick four of those five to complete and then
(04:54):
the Super Slammers do all 5. So I am doing the Grand Slam of
Ultra Running or the Midwest Grand Slam this year.
So it started with the Mohican 100 which was at the end of May,
and then Burning River towards the end of July hallucination.
And then my next one is going tobe the Indiana Trail 100 in just
(05:18):
a couple weeks. It's the middle of October.
So that'll complete the Grand Slam for me.
Nice. See I didn't even know about
that. So that's I just I know of
burning River Mohican so. I just kind of been doing the
races and I haven't really shared with many people that
that that's what I was doing so.Too.
(05:40):
I guess too late now. Yeah, I know you're the lucky 1.
So you've done what? Let's see what 5 hundreds this
year now? Or 4 hundreds?
This was my third that I finished this year, 4th that I
(06:01):
finished total. So I did Rabid Raccoon 100 last
year and finished and then I came back to Rabid Raccoon this
year and DNF at mile 67 and thatis kind of what spurred the
whole Midwest Grand Slam thing. I did not even know that that
(06:24):
existed. I was just really upset with
myself after Rabid Raccoon for not finishing because I knew
that when I DNF it was all just me really having a mental day
and deciding like I don't want to be out here.
And so I just started looking atraces.
(06:45):
I was like, well, I'm already trained to do the 100 Miller, so
maybe there's one you know, thatI can sign up for coming up.
And that's what led me to find Mohican and Burning River and
looking at those who and then realizing at the Midwest Grand
Slam is a thing. And I was like, Oh well, you
(07:07):
know what? Better way sign up and come back
to Rabid Raccoon next year. What better way to train for a
100 than to just run for other one hundreds?
Well, unconventional, yes, but Ithink it's working so far.
(07:28):
Yeah, it it makes sense to me. I think most ultra runners that
would make perfect sense to likethe redemption factor.
Yeah, yeah. I mean, I, I would, I mean, I'll
be honest, I wasn't going to bring up a rabbit raccoon
because I remember that race andyeah, you were having like
stomach issues. But I mean, that happens when
you run so long in that we're called environment because, you
(07:52):
know, the temperature in like, what was it?
Yeah, it's March. It's so hard to judge and things
go so wrong early in the season like that too so but.
Yeah, yeah, you to go through getting the DNF like mentally,
like I said, especially just knowing it was a choice that I
(08:13):
made at the end of the day to pull myself out.
It's not like I got cut off on time or or anything.
So I like really grappled with that and that was like, no, I
need to go. And because then in the moment
in my head, I just didn't have astrong why I just, it was like,
well, I run 100 miles before, soI know I can do it.
(08:36):
It's not like I'm trying to prove that to myself.
So and I had a time goal that day and I didn't, I knew I
wasn't going to make my time goal.
And so it's just kind of like once I had stomach issues, I
just kind of checked out. And so doing the Grand Slam has
really helped me to figure out like how to find that why and to
(08:59):
come back to always just the goal is just to finish no matter
what. And having that as as the main
thing, it's just, it's just beenhelpful.
So you're touching on that. No, is what your motivation and
why is So you're just saying it's the finish or do you have
like a more of like a mental type motivation or like a saying
(09:23):
or anything like that? Or you just want to prove to
yourself that you can do it typeof why?
Yeah, I think right now I just, I just want to finish them
because I, I did not like the feeling of choosing to quit.
And in the moment I thought thatit wouldn't matter, it wouldn't
bother me if I quit. But as soon as I quit, I
(09:45):
realized like, ah, it was just snagging at me.
So sometimes I think we have bigreasons when we go into races
for our wise. And right now I don't really
have anything that's like, oh, I've really got to do this for
for this. It's just, it's just learning to
(10:09):
teach myself to not quit. So how do you mentally stay
focused during a race or during training?
I think what's nice with the Grand Slam at least is that they
are all so close together. So really not a lot of time in
(10:30):
between to fall off. Like one severe week or so after
a race of then it's like, OK, I,I need to, I need to get my
miles and, and everything in because my next one's in two or
three weeks. So I actually have really
enjoyed having them all close together like that.
(10:52):
I do really well. I've realized if I have races or
that are along the way points tokeep me in line training because
that's I've definitely always struggled with the consistency
(11:14):
and that's what led me into doing the run streak that I've
been doing. Now I'm on day 25 I think.
So that's been really helpful. But staying focused in the race,
I just, I just focus on being inthe moment.
I don't usually think too far ahead.
(11:34):
I try not to think about what mile I'm at or how far I have to
go. And there's something that Sally
McRae had said before, and it was that you need to expect it
to suck and expect it to be hard, but expect that you're
going to get through it. And so that's just something
that I keep in my mind for the moments that it does start to
(11:55):
feel like, I don't know if I cando this.
And it's like, no, I knew that Iknew that I was going to feel
this, and that's why I came. But I know that I can overcome
it. Yeah, 'cause low points are
inevitable during an ultra race.If anybody says that they don't
have those low points or, you know, a moment of maybe regret,
sometimes they're full of it, I guess.
(12:19):
Yeah, I I have the moments of almost every single hundred
mile. Why am I doing this?
Why did I sign up for this challenge?
Why did why did I need to do four more?
Like, you know, and then you finish it and you know, the next
day you're looking back and you're like, wow, that was that
(12:39):
was awesome. That was so much fun.
And then you go do another one. It's just this vicious cycle.
I. Don't.
I don't know if it's, well, I guess it is fun, but I'm looking
back, but I don't know if I've ever rejoiced that bad.
It I got it with fun but. You were talking about your run
(13:05):
streak and you're on day 25 I think is what you just said.
So what's this run streak going to entail, and what motivated
you to start it? I just, I went out one day.
I didn't want to go for a run, but I knew I needed to get back
into my training cycle and I wasjust dragging it all day long.
(13:29):
And then I finally went out and literally within 1/10 of a mile,
I was just sitting there like, wow, like this is so awesome.
I'm having such a great time. I was only going out for a
couple miles that day. And I was like, man, I wish,
like, I wish this was a long run.
I wish I was going to be out here for a couple hours.
Like this is incredible. And it just was a reminder that,
(13:52):
you know, you don't always feel like getting out and going for a
run, but that once you start, you can often feel differently.
And so I just decided that day that I'm going to do a run
streak. And so it's just a mile every
day. And a lot of times I end up
doing more, but it's just pushing myself to do at least
(14:14):
that mile. And I've loved it because like I
said, I usually struggle with consistency.
And so it's just forced me to toget in the habit of lacing up my
shoes every day and going out and putting in some amount of of
mileage. Even on the day after my
(14:38):
hallucination 100 I got on the treadmill.
And so it was a little rough at at first, but we got through it.
Now, do you have a goal, say like a year, two years, or just
when it ends, it ends. I think no goal.
I think I would just like to keep it going for as long as I
(14:59):
can. I think a mile is very doable.
You know, they roughly 10 minutes average for somebody to
go out and do a mile. So I don't think there's a lot
of reasons that I could give myself that like, oh, I can't
give myself 10 minutes today. So yeah, I'd like to keep it
(15:23):
going as long as as long as I can.
Yeah, there's some people that do it 20 plus years and I'm just
like, how do you not get sick oryou don't have something
unexpected? I'm like.
There's people have run streaks where they do like 8 miles every
day or you know, and I'm just like, wow, that's awesome for
you. I love that for you.
(15:46):
Yeah, something I don't want to do now.
What's your typical training for100 or just in general like a
like your weekly mileage and maybe elevation?
I really don't plan it very much.
Usually I try to give myself 4 meaningful running days.
(16:10):
I try to get a speed workout in each week.
I try to do hills each week and then I try to have my 2 like
back-to-back long runs during the week.
I don't really have a huge a setgoal during the week of how many
miles I try to get. And even if I do, I usually
(16:34):
don't stick to it. I I usually just go off like
Willy nilly. Whatever, whatever I get, I get.
That seems to be working pretty well.
I think so. Do you, do you prefer to train
with people? Because I see you.
Well, I don't want to say all the time, but you know, even
with your like daughter Sean or like your friends, I don't want
(16:58):
to say her name wrong, Maya. And then the I think I forget
who it was the other day. You're like, do you spend most
of your time training, say, withpeople or without people or?
Varies and I think it goes. I think there are certain
seasons where I'm, I'm very muchmore secluded and I like running
(17:21):
alone. I have no problems running by
myself. And then other times I do like
running with people. I, I think I'm very particular
about the people that I run with, but I do love, I love
running with my daughter Aria. She is one of my biggest
inspirations. So she keeps me, she keeps me
(17:41):
motivated and inspired and I would love to be like her when I
grow up. Well, I, I think she has two
good role models to look up to herself.
So keep off the good work on that part.
So the hallucination itself, I noticed it started it.
(18:03):
Well, I guess we'll transaction back in out of the training,
back into the race itself and some other races.
It was a 2:00 PM start on Friday.
Yeah, that was that was different.
I didn't really, I kind of had aplan going into it in my mind.
I was like, OK, I'm just going to stay up really late on on
(18:26):
Wednesday night so that I sleep in on Thursday and then I'll be
able to to do the same thing going into into Friday.
It didn't really work that well because I wake up early every
day, so it was really hard. I ended up still getting up at
like 9:00 AM on Friday. I just could not sleep anymore.
(18:46):
And so it was just, it was definitely weird.
And then with starting at 2, youknow, typically you, you start
early morning, like between 4:00to 6:00 AM and you're probably
like 50 miles, 100 KN before it starts getting dark.
(19:06):
So with hallucination, I think Iwas only about A50 KN and it was
dark. And so it just, it really threw
off, you know, I, I was running through the night and feeling
like I should have felt more tired or slow, but I felt like I
was still moving really well. So it was definitely
(19:28):
interesting. I don't, I don't know if I love
the 2:00 PM start, but it it was, it was a cool, cool switch
up. I I think I might enjoy a later
start because I hate going to bed.
I can't get to bed early, so if it's like an ultra, it doesn't
matter what distance it is. I'm only getting like 3-4 hours
(19:49):
of sleep anyhow, so if I could sleep into like 10 I could sleep
all morning. So something like that.
Like Ironstone, it starts late and there's a couple other ones
like. Black Forest, yeah, which is
also a weird, weird time to try and cord.
(20:10):
I guess it's good for those people who say like work night
shift or something, they might really thrive at something like
that. So did you have a strategy go?
I know you, you said you had a strategy for your sleep.
Did you have a strategy going infor the race and did it change
at all mid race or you know, towards the end?
(20:32):
I mean, not, not really. I like I said, my main goal is
just, I just want to finish it, Sean had mentioned to me.
Because at Burning River I was actually really nervous going
into Burning River about whetheror not I was going to be able to
make the cut off. So I almost did the early start
(20:54):
and then I ended up running. I finished in 24 hours and I was
like, wow, that was incredible. So Sean joked, I don't know, he
joked, but for hallucination he was like yeah, you should aim to
get that 24 hours. And I joked I was like I'm going
to go for sub 20. And weirdly the 1st 100K of the
(21:17):
race I was like on about a 20 hour finish time pace.
So that was cool. That was not my goal.
The goal was just to finish, butonce I realized that I was
feeling good that day and and I did try to just keep up the best
(21:37):
pace that I could, I tried to just run everything that was
runnable and hike really fast onthe stuff.
It wasn't. But yeah, just just finishing it
and yeah. Now with your watch, like
obviously you have carry a watchwith you, do you set up like a
(21:58):
pace pro plan at all or anythinglike that?
No, I actually I don't even see my pace most of the time because
I usually have the course loadedonto a GPX file.
I just like that for my Peace ofMind, even if it's like the
course was very easy to follow, very well marked.
It's a loop, so you know, once you've run it, you pretty much
(22:20):
know where you're going. But I like having it on my watch
and so with that, it doesn't tell me every time I hit a mile
and I don't really see my pace on there unless I'm actively
looking for it. So I didn't pay attention to
that at all. No is is yours a Garmin or?
Yeah, it's Garmin. Yeah, 'cause I, I, I do the same
(22:42):
thing. I load the course.
So then like with mine, mine's a945 Forerunner, so that I make
it. Usually I make a Pace Pro plan
and then I have it set up where I can look at the elevation
chart. I don't know if you do that as
well as the map. Yeah, that that makes, I tell
(23:03):
people it makes such a world of a difference where you look at
the elevation and you can see like the profile of it and tells
you how much the hill is, how many feet left, what the incline
is, and then it counts it down as you go.
It makes world of a difference to me in ultra running.
Yeah, I bet. Especially a race like rocking
(23:23):
the knob or something where you have some some hefty climbs in
there. Yeah, OK.
I mean, if you're not using it now, it might be something as a
little tip or thing to practice with just looking at it like
setting up a a route around yourhouse or whatever and just
looking at that profile showing you like, hey, I got 300 feet of
(23:45):
climb left in 2/10 of a mile. I know how to like back.
I should back off a little bit or go a little bit harder
because maybe only got 50 feet left like type of deal.
Like that's the that's why I useit.
So I know like, hey, this is 1000 foot climb.
Maybe I shouldn't try to go at like a 7-8 minute pace.
Maybe I should drop back to 10. So you don't, you don't burn out
(24:06):
a little bit. Yeah, that's, that's a good tip.
I'll have to look at that. Usually I am very not data
oriented. I just kind of go out and run.
Sean is my data. He is like, he's the only reason
I know like what pace I should try to run at or anything in
(24:29):
regards to the race. Like I literally I just show up
and I run and and he's he's my watch and my mental everything.
Yeah, and. Maybe it's a guy thing because
like I like because I again withthe watch is like I flipped
through like the different screens.
So the one like my main screen is like the time of day,
(24:52):
elevation, heart rate, pace. I took it off now because I
showered, but there's I have like 6 things on my main screen.
So like it's it's all heart rate.
So like I have that all on my screen and then I get I I guess
Scroll down or whatever you wantto call it, push the button down
so I could see the elevation andthen the course map.
(25:13):
But I mean with a loop. Hopefully you don't get lost in
a loop. Yeah, hopefully.
I I know it does happen when people get tired and, you know,
their legs get weary or even in the dark, they forget all
there's that turn they just get too.
Yeah, focused, I guess. Yeah.
And that's why I like having it just as a backup that if I do
(25:37):
happen to get off course, I knowit's going to tell me so.
Now this was 6 loops for 16.6 miles each loop.
Do you like loop server point topoint or like big looping
circles like? Do you have a preference on
(25:58):
that? I don't know if I have a
preference. I think I kind of like it all.
I didn't think before I did a looped course that I would
really like the loops. It sounded monotonous, but I
like, I like that it's it makes it an easy way to break the race
(26:20):
down. So like rabid Raccoon, for
example, is 8 loops. There's I think like 13 miles
ish per loop, but I just know inmy head I'm like, OK, it's 8
loops. 8's a small number that'svery doable.
And so I don't look at it as 100miles.
And then with hallucination, with it being 6 and me being so
(26:43):
used to running on the rabid course, I think it made the race
actually like fly by a lot faster because it was like, wow,
I'm already on loop 3. And that's like halfway where I
was, you know, before I'm so accustomed to running 8 loops.
Now it's like 6 that's even smaller.
Like it doesn't translate to 100miles in my head, you know, but
(27:06):
I do. I like the loops and I like, I
actually liked a burning river. That was my first time doing an
out and back course. And I didn't think that I was
going to like that either. But again, it was like it just
broke it into two chunks for me.And I was like 2 is a small
number. It's just out and it's back.
Like how hard can it be? So I actually I kind of like
(27:27):
them. I like both of those.
I have not done 1 yet. That is just, you know, 100
miles round trip. So I I don't know how that would
be but. I think the only really big one
in PA would be Eastern states. Well, I think yeah, it would be
the only one really in PA. So you'd have to go Westmore or
(27:49):
South to get anything like of that distance.
Yeah. I mean, they all have their
benefit like a loop course, likeyou said, you know what's
coming. But then you, you know, you the
aid stations and stuff, you could have more of a centralized
aid station where, say a crew isn't chasing your butt around
all day going, you know, here and there.
(28:10):
You can do it with like less crew and less supplies, I guess.
Whereas even a point to point, oh, I guess point to point in
the big circles are the guess the same thing.
It's just what you know, one straight and one's a loop.
Yeah, yeah. You always have to.
Screwing perspective, I'm sure Sean enjoys the looped courses
(28:33):
more because if you know my husband, he is very prepared and
if you have never seen him, we're missing something special
because that man brings I mean, I don't even need the race
people there. I don't need aid stations.
Like he's got it all. He's, you know, so I'm sure he
(28:55):
he likes the looped courses a lot because then it's isn't have
to unpack every everything and and pack it up and remove it
again. I I will say because I noticed
it since I've seen you guys at your aid stations, it's
basically like a a small grocerystore.
(29:16):
Yeah. I mean, it's, it's not a sheet.
It's an actual like grocery store.
It's like, what do you want? Here we have it.
I think really because we've worked a lot on my nutrition.
And so in the interim where we were like really trying to
figure that out, it was like every race was different what I
(29:40):
was able to eat and every training run felt different on
what I could eat. And so when we go to a race, it
was like, well, you got to have all of this that worked on this
run and and then you got to alsobring all these things that
because that worked in this race.
And then I would end up not eating any of that because it
wasn't working in this race. But I always had to have
(30:02):
options. But I think, I think we've
figured out the fuelling now, which is nice.
So the food aspect is at least condensed.
All right, so on that note, whatare your like go TOS or what do
you like to have then at an aid station to eat and drink?
Aid stations our it's pretty much mashed potatoes and I like
(30:26):
broth and like ramen noodles. Those are pretty much the only
things that I'll usually eat during the race.
That's from the aid station. The rest of it is doing liquid
and gels. Sometimes fried rice, I'll throw
that in there too. But.
I mean, is, is is that what he brings for you too?
(30:50):
Or what else does he? Does he bring anything different
or special for you? Oh yeah, so he always potatoes
also. And then he'll bring usually
like Mac and cheese, rice. He'll bring stuff to make,
quesadillas, grilled cheese, PB and JS.
(31:12):
I mean, I have a lot of options.I don't usually end up eating
most of it, but it's always there available.
Now what? What do you use for hydration?
What is it precision or I love it because it's not flavored.
(31:34):
Some of the gels are flavored, but it's very mild.
But a lot of the ones that I do like are unflavored.
So I think that helps is it justdoesn't, just doesn't have, I
don't know, all the extra stuff in it that might upset your
stomach. Yeah, I'm a little bit cheap, so
(31:55):
I just use like the baking soda because that's basically, I
guess what it is with maybe an extra ingredient.
And the first couple times that I've used it, I was, yeah, that
wasn't pretty good. That wasn't good at all.
We'll have to have Sean make youa sample bag of, I call it
Sean's famous. So you can, you can try that one
day. We'll patent it.
(32:15):
We'll get it. I didn't notice well, what it
was is I was taking it like before breakfast too.
So like I'd take like a teaspoonor table, whatever it is,
teaspoon, tablespoon before I ate my actual breakfast.
And you can just feel like the acid just getting so neutralized
too quickly. And then you're like, oh, so you
(32:35):
have to. I learned that you actually have
to eat food if you're going to take it before you take it.
OK, Yeah. So if you, if you guys get in a
bind and you're just going to use like baking soda with water,
you at least got to have some food in your stomach.
Your stomach's just going to be like so neutralized.
You're like, it just feels like,it's like squeak, like
(32:57):
somebody's just wrapping their hands around your stomach and
squeezing. Have in 100 Miller.
So the race itself, it's a loosenation, but it's like Bron
Woodstock I guess is like a theme.
(33:18):
So was there a bunch of like Woodstock type theme aid
stations or like designs or anything like that or like how
do they try to incorporate that I guess?
So they do a whole festival thatweekend.
They have a number of different races going on.
They have a couple of different 5 cases I think throughout the
(33:39):
weekend. I think there's a 5 Miller,
definitely a marathon. I think A50 Miller, 100K100
miles. They have live music playing
different bands throughout the weekend.
People are camping there. They have stand up paddle
(33:59):
boarding, yoga, food trucks, so just a whole festival going on.
I don't think any of the aid stations we're really like
decked out in any way, but I know they give awards for people
for most decorated campsite and grooviest costumes and that kind
(34:20):
of a thing. No, it's saying it's on 140,
what they call incredible acres,but that's just like basically
the base camps. The 140 acres you're still going
through like other wilderness then?
Yeah, I think so, yeah. Most of it is on bike trails.
(34:42):
And then there was a little bit of, I think like dirt, Dirt Rd.
in there. But most of it, yeah, it's just
bike trails. It is very pretty, very scenic.
So can you describe the course alittle bit more, like go into
details or compare it to some like other races, you know,
people can get a general idea ofit?
(35:08):
Yeah. I mean, you go over, there's a
lot of you go by, go by a couplelakes, I think go over a lot of
like wooden bridges like you would see on a on a mountain
bike trail. It's really not very technical
and it's very runnable. I think there's like eight 9000
(35:33):
feet of elevation gain over the entire course.
So for someone who lives in Pennsylvania, like, it's just a
very runnable, not rocky, not rocky course.
It was very fun, very pretty, Lots of flowers and yeah.
(35:57):
Yeah, 'cause well, you're talking about the elevation
cause I don't want to. Yeah, Michigan is a pretty flat
state, I guess compared to say, US or West Virginia.
Yeah, yeah, that was definitely the lowest elevation game that
I've had in 100 mile or so far, and it was nice.
(36:19):
It was like the whole thing. I felt like I could run the
whole thing for the most part. Now since it's 6 loops, I don't
know how to word this. I guess like like did you have a
low point at all or like what lap was that or anything like
(36:42):
that it? Was lap one.
I was probably like a mile in mile and 1/4 and I took my first
and only fall. But I was like for it not being
a technical course, I tripped somuch that it's, it's like I
(37:03):
don't even know what I was tripping on, but I fell so hard
in that first mile and hurt my knee.
And from then on, like both knees were bothering me.
And I just, I remember I kept coming into aid stations just
like, man, like I just want to go home already.
Like, is this not done yet? I feel like the first 50K was
(37:27):
like, wow, why did, why am I doing this?
And then it got dark and I put in my headphones and, and I
think I slowly like got myself out of there.
But yeah, the first, the first like 30 miles I think was was
low. Now when the sun came up, did
(37:48):
you get that rejuvenation type feeling?
It sometimes happens. Yeah, I think so, because I
think about the time that the sun was coming up, I had one
more loop, so I knew that I was almost done, which was nice.
(38:10):
Now how is the course flagged ormarked?
They just have little, dependingon which distance you're doing,
they have different colored likelittle flags that just stick in
the ground and it's really not hard to follow.
(38:32):
There's not a ton of bike trailsthat like intersect with one
another, so they don't have it flagged super often.
The way I feel like here in Pennsylvania, you'll see it
like, you know, every 10th of a mile or something with with that
one. I think you could go a little
bit of a ways before you'd see flags, but they were very easy
(38:56):
to to find and to follow. Now, do you prefer flagging,
hanging up or down on the ground?
I guess down on the ground because you've got to be looking
down there anyways, so it's niceto not have to be looking up and
then start tripping. Yeah, I'm sort of me personally,
(39:21):
like when a course allows it, I prefer the ground markings.
Not like you just said because you could, your head's already
down there. But then like you said, like
rabbit, raccoon, if people don'tknow they have markings on the
trees like permanent markers. And then like say other PA
races, they have the flagging, Iguess maybe eye level or above
(39:43):
hanging from trees. So it's there's a wide variety
of ways to do it, but I think ground I think is the way to go
if the course allows. Yeah, I I like it.
Like I said, you're already looking down there, so.
Yeah, keeps you from tripping asmuch, I think.
I think maybe some race directors that have a twisted
(40:05):
sense of humor are not going to mention any names.
Like to hang things up higher soyou have to like, look away so
you could trip more. All right, so you set APR for
this race. We'll just call it a couple
(40:26):
hours. Yeah, it was like a 2 hour PR,
right? Like an hour and a half, yeah.
So what are you learning or haveyou learned that benefiting you
to be able to drop your times oris there anything that you
figured out that's helping you drop times or is it just better
(40:48):
training in general? I think it was two things.
I think 1 was the nutrition. I really struggled at Mohican
because I wasn't able to eat andI was stick sick to my stomach
and then I slowed down like immensely.
(41:10):
So figuring out the fuelling I think has made a world of
difference. The other thing is after Rabid
Raccoon, I had had an idea around that time, but it was not
until after Mohican, I think that I officially got test
(41:33):
results back and found out that I had been anemic.
And so going and getting my blood work done and I ended up
getting iron infusions. And then I'm still keeping up to
date like on my my blood work and keeping track of that.
(41:55):
That has also made an immense difference because I could
notice that in my running and inmy training, it would make me
like extremely fatigued just in day-to-day life, and then I
would notice it in my runs as well.
City after a race, do you sort of reflect or do you try to look
(42:20):
back and see what you can learn from that race specifically like
and take it on to the next one or is there anything?
Yeah. Yeah.
I think every race is different.So every time like you think
that you have something figured out, you're like, yeah, awesome.
And then you go to the next raceand you just have a totally new
(42:42):
problem come up. So I feel like I figured out
nutrition and and that's great. And then, you know, I go to
Burning River and get like blisters.
I've never gotten blisters running before and I got like
the worst blisters of my life. Chafing is like a new thing.
(43:05):
So it's always just like problemsolving and like figuring out
and then I'll figure those two things out and something else
I'm sure will come along to to have to learn from.
Now, off the top of your head, is there anything you're already
looking to improve on or try to figure out to make you better
down the road? I think I would like to keep
(43:26):
working on. I'd like to see, you know, what
PRI can set on the 100 mile distance and maybe I regret it
as I say it, but maybe I will look at longer races one day
(43:50):
too, as it comes out of my no, we don't want to go longer, but
I kind of do. So I don't know.
We'll see. I mean, the, the longer you put
off say a 200 Miller, the more 300 Millers are going to be
available. So I'm just saying.
(44:15):
Son keeps trying to get me sold on on doing coca dona.
I'm like, oh, I don't know, every time I that sounds like a
good idea. And then you go out and do 100
and you're like, that's a terrible idea.
Yeah, I mean, there is the push for threes now.
So it's, yeah, I'm not saying, I'm not saying sooner the
(44:36):
better, but you know, no better time to jump in and see what
happens, I guess. Yeah, and then there'll be
fours. I think there's already there
might be a 450. I want to say there's a 450
somewhere. Maybe not.
Maybe it was just a different type, maybe it was an adventure
(44:57):
race, but there's a 450 somewhere.
Yeah, I'll keep that distance. Now, for being second overall,
what kind of award or prizes didthey offer or give anything
special for that race? Yeah, everybody got a medal for
(45:18):
all race distances. You get the belt buckle as the
100 Miller finisher and then for2nd place they gave me the
sweatshirt. I got have it with me.
I got a cool hat, has a button on it.
It says finished it man and and AI don't know what do you call
(45:41):
it? Like a winch, but yeah, like a
little. And it says second, second
female on it. So all kinds of gifts.
It was it was actually very coolcoming into the finish line.
They were like, are you're stillrunning?
And I was like, no, I'm done. Like you're done.
(46:03):
It's like, yeah. And you're like, oh, stay, stay
right here. And they just started like
showering. I was like, wow, best, probably
best finish line experience I'veever had.
Does. Does it really say you're done
man? Or whatever?
Or you're finished in the hat. Yes, it's finished it man
Hallucination 100 mile Runwoods dog.
(46:25):
That's definitely different. I definitely like that.
So I guess it does have a sort of like hippie laid back type of
vibe to it. Yeah, for sure.
I I was like doing the 100 miles.
I don't feel like I really got to experience the the festival
part of it. Maybe if you're doing like the
(46:49):
100K, but I feel like, I feel like you definitely got to be
doing like the marathon or something if you if you want to
be able to enjoy the festival aspect of it.
So maybe another year we'll go back and not do the 100 maybe.
(47:09):
Now when you're racing, do you mentally take note, like where
your placements at? You try to keep track of that at
all. Sometimes if I, like Sean had
told me that he knew that I was second with it being a loop.
(47:31):
He didn't know where the 1st place woman was.
So I'm not super competitive, like I am just out there to do
my best and I know that I'm competing with myself.
But I do also try to pay attention and just use it as
(47:52):
motivation, especially in the later miles when it's like it
just gives you a little extra push.
So I did, I passed a lot of women on that last loop and I
didn't know until I came in or not if any of them were were the
(48:13):
100 mile. But the the girl who finished
first absolutely crushed it. I think she was like 19 hours or
something like that, very fast. Yeah, I guess, I guess it's a 2
fold thing because, you know, sometimes it could get mentally
taxing if, if you're worried about your placement.
But then again, if you don't worry about or if you don't know
(48:35):
it and then you, you know, you start taking it easy because
you're like, oh, you know, just enjoying this.
And then you get passed away like two people ending up like
4th and you're like, Oh well I could easily like finish first
or third, you know? Yeah, it's one of those two fold
things. Yeah, and I think 3rd place
woman who is also doing the Midwest, she's doing the Super
(48:58):
slam. I think she was about like 10
minutes behind me. So definitely like knowing that
I where I was at in the race helped because any moment that
it was, you know, it went through my head like, oh, I
could just walk a little bit. It's like, no, you don't.
You don't know where anybody is in relation to you.
So just keep going. It helps you move faster I
(49:20):
guess. Keeps your times lower too.
If you worry about, well, I don't want to say worry, but I
guess. Pay attention.
Yeah, pay attention. It's definitely a lot better.
So in the Grand Slam thing, since you mentioned again, do
they have like awards for say top three of the finishers?
(49:42):
I know they keep track of the placement of them.
There is an overall just award that you get for completing the
slam. And right now I, I think, I
think there were like 15 or 16 people that started both the
(50:04):
grand and the Super slam. And right now there's seven I
think left between the two. And I, I think I'm the only
woman that's left in the Grand Slam.
The rest of them are all super. I think there's me and one other
guy that are left in the grand. I might be wrong but.
(50:27):
Hey, until somebody proves us otherwise, we're we're going to
say that you are. I mean, I mean, why not?
There's getting a little dry. So let me see out of the races
you've done what you plan to do.How does this compare?
(50:49):
Like you're burning river, like what did you did you like this
one better say like than burningRiver or Mohican or do you have
like one race really special to your heart, I guess.
I think they've all been specialin their own way because
Mohican, I was really proud of the finish.
(51:09):
I was, even though I I finished like 15 or 20 minutes before cut
off. I know how much of myself that I
gave, like I didn't leave anything out there.
I gave everything to finish thatrace and I was really proud of
myself for that one. Burning River was really cool
(51:31):
because it was the first time I came in around 24 hours, like
totally knocked like 8 or 9 hours off my off my time.
So that was cool. And then Hallucination was just
I think like a fun pretty run. I think course wise I liked
(51:51):
Mohican the most. I like the hills and I like the
more challenging aspects of the races and it's just a very
scenic and and and beautiful course, so.
So if you like the challenges, are you looking forward to say
(52:15):
maybe in the future more of a say, Georgia Death Race, Western
states type races or any others type?
Yeah, I would consider them. I have a few things that I have
my eyes on. Nothing, nothing set in stone
yet. Georgia Death Race keeps popping
(52:39):
up. When we, we went to Utah
recently and someone kept or multiple people brought up the,
I think it's called the Tour de Grand, which is more of like a
stage race. I think that one is like 150
miles through the desert. And I don't know if that's, if
(53:00):
that's not necessarily on my radar or not.
But yeah, I, I, I'm open to whatever, whatever God puts in
my, in my, in my path. I don't know all.
Right. I I could see you guys.
Well, I guess stage races are more of an individual where you
(53:22):
can't have family for the most part, but.
Yeah. I I know you guys are into like
the triathlon community a littlebit, so maybe an adventure race
or anything in your future. No, I think I I'll leave like
the triathlons and that kind of thing to Aria.
(53:42):
I like the running that I'm yeah, I'm not a swimmer for
sure. I'm a drowner.
I'm not a swimmer. So I mean, I hate to say that,
but yeah, I'm, I can't swim to save my life either.
So. I feel like I'm, I feel like I'm
(54:04):
like suffocating or something when I swim like my forms off or
something's not right. But I, I feel like I can go run
hills and I'm good and then I get in the pool and I'm like.
No, I asked you beforehand for your permission to ask this, but
if you want to touch on the Rison runner and like the
(54:26):
meeting behind that or what that's all about, because I know
that's sort of you guys thing right now.
It's sort of a. Tricky.
Yeah, well, it came, you know, we had our it, it just came
(54:47):
from, I guess, a place of where we were at a very low point in
our life, facing a lot of challenges and struggles.
And I think it was a way my husband manages the account and
it's it's kind of his, his baby or his project.
(55:10):
But I think it was just a way tobring God and bring hope and
bring life into a period of our life where it felt like that had
been absent. So we're a way to share our
(55:30):
faith and, and to share my running journey.
And he'll, he'll share a lot about Arya and her races on
there usually, too. Yeah.
So I, I guess with that being said, how has your faith helped
(55:51):
you in running and any tips for other runners in the, in the,
the faith community or any of that aspects?
Faith is, well, it's the most important part of my life.
It's definitely the most important part of my running.
(56:12):
I, I think, you know, it's, it'sa way for me to spend time with
God one-on-one. It's often like, I'm out there
just praying, talking to God thewhole time.
Usually hallucination 100 was cool because it was the first
hundred that I've done where I didn't have a human pacer And I,
(56:37):
I was like, you know, it's OK. I've, I've got Jesus, like Jesus
is my pacer and he was like, talk to him the whole time and
listen to worship music out there.
And I had a great run. So I think running and, and
faith are very intertwined. And I think running has taught
(57:00):
me a lot about faith and faith has taught me a lot about
running. And it's it's just cool how they
how they intertwine like that. I know there's weird questions
to ask her. It's it's hard for me to even
ask them like the word it because I know, I know you guys
are pretty old about it, but some other people were when you
ask them that question, it's just they get weird looks or you
(57:23):
know, they don't want to explainit.
But so thank you guys for explaining that a little bit or
going into it because I know sometimes it's a touchy.
That's why I asked you before westarted today about it, because
I didn't want to. I don't want to say insult, but
you know what I mean? Like dive into a more personal
thing. So thank you for sharing that.
(57:45):
Yeah, I'm happy to. Like I said, I'm very open about
it. And I did not grow up church or,
or, or reading the Bible or anything like that.
And I, I never thought that I would be who I am today.
Like I, I really don't listen toanything other than worship
(58:10):
music. Like I, you know, God saved us
at a time in our life where where we were just felt
absolutely consumed by, by the world and, and just felt like we
were drowning and God saved us. And so I am happy as can be to
(58:33):
to tell anybody, friend Jesus and.
And yeah. Well, I will say I'm probably
the opposite spectrum when it comes to racing for music.
I need something that's like, you know, aggravates me.
No, Sean, I was in the gym. He'll listen to like some
(58:55):
Christian. It's either metal or I think
it's Christian metal. He he put it over my ears
sometimes when we're lifting andI'm like, I can't do that, but
he loves it. Well, I, I mean, I'm more like
the Wu Tang outcast, you know, old school Tupac.
So it's it's completely. I think NF is about as I get
(59:22):
like NF. Well, I will say I think my
favorite Christian song is The Who You Say I Am by Hillsong
Worship you're from. All right, So you're familiar
with that. Yeah.
That it doesn't matter. Whenever you listen to that
song, for some reason that song just always puts me in a good
(59:45):
mood, whether I'm in a good moodalready or a bad mood.
Like you play that and it's. Yeah, it does something.
So it does. Help.
Yeah, yeah. So I guess we've been on here
for a while. So I guess sort of bring things
full circle a little bit. I like to ask people, do you
have any tips for new new runners or tip in general that
(01:00:09):
you want to share with people tohelp them out a little bit?
I think the biggest thing is just consistency, getting out
and challenging yourself, whether it's a run streak or,
you know, whatever it is. I think just building that
consistency and reminding yourself, like I said, it's,
(01:00:35):
it's going to be hard. You're choosing to do something
that's hard that not everybody is going to go out and do.
And so just to remember that it's, it's, that's why you came
and but you are capable. You are strong enough to to
finish the race to overcome whatever the challenge is.
(01:00:55):
You know, if it's whatever it is, you are capable of doing it
and just reminding yourself thatyou have that strength inside of
you to to overcome. I think that's the biggest thing
all. Right.
I like that. I like it.
You know that that should help some people.
(01:01:15):
So I guess that's a good ending point right there with that
information and tidbit, unless you had anything else you wanted
to add or touch on real quick. No, I think we think we covered
a good, good bit. All right.
Well, I thank you for coming on and I'm looking forward to wait.
What was the What's the fourth race in a couple weeks?
(01:01:38):
Deanna Trail, All right. Looking forward to seeing how
you finish and how much you kill.
Well, I don't want to say kill the field, but crush the field
in that race. So good luck, be safe and have a
nice training block and I'll hopefully I'll see you guys.
It's been oh geez, 6-7 months now, so hopefully I got don't I
(01:02:02):
get to see you guys sooner than later so.
Yeah, absolutely. All right.
Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you for listening to the episode today.
If you or anyone you know has any amazing stories, adventures,
or interesting information you or they may want to share,
(01:02:22):
please reach out to me anytime. On the next screen, you could
scan the QR code or type in the Linktree website to easily find
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