Wild West Relay - The Aftermath

As I sit on the couch with both hamstrings under ice packs, a belly full of Ibuprofen, electrolyte tablets, and vitamin C, and a cold compress on my forehead, I reflect and am quite thankful for the “small” accomplishment I have achieved. I consider myself a “rookie” runner compared to those persons I train and surround myself with in Boulder, Colorado. Many of these persons have extensive running credentials, top finishes in prestigious races, and extensive backgrounds in distance running (high school, the collegiate level and beyond). I have much wisdom to learn, successes to celebrate, and failures to reflect upon.

For the past day and a half (approx. 31 hours), I participated in the Wild West Relay (a 200 mile RELAY race) solo, in an attempt to complete this daunting journey that 99% of the runners take part in as relay teams.  The main purpose for taking this challenge on was to raise awareness for the American Lung Association of Colorado. The ALAC is my charity of choice because as founder and trainer of Boulder Sports Performance, I focus on strengthening the lungs and heart.  These days, infants, adolescents, and adults affected by asthma, emphysema and other lung diseases has greatly increased. The majority of lung education emphasizes the dangers of smoking. However, each and every one of us breathes air as a necessity of life, but disease can result from this simple and vital activity, because our air includes pollution (caused by vehicle exhausts, mold, paint fumes, refineries, etc.) and other pollutant sources that can create damage to the lungs.

Not only was my intention in the race to raise awareness for the American Lung Association, but also to put myself on a personal quest to see what I was made of, not only mentally but physically as well.  During the race, after much persuasion from my Boulder Sports Performance Team to pull myself from the race after 31 hours, I decided that it was probably for the best. After completing over 100+ miles, out of consideration for my health, I decided to stop. This, in the long run, would enable me to retain my health (joints, cartilage, muscles, etc.) and leave more running in the future of my “running” career. I have read numerous ultra-running stories about how after 100K to 100 miles, hallucinations start to set in for runners. For myself, mentally, I was solid as a rock.  Physically, however, my body was just not able to keep up with what the mind wanted to do. Stomach pains, high fever, dehydration, and heat exhaustion were part of my body’s rebellion and prevented me from continuing. Another reason I decided to stop was because of my career as a marathon pacer, having served as the pacer for groups of runners in some known marathon races. Because of my devotion to fitness and to helping others with their running, I wanted to be able to continue making this contribution in the future to what I consider to be an important cause.

I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their verbal support and those that were with me at the beginning of this expedition. I’m very optimistic about what the future holds for me in my growth as an endurance specialist and as one of my pacers told me, “Live to fight another day.”

This is by no means the end to my story or journey. As I improve myself as a runner and endurance fitness enthusiast, there WILL be more adventures to help people and bring an understanding to the human body. My endurance career has just begun.