100 Miles? You Can Plan For It. You Can't Control it.

Thirty hours and fifteen minutes after the start of the Cascade Crest 100, I stumbled across the finish line to complete the first 100 mile event I had done in six years. I had the Cascade Crest in my orbit for over a year and a half as the 2020 event was cancelled due to Covid and the anticipation of 2021 kept me alert to the fact that I needed a body prepped for 100 miles. What I know about training for and running 100 miles in the mountains is that I can be as fit as possible and the potential for not finishing is still high (approximately 25% of participants DNF's or did not finish the race). Why? Because pursuit over that distance comes with many unknowns that you can't control and when they arise, there is a very good chance that you can't overcome the setback.

I want to be very clear that a DNF is not a failure. A DNF is simply the recognition that someone pushed hard, learned about their limitation on that specific day, and will be better equipped when they try again. We should all put ourselves in the position of getting a DNF. Heck, I DNF'd on a self supported run around Mt. Rainier last year and it was a great experience. But then sometimes you actually finish the game and run through that finish line, exhausted but grateful. Were there setbacks from my ideal plan? Big time.

But on this day, I was able to address them. Here were my best laid plans, where they went off the rails (or didn't), and how I stayed just enough on track to finish the race.

Set Your Affirmation. Know it will be Tested.

My affirmation during my run was "Be patient. Be present". I often find myself looking ahead to the next aid station or to the finish or thinking about how much I want an Egg McMuffin or just to feel comfortable in a cozy bed. But I'm literally at mile 10 of a 100 mile run. It's not good to think about McDonald's. When I repeated the affirmation, it did settle me down. I could focus on one foot in front of the other and just "be". And that tended to work while I was feeling strong and confident. At hour 24+, it was a lot harder to affirm patience and presence. I just wanted to be done, to finish! It was at the very time when I needed my affirmations the most (when I was stressed) that I couldn't stop thinking about a BOGO (buy one get one) at McDonald's. Affirmations are hard when the chips feel down but so important to maintain.

Make Sure You Have the Energy to Keep Moving.

It has never been more clear to me than on a 100 miler that sugar is a serious drug. When my thoughts turn really negative because I'm so exhausted, I get a cup of Coca Cola at the aid station and within 5 minutes, I'm smiling again. But the bigger point here is that as humans, we are just factories that take energy from the environment and turn that into production in our lives. On a 100 miler, it's all about nutrition. I had a strong nutrition plan of gels and bars and electrolytes to keep my machine functioning. That was until I made the bad decision of taking some random energy drink from an aid station I had not experimented with before and my stomach put a big reject on that. I had a plan. I got excited about trying something new without practicing with it and the results were predictable. From about hour 5 on, I was trying to regulate my stomach because I needed energy. Without energy, I was going to DNF or probably miss the cutoff time.

Mind You Foundation.

There should be no controversy here that the health of your feet are kind of essential to propelling oneself and really a requirement for 100 miles. I mean, you're on them for a long time. Your feet are the two things that you really need. You can take a hand but don't take my feet. Without my feet in decent shape, I'm going nowhere fast. I thought I had this feet thing nailed. I wrapped them up in tape like mummy feet. But......somehow a bit of friction remained and at about a third of the way through the run, I sensed what felt like a cushy pad on my forefoot, hoping that it wasn't a growing blister (of course it was). Should I have taken off my sock and tape at an aid station and cared for it? Absolutely. Did I? Heck no. I was nervous what I would see and I just simply wanted to keep pushing through. I survived this 100 miles but I don't think I'll be walking for a few days. You can get a decent ways with a shaky foundation but eventually it will catch up to you!

Build a Community of Supporters.

I just don't think I can be any more clear about this than to reinforce the importance of surrounding yourself with people that want to help you achieve your goals without asking anything in return. I think they are called...real friends. Find them. I did and they helped me. This was my best plan by far and it worked out. I had one friend pace me from miles 56 to 71 and another pace me from 71 to 98. My son ran in the last 4 miles with me (yes, it was a 102 mile race) and my wife actually ran five miles up a trail at one point to cheer me on and encourage me to keep moving. Now that was kind of awesome. These were my first concentric ring of supporters. Beyond that were the dedicated volunteers that go above and beyond to support an event like this. And beyond that are the community of other runners and participants that support each other to do and be their best. It makes me want to be a friend in other people's orbits because it is awesome when you realize that running 100 miles is some about me and a lot about the others that help you get across the finish line.

Relish in a Win.

I always joke with my business partner that when we have a victory or two that we ignore it and just keep moving on. We have work to do! But when we have a setback, we lament about it for too long. Here's the thing. I just ran 100 miles and crossed the finish line. It's kind of a big deal for me. I'm happy and proud and made a plan to celebrate it. I want to stop and just acknowledge that I signed up for, participated in, and finished a game. I also learned some things about myself as is often the case and I want to build a better me from that learning. So yes, I'm generally relishing in the win (but I also was on time for my daily huddle call with my team this Monday morning so I'm not perfect!).

Focus on the Critical Few.

In preparation for a hundred mile run, I think about not thinking. I want as little cognitive load as possible when it comes to the event. The more I think, the more energy I consume. It's why I'm pretty happy when I'm in solitude on the trail. I don't need to speak to anyone or make small talk or think about someone's response and how I'm going to respond. I just look at the dirt and move. My pacers know this because they are experienced runners and just kept things super mellow. We didn't talk about extraneous, meaningless topics. We kept things to the bare essentials, only focusing on what really mattered which was to get to the next aid station and move on from there. Focus. It matters.

And Lastly, Don't Look a Bear in the Eye.

I never see big wildlife when I'm out the trail. It's almost like someone put in a call to large animals and let them know I would be running and to please retreat. Sure, I see chipmunks and I saw a skunk once and yes, an owl swooped by me, but a bear? No way. So imagine my surprise when I was alone on the trail and saw a bear grazing about 25 feet off the trail. Holy moly. Um.....yikes. But I just kept running my race (a little faster of course at that moment) and let the bear do its thing. I had a bigger bear I needed to tustle with which was in my head and the looming 80+ miles I had remaining. I didn't plan for a bear per se (yes, honey, I had a whistle with me) and I certainly wasn't going to invite its interest.

What I love about 100 mile races is that you really don't know whether or not you will succeed. We don't actually have that many chances to test that in our lives as adults. Most of what we do is pretty guaranteed with a little elbow grease and some resources. But if your DNF rate is 25%, one best put a pretty solid plan in place. And even then...even then... the outcome is not guaranteed. For those of you who know me, you will notice some parallels here with what I write about in One Life to Lead (publishing on 10/12/21 by the way -- get your pre-order here now). I guess it is why I love ultra trail running. Its principles mirror a lot of aspects of life design! Onward (patiently and with presence).

Russell Benaroya is an author, speaker and entrepreneur. His most recent book is One Life to Lead.