“Running on the Sun” – Badwater Ultramarathon
I just finished watching “Running on the Sun”, a documentary about the 1999 Badwater Ultramarathon. The Badwater Ultramarathon is a 135 mile ultramarathon that begins at Badwater, Death Valley (at -280 feet below sea level, the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere) and finishes at Whitney Portal, 11 miles from the top of Mt. Whitney (the highest point in the contiguous U.S.). As if running 135 miles isn’t enough of a challenge, racers also have endure temperatures up to 130 degrees and do it on little, if any sleep. I’ve read articles about the race, read Dean Karnazes account in his book “Ultramarathon Man” and heard stories from my friend Chris Bergland (whose own book “The Athlete’s Way: Sweat and the Biology of Bliss” is coming out this summer – I’ve gotten my hands on a pre-publication copy and just started reading it. I’ll write more soon, but it’s great so far).
All those written stories, however, are nothing compared to watching athletes go through the race. What I mean is that right now I’m in this place physically and socially where I’m becoming somewhat numb to how amazing (and amazingly difficult) it is to compete in this kind of races. I’m training for a race that two years ago I never would have considered myself capable of competing in – and I’m now certain that I can do it (or will be able to do it in 18 weeks). Also, a fair amount of people I know are participating in or are veterans of endurance racing – I talk to them on a regular basis or I read their blogs and although running a 50 mile race is still beyond my abilities, I see “normal” people doing 50’s and 100’s; a friend of Assaf’s who I’ve met got into Badwater this year. In “Ultramarathon Man”, Dean Karnazes writes about the struggles of Badwater – the heat, the dehydration, the G.I. issues and the exhaustion, but he makes it – many times, including a win in 2004. I know that both he and Christopher had DNF’s at Badwater, but of course, anyone can have a bad race. And somehow, in all that reading, the difficulty of the race and the struggles that racers endure got lost. Not any more. The movie shows, in all it’s gory detail, the headaches, the vomiting, the disorientation, the blisters, stiff muscles and absolute exhaustion that these racers experience. But you also get to see and experience the thrill of completion, the supportive friends, family and strangers and the camaraderie. Most of the racers don’t give up, and even the few that don’t finish certainly aren’t quitting and it didn’t appear to be a “choice” – this just wasn’t their day and they’ll be back to fight again.
One lesson that I learned from the movie actually came from the interview with the race direction in the bonus features. The race director got me thinking about why I’m doing all this. I’m paraphrasing, but he said something to the effect that training for, and competing in, Badwater isn’t just about dedication. To survive that race, it has to go beyond dedication – it becomes just part of what you do an who you are. It gets to the stage where you just can’t help doing it anymore. For me, dedication has always meant training every day, but maybe anyone with time and a little drive can go through the motions and put in the hours. The next step is to make it a part of my life so that it’s not so much about checking off another training session – instead it becomes something that I just do “naturally” and without forcing myself to do it or even ever doubting that it’s what I’ll do. Right now, I think I’m somewhere in between the two – moving closer to the “natural effort” stage. The closer I get to that stage, the more comfortable I’ll be and the more ready I’ll be to take on Lake Placid.
The other lesson I took from this movie is that I certainly cannot take my race lightly. These men and women were as fit as anyone I’ve ever seen and I’m sure they thought they were ready for Badwater. I know better than to compare an Ironman to Badwater in the absolute sense, but for me, for now, they may as well be the same thing. No matter how much training and preparation I put in, no matter how few scheduled training sessions I miss, I have to be ready for anything on raceday. I have to be mentally prepared to finish and physically able to do so. I’m definitely part of the way there on both fronts already.
18 weeks.
Swim – March 16
Distance: 1,800 yards
Time: 31 minutes
Run – March 17
Distance: 3.75 miles
Time: 31 minutes
Average heart rate: 142
Treadmill run
Bike – March 17
Time: 2:00
Average heart rate: 124
Indoor ride
Bike – March 18
Time: 2:00
Average heart rate: 127
Indoor ride
Run – March 18
Distance: 2.5 miles
Time: 21 minutes
Average heart rate: 141
Course: Around West Village
Conditions: Cold (mid-30’s), some wind, very sunny and clear