John Vaupel

I have 18 days before I toe the line at Javelina Jundred in my attempt to run over 100 miles in less than 24 hours. It’s unbelievable to me how fast the time has gone since I officially started training on May 31st. Those 40 mile weeks I ran early on slowly grew into the 50’s, then 60’s and so on until August when I hit my first 80+ mile week. Since then I’ve run two more weeks above 80 miles, finished in 9th place overall at the Flagstaff Trail Marathon, completed a 50 mile trail race in 10 hours and ran over 90 miles three different weeks, the last two weeks 90.70 and 96.50 respectively. Back in June when I looked ahead at my October schedule I wondered how I’d make it through this month, both physically and mentally. I’m now looking back in amazement at how strong I’ve become in both areas. It just proves how adaptable and incredible the human body is if you train it properly. To see someone else run the distances I’ve been running every day, to see someone else run 31 miles one day and turn around with a strong 13 miles the next in 90° heat or to see someone else run any of the mountain trails I train on daily I would say they are a unique and gifted athlete with special abilities. In reality anyone with the perseverance to stick with their (or my somewhat educated) training each day has the ability inside them to accomplish the same thing and more. You just have to want it bad enough and stay focused on the end goal.

So far as my quest nears the home stretch my map shows during this training cycle I’ve run enough miles to make it to the Mississippi River to the east, almost to Calgary Canada to the north.

During the next three weeks I’m going to slowly reduce my miles but keep the intensity at a high level. This coming week I’ll cut back 25% and run in the low 70 mile range. The following week I’ll cut back again to the low 50 mile range and then it will be race week where I’ll only run two or three days at 4-5 miles each (just enough to burn the nervous energy I know I’ll have).

Unless something unexpected happens I’ll send out one last update prior to race day. There will be a live internet feed of the race that I’ll share with everyone as well as I’ll have my wife update my website throughout the race so you can follow along. It will be a good way to experience some of the day with none of the pain!

Until the next time…have fun and be safe!

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I’ve had two really good back to back weeks of running. The past two weeks I ran 80.50 and 82.25 miles respectively but they were completely different types of miles with different purposes.

	Week of 8/22	Week of 8/29
Mon	xtrain	xtrain
Tue	14.00	17.00
Wed	10.00	5.25
Thr	10.00	20.00
Fri	10.00	5.00
Sat	18.50	31.00
Sun	18.00	4.00
Total	80.50	82.25

Week 1 was designed to continue building endurance with a steady demand on my legs and body thoughout the week culminating in moderate back to back long runs on the weekend. Keep in mind this week followed a rest week so I started out very well rested both mentally and physically.

Week 2 had virtually the same total miles but the focus was on building individual long runs. In theory a person could run 12 miles a day, 7 days a week and get in 84 miles (about the same mileage I did). But all that makes them is a good 12 mile runner. My goal is 100 miles and with a good base built up over the past 3 months my focus has now shifted to those individual long runs. Long runs are a balancing act, don’t run far enough and I won’t be ready to run 100 miles…run too far and my body won’t recuperate fast enough to go back out the next day or within the next two days to stress it again. Conventional wisdom says 5-6 hour training runs are the right distance. The hardest part about Week 2 was honestly the 4-5 mile runs. I really wanted to get out and keep going but it’s too important on those days to hold in the reigns and be ready for the next days longer distance.

Saturday I did my first 31 mile run of this training schedule (I’ve done several other runs of 31+ miles over the past 2 years but not since last Spring). Waking up at 1:15 a.m. I was hoping to get most of my run in before the sun came up. I lucked out with the weather, the temperature on my truck thermometer read 83° as I was pulling into the Pemberton trailhead. This is the same trail Javelina Jundred will be held on November 12 and 13th. My plan was to simulate race day as close as possible by utilizing a run/walk strategy of 20 minutes running followed by 3 minutes of brisk walking then 20 minutes of running etc. I know every inch of the trail from running on it so many times so I timed the 3 minute walks to be on the hardest part of the course. If that meant running for 18, 23 or 25 minutes then starting the 3 minute walk that was ok. This strategy is designed to get me to the final 30 miles with gas left in the tank so I can push it as much as possible and not be crawling toward the finish.

The second part of my plan was based on nutrition. I switched gels a few weeks ago because the gel I had used for long runs in the past upset my stomach. After a lot of research I switched to Gu Gel Just Plain (Just Plain is exactly what it sounds like, no flavor). Taking 1 Gu Gel on my drive to the trail then every other walk break I consumed 7 – 100 calorie gels during my 31 miles. I didn’t experience any stomach problems and felt good the entire run, no spikes in energy and always feeling like I could go further on the energy I had. Along with my Succeed Ultra electrolyte drink I was happy with the results and will stick with this plan unless some unforeseen problem comes up in future long training runs.

After finishing my run the temperature had climbed to 94°, it was time for an ice bath. Cold water from the faucet (in Arizona that means about 90°, ugh) plus 40 pounds of ice felt great on my legs.

An ice bath after a long run helps speed up recovery and today I feel great, no muscle soreness at all. I took a planned “sort of day off” by doing a brisk 4 mile hike on the Promenade Trail near my house this morning. It was all I could do to stay patient and not break out in a run.

The circles on the map are slowly growing. It’s been two weeks since I updated my progress. I have two boring weeks of training coming up (one will be a rest week) so I don’t expect to update my blog now for a while.

Until the next time have fun and be safe.

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I’m starting to feel that way about running 100 miles in one day. The training is going well and I’m way ahead of my original training schedule, because I’ve been adding extra miles daily to the schedule. But as I get stronger and run farther each week it’s opening my eyes as to how hard this is really going to be and how much harder its going to be than I originally thought. I’m gaining even more respect for the people I know that have already completed 100 mile races.

This week I ran 80.5 miles, my highest weekly total ever. My biggest concern for miles right now is my weekly long run. It’s very hard to run long right now near my house when the average high the past 2 weeks has been well over 110°, several days have reached 113°-116°. Over the next five weeks I have scheduled long runs of 31, 16, 24, 26.2 (followed by 20 the next day) and 50 miles. My overall weekly mileage might drop slightly during these weeks to allow for more rest after these long runs.

Some miles are harder than others

I normally run a lot of hills so if you ever calculate my average pace per mile it looks pretty slow, well ok, its not just looks, it is slow. Yesterday I ran 18.5 miles on the Highline Trail near Pine, AZ. In that short of a distance I had total elevation change of 7,347′ (GPS devices are amazing aren’t they?!). Today I followed it up with a very slow recovery 18 miles, on tired legs, with less than 800′ of total elevation change and ran it in 1:43 less time. If all my runs this week were on flatter ground I put in enough time to approach 95+ miles. But I’ve already established in past posts that if I didn’t run in the mountains I wouldn’t run so for me miles and “time on my feet” are variable factors that can’t really be quantified.

Diet Update

OK, it’s not “really” a diet…let’s call it a “nutrition program”. In the past week my daily caloric intake has been as follows:

• 1,946
• 1,777
• 2,031
• 1,853
• 2,095
• 1,985
• 2,572 (*860 during run from GU Gel and electrolyte/energy drink)
• 14,259 total calories consumed in the past 7 days

I started at 6′, 170lbs. which equates to a Basal Metabolic Rate of 1,847 calories per day required for a sedentary person to maintain their weight. Obviously 80.5 miles this week plus cross training is not sedentary. So how do I have enough energy to keep running? I eat every 2 hours or as close as I can throughout the day. A human body can only digest up to 350 calories per hour (that’s a well trained athlete, most people are a lot less) so keeping quality calories coming in a steady stream but in low quantities is the best way to stay fueled throughout the day. I could write a book about this subject (but it’s already been done too many times) so I’m keeping it brief, if you want more detail contact me directly and I’ll gladly help you. Here’s an example of one of my days.

3:00 a.m. 197cal – 1/2 100% Whole Grain Bagel w/ 1/2 TBSP Peanut Butter, 1/2 TBSP Nutella and a strong cup of coffee (pre-run meal)
7:00 a.m. 288cal – Whole Grain Mini Tortella w/ 1/4 skinless chicken breast, 1 tsp salsa, 1/4 bell pepper, 1/4 C egg whites and 1 1/2 C green grapes on the side (post-run meal)
9:00 a.m. 60cal – large Fuji Apple
10:00 a.m. 290cal – 1/2 C Old Fashion Oatmeal, 8 almonds, 8 tart dried cherries, 1/4 C 1% milk, 1 tsp 100% maple syrup
12:00 p.m. 351cal – 1 serving 100% Whole Wheat Spaghetti, 1/2 serving frozen peas, 1/8 red bell pepper, 1/2 tsp olive oil, 1/2 can white tuna (packed in water)
2:00 p.m. 110cal – 1 C watermelon, 1 C green grapes
4:00 p.m. 127cal – 6oz. low fat organic chocolate milk
6:00 p.m. 351cal – Jennie O turkey breast patty w/ catsup, dill pickle & jalepenos, Oro Wheat Sandwich thin (bun), 1 C fresh green beans, 1/2 C low fat cottage cheese
9:00 p.m. 270cal – 1/2 C Old Fashion Oatmeal, 1/2 TBSP Peanut Butter, 1/4 C 1% milk (fuel for tomorrow’s run at 3:30 a.m.)

Of course there are a couple Diet Cokes and a Verve! or 2 during the day along with several glasses of water or green tea but no calories are involved, just much needed caffeine.

I’m down 6lbs. in the past week with plenty of energy to put in the needed miles. Another 4-5lbs. and I’ll reassess and most likely go on a maintenance program to keep my weight under 160lbs. through Javelina Jundred.

Special Shout Out to Jay Danek

I introduced you to Jay Danek in my July 3 post titled “Highs and lows…and more lows”. Jay ran his first 100 mile race this weekend in Hot Springs, SD called the Lean Horse Hundred. Jay finished the race in 19 hr. 01 min. and placed 4th overall. Way to go Jay!!! Jay’s one of those guys that trains very hard. A normal week for Jay is over 100 miles and often times closer to 125 miles. Jay started running about 2 years ago and has run 4 miles or more (a lot more normally) for 531 days in a row. Yes, in a row without a day off! When Jay returns from South Dakota this week I plan on twisting his arm for all the secrets I can get about running a 100 mile race. Jay will be running Javelina Jundred on November 12th when I attempt my first 100.

Until the next time have fun and be safe.

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