“The Flesh is Weak, but the Spirit is Willing.” Flesh vs Spirit.

In the last couple of months i’ve finally experienced some serious ultra-running (hehe). Up to this year, I had run plenty of 50ks and one 60k (Angels Staircase), but I had not been tested in the trail distances the ultrarunning world cares about. In the ultrarunning scene, the prestige is in the 50m, 100k, and 100m distances. I don’t compete in trail or mountain races to please people or for the attention, but i’ll admit, a big part of me really wanted to see how I would do in the longer distances. The first big test came at the Gorge Waterfalls 100k. I had been putting in some really good training with my teammate and good friend Ryan Bak. Felt really good and strong leading up to this race and through 20 miles things were going perfect. I felt really in control, felt like I was just warming up, and was pacing myself conservatively. Unfortunately someone tampered with the course and we went off course for 3 miles. I was pretty upset and devastated. I could not believe someone would do such a thing. Instead of focusing on nutrition I got really anxious and started looking for the right course. After many miles and minutes lost, I was back on course but in a completely different physical and mental state. I was done. My flesh had been broken and as much as my spirit wanted to continue and to finish my body gave way at roughly 45 miles of running.  I could not take another step and my stomach was in knots. After some weeks of recovery, I was back to training. Found out I was selected for the USA team heading to Zermat Switzerland for the World Long Distance Mountain Championships.

After the Gorge I was so burned out from long runs I stopped doing them for 6 weeks and just focused on getting my speed back and climbing legs ready for the World Championships. I won an 18 mile trail race in the Mckenzie River and then decided to run the Trail Factor Half Marathon to use it as training for #teamUSAzermatt. Knowing an uphill Marathon would take close to as long as a 50k I figured it would be good for me to run the 50k at Trail Factor as well. So a week before the race, I did my first long run of 2 hours and then one more speed workout. I got the crazy idea that maybe I could win both races since I would have one day in between to recover a bit and shakeout my legs, but I hesitated to sign up for the 50k. Morning of the Half Marathon I felt great. I was not tapered but my legs felt really strong and I was excited to run in Forest Park. I ran conservatively for 4 miles and then just pushed enough to get a comfortable win. Even with stopping for 3 minutes to see if I was on the right course I was able to finish the race feeling like I had just done a hard training run and had so much fun out there. Thank you Todd Janssen at GoBeyondRacing and Paul Nelson for all of these incredible photos at Paul Nelson Photography.

The next day was spent with family, eating, laughing, and just celebrating the upcoming wedding with my loved ones. I was able to get out for a 30 minute jog in the evening and felt decent. Ryan Bak said he was going to head down to do the 50k too and use it as training for Western States by now I was committed and excited for the 50k the next morning. Morning of the 50k I still felt good. I don’t know why but my training had finally clicked the last few weeks and even though my legs were a bit tight I could tell that my fitness was there. With some solid competition, including the Puzey Brothers from Flagstaff, I was excited to get back on the beautiful forest park trails. The plan was just to stay controlled as long as possible. Ryan and I had decided if we found ourselves in the front we would just cross the line together and save a race-effort for another day. We had a good pack of 4-5 guys for at least half way and then on some of the climbs it was down to just Ryan, Thomas Puzey, and myself.

At the mile 21 aid station Ryan and I stopped and Thomas gapped us by a bit. I told Ryan we would be fine and we worked together to close back in on him in the next couple of miles. Around mile 25 Ryan’s feet just started hurting from all the heavy mileage he had been putting in. He was training for Western States and this race was just a training run so he gave me the signal to go ahead and see if I could hang with Thomas. Hats off to Thomas for running such a strong race and coming back from a year of injury. The best part was seeing how happy he was to be back to racing. Well done sir!

At mile 28 I was still feeling great, so I just stayed patient and told myself to keep this as close to a hard training run as possible, but hopefully manage the win. On the last climb I was able to put a little gap on Thomas and picked up the pace until the finish. The top 4 guys broke the course record and my time of 3:31 was a good 14 minutes faster. I finished the race really excited about how good I was feeling. I still felt good and didn’t feel like I had gone into the well.

After finishing the 50k on Monday, I had this feeling that I needed to go race the 50 mile trail national championships in NY. I was not sure how I was going to make this possible in such a short amount of time and the thought of racing 94 miles in 8 days sounded crazy to me. I felt like God was telling me to go run this race and I just could not get it out of my head and heart. So I contacted Ian Golden who was so awesome and welcoming that it made the decision to go easy. With only 6 days to recover I focused on getting good sleep, doing two light jogs a day, and eating healthy. The time change in Ithaca was no fun but I was feeling recovered by Sat and was excited to get this ultrarunning another shot. I got to room with Andrew Benford whom I had raced at the Half Marathon Trail National Championships and we set the alarm for 4am (1am Pacific Time). Aside from Andrew, there were some other solid guys in the field. The biggest name was probably Tyler Sigl who had the two fastest 50 mile times last year and won the 50 mile road champs. I heard there was also a 2:15 marathoner and a 2:20 marathoner Jared Burdick making his 50 mile debut. After some oatmeal, banana, coffee, and cinammon bread it was time to race. I did not know a ton about this race or course, other than it was beautiful, and that there would be a ton of steps! I knew we had to do two 25ish mile laps and that my main goal was to finish so I went out pretty conservatively. We climbed steps, crossed rivers, ran through mud, and up a 600 foot climb in .5 miles. I focused on fueling and refilling my flasks at every aid station and kept getting updates on the leaders. Found myself running alone and in pursuit of the lead pack after 10 miles, but I wanted to give myself a shot at winning this race. Looks like the leaders had a good 5+ minutes on me at the halfway split. I took a split when I saw them going back out for the second loop and it seemed like more like 8-10 minutes but either way I was hoping I would catch someone in the next 10 miles.

I knew they were all close to each other and if I could catch one guy i’d probably be able to get to the leader at some point. I did not ask for any more updates and just focused now on racing to the best of my abilities. Whether that would be 4th or 1st didn’t matter now, I wanted to finish and see how high I could place. So I started taking less time in the aid stations and was more aggressive on some of the technical sections. I began to pray and think about all of my loved ones who were following the race and praying for me. I told the Lord thank you for letting me run this race and the opportunity to compete. I prayed that his spirit be with me and that on this day I could compete to the best of my ability. I know he doesn’t care whether I win or loose but that I glorify him in whatever I do. So I focused on that and since he made me competitive I ran with the intention of winning.

At the underpass aid station (31 miles) I found out 3rd place had just left. I got pretty pumped because it was earlier than I had expected to catch him. I went past him in the next half mile and started the steepest climb of the race in 3rd. I ran the entire 600 foot climb and spotted 2nd place.  As I passed Tyler Sigl I asked how far first place was from him. He said Jared was moving really good and that he was probably 5 minutes ahead at this point. I stayed focused on my nutrition (eating more solid food like PB & J) and kept rallying. At the next road crossing one of the volunteers said Jared had 2:45 seconds and it looked like he had been timing it on his stopwatch so I felt confident I was closing in. Three more miles of up and down, mud, and beautiful singletrack I crossed another road and heard he was less than a minute ahead. As I approached the Buttermilk aid station (38.5 miles), I finally caught a glimpse of Jared and he was leaving the aid station as I was coming in. I gave thanks to God and the momentum kept building.

I was closing fast and I could see Jared turning back on the next section of stairs. I stayed patient and just kept my rhythm going. Before mile 40 I found myself in the lead and things were looking great. I had 10 miles to go and I felt like I had the Lord and everyone praying for me, right there with me in spirit. After a few miles of running I turned back and could not see anyone. Watch this video, thanks to Mountain Peak Fitness, and get an idea of how beautiful and challenging this course was.

https://vimeo.com/129843246

With 8 miles to go I hit the last aid station, that I would stop at. I did not want to rush it so that I could get to the finish line from here and took my time hydrating. My stomach was telling me it could not handle much more so I only took a piece of a banana. As I was leaving the aid station I heard people cheering for Jared who was in sight. I wanted to make sure I secured the win in the next few miles so I just took my two filled up flasks, put my head down, and ran with whatever I had left. With three miles to go I look back down the long climb of stairs and could not see Jared. I still felt good and had a big smile on my face as I enjoyed the last few miles into the finish. Here is the post-race interview:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBhmm8pF9QU

I’m incredibly blessed for all of your support and prayers. Thank you! Huge thanks to Ian Golden for helping me make this race possible, to USATF for putting on the National Championships, and to Red Newt Racing for hosting it! Thank you to my sponsor Nike Trail Running for all of your support. I also want to thank Focus Physical Therapy and Recharge Sport for keeping me healthy! Above all, thanks be to God.

“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” – Matthew 26:40

So how does ultrarunning tie into these words Jesus spoke just before he was betrayed and arrested. It’s only in these longer races that i’ve experienced my body being completely exhausted and weak; i’ve reached the breaking point. I’ve gotten to see that moment of defeat where my flesh is completely weakened and now my spirit becomes tested. It has been amazing to see the spirit stay strong and want to continue. In no way does it compare to what Jesus did, but for me it’s been a little glimpse of how his spirit stayed strong (for each one of us) even as his flesh was beaten and crucified. That is my inspiration.