A work colleague, Lee Whitaker, is running the Badwater 135 race right now. Yup, while I am typing this blog entry he is out on the pavement enjoying the sunrise over the mojave desert.
The badwater is hyped as the worlds toughest foot race. Although there are longer races and races with more difficult terrain there is no race quite like this one. Effectively, you start at Badwater Basin in the Mojave Desert at 280 feet below sea level and end at Mt. Whitney Portal at 8,300 feet. You run 135 miles on asphalt roads in sweltering heat. Today Lee is lucky. It will only get to 95 in the shade.
Lee started last night at 11pm. He is still running right now. At the time of this blog he has crossed the 42 mile marker in 6 hours and 34 minutes. While you and I are getting up and going today, Lee was still running. Most the elite runners, like Lee, hope to finish in just under 24 hours. Many finish in 30 to 40 hours. So keep this in your mind as you struggle to work at your keyboard today. Lee is not even half way yet!
I was explaining this race to some family members last night and the main question I got is, why? Why would someone do that?
Glad you asked! I have not ran badwater, or anything even close, but I do run long runs and I have been running everyday for over 500 days in a row. Here are my answers to this question of why?
Motivation
The ability to accomplish a major feat, a lifetime dream is intensely motivating. Letting you in on a big secret here. Have you ever struggled with staying motivated to eat right, exercise, and live a healthy lifestyle? Set yourself an audacious goal, go ahead and sign up for some big event. You are not committed. Now you have to stay motivated (or die)! Behind every athlete accomplishing some big feat is a person that started out looking for a way to stay motivated.
No StairMaster Required
Why do people focus on long distance, completely overwhelming events such as badwater. Because the gym just sucks. This was my StairMaster this morning:
No equipment required. No contract. No fancy clothes. Just a good pair of shoes and willingness to put one foot after another. Your workout routine is the road ahead, the sidewalk in your neighborhood, that mountain you pass by every day.
Running a race like badwater is not crazy it is just the natural accumulation of progress. 13 miles seemed overwhelming to me a year ago. Now I call that distance my short weekend run. Lee just runs a lot, his tolerance is higher. What is your crazy might by another’s next level.
I just checked the badwater results again. It is now 1:41p PST and Lee just passed the 72 mile mark with a time of 13 hours and 12 minutes.
You Are the Lizard King
I can tell you that Lee is not thinking about his little problems at work right now. The stress and anxiety of normal life melted away hours ago. That is one benefit of the running lifestyle, your drug does not come in pill form!
Think on this however. Once you have spent a ton of time preparing for something awesome and then you achieve it, what does that do for your personal confidence? You may think you are generally a confident person, but then after really preparing and getting some feat like this accomplished then were you are at mentally? I can tell you that it really boosts your mental toughness. What you have to go through to accomplish something like an ultra marathon helps you built a massive reservoir of grit. Little things at work no longer bother you. Challenges that you face in life seem trivial when you have overcome something of this nature.
Yup. Once you pull something like this off. You are indeed the Lizard King – you can do anything!
The World is Awesome
Just being outside is good for you. Vitamin D aside, I think there is just something right about spending time outside, seeing beautiful things, meeting cool people. This is my new therapy appointment. Outside, running, seeing amazing things and enjoying the world around me. Running an epic event is just an excuse to be outside more. That is the real truth.
Philosophy
As the majestic views overwhelm you, followed quickly by some technical rocks that you have to climb over your are faced with a lot of things to think about. As your mind wanders, each obstacle, each blooming cactus, every beautiful detail becomes input to help you gain inspiration, solve problems, work through life challenges. I have come up with more new ideas while scrambling through desert landscapes then any other source.
So this is why I have a future vision of running some awesome long distance trail run. Give me an excuse to be outside as much as possible, “practicing.”
Not sure that Lee is enjoying any great views right now. Later this evening as he does the last climb from Lone Pine to Whitney Portal he might take a moment to see the amazing sierra nevada ridge line, but something tells me he will just be thinking about the finish line.
Anyway, he is on his away to accomplishing his dream, the event he set out to race when he started running ultra races. I wish him well and will keep tracking his progress until the finish.
One last picture just for fun. Another guy I know that was part of the Ted speakers that I helped coach is running badwater as well. Here he is and yes he is wearing a Jester hat:
Ettinghausen
Guy Reams
