Javelina 100 was my first attempt at the 100 mile distance, and lead to my first ever DNF in ultrarunning.
I wanted to gather my thoughts here, for two reasons: first, to share a bit about the race with the community; and second, to help me process my DNF and think about what happened and what I should do differently next time.
If you’re interested in my training, I detailed that in my training blog.
As youāre reading this, thereās a couple of things I want to call out about my race strategy and race plan:
- My goal was to finish sub-24. I had looked at historical splits, ran a course preview, and had made some estimated timings for myself. These were estimates, not targets. That would have been laps going at 4:07 ā 4:33 ā 4:50 ā 4:57 ā 4:57 leading to a finish of 23:26, or 34 minutes to spare.
- My wife Kelly was my crew chief, and my good friend and training partner Jen was also running the race, with her husband Alex as her crew.
- I donāt mention much about eating. I have a 30 minute eating alarm on my Garmin, and I was pretty good about eating something every 30 minutes throughout the race. I think until things went south, I only skipped one planned feeding time.
- As hydration and electrolytes play into the DNF, I wanted to explain my hydration strategy: a. 2 soft flasks with carb/electrolyte mix. Tailwind at the start, but soon replaced by Skratch. Tailwind at 40gram/flask, Skratch at 20gram/flask. They both have about the same sodium at about 400mg/flask. b. Bladder in the back, with electrolyte tablet giving 666 mg/liter (1000mg for the bladder). This is mainly for extra sipping, and I never consumed the whole thing during a full lap, but was surely over half the bladder on each lap. c. Supplement as needed with extra fluids at aid stations. This ended up being a ginger beer at the start of each lap, and getting some Gatorade at some aid stations.
Pre-start
Jen and Alex got to Arizona on Wednesday. We were lucky enough to get a crew tent, and they were able to set up the tent on Thursday. Kelly and I arrived in Arizona on Thursday evening. We did bib pickup on Friday, and had the almost routine pizza-dinner before race day. A cookie and ice cream rounded out Friday night.
Saturday morning the alarm went off at 3:50AM. Quick shower, followed by 2 bagels with jam and 2 coffees. Out the door by 4:45AM, to be at the start line around 5:25AM. We got our gear into the crew tent and managed our way to the start by 5:50AM. Perfect timing, we didnāt have to sit around for long, and managed to get into a good position for the start of the race.
Lap 1: 0 ā 22.3 miles
At 6:00 the gun went off. We did a lap around Jeadquarters and then made our way onto the trail. I was wearing a headlamp for the first 30 minutes, not sure it was absolutely necessary, but better safe than sorry. No worse way to end a 100-miler than tripping over a rock in the desert at mile 1.
I stuck with my friend Jen for the first mile, but then we got separated and I didnāt see her again during the race.
I was feeling good, and was trying to move at an easy pace. Some running and some walking.
By the time I reached the first aid station at mile 4 I had gone through a flask of Tailwind, added a packet a Skratch to the flask and filled it with cold water. It was still cool enough in the day that I skipped the ice bandana at this point. Some people were already wearing it though.
This next section was going to be the longest in between aid stations, also with the most climbing. I felt good and managed to run-walk the whole thing. My run-walk wasnāt structured, it was going entirely by feel, with an occasional glance at my watch to look at my heart rate; which was totally in control. I started getting warm occasionally during this stretch, and used my spare bottle to spray some cool water on my head and arms.
I reached Jackass Junction, aid station 2, and filled up both of my flasks with fresh Skratch powder. I got my bandana filled with ice, and applied a wet sponge to my arms and my hat.
Up to aid station 3 now. This was mainly going downhill, and I was feeling good. At some point, I accidentally tore the bite valve of my flask. This caused some skratch to spray in my eye, and leaked some skratch on the trail. A helpful fellow runner found the bite valve and handed it to me. I cleaned it before sticking it back on my soft flask. I was very glad at this point to have the spare water flask in the back, because I meant I could wash my face/eye with some clean water.
During this section, my left foot hurt a bit. I even stopped to loosen up my shoelaces a bit, but that didnāt seem to resolve the issue. After a while it just stopped hurting, and I took that as a good sign. (spoiler alert: might explain why my left foot hurt the days after the race) Reaching aid station 3 I had again emptied both Skratch flasks, filled them up again. Also did the same ice bandana and wet sponge as I did at the previous aid station; and would keep doing all day.
This next section was on the Escondido trail, and weād only do this once. I had previewed this section and remember it was very up and down, but nothing too hard. I kept the pace controlled, walked most of the uphills and ran the downhills. I was pacing things pretty well, maybe a little bit slower than I had predicted, but still on course for my 24-hour goal.
I finished the first lap in 4:16:01. As I came into the aid station I had one of the volunteers apply a wet sponge to my head and neck, so I was cool while I was in Jeadquarters. When you arrive in Jeadquarters, you have to do a full loop around it twice. Once going to the finish line, and then back around the same way you came.
As I was doing the lap around Jeadquarters, I handed my pack and phone to Kelly. We charged the phone on a power bank, and Kelly had a fresh pack waiting for me. I went to pee, applied sunscreen and lube, drank a ginger beer, got the fresh pack, got a fresh ice bandana, got fully a charged Shokz headset and went on again. I stopped briefly at the aid station at Jeadquarters for some chips and watermelon and went on to lap 2.
Lap 2: 22.3 ā 41.9 miles
I started this lap walking a little bit just to keep things under control. I was feeling good, but wanted to ensure I kept feeling good. A lot of people around me seemed to have similar strategies, I saw a lot of people walking at this point.
For me, after about a mile I felt good enough to start running again. I did a conscious run/walk, not based on times but just based on feel with an occasional glance at my heart rate all the way to the first and second aid station. At the first aid station, I went through 1 flask and filled it up with fresh Skratch, and by the second I had gone through 2 more flasks.
Itās on the way to the second aid station that I saw Bri, a friend of my friend Gregg. Gregg had predicted weād run into each other, and believe it or not, we did! Whoād have thought that amongst 800 people running 100 miles weād find each other.
Itās also on the way to the second aid station that the leaders passed us. David Roche was in the lead and I gave him a loud cheer.
And right now, weāre in the heat of the day. It was hot out there. Even with my ice bandana and spray bottle it felt hot. It was so hot that the ice from my ice bandana had melted with about 3 out of 6.6 miles to go.
And let me tell you, if you plan to run Javelina, these 6.6 miles seem endless. Itās a long stretch, youāre going mainly uphill, and you donāt see the aid station in the distance, itās just there all of a sudden. It took me until lap 3 to finally identify some points to orient against: thereās a bench about 1.5 miles out, thereās the washout trail about a mile and when you see the emergency sign labeled J, thatās when the aid station is close.
Did my routine here again of filling Skratch, at this point also refilling my spray bottle as it came in extra handy, and getting wet. I had given my ice bandana to a volunteer, who filled it to the brim. I could barely tie it is how full it was. However, I did not mind once I had it around my neck. It was so nice to have a nice ice cushion right there, melting and providing the body with much needed cooling water.
And, somewhat to my surprise, by the time we had reached the 3rd aid station, the ice had melted almost completely; just as I had finished two flasks of Skratch. Refilled everything and kept going to Jeadquarters, now only 3.6 miles away.
I finished lap 2 in 8:18:23, meaning about a 4:02 for the lap. Pretty impressive given the heat and I had not forecast this speed, I had forecast about 8:40 for lap 1 and 2. During this lap, 2 friends had come out to spectate and help out at Jeadquarters. And they got a little aid station spectacle. I went to pee, had a ginger beer and decided to wash my feet, relube and change socks. Even though I was wearing gaiters, I had still caught some rocks in my shoe, and I decided if I was going to take of my shoes, Iād better take excellent care of them. I cleaned one foot while Kelly was taking care of some stuff with my pack, and while she washed the other foot I ate some potato chips and drank another ginger beer. I wasnāt in-and-out in 1 minute, but still felt like we were doing good transition times.
Alex ā Jenās husband ā ran with me through Jeadquarters up to the aid station where I wanted to eat some more watermelon. On the loop through Jeadquarters I realized we forgot to apply sunscreen, and Alex was kind enough to help me with that at the aid station. Maybe of note if youāre planning the race, every aid station had sunscreen and squirrels nut butter.
And with some watermelon in my tummy and sunscreen on my legs, face and neck, I was onto lap 3!
Lap 3: 41.9 ā 61.4
I started lap 3 as I started lap 2: walking. I think I might have walked a bit further than I did in loop 2, but soon enough the walk turned into my walk-run. Nothing memorable happened between Jeadquarters and the second aid station; I just kept up with my routine. My pace was slowing down a bit, and it was starting to feel hard, but everything was under control.
By the time I reached the second aid station at Jackass Junction, it was starting to finally cool down a bit. I filled up my Skratch and asked the aid station volunteers if I should still wear ice. They highly recommended it, just a little less. Thatās what I did. I asked another volunteer to grab my headlamp from my zipper and I had it handy for the way to the 3rd aid station.
As the sun was setting, it was amazing to run. My pace wasnāt as high as during lap 1, but I felt like I was moving alright and had everything under control. I reached the 3rd aid station, filled up a single flask of Skratch and made my way to Jeadquarters.
During this segment I started getting a little cold. My shirt was still wet from the ice, and there was no more sun to help warm up. I wasnāt shivering, but I was a little cold. I had an extra dry t-shirt in a ziplock, but I wasnāt cold enough to warrant changing shirts on the 3.6 mile segment to Jeadquarters so I just kept moving.
This is where the craziest thing happened. About 1 mile away from Jeadquarters I see these hella bright lights behind me, and I know what that meant: WINNER INCOMING! I move to right, but keep walking forward as the pacer passes me first. I ask the pacer who is winning. āDavid Rocheā he yells and I yell back āGo David! Amazing job!ā. I stop walking to let him pass, and as he draws parallel to me, he falls and faceplants. Weāre both in shock. I ask him if he needs a hand, and he snaps back at me āDonāt touch me.ā. I tell him Iām sorry and I started moving again. He had his pacer help him out and didnāt want or need my help. Given that, I didnāt want to stand around looking at the situation but rather wanted to give him the space to focus on himself. 2 minutes later his pacer and David pass me again. Both tell me, āyouāre fine, you did nothing wrong.ā and David even added āyouāre amazing.ā.
I was so shocked to witness this. I really hope I didnāt cause any of it, which by the sound of David and his pacer was the case, but even as Iām typing this today I feel a bit hyped up; just because itās not something you want to witness.
Anyway, I make it to Jeadquarters slightly after David wins the race, and start taking care of my loop 4 start. I finished loop 3 in 12:51:00, or 4:33 for the loop. This meant I was now about 40 minutes ahead of my schedule, and I would have 11 hours for 2 laps to get in under 24 hours.
I change shirts (more on that later), skip the ice bandana this time, have another ginger beer and sit down for 5 minutes. We even set a timer to time my transition. My plan had me switch electrolyte fluids to Tailwind now. I would be drinking less, and tailwind allows me to have more carbs per fluid while keeping sodium a bit under control. Finally, I put on my waist light, stuffed the headlamp in the back of the new pack (just in case the waist light errors out) and we get off to lap 4.
Lap 4: 61.4 miles to 80.9.
I left Jeadquarters a little nauseous. Nothing too bad, not close to throwing up, but I just notice my stomach. I had been eating and drinking plenty by that point, so Iām not that worried.
What I did notice and worried me a bit was that I was incredibly hot. The new shirt was too thick. Nothing to be done about it, except for opening the zipper (it was a Ā¼ zip) and rolling up the sleeves. At this point I wasnāt carrying the spray bottle, and I didnāt want to spray myself with Tailwind.
This made me take the decision at the first aid station to not refill one my flasks with tailwind, but rather refill it with plain water ā just in case I wanted to use that flask to spray myself cool. I ended up not doing that at all, but looking back at it, I made the right call here.
And on the way to the next aid station at jackass junction is where everything went south. By this point, I noticed that my feet were hurting a bit and I decided I would switch to thinner socks for the final loop. Somewhere along the way to Jackass Junction is where I noticed I couldnāt take of my wedding ring off anymore. This is my gauge for testing whether my fingers are swelling.
I knew this was a bad sign. It could point to hyponatremia and/or to overhydration. I wasnāt sure exactly what to do at this point, and I decided to consult ChatGPT with the following series of messages (My own messages are just spellchecked but sent as it, condensing the responses as ChatGPT was pretty verbose):
Iām at mile 68 of javelina. My fingers are swollen. Been eating and drinking. Have peed twice so far. Stomach little upset. Been drinking mainly electrolytes given it was very hot. It is now night and a little bit cooler. Ask questions if needed and diagnose.
After which ChatGPT recommended drinking plain water in small sips. Glad I had that extra flask. I had the mental clarity to even ask follow-up questions:
So. Drink plain water? Donāt eat salt for now?
To which ChatGPT replied to indeed focus on plain water.
Mouth is dry. Very slightly dizzy
ChatGPT kept recommended steadily sipping water, and trying to get in a carb-only snack.
I have to note, that the moment I started noticing the swollen fingers I skipped one or two of my scheduled eating moments. As my stomach was a little upset, I didnāt want to upset it more knowing there was some fluid / electrolyte imbalance.
Pretty quickly though my water flask turned empty. I asked ChatGPT for advice a final time for the night:
Ok. Im all out of plain water. 3 miles or 45 min till aid station. I do have water at 666mg or tailwind similar dosage sodium.
And the recommendation here was to sip the water with 666mg, and skip the tailwind for now. Which I did until I reached the aid station.
At the aid station, I went straight to the medical tent. I was feeling pretty horrible at this point. I explained the situation, what I had been eating and drinking all day, and the lady from the medical tent told me I likely had too much salt in my body, and needed extra water to clear the salt.
Which is what I did, I laid down on a medical cot for about 45 minutes trying to drink a flask of water. I was thinking I might DNF at this point, but I heard others in the tent actually DNFāing and having to wait for 3 hours for the next shuttle to arrive. And I wasnāt going to wait for 3 hours.
So after 45 minutes, I talked to the medical lady, who recommended I get some real food in me. After I left the med tent, I took 2 water flasks for the next segment and ate a hamburger with ketchup.
It feels weird to write this, but I actually felt better. I peed pretty soon after leaving the aid station and my pee was clear. I was moving alright during this segment. Not fast, but also not slow and I felt alright. I even remember eating something during loop, if memory serves me right it was a 50 gram Carbs fuel gel.
To give you an idea of what I was thinking/going through, I sent the following texts to Kelly:
[10/26/24, 22:32:42] Me: Ok. Iām going to try.
[10/26/24, 22:32:51] Me: 5 mile to next aid.
[10/26/24, 22:33:09] Me: Shuttle is in 3 hours. Next aid station is easier to drop in case I wanna / need to drop
[10/26/24, 22:33:28] Kelly: Okay
[10/26/24, 22:33:45] Kelly: Be careful.
[10/26/24, 22:51:42] Me: Im alright.
[10/26/24, 23:22:38] Me: Lets do this: meet me at medical tent at hq with phone battery in 90 min approx
[10/26/24, 23:22:47] Me: Lets ask medical for opinion.
[10/26/24, 23:22:52] Me: I feel like I can finish
[10/26/24, 23:23:18] Me: But donāt wanna do damage
I left the time stamps in there so you can see how I was progressing. I reached the 3rd aid station of the 4th loop, and saw medical again. My fingers were still swollen at this point, and I had an insane cotton mouth. My mouth was so dry, but I was drinking plenty, at least I think so (even now as I write this).
This medical guy said the inverse from the previous med tent, he thought I was overhydrated and this potentially led to hyponatremia. He recommended I limit my fluid intake and have a salt pill. I indulged, and actually had to pee immediately after taking the salt pill. Iām 100% sure theyāre not related, but again my pee was very clear.
The guy at the aid station recommended I donāt drink much anymore, have some food (I settled on potato chips and a half banana) and start moving. He thought I could finish, but given the conflicting medical advice I wasnāt so sure.
At this point, I remember texting Kelly (translated from Dutch):
[10/27/24, 00:00:14] Kelly: Prediction is youāll get here by 1AM.x
[10/27/24, 00:06:53] Me: Sounds legit
[10/27/24, 00:07:11] Me: I saw medical again
[10/27/24, 00:07:18] Me: This dude said the opposite
[10/27/24, 00:07:26] Me: Too little salt and too much water
[10/27/24, 00:07:36] Me: Took a salt pilt and am moving again
[10/27/24, 00:07:40] Me: Minimal drinking
[10/27/24, 00:07:47] Me: Need to pee as much as possible ASAP
[10/27/24, 00:08:03] Me: I donāt know what to do, but I think medical DNF might be safest
[10/27/24, 00:08:10] Me: Letās see in 50 min
[10/27/24, 00:08:10] Kelly: I think so too
[10/27/24, 00:08:42] Kelly: Yes
[10/27/24, 00:13:10] Me: 90% sure dnf
[10/27/24, 00:13:17] Me: Itās not fun anymore
[10/27/24, 00:13:23] Kelly: shit šš
[10/27/24, 00:13:31] Kelly: Health is most important
[10/27/24, 00:13:35] Me: Medical dnf is alright
[10/27/24, 00:13:42] Me: Call me in 20 min
[10/27/24, 00:13:47] Me: Then we can decide and call Alex
[10/27/24, 00:15:33] Kelly: Okay
[10/27/24, 00:16:15] Kelly: Or we wait till you are here
[10/27/24, 00:16:24] Kelly: 40 minutes more or less donāt matter
[10/27/24, 00:16:34] Me: ok. Feet hurt, they are swollen
[10/27/24, 00:16:57] Kelly: Uhu
[10/27/24, 00:23:20] Me: Iām slow
[10/27/24, 00:23:23] Me: I lost my stride
[10/27/24, 00:23:54] Kelly: no problem
[10/27/24, 00:23:59] Kelly: Take your time
[10/27/24, 00:29:27] Me: Upper part of my backpack, please take throat losings. My throat hurts.
[10/27/24, 00:29:39] Kelly: Oke
[10/27/24, 00:41:56] Me: About 20 months
[10/27/24, 00:41:59] Me: Min
[10/27/24, 00:42:20] Kelly: yeah, if it takes you 20 months Iām going home š¤£š¤£
[10/27/24, 00:42:23] Me: approx. 1 mile
I gotta say, itās hard reading these messages.
I got to Jeadquarters and went straight to medical. The medical person who helped me was more cautious about his diagnosis, he didnāt want to say if it was hypo/hypernatremia and/or overhydration. When I told him I was going to DNF however, he told me that was the right decision. He took my vitals, and those were surprisingly OK. Blood pressure was under control and heart rate was a just a tiny bit high at 85 sitting down, but thatās normal 5 minutes after you walk off the trail.
By this point, my hand was still swollen, and I still couldnāt take of the ring. Kelly got some ice so I could put my hand in there to beat the swelling and I kept it elevated. While I was doing that, she called Jen to come pick me up. She had also DNFād earlier that night, and given we were carpooling to the park, someone had to come pick us up.
My feet were killing me as well by this point. I took of my shoes and lied on the medical cot for about 20-30 minutes. Not drinking or eating, just lying there, contemplating my decision. But, I was at peace with the decision given the circumstances. After about 20-30 minutes, we left the medical tent, and reported I would officially DNF. I was able to pee a final time, and then we walked to the car where Jen drove us home.
I donāt have an exact chip time, but I think I got to Jeadquarters at around 0:55. Which means my lap 4, including a 45 minute medical tent visit, took me 6 hours and 4 minutes. I donāt have an official chip time as that would have meant going around Jeadquarters, and I wanted to go to medical ASAP. Even though I knew at this point I was going to DNF, and Iām glad I did, I had plenty of time to go out there and finish. It would likely have been a 25-30 hour finish if I had gone out again, but I didnāt want to take any risks. And Iām glad I didnāt.
Aftermath
We got home, I took a shower, and went to bed. I remember Kelly telling me I was radiating heat. I just wanted to sleep and deal with everything in the morning.
The morning arrived quickly. I think we got to bed by around 3AM, and I got up at 6:30. Left foot (remember for earlier where it hurt in lap 1?) hurt a decent amount, and legs were moving stiffly, but overall I was feeling alright. I had half a bagel with jam for breakfast, and after about a good hour even had a coffee.
My situation improved throughout the day. I had a light lunch (avocado toast), afternoon ice cream, and we had Chiliās Fajitaās for dinner. Stomach was a little upset after every time I ate, but the later in the day the better it felt. One thing I noted is that my urine throughout the day stayed pretty clear. I used that as a sign to not overhydrate, and just have small sips of water. It was only until dinnertime that I noticed my urine started having more color.
Got to bed early on Sunday, as we had to rise early on Monday. 4AM alarm, out of the Airbnb by 5AM, and on a plane by 7AM. Stomach is almost fully functional again, the only lingering effect of Javelina is my left foot that is hurting a bit still. But Iām sure also that will pass.
Processing and thoughts.
The first thing I want to say is itās crazy how the mind plays tricks on you. Iām writing this on Monday, 36 hours removed from my DNF. The whole day of Sunday I was at peace with my decision, and proclaimed that Iād be back in 2026 (hinting at not being back next year).
However, another night of sleep messed up my mind. Iām slightly questioning my DNF now given I had over 10 hours to finish the lap. Even if I had slept for 2 hours, I could have started the final lap. And, Iām already starting to think about potentially going back in 2025; but havenāt made up my mind yet.
One thing is for sure: even though I could have finished the race, I made the right choice. Fluid and electrolyte imbalances are no joke. The fact I was still peeing clear liquids on Sunday points me to the fact that indeed, something was pretty out of whack.
Addressing the issue of what felt off: while writing this and referencing āTraining Essentials for Ultrarunningā by Jason Koop, Iām fairly certain that I was overhydrated. The primary sign was my swollen fingers, indicating I had been drinking excessive amounts.
What Iām less sure about is my sodium levels. I think I was hyponatremic, but no way to be sure. Even though I had mainly been consuming electrolyte fluids, these were all dosed at about 666 mg / liter, which is on the conservative side. One thing to note, some of the food I took in also had a minor amount of sodium. I am a salty sweater, but still have to do an actual sodium sweat test.
I canāt say Iām proud of my result. A DNF is a DNF, and it sucks. But all of that said, I wanna round off with the positives. This is the furthest Iāve ever run. I ran an amazing first 3 laps. Second fastest 50k split according to Strava, and about a 13-hour 100k. Also, I managed to keep eating throughout the event, barring when the hydration issues started to happen. But even then, I had a hamburger, a gel, half a banana and some chips. So canāt say I completely stopped eating. My legs were doing alright, and I was moving well. I am even proud to say that I didnāt push anything over the top during the whole event. While Garmin says my max HR was 158, I only spent 6 seconds in my zone 3, which is above 155. So it might have peaked there, but I kept things very controlled in zone1-2.
I definitely hit some low points out there. Mainly on the 6.6 mile section to Jackass Junction. But when they arrived, I recognized them as a low point, and I focused on what I had in my control: one foot in the front of the other, keep eating and drinking, and have fun. And before I knew it, the low points were behind me and I was moving strongly again.
Enough about Javelina now, letās get ready for the next big one! Canyons 100k revenge in April!