First Time 200 Miles: Joni Watkins’ Inspiring 2024 Across the Years Journey

Transcript

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Hello and welcome If this is your first time with us.

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Thank you so much for stopping by.

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You are listening to Choose to Endure the show dedicated to the non-elite runners, where we share stories, interviews, gear and training tips specific to the tail-end heroes of the Ultra universe.

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My name's Richard Gleave.

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I have been running ultras now since 2017 or so.

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I have taken on and finished numerous ultras, all the way up through 220 miles, and I am unashamedly a member of the back of the pack, just like many of you out there.

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Now, today, I have another interview for you.

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We are joined by the amazing Joni Watkins.

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Joni is a seasoned ultra runner living in the pretty stunning San Juan Mountains of Colorado.

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She has summited over 65 peaks above 13,000 feet which is pretty insane in of itself.

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Thousand feet, which is pretty insane in of itself and completed more than 55 marathons and ultra marathons.

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Despite her love for mountain trails, joni has a surprising passion for flat, fixed time races, including her recent milestone at the 2024 across the Years six-day event.

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A dedicated member of the running community, she's known for volunteering at the Hard Rock 100 and supporting a whole host of fellow runners out there.

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Joni's story and her incredible journey to 200 miles for the very first time at Across the Years is one you are not going to want to miss, and we're going to be back to hear all about it right after this.

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All right, joni, welcome to the show.

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Lovely to have you on.

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Hey, thanks, richard, it's great to see you.

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It's been a long time.

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Yeah, it's been a while.

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How's the recovery after the 200 miles?

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Oh, you know it's going.

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I'm going a little stir crazy over here, but you know, like 200 miles is one of those distances that you should probably respect and give your body a break after.

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So yeah, just doing my best to rest and recuperate as I can.

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Absolutely Now.

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You had a great Facebook post, I think maybe right after you had finished this race, and in it you sort of teased a little bit about your journey prior to across the years and a little bit of background on you getting there.

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But I think we just start.

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For any listener unfamiliar with that particular race, Can you kick off by just helping us kind of understand a little bit about Across the Years as an event, Sort of what is the race format, what and where is it?

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You know the atmosphere for that event.

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So what are we talking about here?

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Yeah, it's actually one of the oldest ultramarathons in the country I believe it goes back to the 80s but it's basically a fixed time event.

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They've diversified it a lot, but you can do everything from six hours to six days.

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They also do have a couple set distance races and it's in the middle of the city, so, for better, for worse, and you just do loops.

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Originally, when I first started doing the race, the loop was pretty close to one mile.

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In the past couple years they've changed up their venue a little bit and the loop has been a little bit longer.

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But it's basically.

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The race is the ultimate celebration of pedestrianism.

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So it's a lot of fun because it takes out the unknowns of is my crew going to be able to find me?

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Will I get lost?

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Ah right.

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You know things like that.

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Like will I lose self-signal?

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Like you don't have to worry so much about that aspect of the race.

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Is that the reason?

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I mean, you live in a really fantastic part of the country and yet here you are.

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You kind of like these races, a really fantastic part of the country, and yet here you are, you kind of like these races.

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Is that part of the reason why, or is there some other reason that you really like these fixed time races?

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Yeah, I mean honestly, when I'm hiking around my house, I don't mind being off the grid and I take safety measures for that.

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However, when I'm racing, you know it's especially being a back of the pack runner.

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It becomes a little too high stakes for me when you're taking out cell phone service and you don't have a guarantee of crew or you might have to go 20 miles to the next aid station.

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It kind of shakes my confidence a little bit.

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And it's hard enough running 100 miles or 200 miles, and if anyone doubts that a one mile loop, a one mile flat loop, over and over and over again, is any easier, it's not.

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It's still hard, but for me it's nice to kind of take out a lot of the unknowns.

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So that is a big draw for me what?

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what is the surface journey?

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Is it a concrete surface or is it on track?

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It's generally a mix of concrete and dirt.

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So the last couple years, or couple many years, they've had it at two different spring training facilities down in Phoenix.

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So part of it's like little dirt paths between the baseball fields and part of it's concrete.

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So there is a mix of that and it does, you know, for people that are trying to train, best suited for the race.

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You do need to do a bit of road running, concrete running.

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Yeah, and I've always thought like people look at those races and think, oh, they must be easier than running through mountains and stuff.

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But those races come with their own set of challenges, particularly mental challenges, Like if you're going around a one, one and a half mile loop, I mean the amount of times you've got to go around that for 100 or 200 mile or over 72 hours or whatever.

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The opportunity to stop or to sit in your particular little spot that you've picked on the side there at the start.

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Finish must be really challenging to kind of push yourself to keep going past that and keep running loops when it's so easy just to sit down for 10 minutes and lose time yeah, it yeah, and that's another part of the draw for me.

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I like the mental aspects of that, because I do think that is where a lot of us back of the pack runners have to pick up the slack a little bit, right.

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Like we're not.

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We're not these incredible gifted athletes I mean, but you can really get your mental game in there and be slow and steady, you know, and just knock out the miles.

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So yeah, it's definitely its own type of challenge, but I kind of like it that way.

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Yeah, it's very cool and very different.

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I love the different styles of racing in ultra running, and this is one that's pretty unique, I think.

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Now, joni, what initially drew you to across the years?

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And then, how did you get to the challenge of the six day event, because I don't think you've done that one before.

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Yeah, I mean I had dabbled in fixed time races before, but specifically I was looking to do my first 100 mile race.

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This was back in 2017.

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And again, it's kind of like I said earlier.

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You know I was I'm not fast on trails.

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I love trails but I'm not fast on them, you know, and there's a lot of unknowns when you're on trails.

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So it was like if I signed up for the 48 hour race, I could do my hundred miles and I wouldn't have to be worried about a 30 hour cut off.

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I wouldn't have to be worried how far my aid was.

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I could have everything I needed right there.

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So that's what drew me to it in the first place.

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And I went and I did my first hundred miler and it took me a little bit over 30 hours, but it gave me the confidence I needed to then later do a more traditional 100 miler.

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You know, under 30 hours.

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Yeah.

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And then, my friend, I had a couple of friends that went with me that year and you start meeting people and then you know you go the next year and you see those same people.

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So yeah it kind of it, kind of hooked me, you know.

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So, yeah, it kind of hooked me, you know.

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So I've been almost every year since then, except for a couple of the COVID years, but it's just a fantastic race.

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Excellent.

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Yeah, I really can't say enough about how amazing it is, especially if you're toying with like a new distance goal or you know you lack maybe a little bit of confidence to reach those goals.

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I think that's where that style of racing really comes into its own Just giving you the time, like you said, without the cutoffs, to make your own way to a new distance.

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I think that's fantastic.

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Now, in your post you made online, you mentioned that you'd been for this year, maybe training at a calorie deficit which I think is pretty uncommon for many runners.

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How did you balance that while you were prepping for such a big multi-day ultra?

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Yeah, it was one of those things where I needed to make losing a few pounds a priority.

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You know, according to the BMI scales, which I know a lot of people cringe about, I was obese.

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You know it had been a tough.

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Few people cringe about I was obese.

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It had been a tough few years from COVID and it was just hard to get that under control.

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And then, as a 40-year-old woman staring down menopause, I knew it wasn't going to get any easier.

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So I really needed to get my weight in check and that was my number one goal for the year was to lose weight.

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All of my other race goals were kind of let's see what happens, but really it was.

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If I wasn't feeling super energetic, I would walk instead of run.

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If I was having a good day where I felt energized, then you know I would do a little tempo run.

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It was really a test of listening to my body and not pushing myself into overtraining and I think the key for that was really dialing back the intensity, which for back of the pack, it's fine to just get time on your feet.

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In my opinion, Absolutely, because we're going to be out there a lot longer than most people anyway.

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So I think just getting the time in is great.

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Now I think you had if I recall you had a couple of 50Ks earlier in the year.

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How did those go?

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Did you use those to make adjustments when you were going into across the years?

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Yeah Well, the first 50K I did behind the rocks in Moab.

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Oh, beautiful.

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It was beautiful, but I was dizzy the entire time and basically I knew at the halfway point that I just needed to call it because it's not worth it, especially when you're out there in the middle of nowhere.

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I don't want to put myself in danger or make it any harder for the race staff or anything like that.

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So I called that halfway.

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So that was, you know, obviously a little bit of a confidence drain, but it happens.

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And then.

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So the second 50K I did was also a fixed time race and that was down in New Mexico and I had really hoped to do like 80 miles but you know, it was slow going and I had a friend hurt herself so I stopped to help her and I was fine with calling it then and I felt pretty good, but I also was like, okay, this is walking a 50K, I've done it, but it takes a while, so it can be a little disheartening when you're out there.

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And then the third one I did I was also hoping for maybe like 100K, but it ended up being in the in the 90s the temperatures and there was no shade.

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So, I actually did end up walking the whole 50k that time.

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So you know it's hard to like poo poo because it's still a lot of miles, but when you're hoping to get back in the hundred mile, hundred mile plus distances it can be a little jarring to your confidence.

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So hey, yeah, they all count.

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You know, I kind of went after that one in August.

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I was like well, I'm just going to try to focus on a hundred miles at across the years.

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I would love to get like 101 miles because that would be a distance PR for me.

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Yeah, so that's really kind of how those affected me.

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I mean, it was really kind of they threw me off a little bit.

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But I just, like I said, I just kind of tried to keep meeting myself where I was and not be too hard on myself.

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So how did you get from there, mentally speaking, to right across the years?

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I'm going 200 miles.

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You know you've been struggling with the 50ks almost all year.

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What was the trigger for you to even think about 200 miles at across the years?

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Or did you even know, going in, that that's what you were going to go for?

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Yeah, I did.

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It was kind of a last minute decision on the 200 miles.

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It's like after that last 50K temperatures started dropping a little bit and I had lost about 30 pounds by that point.

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So I was able to move faster, which was feeling better.

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So my training started to feel a lot better and I was hitting times and goals that I had several years ago when I was maybe at the peak of my back of the packness.

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So I was feeling very optimistic and it was about three weeks before, across the years, I knew I was going to do 72 hours and just try for 100 miles.

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Right.

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And I had just the best long run, Like everything felt great.

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My pacing was like even and perfect.

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The whole time.

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I felt like I could keep going forever.

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It was just like, oh my gosh, I hadn't had a run like that in years, you know.

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Awesome.

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So I talked to my friends Lori and Chris who were going, and they were like, you know, I was like I think I want to sign up for the six day, and they were like, well, if you don't do it you're going to regret it.

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Just go for it and try it.

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And you know, I told them I'm like I feel like if I do the six day I have to do 200 miles though, because I mean, 100 miles in six days is still tough, but I think it's a little easier than what I was going for.

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And they were like no, no, you don't have to do that, don't put that pressure on yourself.

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But of course, once it was in my head, it was in my head.

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You know you've got it yeah so, um, yeah, I made that pivot pivot like three weeks before the race.

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Wow, that's really close to shift that goal, but I love it that you came off like it was just based on this amazing run that you had.

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I think that's really cool and you just jump, go for it.

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I like it.

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Now we talked about the 1.4 mile loop course.

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How did you mentally approach that?

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Because you've done this race before, so presumably you had some ideas going in about what this was going to be like.

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Yeah, I think for me, honestly, it's kind of just getting as many mental distractions lined up for yourself as you can, you know.

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Right right.

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Download five audiobooks.

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Download podcasts.

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It helps to.

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Honestly, the biggest thing is knowing people out there or making a friend, Because yeah there's times when you get bored, but just meeting someone and talking to them and walking with them is such a mood boost.

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So honestly, that was kind of like.

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Strangely, a goal of mine and my friends this year was to just make as many friends as possible, which I know like it sounds silly, but people that do ultras a lot get it.

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Just having that friendly conversation or even commiseration in the middle of a race can really distract you.

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So, yeah, I mean, for me it's like the 1.4 miles.

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Yeah, it can get really boring and mundane, but you can always like it's 1.4 miles.

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I can be like oh, I can just do one more.

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Oh, I can just do one more.

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You know Like it's also, you can break it up into really small chunks that way, right.

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So let's get into the race itself.

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Joni, how did your race play out?

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Were there any standout moments or any of those conversations you had with other runners that sort of kept you going?

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How did the race go?

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I mean it went awesome.

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Obviously it went great.

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Yeah.

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I am very fortunate.

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I'll just give a shout out to the weather.

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Unfortunately, we're having a very, very dry winter in the southwest, including down in Phoenix, so there was no rain at all.

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The temperatures were perfect.

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Sometimes it rains out there and becomes a mud fest.

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It's awful.

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So that was a huge help.

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But really it went great.

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I mean my plan, my minimum goal each day was to do 33 miles, right?

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So the math on that works out to 200 miles and I tried not to think too far ahead of that, right?

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But talking with my friends, it's like, well, you should probably try to bank some miles, because who knows what's going to happen in those last days?

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Except we do know what's going to happen in those last days, which is you're going to feel like crap.

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So, yeah, I tried to bank miles as much as I could in the early days, but without overdoing it.

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Still, you know, and I had a strategy I slept every night.

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I slept about six to eight hours, except for the last night.

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So that's a lot of sleep.

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But it works for me Recovery.

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On.

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The second day is the day my husband started his 100 miler.

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So I actually didn't meet my minimum miles that day.

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So I got a little worried but I ended up making up for that.

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And you know, also, by day two I had a.

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I had a bit of a an ankle problem.

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I say ankle but it's more muscles in my front shin were really starting to swell and ache, I think, from all the dorsiflexion on my foot, my toes.

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So you know, every night it's icing that and putting on an ACE bandage.

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I did make a visit to the med tent at one point and they agreed that it just wrap that thing and ice and keep going.

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So yeah, I ended up finishing five days and five hours.

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So it didn't even take me the six days, which was incredible.

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Brilliant.

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Yeah, yeah.

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So I'd say for the most part everything went really well.

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I mean, you can kind of expect some of the things to come up like I mentioned, Like maybe you don't get as many miles one day or you have some aches and pains, but for the most part, yeah, it went really well.

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Well, I'm going to put a pin in your husband doing his first 100 miles because I want to come back and ask a little bit about that too.

00:19:09.938 --> 00:19:20.104
But I think you mentioned earlier 101 would have been the furthest you you have gone at this point and you kind of blew right by that and went to 200, which is a huge jump.

00:19:20.104 --> 00:19:29.974
When you skipped past 101 and you're hitting 120, was that kind of in your head wow, I'm, I'm uh, way past what I've done before here.

00:19:29.974 --> 00:19:34.698
Was there any wobbles or moments in there where you thought I'm not sure about this?

00:19:34.698 --> 00:19:40.934
Or did breaking it up into chunks take that away, because it never felt like more than 100?

00:19:41.596 --> 00:19:47.413
Yeah, I think after I surpassed the 100 mile mark, it definitely was a victory for me.

00:19:47.413 --> 00:19:53.636
But at the same time I'm like, okay, I'm halfway to my ankle, so don't get too carried away.

00:19:53.636 --> 00:19:59.583
But you know, I think really I would say mile 70.

00:19:59.583 --> 00:20:09.409
Mile 70 was when I started having real bad pains in my shin and I was like, okay, this is, I need to figure out what's going on because I don't want to do permanent damage.

00:20:09.409 --> 00:20:11.976
So that was a little worrisome.

00:20:11.976 --> 00:20:19.079
But you know, I was able to work through that and my my leg was responding well to compression and ice and a little bit of rest.

00:20:19.079 --> 00:20:22.894
And then I would say like mile 152.

00:20:22.974 --> 00:20:34.775
It was like during one of the afternoons and even though it wasn't crazy hot, it was, you know, like 77, which you know when you're running can be pretty warm and there's no shade out there.

00:20:34.775 --> 00:21:07.839
And I definitely had a moment where I was trying even though they do count the laps for you I was trying to do race math in my head, like if I do this many miles this day and you know how that goes and I wasn't doing a good job and I was like, wow, I don't think I can do this and honestly, I think that was the first time I had thought that the entire race which is actually pretty remarkable for me that it took my head that long to go down in the dumps but I just took a break and sat in the shade and sipped on a beer, which is the beauty of across the years.

00:21:07.901 --> 00:21:19.817
You can do that and love it waited for it to cool down a little bit and went back out there and that kind of faded and then at that point you're like well, I'm just taking the miles down to 200.

00:21:19.916 --> 00:21:23.672
So that's one of my secret weapons sipping on a beer.

00:21:23.672 --> 00:21:26.479
I'd like to do a beer every 50 miles if I can.

00:21:26.479 --> 00:21:32.576
I mean it's got electrolytes in it's for hydration, it's got a few calories going on in there, but really it's a mental thing.

00:21:32.576 --> 00:21:34.683
It's just kind of break stuff up.

00:21:34.683 --> 00:21:35.226
But yeah, I do.

00:21:35.226 --> 00:21:39.721
I mean I genuinely like to do a beer during a race, which you can't do if you're running a marathon.

00:21:39.721 --> 00:21:41.453
Yeah, usually anyway.

00:21:41.453 --> 00:21:43.799
Yeah, I think that's fantastic.

00:21:43.799 --> 00:21:45.772
Now were your friends Laurie and Christine.

00:21:45.772 --> 00:21:47.036
Were they running as well?

00:21:47.036 --> 00:21:50.170
And they were helping you around Like Christine?

00:21:50.170 --> 00:21:50.530
Were they running?

00:21:50.550 --> 00:21:52.173
as well, and they were helping you around, like how did their races go?

00:21:52.173 --> 00:21:57.324
Yeah, so Lori and I actually met going to across the years the very first time I went.

00:21:57.324 --> 00:22:04.133
She's from the front range, denver, and that's where I lived too at the time, so we knew each other through mutual friends.

00:22:04.894 --> 00:22:18.737
She would hate that I'm even saying this right now, but she's a very accomplished ultra runner, so, but she's a very accomplished ultra runner, so, but she's also very nice, very humble, very low key, which is why I say she would hate that I'm bragging about her right now.

00:22:18.737 --> 00:22:32.540
So she was there for my first across the years and really gave me some very sound advice, just little tidbits when I needed it, like during the heat of the day, you know, when I felt like I just needed to keep crushing it, she'd be like just go sit in the shade, Like it's fine, you know.

00:22:33.241 --> 00:22:33.563
Yeah.

00:22:34.022 --> 00:22:38.280
Just little things like that, that don't take yourself too seriously.

00:22:38.823 --> 00:22:47.734
Yeah, sometimes it's nice to have that permission just to go do it you feel like you should be out there doing this stuff and it's nice to have like the better runners out there and be like no, you know what.

00:22:47.734 --> 00:22:51.383
It's perfectly okay to go sit down for a while in the shade.

00:22:51.563 --> 00:22:51.963
Right.

00:22:51.963 --> 00:22:59.260
So she's been out there every year with me, so she's just been a lot of fun and we've become close friends that way.

00:22:59.260 --> 00:23:12.580
And then Christine, or Chris, we actually met at going to a different fixed time race several years ago and, yeah, she's also a very gifted runner, very good runner.

00:23:12.580 --> 00:23:19.061
So she was going for 300 miles, so she was really crushing it out there.

00:23:19.061 --> 00:23:23.578
And Lori Lori got 170 miles and three days, which was awesome.

00:23:23.578 --> 00:23:24.883
I think she got third female.

00:23:24.883 --> 00:23:28.618
But for her that was like I mean it was hard, but she was.

00:23:28.618 --> 00:23:31.144
She was just out there having fun, but Chris was really crushing it and they're both so accomplished and amazing.

00:23:31.144 --> 00:23:34.038
That was like I mean, it was hard, but she was just out there having fun, but Chris was really crushing it and they're both so accomplished and amazing.

00:23:34.349 --> 00:23:49.662
But they always, like I said, they take time to give me little nuggets of encouragement, but they also encourage me mainly to not take it so seriously and it's not to say like skip out on training or do irresponsible things.

00:23:49.662 --> 00:24:01.640
It's just having a lighter attitude and having more fun and happiness during these races really makes a huge difference, I've found, and I think it helps your performance honestly.

00:24:01.640 --> 00:24:03.433
So I've just really appreciated that.

00:24:03.433 --> 00:24:07.542
They're out there making you laugh, making each other smile.

00:24:07.542 --> 00:24:11.532
You know they'll give me little tips here and there making you laugh, making each other smile.

00:24:11.532 --> 00:24:12.874
You know they'll give me little tips here and there.

00:24:12.874 --> 00:24:15.517
So yeah, they, they had great races and I was so glad that they were there.

00:24:15.957 --> 00:24:16.577
Fantastic.

00:24:16.577 --> 00:24:21.442
Now I do want to go back to your husband to shout out to your husband Matt, is it?

00:24:21.442 --> 00:24:22.702
Yes?

00:24:22.702 --> 00:24:26.665
Shout out to Matt for completing his first hundred miler out there.

00:24:26.665 --> 00:24:27.666
How did that come about?

00:24:31.932 --> 00:24:34.557
And what was, what was, what was it like sharing that experience together?

00:24:34.557 --> 00:24:35.920
Yeah, so this is kind of a funny story.

00:24:35.920 --> 00:24:37.703
He's he has come almost every year.

00:24:37.703 --> 00:24:39.414
He's usually my crew.

00:24:39.414 --> 00:24:48.296
We actually met at a running club, though, so we're both runners, but he never really quite got into it as much as I did.

00:24:48.296 --> 00:24:54.073
He's's done on ultra years ago, so he's always been my crew, which is really amazing.

00:24:54.073 --> 00:24:55.958
He's really great and I'm always appreciative.

00:24:55.958 --> 00:25:09.253
But last year one of our regular friends who we see out there her husband, had got it in his head that he was going to do 100 miles and he's not a runner, but he was like I could do this, so he did it.

00:25:09.253 --> 00:25:16.579
And he's not a runner, but he was like I could do this, so he did it, and my husband, matt seeing that was like, well, if he can do it, I can do it.

00:25:16.880 --> 00:25:20.843
So he was saying he was going to do it and we're all pumped up for him.

00:25:20.843 --> 00:25:24.185
And then, as the year went by, I was like, are you sure?

00:25:24.185 --> 00:25:26.167
And he's like, yeah, I want to do it.

00:25:26.167 --> 00:25:37.800
So I signed him up and he's active, he hikes every day right out our backyard and he's in good shape, but he is not running.

00:25:37.800 --> 00:25:39.523
He's not out there running and stuff.

00:25:39.564 --> 00:25:46.401
So to say it was brave of him to take this on is an understatement.

00:25:46.401 --> 00:25:53.330
But he is just an understatement.

00:25:53.330 --> 00:25:53.731
Yeah, but he is just.

00:25:53.731 --> 00:25:54.092
He's so dedicated.

00:25:54.092 --> 00:25:56.057
Once he set his mind on that goal, he was, he was doing it.

00:25:56.057 --> 00:26:09.979
And it was kind of funny because during the race I thought we would spend more time together, like I would do more loops with him, but as the race was progressing, he was really just kind of like in his own, in his own focus.

00:26:09.979 --> 00:26:22.683
You know, like he had his ear buds in and he was listening to podcasts and he had his own speed, and so I mean we maybe did like five miles together when I thought he could really need it.

00:26:22.990 --> 00:26:28.063
But he, he was just very even and he pulled it off, no problem.

00:26:29.230 --> 00:26:30.816
And I laugh because it's amazing.

00:26:31.096 --> 00:26:40.473
But you know, one of the things you learn is it's mental right, and once he put his mind to it like he just went for it, so it was.

00:26:40.473 --> 00:26:41.936
It was really amazing to watch.

00:26:41.936 --> 00:26:56.170
And what's even more amazing is that if you ask him now if he'd ever do another hundred miles, he doesn't even say no, like he might do it again if he'd ever do another 100 miles he doesn't even say no, like he might do it again one day Really, yeah, yeah.

00:26:56.210 --> 00:26:57.729
So yeah, it was a fun experience to do that together, for sure.

00:26:58.470 --> 00:27:04.897
Yeah, I think that's really interesting, and you talk about the mental side of it being the key to achieving that.

00:27:04.897 --> 00:27:10.453
Just going from nothing to 100 miles because you want to do it, I think is just insane.

00:27:10.453 --> 00:27:12.671
So massive kudos to Matt.

00:27:12.711 --> 00:27:18.994
Maybe he needs to come on the show too and explain his all like how on earth he made that choice, but wow, what a great effort.

00:27:18.994 --> 00:27:21.401
Congratulations, matt, on getting your first 100.

00:27:21.401 --> 00:27:28.992
In addition, now is there any other advice you would probably give to somebody considering multi-day races like this?

00:27:28.992 --> 00:27:30.895
Maybe don't start with 100 miles, perhaps.

00:27:31.056 --> 00:27:31.517
Yeah.

00:27:32.258 --> 00:27:36.365
You know how should people approach these multi-day races.

00:27:36.365 --> 00:27:40.701
You've obviously done quite a few of these now and across the years, and maybe other ones too.

00:27:40.701 --> 00:27:47.070
What is an approach that you think would lead to success for others, especially back of the pack folks?

00:27:47.853 --> 00:27:53.073
Sure, and I will say Matt matt, even though he's not a runner, he has been a lifelong athlete.

00:27:53.073 --> 00:27:55.396
So you know it's not.

00:27:55.396 --> 00:27:59.932
That wasn't like totally, I mean it makes sense, but yeah, it was a little crazy.

00:28:00.394 --> 00:28:16.356
Anyways, I'm saying it's not advisable to run 100 miles on no training yeah so I mean honestly, I wish more people would do these multi-day races, because I know a lot of people question can I do a 50K, can I do a 50 miler, can I do a 100 miler?

00:28:16.356 --> 00:28:23.924
And it just for me, taking the pressure of time out of the equation, it's just.

00:28:23.924 --> 00:28:32.192
It's so much different and it's a totally different race out there, different, and it's a totally different race out there.

00:28:32.192 --> 00:28:36.200
And you know, if you're thinking about doing one, they're all over the country, people do them everywhere.

00:28:36.200 --> 00:28:38.604
Start small If you're.

00:28:38.690 --> 00:28:42.640
You know, if you're trying to go for 50K, maybe sign up for 24 hours.

00:28:42.640 --> 00:28:43.582
That's doable.

00:28:43.582 --> 00:28:48.257
You know, if you're trying to do a hundred miles, maybe do 48 hours.

00:28:48.257 --> 00:28:55.576
So the best thing to do is to give yourself a lot of grace and a lot of room when you're picking this race.

00:28:55.576 --> 00:29:10.133
And then, as far as training, I mean, you really are looking at maximum time on feet and for me a lot of that is low intensity, so a lot of walking because I don't want to hurt myself if I'm doing high mileage.

00:29:11.472 --> 00:29:20.117
And back to back, try to do, try to do 16 miles one day and 10 miles the next day because you're doing a 48 hour race.

00:29:20.117 --> 00:29:34.984
You know, and I would say maybe practice going out for your morning run, maybe taking a nap and then going out and doing some more miles after.

00:29:34.984 --> 00:29:36.645
Whether it's walking or running.

00:29:36.645 --> 00:29:41.407
Trying to recoup from sleep can be hard for people.

00:29:41.407 --> 00:29:46.732
I know a lot of people.

00:29:46.732 --> 00:29:49.683
Once they decide to go to sleep in a race, it's over for them.

00:29:49.683 --> 00:29:51.871
But it doesn't have to be at all for them.

00:29:51.871 --> 00:29:55.538
But it doesn't have to be at all, and I find for me, incorporating a little bit sleep does wonders for recovery and races like that.

00:29:56.318 --> 00:30:06.978
so yeah, I think those, those are my broad tips from a sleep perspective, how did that work for you at across the years and have you refined your strategy over the years that you've been doing this?

00:30:06.978 --> 00:30:08.340
Did you guys sleep like?

00:30:08.340 --> 00:30:09.132
Where did you guys sleep?

00:30:09.132 --> 00:30:11.907
In the car or on the side of the trail?

00:30:12.068 --> 00:30:12.170
Yeah.

00:30:12.490 --> 00:30:14.076
How did you plan for that?

00:30:14.858 --> 00:30:23.696
Yeah Well, the first year I went you can rent a tent and we had a tent and a cot that we would try to nap on, and I have to tell you that was awful.

00:30:23.978 --> 00:30:24.338
Oh really.

00:30:24.470 --> 00:30:26.093
Mainly because it was cold.

00:30:26.093 --> 00:30:34.255
But some people would say maybe that's not awful, because I encourage you to not sleep too hard, but for me it was not good.

00:30:34.255 --> 00:30:38.282
So you can actually bring campers to this event.

00:30:38.282 --> 00:30:43.500
So there's a whole section of the course where everyone brings their travel trailers or their campers.

00:30:43.500 --> 00:30:45.373
So we had our camper there.

00:30:45.493 --> 00:30:53.573
So I could actually lie down on a really nice queen bed every night, which again some people are like what, how do you?

00:30:53.573 --> 00:30:55.094
Like I would never be able to get back up.

00:30:55.094 --> 00:31:01.479
But for me it's like I can't stay down because I lay there and I'm like, oh, I gotta go do miles, you know.

00:31:01.598 --> 00:31:02.640
I gotta get out there.

00:31:02.640 --> 00:31:05.623
So that is huge for me.

00:31:05.623 --> 00:31:11.830
If you can find a race where you can make your sleep as comfortable as possible, that would be great.

00:31:11.830 --> 00:31:17.092
I would not recommend going to a hotel, because once you leave the premises that's hard to get back out there.

00:31:17.092 --> 00:31:22.912
And then for napping sometimes we would just use those zero gravity chairs.

00:31:22.912 --> 00:31:24.414
I'm sure you've seen them around.

00:31:24.414 --> 00:31:26.018
Those things are incredible.

00:31:26.058 --> 00:31:26.920
Very comfy.

00:31:27.141 --> 00:31:33.883
So, yeah, that's a good happy medium between sleeping in a bed and sleeping on the ground.

00:31:33.883 --> 00:31:36.479
I would recommend those things because they're great.

00:31:36.690 --> 00:31:42.782
Now I think you said you slept six to eight hours each night, maybe, or close to.

00:31:42.782 --> 00:31:44.453
Was that a plan going in?

00:31:44.453 --> 00:31:47.602
This is what I'm going to do, or that's just how it how it played out.

00:31:48.211 --> 00:31:49.714
That's kind of how it played out.

00:31:49.714 --> 00:31:56.121
The last night I didn't sleep very much because I wanted to get out there and hammer it down the first night.

00:31:56.121 --> 00:31:56.971
I just knew.

00:31:56.971 --> 00:32:03.471
I mean, I knew I had plenty of days left, so the eight hours was probably a bit much, but it felt great.

00:32:03.471 --> 00:32:04.492
So I went with it.

00:32:04.492 --> 00:32:11.204
And every night after that, you, I was a little weary that maybe I'd sleep too long, so I just set an alarm.

00:32:11.204 --> 00:32:15.979
But yeah, it was kind of kind of playing it by ear with that.

00:32:16.660 --> 00:32:47.303
I was going to add too that I think for these looped races, these fixed time loop races, those to me are easier to train for, perhaps because most, most of us can find a mile loop around our neighborhood and typically they're not on technical terrain, garage or some you know somewhere close with a little table or something and just kind of do loops, go in for a break and do something else and come back and do some more one mile loops around your neighborhood wherever.

00:32:47.544 --> 00:32:49.268
I just feel like you know.

00:32:49.268 --> 00:33:04.443
From a training perspective, most of us can figure out a way to train for those races where you know if you're going up into the colorado mountains on technical terrain, you really need some specific training or experience to help you out with that.

00:33:04.443 --> 00:33:14.961
That's much more difficult to train for when you, like me, if you live in a flat place like Houston, that's a challenge to try to train for a mountain race like that.

00:33:14.961 --> 00:33:36.813
So I think one of the other appeals of this race for the large majority, especially us in the back of the back, is that I feel like it's less complicated to train for we can all figure out a one mile loop and work, work from there absolutely, and I am the type of person where I don't love those vests.

00:33:37.394 --> 00:33:40.950
I wear them for hiking and stuff, but they tend to like give me tension in my neck.

00:33:40.950 --> 00:33:52.531
So for training for this race there's a loop downtown and I just leave my water bottle on my car and go do that loop and grab a snack, grab my water as I can.

00:33:52.531 --> 00:33:55.141
So yeah it's kind of like a no brainer.

00:33:56.442 --> 00:33:58.384
Absolutely so, joni.

00:33:58.384 --> 00:33:59.246
What's next for you?

00:33:59.246 --> 00:34:02.769
What have you got dreamed up for 2025?

00:34:02.769 --> 00:34:04.412
Where can we find you guys?

00:34:04.412 --> 00:34:06.193
Maybe even Matt, who knows?

00:34:06.193 --> 00:34:08.556
What do you guys got lined up?

00:34:25.199 --> 00:34:25.420
in April.

00:34:25.420 --> 00:34:32.021
So once I get healed up here I need to start climbing, which I don't love the mountain races, but I do them because it pushes me out of my comfort zone and it's something a little different.

00:34:32.021 --> 00:34:36.885
But in terms of big goals, I'm just not sure.

00:34:36.885 --> 00:34:43.755
I'm going to see where this year takes me and see where my training goes.

00:34:43.755 --> 00:34:51.121
I like training so I'll keep doing that and then kind of eyeball some races and maybe sign up to them closer to then.

00:34:52.103 --> 00:34:57.702
Yeah, I'm a big fan of consistency and training and just being ready to jump into anything.

00:34:57.762 --> 00:35:27.572
Really, you know, just keep that base level going going and it's amazing what you can do with just a small amount of training if you're consistent with it absolutely now, one of the things, joni, we do on the podcast here is encourage guests to choose a song to add to the free Spotify choose to endure playlist, usually something family friendly, to lift you up, motivate or just keep you moving while you're out on the trail.

00:35:27.572 --> 00:35:30.641
Now you picked a pretty interesting song.

00:35:30.641 --> 00:35:36.112
Do you want to tell us which one you chose and maybe why it resonated with you?

00:35:36.719 --> 00:35:39.806
Yeah, I picked Glorious by Macklemore.

00:35:39.806 --> 00:35:54.586
I actually don't listen to Macklemore that much, except for when I'm running, but this song specifically focuses on you know, the first lyric is I'm back, but I never left.

00:35:54.586 --> 00:36:08.289
So it's one of those things where it's like I've felt like there's been times where I wasn't in the best shape or I couldn't perform like I wanted to, but now I feel like I'm back.

00:36:08.289 --> 00:36:17.853
It's kind of corny, but the whole song kind of talks about that and it talks about what matters in life is the legacy you leave.

00:36:17.853 --> 00:36:24.648
The lyrics are that he feels glorious, so it's just one of those things where I listen to it.

00:36:24.648 --> 00:36:27.286
When I'm running, it's hard not to feel the same.

00:36:28.119 --> 00:36:29.512
Yeah, fabulous song.

00:36:29.512 --> 00:36:30.420
I did give it a listen.

00:36:30.420 --> 00:36:37.614
So, folks, if you haven't heard Glorious by Macklemore yet, definitely go out and check it out on wherever you get music.

00:36:37.614 --> 00:36:41.391
I'm sure it's available on any of the main players.

00:36:41.391 --> 00:36:49.373
We will get that added here to the playlist on Spotify so that folks out there can enjoy the song as much as you do.

00:36:49.820 --> 00:36:54.143
Joni, thank you so much again for joining us and sharing today.

00:36:54.143 --> 00:37:12.561
Joni's journey at Across Years for me, is a real testament to resilience, community and the power of setting an ambitious goal, From overcoming some kind of personal challenges to rediscovering her strength.

00:37:12.561 --> 00:37:29.902

First Time 200 Miles: Joni Watkins’ Inspiring 2024 Across the Years Journey

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