Intro
This post will be a bit long. I will be talking about how it all started and why I did it. It will then move on to the race. Enjoy! feel free to reply, I love replies, they motivate me to keep writing! jayciendo@gmail.com if you have any questions.
Why did I do this?
After completing my second IRONMAN in Muskoka, I was amazed at how easy it felt. I was also a bit sad that I did not get the same satisfaction as my first IRONMAN in Mont Tremblant Quebec. I was happy I completed it but the challenge was gone. I went from doing a full IRONMAN and then dropped to IRONMAN 70.3 which is half the distance. After the race in Muskoka, I knew I had more in me and that moving forward, I needed to do harder races to keep challenging myself. I knew that in the future I wanted to do hard races. Races that would break me physically, mentally, and emotionally. Races that would make me question my existence and reality. Races that would one day help me inspire others that anything can be done as long as you work for it and stay consistent. I began to look outside of IRONMAN races and started looking into hard challenges. I went deep into the rabbit hole of ultramarathon racing. If you don’t know, an ultra-marathon is a running race that is greater than 42 KM. I also looked into swimming across Lake Ontario, but that will take a couple of years to train for. Let’s talk about my first ultra marathon, specifically sulphur springs Ancaster trail race.
Running training increased in 2023
Giving myself 1 year to train
I became very interested in 100-mile ultras. The idea of running that much within 24 hours sounded absolutely bonkers. It sounded so absurd that it scared me. I had so many doubts about it right from the start. The distance sounded unreal to me. At the time, I did not even know how to start and if it was doable. I looked online for local trainers but had no luck. I then found Dave. Dave had won many ultras and his running stats were ridiculous. I was in awe that this guy was going to train me. The only downside was that he was in the UK. I told him I wanted to become a faster runner, complete 100-mile ultra, and eventually win an IRONMAN and endurance races. The focus was the ultra. I also chose him instead of a triathlon coach because I believe it would be better to find a coach who is an expert at running. In addition to that, he has won ultras. The dude was fast. He agreed to train me. He made a schedule and I followed it.
Training Issues Early On – August 2023
The one thing Dave told me right from the start was to not push it and to trust the process of the training schedule. The schedule was daily with mostly small runs. I would feel good after a scheduled run and would want to run more but I kept to the promise, I did what I was told to do. Never doing more or less. I was doing the amount that was scheduled. There would be times where I would want to run faster but the training schedule would tell me that I would need to do a relaxed run or just a really short run. At the same time, I was also trying new shoes while running and loving the whole process. There were many new changes to my training.
I believe it was 3 months into the training and I started developing soreness all over my ankles, knees, and legs. I told Dave and he dropped the training to even shorter runs and increased the stretching routine. As suggested, I focused on stretching and going even slower on my runs. It did not help. It became even more painful to run when I kept trying. I then developed shinsplints. It got to the point I had to tell Dave I could not run anymore since it was too painful and that I would reach out to him once I was recovered. It was so bad, I was going to work and walking in severe pain for weeks. I stopped all exercise and decided to rest to be on the safe side. This was around October. I rested for months. When I mean months, I started again in January 2024 and my 100 ultra was in 5 months. I had 5 months to take on this beast of a race and I still didn’t know if I recovered the previous ultra training. I was also afraid that if I started running again, the pain would all come back.
January 2024 Comeback & Goggins
I never knew about Goggins. I had seen videos about him but always skipped them. I was told by several people that I was like Goggins but I never understood what that meant. While I was painting my new house, i decided to listen to audiobooks and the first audiobook I bought was Never Finished by David Goggins. While painting, I was listening to his life and just dissecting it all. I loved it. It was about him being thrown into hell but fighting through it and just questioning why we do these things to ourselves. Why we do hard challenging painful things. It was nice to hear that there are many like us out there. Living for pain to get better. Embracing the worst to overcome obstacles. I understood everything he talked about and have nothing but respect for the man.
By no means, I’m not like that badass but for sure I know I can hold my own and will make my own legacy. He made me more motivated than ever. What he taught me was to keep fighting through pain no matter what and that if I’m going to do something, I can do it on my own without help. After going through his book, i went out for a run and started training on my own. I made the decision not to reach out to Dave and when I do my first 100 mile ultra, It will be done with my own training because I know I can do things on my own if I put my mind into it. I began to look back and see that everything I’ve done that’s been hard has been on my own and I wouldn’t want it any other way.
One reason why i love endurance sports is because it’s all mental obstacles you have to overcome. It’s all the hard work you put in to get the results you want. If you don’t put in the work, you won’t get your results. I started running through the pain and had a new fire ignite. Thanks to Goggins and also thanks to my past self for seeing who I was and who I am becoming. I grew. It’s amazing what confidence, goal setting, seeing new perspectives, continual learning, hardships, and consistency can do to your life.
1 Month Before The Race
It was about 3 weeks before the race and my training was lacking. I was being trained in a new job in a new industry. Home renovations also restricted my training. It was somewhat stressful because I knew I was not ready for the 100 mile race from all my other obligations. I became concerned but I still wanted to race to have a measuring point. To see my fitness levels. On May 3rd 2024, I went out to Sulphur Springs Ancaster area and ran 48km with 442 meters of elevation in 5 hours and 40 minutes. I felt good but I knew this was not enough to complete 100 miles. In addition, only 29 runs were done since January and I was getting shin splints on some runs. It wasn’t as bad as before because I rested properly and heavily focused on stretching. After completing the biggest run, I rested and thought about what my choices were.
My situation was the following. I had 100 mile race in 3 weeks and after that I had a full ironman in 2 months. I spent thousands of dollars for a hotel in NY Lake Placid and could not risk taking time off from injury or worse, getting too injured to even do the Ironman I already paid for. If I kept getting injured, I would have to wait longer to recover too!
The week before the ultra race, I emailed the director of the race and dropped down to 50km because of shinsplints and the risk was too high to do 100 miles. I was already taking a huge risk running a race with in shin splints and still taking a risk going in injured. I still had to race.
The Morning of Race Day!
First, I woke up late! I woke up late and drove pretty dang fast to the event. I slept through my alarm. It was a scary moment. I was still able to drink my caffeine and hit the washroom to clean my system but it was a scary moment.
Walking in the main area of the race, the race felt very local and super cool. It felt underground and exclusive but not in a snobbish way. I’ve never done or been to an ultra event but it had a different vibe that I have never felt before. An event with a small group of crazies looking to do crazy things. It just felt special and super welcoming and not as commercialized as other races I’ve been to. In short, It gave off less corporate vibes for a sporting event that a small amount of people have a strong have passion or commitment for.
My mom and sister tagged along for the support as always and brought the dogs. I appreciate that a lot. The ultra running vibes emanting through sulphur springs Ancaster was awesome and it makes me want to start my own race someday when I have the funds. I want to provide that passionate underground vibe that I felt.
The Race!
For the 50km ultra, you do one 10km loop. You then complete two 20km loops resulting in 50km. The race starts and you descend down a hill. As i descended down, i just thought about how hellish that hill would become after every loop when you have to run back up. The first 10km was a breeze. No complaints there.
The first 20km starts and I’m feeling fantastic. No shinsplints. That’s right. No pain whatsoever and no shinsplints. I am running up the hills, running down the hills and everything is going great. I’m passing people and handling the climbs very well. I’m drinking from my hydration pack while I’m running and just feeling good but I’m also noticing that I’ve never ran in this much elevation. Ever. In cycling I love going up hills but it requires training and knowing how to climb them and years of training going up. In running, it’s also hard and it also requires a lot of training. The elevation for this race is 1300 meters for 50km. I only did a measly 400 meters on my 48 km run. I was in for a world of pain. I finish my first 20km loop and head for the second loop. That’s when I entered the forest of hell.
I drink more of my protein drink and head back down the hill on my second 20km loop to see my sister, mom, and dogs all cheering and barking at me down the hill. After that I head back into the trail and my right leg starts giving me pain I’ve never felt before. It was around my knee. I start running slower but the pain was still there but I could still run. I ignore the pain but wonder what is causing it. My mind starts racing, “what caused this?” Was it running down the hills too fast? Was it running up the hills too fast? Was i going too fast? Was it the increase in elevation? Was it from the inexperience from not being a runner? I’d say yes to all.
It then began pouring rain. It poured so much, the trails became muddy and very slippery. People were slipping and falling. I was being told many racers were dropping out of the race from the brutal rain pour. I was also told people were getting injured from the dangers of the slipery trails. I slipped several times without falling and kept going. There were times that I could have gotten bad concussion but all I thought about was my friend Camilo from Colombia.
In Colombia in my hiking and cycling trip, we would be running down mountains and Camilo noticed how slow I would get when there were slippery areas and difficult looking obstacles when running down the mountain. He would tell me to ignore going slowing down and just learn to run through it and your body will react if you take the wrong step. Our body finds a way to prevent the falls and to my surprise he was right. My body would react and prevent me from falling on my butt. Or maybe it was all just luck.
During the race, I kept at it but the cursed knee pain came back to haunt me. It was so bad I had to walk and I was limping through the last couple of miles. It was a walk a shame to the finish line. I kept trying to run but the pain would progressively become worse. I gave up and sped walk and talked to others who were walking. Everyone was still cheering me on and told me to keep going and that local ultra feel was in the air. I kept at it and finished the race.
Final Results : Ranked 153/267
I finished the 50km race in 7 hours and 2 minutes with 1348 meters of elevation completed. I brought and drank 2 Litres of my Almond Milk and Vegaone Vanilla Protein shakes (all blended together with bananas) in my hydration pack, drank 2 coca cola cans, and ate some watermelon. My Merrell goretex boots were brought to the race and they did the job but no longer look new.
There’s always need for improvement but I’m happy that I did this race. I learned a lot about myself and about ultra running. I can keep taking in pain, nothing is impossible as long as you work towards the goal. Failure will always happen but growth comes with it. Elevation training is needed for ultras. It seems like ultras focus on that. They also seem to focus on harsher environments compared to triathlons and marathons. I learned that I can and will do 100 miles. I am hoping I can do one one by the end of 2024 or the start of 2025. This should have been written right after the race but here it is. If you’re reading this, I’m hoping you do one or just come back and see how much I’ll smash my 100 mile race.
Me after the race heading home to rest. Let me know if you’ve done 100 miles or considered other and what went through your mind.