⏰ 2:45 a.m.
My alarm sounded early Saturday morning. I never struggle to wake up for something like this — excitement makes it easy. I rubbed my eyes and walked into the kitchen of the Airbnb. I cracked open a can of purple-haze Bang ⚡, peeled a banana ๐, and started cooking a couple packets of Quaker oatmeal.
As I ate, the weight of the day settled in.
๐ค What will this be like?
๐ฌ How hard is this going to be?
❓ Why did I sign up for this?
I clipped a microphone to my shirt ๐ค and set up my camera. I had a plan to record my first YouTube video — to document the experience of running my first ultra marathon. The rest of the morning went exactly how you’d expect: eat, get dressed, pack up. Nothing crazy.
For once… I had a plan ๐.
My nutrition was packed into individual sandwich bags, each labeled by lap number. Energy gels, carb mix, electrolyte mix, gummies, honeycomb crackers. And then the most important item of all — a giant bag of Nerds Clusters ๐ฌ. I had read they’re a favorite among endurance athletes because of the sugar-to-salt ratio.
I’m not a planner by nature. But I wanted the guesswork gone. I knew this race would be hard, and I didn’t want to waste energy thinking. Fuel. Move. Repeat. I even planned to change clothes after lap five ๐.
Then I arrived at the race.
It was in the mid-20s ❄️ — but not just cold… cutting cold. I had planned for cold weather, but not this. Immediately, the plan shifted. Not a setback — just a mental adjustment. The race started at 5 a.m., which meant it was also dark ๐.
Headlamp on ๐ฆ.
Water pack full ๐ง.
Layers on ๐งค.
Poles in hand ๐️.
Ready.
I hiked the first of ten planned laps with my brother and cousin. The path was wide with freshly laid gravel — almost like walking on sand. Unstable. Halfway up the 1.5-mile climb, the grade kicked from 10% to 20% for about a quarter mile. Every lap, I knew it was coming. Every lap, I thought about it.
Eventually my thoughts changed from:
This section sucks ๐ค
to
This section sucks, but it’s short — and once it’s over, the top is close ๐ก.
Then came the real problem.
I finished lap one, pulled my hydration hose up… and nothing. Frozen solid ๐ง.
My mind jumped immediately to a run earlier that week when I cramped at mile 19 after running out of water. Panic crept in. Nutrition and hydration are everything in a race like this. I handed my pack to my wife, drank as much electrolyte water as I could from my bottle, and took off for lap two.
I ran three laps without my pack while my wife worked her magic — thawing it out using the heated seats in the car ๐๐ฅ. When I finally got it back, I was back on track. That would be the last real setback of the day.
Lap after lap, I hiked up and ran down. Talking with other runners helped pass the time — and the pain ๐♂️.
At the top of lap two, I got emotional.
I couldn’t believe I was here.
I couldn’t believe I was actually doing this.
Part of that emotion came from a small moment earlier. I had pulled my phone out to record a quick clip about my frozen hydration pack. As I filmed, a wave of guilt hit me ๐ต. I didn’t want to be behind a screen. I didn’t want to document this — I wanted to live it.
I put my phone away.
๐ง No music.
๐ฑ No videos.
๐ซ No electronics.
What I felt at the top was the result of choosing presence — hearing the sounds, feeling the effort, fully immersing myself in the experience.
I just wanted to let the motor run ๐ฅ.
In Part 3, the race becomes repetitive, the mountain adapts, and I learn what it really means to just keep stacking duckies. ๐ฆ⛰️
I’m sharing this journey in real time. If you want the next chapter, leave a comment and sign up for email updates below.
๐ฆ Keep stacking duckies
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