175: 20 Miles and the Utah Lifestyle with the Graziosa’s

So I completed my first race of 2020, it was called the Naked Bavarian in Pennsylvania. When I registered, I thought to myself… I was injured in Oct. 2019 with a sprained left knee (lateral collateral ligament and partial tear of meniscus) during my first 100 mile run attempt and I’ve been training, lifting weights, running working on balance and instability exercises, so I should be ready.

My knee felt good on all my runs. My longest distance before the 20 miler was 14 miles which was a little taxing. What I started to pay attention to as I’m training and wanting to build some serious knee strength and mobility so I don’t create the same injury again was my weight.

For my 100 miler, I leaned out to 178lbs and I’m between 6’1 and 6’2. It was a great running weight for me.

For the 20 I was at around 190-194 lbs. That’s a lot more weight to move around the trails for a few hours. I figured… I’ve got to start somewhere again and let’s see how I feel during and after 20 miles at that weight.

Before I get into the race, let me take a step back and tell you the actual physical journey to the race. I had to get up at 3:30am to get my gear loaded into my truck to drive 2.5 hours into PA. It was nice and cool out and at the start of the race it was in the teens with a windchill that had to be in the single digits.

I met my buddy Dr. Thomas Dickert DC a little before the start and we geared up and then warmed up. I went against my own rules and started looking at what others were wearing for warmth rather than go with my gut. I opted to not wear my warmer leggings because I though I would warm up… afterall I was going to run 20 miles.

The race started and all I wanted to do the first 3 miles was quit. I was cold, I didn’t feel great, I was tired from being up so early, and my headspace was not optimal. Once I made it through those, the next 10-13 miles felt great. I was running the race mostly fasted. I had a high fat coffee at 4am and about a quarter cup of blueberries during the drive.

At about mile 15-16 I started to feel the pain and I started to get a little hungry. I did load up on my chlorella and spirulina tablets from Energybits (get 20% off with code LIFESTYLELOCKER) but my brain said get food!!! I had already passed 4 fully stocked aid stations and blew by them. At mile 16 I caved in and stopped at the aid station and grabbed probably the worst thing for myself. I grabbed a quarter of a grilled cheese. Mainly because it was hot. It was a bad choice because the 2 things that my body doesn’t tend to like to much are dairy and gluten/grain. SO this was a double whammy. My gut felt like shit instantaneously. I immediately slowed my pace to a run/walk. I went from between comfortable 9-10 minute mile pace to a 13-16 minute mile pace. Slowing down caused my headspace to tank and I also started to get cold. Nothing has the power to break you like to cold… at least that’s my experience.

All in all the lesson learned from this, is that I can run more than I thought with the current training. I also learned… DON’T EAT DAIRY AND GRAIN before, during, or after a race or really anytime if I want to perform.

I also learned that I have to get an amazing night sleep, meditate in the AM, warm up and usd my massage gun before and after the run.

I ultimately had a great time, and loved pushing myself even through the discomfort. Frankly, running on a sprained knee and broken toes for 22.4 miles was worse (because I had already ran 22.4 miles).

My best lesson to share with you would be to really work on your headspace. It is something that will keep you in the race or get you out of it.

Then there was Salt Lake City with the Graziosas.

Building and keeping long term relationships is something that’s not my strong suit. I am not sure if it’s a part of me being mostly introverted or there’s some other reason.

The friendship I’ve had with Dr. Scott Graziosa goes back to elementary school. The neat thing is that we’ve never had a falling out as friends but we’ve drifted in life always to find ourselves connected as the best of friends. His wife Aimee has become a friend and the weekend that I spent with them helped create a great relationship.

The weekend with them was awesome… when Scott and I get together, it is usually centered around some type of outdoor athletic challenge, good healthy food (at this stage of our lives), and sometimes good beer. This weekend had all of them!

The three days of activity comprised of an intense multi-hour hike where we required metal spikes on our shoes, a day of ski-touring which is virtually hiking with skis on your feet and a backpack filled with avalanche gear uphill for hours so you can ski down, and then a day at the ski resort Solitude where we had 12 inches of fresh powder!

Needless to say, I had a BLAST and already want to go back to play in Utah’s nature with my friends.

I hope you have the chance in your lifetime to get and keep at least one great friend if not more. It’s good for you mind, body, and soul.

Dr. Josh bio:

Dr. Josh Handt firmly believes that a life worth living is a life worth living in abundance. Dr. Josh finds the need to share the importance of the intimate relationship between lifestyle and abundant life. Abundance in everything from health to finances, to relationships, and even spirituality. He’s the Owner/partner at The New York Chiropractic Life Center with his father Dr. Jay Handt, the CEO of Lifestyle Locker, host of Lifestyle Locker Radio where we teach people to unleash their human potential., and also teaches other doctors and health professionals to create their own podcast with his Market Your Voice Blueprint and how to share it with their current and future health tribe.

www.LifestyleLocker.com