Bre Mirynech.

How do I put 107 magical, tough, soul searching, gritty, beautiful kilometers into a single blog post. It’s part of the reason I’ve taken so long to write about this day, as every time I sit down to reflect I just don’t feel like words can possibly do justice to how special this day was to me. Fat Dog 100km (*cough* 107- because those last 7km really took some deep digging), was THE race for me. No, it wasn’t necessarily my best day or best performance, and yes, I feel like there is still room in the tank for improvement, but it was the exact day I needed at this point in my running journey.

For this race, I am super happy to report that I had another amazing training block with my coach Liz. We started the year switching it up by doing a speed block to train for a fast 10k- the Sun Run in Vancouver. It nearly killed me, and I still stand firm in my belief that it was potentially harder than running 100km haha. After that, we shifted the focus back to building up for Fat Dog. With a big running base and some solid speed work under my belt, I was feeling strong and ready to see what I was capable of. I got to do a “test run” for race day at Broken Goat 50k. While a lot of things went well that day and overall had a good race, I had a really tough day mentally. If you talked to me after Broken Goat, you probably know I didn’t want to talk about Fat Dog for at least a week after it. For no obvious reason, I felt like I left Broken Goat questioning why I do these kinds of distances, and feeling like I had lost sight of my “why”. After some time though, even though I didn’t have answers to these questions, I felt ready to give Fat Dog my all.

Heading into Fat Dog I had 3 main goals. First, finish the damn thing. If you’ve followed along with my journey then you know I’ve gone after the triple digit distance 3 times now, with this being my fourth. However, I have only completed it once! So a huge goal for me was to simply get across that finish line. Second, I wanted to have a happy stomach. This area has been quite a problematic puzzle for me the past few years, and with a good stomach during my long training race at Broken Goat, I headed into Fat Dog feeling optimistic and curious to see how it would go. Lastly, I just wanted to have fun. I always make sure this remains a core goal of mine during races, as enjoying the process and having fun (even when it hurts and is hard) is really fundamental for me. 

Before I knew it race weekend was here, and while I was excited to get out on the course myself, I was also simply excited about the hype of the whole weekend as I had so many friends racing as well. Catherine was racing the 40 mile, Morgan, Nikki, and her partner Leith were in the 50 mile, and then Sarah was in the 100km with me. I’ve learned that I really love sharing race experiences with friends. I find it so motivating mid-race to think of my friends out there and draw on the inspiration of knowing they are out there going after huge, personal goals too. 

I woke up early on race morning after a surprisingly not so bad sleep, had my breakfast and coffee, and got myself ready to go. My stomach was acting up and I was NOT allowing that to be a thing for the day, so I popped some chewable Pepto tablets and hoped for the best. Once I was ready, I hopped in the car with Sarah and we were off for a 7:30am start! We have shared a lot of races together in the past, but this one was extra special as it was Sarah’s first 100k race. The nerves were real, the emotions were high, but I was ready to go. 10, 9, 8, 7… we were off! 

The start of this race is admittedly a little annoying, as within a few hundred meters you are onto a single track trail (cue the giant conga line of runners). Just as we finally found our place on the trail and felt like we were moving well, I heard Sarah trip behind me. I stopped, looked back, and she had rolled her ankle on the trail. We both stopped, Sarah took some time to take a few breaths and move it around, and I remember looking down and seeing how fast it had swelled up. I was worried. Sarah told me to keep going, as we agreed that we were each having our own races, however I wanted to make sure she was ok before heading off. Once she assured me she was going to be able to at least walk to the aid station, and I checked that she had some meds in case, I decided to continue on my way. Not going to lie, this threw me off for the next 30+km. I felt like a terrible friend for leaving her even though we always knew we would run our own races. I was also worried about her and wondering if she made it to the aid station, if she was ok, if she was continuing on, if she would drop, how she would contact her crew with no cell service anywhere on the course, etc. Safe to say my headspace wasn’t exactly great for that first 30km until I saw my crew. That, combined with the fact that the route just keeps sneakily going uphill for what feels like forever, leading to feeling like my RPE was really high really early on, I was left wondering fairly early if this was going to be my day.

I made it to Hope Pass (30km in) and met my crew. I also saw Sarah’s partner Cole as I was coming in and was able to relay what information I had, so I felt mildly better knowing that they at least knew what happened. I can’t tell you how excited I was to get to Hope Pass because at Fat Dog they let you pick up a pacer super early! So getting to Hope Pass meant that I was picking up Rachel, and with how the morning was going so far, I was really excited to have her energy, company, and support through the next section. At the aid station my crew (Danielle, Mack and Rachel) got my vest restocked, helped me tape up some chafe, and got me some SOLID FOOD- this was a huge deal for me and my stomach guys!!! I can rarely stomach soldi food during a race anymore. Rachel was ready to go and so we headed back out for the next section to Blackwall (km 70) together. There are a few km of out and back to the Hope Pass aid station, and as we were heading back out we saw Sarah running in!!! It felt like a huge cloud lifted off me to know that she had made it to her crew- whether or not she headed back out from there I wasn’t sure, but I felt so much better knowing she was with them. 

As Rachel and I started our 40km section together, I told her right away I was having a rough start. I said I wasn’t feeling confident about how the day would go, my effort felt so high, my body felt more tired than I hoped to feel at this point, and honestly I think I just started complaining because now I had someone that was stuck listening haha. Rachel, being the amazing friend that she is, talked me through it and didn’t make a big deal of any of it (a tactic that works really well for me), and eventually I noticed my effort level started to turn around and level out. This likely had to do with the fact that I had 40km in front of me where I got to spend quality time on the trails with one of my best friends who I rarely get to see- I mean, what a treat is that! It also helps that she is the most supportive person you will ever meet, so her constant support and encouragement made things feel a lot easier. As we continued on, I voiced some really hard things to her that had been weighing on my mind: “I don’t even know why I am doing this anymore”, “I feel like I don’t know what my why is anymore”, “I should be moving faster”, “I should be feeling better”… the list goes on. We ended up having a really big heart to heart about it all, and while I feel like I learned a lifetime worth of lessons in this talk with her, here are the three that stand out in my memory (in no particular order): 

1. THIS IS THE WHOLE DAMN POINT. This one Rachel said to me when I said I had lost sight of my why, and when she said it, it’s like my brain clicked instantly. It deeply resonated with me even though it was so simple. The why is exactly this! It always has been for me. Being out on the trails with people I love, pushing myself beyond my comfort zone, getting to a point where you question the why and find new depths, lessons, and new parts of myself, moving in beautiful places… all of it! It’s literally the whole point. I know it might sound obvious, but I clearly needed Rachel to put it in front of my face and remind me of it. I can’t tell you what it feels like to find your why again when you feel like you’ve lost it, and for your friend to be able to give that to you… what a gift. I get emotional thinking about it. If you’ve been in this situation before, maybe you know how I felt. 
2. There is no room for shoulds. Period. I am fortunate to say that I have been at this sport for 5+ years now, and while that comes with a lot of experience it also comes with areas for comparison. Not with anyone else necessarily, as that’s something I have always tried to steer away from, but with myself. For example, “I’ve run this distance before, I should be moving faster”, or “I had a good training block, I should be feeling stronger right now”. But you know what? That can’t exist in this world of ultras (or at least not for me). There is no way to compare a 100km race to anything else, even the same distance. Trails are different, weather is different, technicality is different, elevation is different, the uncontrollables you’re handed are different… the list goes on. Every race is such a different beast and a different experience, that you can’t let yourself play that game of “shoulds”. It’s so easy to do, as the further you get into this sport the more experiences you have to be tempted to compare to, but you can’t. Or at least I can’t. And I won’t. Which leads me to my final lesson… 
3. Be kind to yourself. This was a mantra given to me by someone who I ran Gorge Waterfalls 50k with a few years ago, and while it resonated with me when she shared it, gosh I didn’t know just how much I’d need it and lean into it on this day. As we were talking about the “shoulds”, we reframed it with kindness, because, well, be kind to yourself! You think this would be an easy thing to remember when you’re RUNNING 100 FREAKING KILOMETERS, but it’s too easy to forget. So instead of “I should be moving faster” it turned into “look how great I am moving in this moment I am in”, or “I should be feeling better for the distance I am at” turned into “I’ve never done this much vert in a day, so this is new territory and how exciting is that”. There are so many ways you can use this one, and it’s definitely going to be a core one for me in the future. 

Ok, so now that I am beautifully reminded that this is the whole point, I am not living in a world of shoulds anymore, I am being kind to myself, I’ve given Rachel an incredibly heartfelt (and loud) rendition of Defying Gravity from Wicked- this day has completely turned around! We are running, we are grooving, we are yapping, we are laughing, and we are being so kind to ourselves. I don’t think I can adequately express in words just how much this time out there with Rachel meant to me. It was so raw, so vulnerable, so emotional, so beautiful, and it’s a time that I will hold close to my heart forever. As we got to the Nicomen Lake aid station (or this may have happened before all of the life lessons- I can’t remember) I mentioned to Rachel that I was feeling some rubbing on my feet. I didn’t want to stop to deal with them because I didn’t want to take the time to stop, but Rachel graciously told me to take the time to deal with my feet. So we did (because remember- we are being kind to ourselves!)

The trail climbs out from Nicomen Lake and this is where the views really start popping off! We hit the halfway point after the climb, and we continued to enjoy every second of the beautiful trail. The wildflowers and views were amazing, and this entire section of the trail was just incredible. We got to the Heather aid station (56km ish) and we stopped again to deal with some more spots on my feet, and Rachel taped up some gnarly chafing that had started popping up along my waist. I ate some more solid food (!!!!) and we started making our way toward Blackwall aid station. The original plan was that I’d leave Rachel at Blackwall and continue on my own for a while before picking up Mack for the last section, but at some point Racel asked if she could continue on with me until I picked up Mack as she was having so much fun. To this day, I wonder if maybe she picked up on just how much I needed her out there, but either way- the answer was an easy yes. Again, how amazing is she!? Get yourself a friend who will willingly run 60km of your 100km race with you. Rachel, if you are reading this, I owe you big time! 

As we got closer to Blackwall, we hit a dirt road and we started (what felt like) zooming downhill. Other runners were complaining about the downs by this point, and there’s a chance that we were the only two out there absolutely loving the down. Combined with this being golden hour time of day, it was a beautiful section!

We made it to Blackwall (70km ish), reunited with the crew, ate more solid food, taped more toes, taped more chafe, and then we picked up our reflective vests and headed into the sunset for the section down the road. From Blackwall to the next aid station at Windy Joe’s is about 10-11km, with most of it being downhill on the road (hence the mandatory reflective vests). We set out at a steady pace on the downhill, and I was really proud of us because I felt like we really nailed a solid, consistent pace without completely blowing up the legs on the descent. In hindsight this was so smart as even with good pacing, the legs really started to feel this descent after a while. I had a brief bladder panic (if you know about my Death race story last year then you know what I mean), but turns out I was just incredibly hydrated and had to pee a bunch. Eventually we made it to Windy Joe’s, and while I was really hoping not to stop at that aid station, I did have to stop to deal with taping some more toes. I also grabbed some more noodles and food, and then Rachel and I continued on for the last section we would run together. It was completely dark by now, and this section was pretty rambly until we reached the last aid station- Strawberry Flats. 

At Strawberry Flats, Rachel’s journey ended, Mack was getting ready to pace me for the final section, and Danielle was making sure I was geared up and ready to go through the night- and that included a friendly reminder from her to brush my teeth. A huge shoutout here to Danielle who came out to crew me for this race while being very pregnant, and took the absolute best care of me out there. If you’ve run an ultra, you know the impact your crew has and Danielle made sure I was loved and cared for all day long. I left Strawberry Flats so excited for the last section, as I have never had Mack join me as a pacer before! I couldn’t wait to share this section with him through the night. We started the slow and steady climb up Skyline, I told him all about my day, we chatted about how much he loved the experience of crewing all day and how amazing Fat Dog is as an event, and we just keep making slow and steady progress to the top. It was a full moon that night and it lit up the surrounding mountains so beautifully. 

As we continued on the fatigue definitely started to hit me, but Mack’s encouragement (combined with some caffeine gels) kept me going. Skyline has a few false summits, and at one point we were sure there was one more to go, but to our surprise that was it! We started our descent back to the lake and the finish line. The plan was that we would run down from Skyline to the lake, but my feet were in such bad shape they couldn’t handle the downhill running, so we just continued hiking down. After a lot of protest from me and kindness from Mack, we stopped one last time on the way down to tape my feet yet again (read: me laying down on the trail sticking up a foot in the air for Mack to tape). If there is one thing I felt on this section, it was love. Having your partner show up for you in this way, support you, encourage you, and love on you when you are just so deep into such a wildly hard experience, well it’s incredibly special and beautiful and there are no words. I felt so loved, and in turn I felt so strong and knew I could finish this thing. Eventually we hit the trail along the lake, so I knew we were close. My feet were pretty excruciating at this point, but as soon as I saw the bend in the trail at the end of the lake I took off sprinting (or at least it felt like it). I think I confused Mack with my sudden energy and all I remember was starting to cry (both tears of joy and fatigue) and saying “I am going to actually do this”, and charged through that finish line. My friends were there, Mack was back by my side, Ellie (my dog) was running around, and I remember hugging the race director and simultaneously thanking him for such a great event while crying at how hard it was. 

Little did I know… next came the hard part. We got back to the hotel and while all the tape throughout the day had been a lifesaver for my feet and chafe, it was time to rip it off. Let me set the scene for you. It was around 5:00am after running for nearly 21 hours, and I was sitting on the bathroom floor while Mack was trying his best to help me remove the tape because I couldn’t. The first piece ripped off and I felt like I was going to vomit, but eventually, somehow, we got it all off. I refused to shower because my chafe was so raw and painful, and so I used a giant pack of baby wipes and scrubbed myself head to toe as best I could. Around maybe 6:00am I finally got into bed and slept for all of 1.5 hours before waking up as everyone else in the room was slowly getting up. I immediately checked the results page to see if Sarah had finished, as I still had no idea what happened with her and her ankle after seeing her come into the aid station back at 30km, and after refreshing it a few times we saw that she had just finished! We celebrated in our room because every single one of us showed up to Fat Dog to chase our big goals, and we all had our days. 

I started this post saying that Fat Dog was the exact day I needed, and it truly was. It was the day I questioned everything about why I do ultras and if this kind of distance is still for me. It was the day I reconnected with my love of this sport. It was the day I found my why again. It was the day I confronted some really hard thoughts and found beautiful answers with my friend. It was the day I felt so so so loved. It was the day I got to yap with one of my best friends for 11 hours while we ran through wildflowers and mountains. It was the day I learned some important lessons. It was the day I was reminded how beautiful it is to let your friends show up for you and embrace their support wholeheartedly. It was the day I remembered this sport is such a joy, and this community is a true gift. Lastly, it was the day I ran the furthest I’ve ever ran, the most I’ve ever climbed in a day, and it was the day that ended with a big fire burning bright in my heart for what’s to come. 

Some fun information:

• Fueling and Hydration Case Study
• Strava activity
• Race day shoes (and my favourite trail shoes!)