Ep #172: Sierra Swofford is Training for a 100-Mile Ultra!

Welcome to The Not Your Average Runner Podcast. If you’re a woman who has never felt athletic but you still dream about becoming a runner, you are in the right place. I’m Jill Angie, a certified running and life coach and I teach women how to start running, feel confident, and change their lives, and now I want to help you.

Jill: Hey, Rebels. So, I have a super-fun guest this week. The one and only Sierra Swofford is joining me to talk about a big-ass race goal that she has coming up. And I’m, like, blown away by the audacity of this goal and I think it’s amazing, and so, I wanted to talk to her about it.

We’re actually going to be following her throughout the process of training and achieving the goal. But for today, I just want to introduce you to this amazing human being and we’re going to just dive into what made her choose this goal and what’s going through her mind. So, Sierra, welcome so much to the show. I’m excited that you’re here.

Sierra: Hi, Jill. Thanks for having me.

Jill: So, let’s start out by – first of all, tell people what you’re going to be doing in 18 months or so.

Sierra: So, my goal is in May of 2022 to do a 100-mile race in Bryce Canyon, Utah.

Jill: 100 miles. All at once, right. Not like 10 miles here and 10 miles there, but 100 miles in a row.

Sierra: 100 miles in a row over 36 hours.

Jill: Fuck. That’s all I can say when I think about that. Alright, so what made you choose this particular goal? Walk us through your thought process.

Sierra: So, it kind of came about randomly. I was not looking to run anything. Maybe a marathon, but really not looking forward to anything longer than that. And I have, on my schedule for May of 2021, a race near Yosemite. And that race company has a podcast and I was listening to their podcast one day, just trying to gather information about how they do races and what to expect and all the things.

And they were talking about this race in Bryce Canyon and I just felt this quickening in my heart and that gut punch and just kind of like this piece also at the same time about this race. And I was like, “I feel like I’m supposed to do this.” I feel like this is what my soul is telling me that I need to do in my life and that I currently have achieved what I always thought was impossible and now this is the next impossible thing in my life.

Jill: I love how you described it as a quickening. Like, just that moment when you’re like, something big is happening and I need to roll with it. Okay, so you made this mental decision that you’re going to do this thing, and then what did your brain do after that?

Sierra: My brain was like, are you out of your mind? So then I looked at the race and I kind of did a little research. And even on this company’s race website, it rates this race as hard. They do other ultra-marathon races and compared to the other ones, this is the hard one.

Jill: And you’re like, “Yes, that’s the one I’m choosing.”

Sierra: Yeah, for my first one, this is the one I want to do. So yeah, and then just kind of the process after that was just like talking to my husband and saying, you know, this is the crazy thing that I want to do. And he was just kind of like, “Okay.”

Jill: Did you hope that he was going to try and talk you out of it? Or were you surprised by his response?

Sierra: I wasn’t surprised by his response. I was more surprised by my mom’s response because my mom is the uber-conservative, don’t do something that’s too scary, outside of the comfort zone type of person. And she was totally okay with it, so…

Jill: So you’re like, all the people in your life that are supposed to talk you down were like, “Yeah, let’s do this.”

Sierra: Yeah, pretty much.

Jill: Because I know, when you told me, I was like, “Oh my gosh. That’s amazing. I can’t wait.”

Sierra: Yeah.

Jill: So, have you had any second thoughts since you made this decision

Sierra: A few. Partially when I really started looking at the elevation challenges. Because I don’t live at elevation and while there are hills and mountains around me, that training component I’ve never really had to think about before because I’ve pretty much – I’ve run one six mile trail race and that’s it, without really doing any trail training. And so, yeah.

Jill: So, how are you going to be addressing some of these challenges. I mean, there is the distance. There is also being awake for 36 hours. That’s not a thing that most people do. And even if we do it, it’s not physical activity for the entire time. So, there’s altitude. There’s the distance. There’s the time that you have to be awake and on your feet. There’s a lot of logistical things. What are you doing to address all of those things? How have you created your training plan?

Sierra: Yeah, so this is the fun part of the training right now, is figuring all that kind of stuff out. Because I have a year and a half almost to train. And really, that training starts now with the mental work, learning all the things I can possibly learn about running a 100 mile race, the equipment, the fueling, the hydration, the trails, all of that stuff is everything I’m working on now.

So, just in the 36 hours of being awake, there will be some running late nights and early mornings and maybe even an overnight event if it’s possible in my training. So, it’s just nice that I have so much time so I can really take a step back and look at all of those little minute details and figure out a game plan for all of those things ahead of time. So, when my brain does start to get a little nervous and panic, I already have a game plan and I can just go to my plan and say, “Okay, this is what we’ve figured out we need to do and that’s what we’re going to execute.”

Jill: I love that. So you’re just, I’m going to create a plan, and just follow the plan. It seems so simple. I feel like life really is that simple and then we have all this drama because when it comes time to follow the plan, we’re like, “No, I don’t want to do it,” and there’s a mental temper tantrum, about it. But you’re very good at following the plan that you’ve set out for yourself. Have you noticed this about yourself? You really are.

Sierra: Yeah, I’m really, like, once it’s planned and I pretty much stick to it, if at all costs, sometimes to my detriment a little bit. Because it slips into a little bit of that perfectionist mind thinking, I have to complete my plan 100%. So, sometimes I have to work on that part of it too.

Jill: Say more about that. How do you handle it when there’s a workout that you had scheduled that you don’t do or that you need to adjust?

Sierra: Yeah, so I will – in my planning, once I make my overall big plan, then I really break it down by week and even by day, I look at my schedule every night before I go to bed, make sure everything’s going to fit into my day and adjust if I need to.

I really try to – I tell my brain, like, 90% is an A. So, 90% is really, really good. So, if I can hit 90% of my plan then I’m doing really, really well. And it’s taken me a while of working on that to even go down to the 90%. And sometimes even 80%. That’s still really, really good. And that’s not going to derail my plan. It’s not going to – I’m not going to lose any fitness if I have a day where I just can’t or I’m not feeling well or whatever the case may be. I have a very busy life and planning is so important.

There would be no way I’d be able to fit all of this into my schedule if I didn’t have a plan to begin with. And just making sure – of course, the hardest thing for anybody is getting out of bed in the morning. But I tell myself a lot of times, in the morning, if you don’t get out of bed, you’re not going to make it to the end of your 100 miles. And that’s really important to me, to work to my goal. It’s more important than five more minutes of sleep. So, I really work constantly on my brain to make sure that I’m keeping it in check and not letting it get too crazy about it not being perfect.

Jill: Yeah, and I think that’s a battle that most people face. If it’s not perfect then I’ve failed. I don’t know when that gets drilled into us. But I love that you’ve kind of given yourself a threshold that like, hey, 90% is still an A. That’s such a beautiful way to say it because it is. And 90% adherence to a training plan, I think, is amazing. And most training plans are written knowing that you’re not going to be perfect.

And so, there’s a lot of flex, I think, when you look at a training plan that you could say, okay, I could probably – not that anybody does, but when it comes right down to it, even if you miss an entire week in a 52-week training plan, that’s not really a big loss.

So, I love that you’re already thinking ahead to, like, this is where I’m going to draw the line. And not that you get up in the morning and say, “Okay, what can I skip today and still be okay?” But giving yourself permission ahead of time to not be perfect I think is valuable.

Sierra: Yeah, and I mean, I think it was especially powerful for me, the saying about if you get a flat tire, you don’t go and slash your other three tires. That analogy has been really important to me. Yes, a flat tire is going to happen. But you just do the best you can to get it fixed and get back on the road and you don’t go and intentionally cause self-sabotage to make yourself take longer to get back on the road. You just fix the one problem and move on.

Jill: Exactly. And I don’t know if you’ve read this book yet. You’re the one that turned me onto this book, but you said it was next on your list. But I read Rich Roll’s book about Finding Ultra. And it starts with this description about how he has this huge crash and loses one of his pedals in the middle of his Ultraman race.

And you don’t know what’s going to happen. Obviously, he’s going to finish the race. Everybody knows that he did exceptionally well in that. But he had this moment of, alright, perfect excuse, perfect – anybody would say, you lost your pedal, your body’s all banged up, your knee is swollen up. You don’t have to finish this. And he still finished it because he had this idea of, like, you don’t let the air out of the other three tires just because you got a flat. And I just think that’s such a great analogy. So, I love that you’ve taken that on board.

So, let me ask you this. What are you most excited about when you think about this process? We’ve got the planning process. Then you’ve got the training itself. And then you’ve got race day. Of those things, what is exciting you the most right now?

Sierra: Well, right now, the planning. I’m all into the planning and the learning. I love to gather information and learn all about a topic. So, I’m all into reading books about ultras and listening to all the podcasts I can find and doing all the research I can manage and what I need to know.

I’m a big planner. I love that part of any goal. So I’m really enjoying that piece of it right now. And I know, when I get into my really hard, hard training of those long runs that I’m going to have to be doing, that the joy of this piece of it will help get me through some of those long training runs that I will have to do.

Jill: Do you have any mantras that you think you’ll be using on your training runs?

Sierra: Well, I definitely have a few. One of the things that I will be working on for the race, and I’ll probably use this on some of my training runs as well, I’m a Christian and so I want to have a scripture for each mile, for the 100 miles. So, I’m working on collecting 100 scriptures for 100 miles as well for my race. So, that will be something I’ll carry with me on my race.

Jill: Yeah, I think that will be very powerful. So, we talked – when were we talking about this? It was at the Run Your Best Life virtual retreat in October. And one of the things that you said you were working on was being more bold. And everybody listening can’t see the look on your face right now. But you have the best expression on your face.

But we talked about that within the context of telling people that you’re doing this 100-mile race. So, can you speak more to that because I think boldness is – in the past, when I was a kid, my mom would have said, like, “Oh, you’re so bold.” And she meant it as negative, like you shouldn’t be so bold. You should be more quiet. And that’s just now who I am. You’ve met me, obviously.

But I do think it’s becoming much more of a word that women are seeking out. And maybe it’s women of a certain age, like maybe when you’re younger it’s not such a big deal. But as you move through your 30s and 40s and onwards, like, bold is something that’s a desirable quality. But anyway, I’m kind of babbling on. Can you talk more about what being bold means to you and how it ties in with your race?

Sierra: So, bold is such an important word in my life right now and that was, when we were talking about habits at the retreat, that was a habit that I decided I wanted to work on, which is how I came around to speaking more about my race and everything.

And most of my life, I’ve been the person that has hid. I was a very, very shy kid, like painfully shy kid. Book kid, you know, loved to read, loved to be involved in all those worlds that you discover in reading and all that kind of stuff. But didn’t have a lot of friends. I was overweight from a young age on up.

And over the last two years, two and a half years, I’ve changed my life completely and now I am learning, at an older age, to speak boldly and tell my story and shout it from the mountaintops and be this is what I’ve accomplished and this is who I am and I’m proud of that and I can do impossible things.

So, over the last two years, I’ve lost 140 pounds and completely changed my physical fitness, which is how I found you and Not Your Average Runner and started shouting from the mountaintops. Because when you lose 140 pounds, it’s pretty obvious for the people that know you. Like, if they haven’t seen you for a while and they see you they’re like, whoa.

So, you can’t hide that. You stand out amongst the people that know you especially. And that was the start of me kind of shouting that from the mountaintops, like hey, I accomplished something really big and I’m really proud of it.

So, when I reached my goal weight, I was like, okay, now what? What am I supposed to do with the next phase of my life? And running – I was never athletic. Never. Like I say, I was the book kid. My brother was the athlete, the football player, all the things. I was not that person at all. And so, becoming an athlete at 43 has been a ginormous change also in my life. And I think that to me, 100 miles seems impossible. But I’m like, if I can lose 140 pounds, then I can do anything.

Because 140 pounds always seemed absolutely impossible to do. Like, 20 pounds, yeah. Everybody can lose 20 pounds. But 140, that’s a lot of work. And I know that I can put in the work and the dedication because I did what seemed impossible once. And so, now I know that what seems impossible in the 100-mile race, I can do that too.

Jill: I’m getting chills. The certainty that I hear in your voice is so powerful. And I think that’s what gets people to the end goal is that belief that, if I did that other thing, I can do this. So, when you were losing your weight, what kept you going until the end point there?

Well, you know, I really did honestly start with losing weight with the intention of losing 20 pounds. I had no intentions of losing this much weight at all because I thought it was impossible. I thought it would never happen. But I found what worked for me and it became just easy.

Once it clicks, like with anything, once it clicks, it’s just easy to do. You just have to keep trying until you find the thing that clicks. So, I did that and I had so many people tell me that it was impossible. I had lots of people in my life tell me that there were things that I could not do and it was my fault that I couldn’t do it. And for a long time, I wallowed in that.

And then I had some medical issues and I said I’m going to lose 20 pounds. It will help me feel a little bit better. Then I just did it and I just kept going. And it was easy.

Jill: Isn’t that fascinating. Like, when you believe it’s easy, then it becomes easy. I think when we say to ourselves, this is really hard, it becomes more difficult. And so, your whole brain just flipped over into this is easy. And did the same thing happen for you when you started running?

Sierra: Yeah, actually. Because especially when you start out, a 5K seems hard. It seems far and it seems long. And there are days where that still seems really far to me. But right now, I’m like, 100 miles, I can do that. But a 5K seems hard.

Jill: Isn’t it so fun how our brains work. Because the 5K is the thing in front of you right this second. Where the 100 miles is… but the fact that your brain has already decided this is a thing I can do, then the problem just becomes, now I need to figure out how to do the next thing on the list.

Sierra: Yeah, it’s really a week at a time, a day at a time. Just look at what’s right in front of you, accomplish that, and don’t worry so much about what’s a year away.

Jill: So, speaking of a year away, let’s kind of talk through what your training plan looks like for the next 18 months, give or take a month.

Sierra: It’s about 18 months. It’s Memorial Day weekend of 2022.

Jill: Wow, that’s just about 18 months. So, what does your training plan look like? What are some of the milestones along the way?

Sierra: Yeah, so I really started at zero. Because when I started my training for next year, I had not yet decided that I was going to do this crazy thing. So, right now, I’m working at just building strength and building mileage. Those are the two things that I’m working up towards.

So, this year, I will do a virtual 10K sometime in December. And then starting right after Christmas, I will start working on half-marathon training as I have two half-marathons. One at the end of April and one at the beginning of May. And then I’m going to go on a big adventure and go to Bryce Canyon but do the shortest race that they do, which is a 30K, which is a little over 18 miles, to check out the weather and the venue and all the things. And then after that, I officially jump into the official training for the 100-mile race, even though I’m really training the whole time.

Jill: Yeah, you’re like prepping yourself now to be able to start the training. Okay, so your big milestone is an 18 miler before you officially start the 100-mile training. And then what does the 100-mile training look like?

Sierra: So, the 100-mile training will – it’s about 48 weeks of training and I will be building endurance and mileage throughout that. The farthest training run I will probably have will be about 50 miles because if you can go 50 miles, you can go 100 miles.

Jill: Isn’t that fascinating?

Sierra: Yeah. And so, within the training, I will probably throw in some races that line up with the mileage. Maybe a couple of marathons, a 50K, maybe a 50 miler, just to get a medal for a training run. And yeah, so basically, the training plan that I’m doing works at building your endurance so you do a lot of back to back runs that are long. So, you’re building that strength over time. And that’s part of why you don’t need to go further than the 50 miles.

Jill: Okay, and have you thought about including maybe a trail Ragnar in the midst of all of that? Because that will get you running a lot within a 36-hour period.

Sierra: Yeah, so I’ve thought about that. And they do have one here where I live. I haven’t looked yet to see if they’ve announced dates for it for next yet. But there are a lot of trail races where I live. So, I’ve been steadily collecting a little database of races and dates because I live where there’s lots of mountains and lots of trails. So, there is definitely a plethora of places for me to go train and a plethora of races for me to go try out during that. Including two races that I just recently found that are like a 24-hour race where you run the loop over and over again. So, that definitely might be added to my training.

Jill: Oh, that will be a good one. That will be a really good one. Because if you can run for 24 hours, you can run for 36 hours. So, I want to understand, because I know there’s a lot of people out here that are thinking, what the hell? This is crazy. Are you nervous about anything? And if so, what is are you nervous about?

Sierra: Oh, absolutely. There is the total reality that I may not finish. I have looked at last year’s results for the 100-mile race and about 60% of the people that raced did not finish. So, there is the entire possibility that I will get there and I will not finish. And that is a reality that I am aware of and doing the mental work behind that ahead of time. There will be lots of thought downloads and things surrounding that because it’s a year and a half of my life. And would I be disappointed if I don’t make it? Absolutely. But it is also part of the reality of this type of race and a reality of when you’re pushing your body that far, to finish that, that is a good chance that I won’t finish.

But I am doing my part, which is doing the planning, doing all the research, and doing all the training, the physical training and the mental training to make sure that I can have the best possible race that I can do. And if that ends up not being 100 miles, then will I be disappointed? Of course, but in the end, I will be okay with it.

It is scary. Like, 100 mile is far. It’s pretty remote where I’ll be running. And there’s lots of things to take into account. So, there is every chance that I could get hurt or I could fall or I could get attacked by a bat, or I don’t know, all the things. So, there’s lots of things to be scared of, but I think it’s just sitting down, again, in that planning piece of it and addressing each of those things that I can control. I can’t control whether there’s bats circling over my head. So I just have to choose not to be afraid of it and make sure I wear lots of lights, so they stay away from me.

Jill: Exactly. I love that. So, you’re basically treating everything that you might be nervous about as, like, okay this is just a problem to be solved and I’ll do the research, I’ll plan, and I’ll be ready.

Sierra: It’s a great opportunity to hone my planning skills.

Jill: How many spreadsheets do you have set up right now?

Sierra: Oh my gosh, I can’t even tell you. Yeah, it’s ridiculous, the amount of spreadsheets. And I think I need some more.

Jill: I love this because I saw the one that you set up for the next 18 months of training and the detail, I was super-impressed with that.

Sierra: Yeah, I’m currently working on a timeline of the race and when I need to be where and those things. And then I was just thinking I need to add in, like, how much nutrition in each of those time slots I’m going to need to take and, like, even breaking it down by how many calories I want to take in and between each aid station and all those kinds of things.

Jill: And even things like the battery on your Garmin. Is it going to last 36 hours? And are you going to bring a battery pack for your phone? Will you bring your phone with you? All these tiny little logistical things have to be thought through.

Sierra: Yeah, there will be a plethora of batteries for all the things and I’ve already invested in three pairs of earphones so I can hand one off to my crew. Because I can have crew with me. And I’ve already had a bunch of people to volunteer to come and help me, which has just been incredible and amazing. So, I’ll have batteries for them to charge in between the times that I get to see them. And then devices that I can just switch out. So that way, at least in the areas that do have cell phone reception, which is not the whole race, but most of it does. So, just in case of an emergency, I want to have my phone with me.

Jill: And what is something, as you’ve been going through the process of planning and thinking it through, what is something that has surprised you about this whole concept, the whole process?

Sierra: I think one thing that has surprised me is how many people have actually accomplished this. There are a lot of people out there who have done, and regularly do 100-mile races. And the endurance and tenacity of people and the community is just so amazing and so accepting and so helpful. It is definitely its own set of crazy people. Because you have to be a little crazy to want to push your body that far. But they are really an amazing group of people out there.

Jill: I love this. That is what I think has surprised me as well, not just that there are people out there who want to do this, but there are so many. You’re right. Okay, before we close up, is there anything that you want to say to people who may be listening to this because they’re thinking about doing something similar and want to know if it’s a good idea or not or just want to know what some of the thoughts you’re having – what advice would you offer to somebody else who is considering a similar goal?

Sierra: Well, I would say, if you’re out there and you’re considering a similar goal and if your 100 miles is a 5K because it’s all relative – it doesn’t have to be that you want to do a 100 mile race because obviously no everybody wants to do that. If our 100 miles is a 5K, the first thing that you should do is speak boldly to yourself and then to our loved ones and tell them that this is what you want to do and this is what you’re going to do.

I think speaking boldly and with passion and enthusiasm will get everybody on board with you. And if you don’t feel like you can tell your spouse or your parent or whatever, tell your running community. Go to the Not Your Average Facebook page and share it there because you will find somebody who will support you there.

And I think that the first thing is to tell somebody and speak boldly for yourself and then you can accomplish whatever your 100 miles is. Just start with step one.

Jill: So beautifully said. And I know that you’ve been such a great example to all of the members in Run Your Best Life. They’re all cheering you on because we’ve all got that part of us that wants to set big, audacious, bold goals and go after them. And I know that they’re all very excited to watch you chase down this truly epic achievement. And I’m excited. We’re going to bring you back on in probably six to nine months when you’re sort of deeply in the training and talk about how it’s going.

But I’m very grateful to you for sharing, you know, your journey thus far and your words of wisdom to everybody. So, thank you so much for being here today.

Sierra: Thank you, Jill. It was amazing getting to speak boldly again about this and sharing my journey.

Jill: I mean, because it’s out there now. You’re on a podcast about it. There’s no putting that genie back in the bottle.

Sierra: Yep, I’m pretty committed at this point.

Jill: I love it so much. Thanks so much, Sierra.

Sierra: Thanks.

Oh, and one last thing. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, you have to check out the Rebel Runner Roadmap. It’s a 30-day online program that will teach you exactly how to start running, stick with it, and become the runner you’ve always wanted to be. Head on over to rebelrunnerroadmap.com to join. I’d love to be a part of your journey.