Sparky Races 500+ Miles of HOPE

Another busy weekend! 13 mile interval workout Saturday, had a 4 hr training run scheduled for Sunday, so I hopped into the Omaha Marathon and ran with the 4 hr pacers.
Weekly totals
Running 72 miles
Biking 31 miles
Lifting 3 hrs
Zero yoga, which is not good
1 flag football game attended, go titans
29th wedding anniversary celebrated
Upwards and onwards

Finding Joy in the grind again, Saturdays 26.5 miles at Hitchcock and Sundays 20 miles of pavement. Followed up with some Daniel Donato's Cosmic Country! ❤️👊
Last weeks stats
77.1 miles running
52 miles bike
2.5 hrs lifting
Avg daily steps 27,026
1 concert

Let’s, like, do this! 👊

Perhaps the Black Hills 100 dnf didn't sit well
I needed to know, if I wasn't sick w a stomach bug, could I?
Felt the affects of Kettle Morraine 100 at about mile 30
Held off the serious slow me down s**t until Mile 70
70-100 was a pure grind, just get there dawg
Just because I can't be a gnarly bandit finisher, doesn't mean I can't still be gnarly
Things to remember
1. Quads a lower back were fried, so I used bio freeze to combat that. It was hot, so I needed to l**e more often. Advice! Always l**e first, then rub in the bio freeze, doing it the other way around will make it feel as though the nuggets are going to go up in flames
2. Feet got wet from the dew, mile 81 I suddenly felt like my feet were being stabbed by a million needles. The onset of trench foot, change socks and shoes more often then twice
3. When Don says, let's go, finish strong! It's ok tell him to f**k off and keep walking
4. When doing a self supported hundo, expect your aid station visits to take much longer. Remember to thank those volunteers at your next race, they woulda save me 2 hrs.
5. When in doubt, say f**k it, and go for it!
6. I'm doing this bats**t crazy stuff for a cause!! Raising $ in honor of our veterans and active duty through our PGA reach and HOPE programs. I have attached the link in the comments for your perusing enjoyment!
7. What a great way to spend the 4th, happy 250 ya all

Independence Day is gonna be TUF!

The look of disappointment!
Woke at 3am throwing up, only to flip around and use the toilet to sit on, along with fever and the shivers. The stomach flu 7 hrs before race start. I showed up at the start line with hopes that my body would miraculously turn itself around, but that never happened, as it only got worse (go figure)! I couldn't keep any calories or hydration down, was throwing up everything, just getting to the aid station to drop was ridiculously difficult.
My gnarly bandit endeavor is over, my heart is broken, I am sure there is a lesson in this somewhere. I will need a day to grieve this loss, then I will get back on the trails, and continue to pursue growth, adventure, mastery, and resilience.
Next up will now be the Wild Duluth 100k, then on to New York for the marathon. Still raising funds and awareness for our veterans out there, that enjoy getting together for our PGA Hope programs.
Thanks all for following, and the kind words, here we go, upwards and onwards.
Sparky

Black Hills 💯 in 3 hrs!

Our two Gnarly Bandit hopefuls Mark Nygaard and Peter Koenig successfully finished Kettle Morraine 100, the second 100 miler in the Gnarly Bandit series!! They now head into the Black Hills 100 in South Dakota after a short two week turn around.
Best of luck to you both!

Our Gnarly Bandit series is sponsored by Performance Running Gym (PRG). PGR is a gym in St. Louis Park designed specifically for runners. Go to performancerungym.com to see how they can help you.

Kettle Moraine 100
Hot! Went out too fast, paid the price as miles 70-90 were a complete grind, and that's on me, and it sucked, I like to think lesson learned, but we will see. lol
Gnarly Bandit Series
Zumbro 💯 ✅
Kettle Morraine 💯✅
Black Hills 💯in 12 days 😲
Superior 💯
Wild Duluth 100k
Congrats to Zach on an epic finish, seriously had tears in my eyes when this young man crossed the finish line, as he got the WHOLE hundo experience! The fun, the dark, the light, and the finisher buckle.
Special thx to Scott for keeping us in the game, dude was a key factor to our success!