Kat'cina Mosa 100 k- A tale of two Potsies

I'm It was a dark and not stormy night, as all good stories begin. Let me give you a bit of history. Kat'cina Mosa 100k is a grueling mountain race touting over 12,000 feet of elevation gain and loss, over mostly technical trails and high peaks. 

I'm a fighter, and I hate having to stop a race. Any time I DNF (did not finish) or as my coach says MTRC (made the right choice) there is a deep internal part of myself that gets pissed off, and a raging desire to go back and take care of unfinished business. I also have Hyperandregenic Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome otherwise know as POTS http://www.dysautonomiainternational.org/pdf/RoweOIsummary.pdf

Basically my autonomic nervous system doesn't properly regulate, and thus courses with a lot of climbing are more difficult for me than someone with a normally regulated autonomic nervous system. I've experienced 6 DNFs of this course, and this year I decided I wold do whatever was necessary to finish. 

My friend, Tiffiny, who originally I met when she contacted me through this blog, also has POTS. She has attempted this course one time in 2015, and during her DNF attempt had an encounter with a cougar when she stepped on it's tail around mile 21 of the course. Tiffiny in is another tough fighter, and I was honored to team up with her to complete the course together this year. Due to her cougar experience last year, naturally she had a lot of apprehension about the course this year, and so we paired up as two tough gunslinging chicks, and she also brought along three tactical flashlights as back up cougar repellent. 

Because we both have POTS, and have difficulty with climbing, heat and sun, we got permission from the race director to start early to give us the best chance of beating our symptoms and doing as much of the course as we could at night. After all, we can not compare ourselves to anyone else running the course because we are who we are and we have what we have. So we started out around 8:30pm on Friday night of August 5th. 

I've made several changes over the past few years to work with my body to be able to complete ultramarathons while managing POTS. In the 2013 race, I had made several improvements, but around mile 11 on this course I had a panic attack because the two previous years I had some pretty serious symptoms between mile 16-23, which I would consider the toughest stretch of the course. That year my anxiety was what made me quit, not my physical symptoms, and I realized I needed more help to refine my training. That's when I started working with my coach Lisa Smith-Batchen, whom I have been working with ever since http://www.dreamchaserevents.com/About-Us/Lisa-Smith-Batchen/

In 2014 and 2015 my performances were  better, but I was still not able to complete this course.

This year I have made several changes to my diet and training that have made a huge difference. Since March of 2016 I have been living a fat-adapted lifestyle, meaning I eat no sugar and no grains, and 70% of my diet consist of healthy fats, while eating about 20% protein and 10% carbohydrates. I became interested in fat-adapting when I saw athletes who were having amazing performances and recoveries by training their bodies to utilize fat as a main energy source for fuel in performance instead of relying on carbohydrates, while also training their bodies to perform at improved speeds while staying in a low aerobic heart rate threshold the majority of the time. 

Fat-adapting has been incredible for me, becuse I no longer have energy stabilization problems during events, I don't dehydrate as rapidly before, I've been able to lose 40 out of 50 lbs so far that I put on after my POTS diagnosis in spite of different dietary adjustments, and high miles. Overall the Fat-adapted lifestyle has reduced the impact of POTS and improved my health. 

You can see in the picture above that dietary changes, not exercise have decreased the amount of body fat I have while increasing my muscle mass. I am totally converted to this lifestyle because I feel better physically and mentally, and with the weight loss, it's increased my endurance and performance. For more information I suggest downloading Vinnie Tortorich's audiobook, Fitness Confidential, and listening to his podcast. I have both the printed book and the audiobook, however in Vinnie style, he does not stick to the script and there is more information, plus some inspiring stories of his battle with Leukemia and finish of The Furnace 500 after leukemia that you won't get in his printed book. 

http://vinnietortorich.com

Back to the story: as Tiffiny and I set out we were feeling pretty good as we watched the sunset and made our way uphill, on the Squaw Peak road up through Rock Canyon. We chatted about anything and everything as we got to know each other more personally, and compared our experiences of being runner's with POTS. We lamented at the invalidation we receive from outsiders who think we must not really have POTS if we can run ultra's. The truth is we are ultra because that is what keeps us healthy, we battle or symptoms constantly and ultra running is what helps  our autonomic dysfunction be a bit more functional. 

I feel extremely greatful that when Dr. Joy diagnosed me with POTS, she never told me to expect to be disabled or to stop running, in her wisdom she told me running was the best medicine I could take to stay healthy. Tiffiny's experience was different. Her doctor told her to be prepared to get on disability and to stop running. Tiffiny reused to accept that bad advice and kept running and fought, and she holds a job as a busy surgical nurse. She proved her doctors wrong, and not science is starting to catch up and support our method of overcoming POTs,  by literally training ourselves to outrun it! 

As we approached mile 16 of the course Tiffany started to become apprehensive. Mile 16-23 is a tough climb off over 3000ft, from Rock Canyon to Lightening Ridge, on a single track. In the past this climb has caused me problems, and this year I was surprised at how steady I was able to kept moving without my heart rate racing out of control. Tiffany met the cougar on the decent of this trail. The climb is about 3.5 miles, followed by 3.5 miles of equally difficult decent.

It was about mile 21 last year that Tiffiny was running down the trail and stepped on the Cougars tail that was hidden in the vegetation. She was understandable anxious to complete this part of the course in the dark. She carried two technical flashlights, which were amazing, as they lit the path to daylight standards. About .75 of a mile to the highpoint Tiffiny froze as she spotted what she thought was a big cat, and so I fired my glock into the air, to see that it was only a deer, phew! We made our way down and got to Big Springs aid station just before 6am in the morning. From big springs we left to climb the second toughest part of the course to Windy pass, about 6 miles gaining close to 4000 ft. We were relieved to get most of this climb done before the heat hit, as this climb can be a completely different hell when the sun is straight upon us, especially for Potsies. 

I started struggling a bit, but as we reached Windy Pass aid station, and I saw my homies from AIIA (Addict II Athlete) my morale was boosted, and after a minute of resting we started the decent into Little Valley.

It was hot and dry down into Little Valley, and while my energy came back, Tiffiny started to struggle on the way down, we stuck together as we boosted each other through each other's lows of the race. We got into Little Valley, and completed the out-and-back, and started on the long jeep road that winds and winds for 11-12 miles, and see relentless and unending. We were lucky enough to have cloud cover coming into Little Valley, but were not so lucky climbing out. The heat and sun started to wear down on us. I was nauseated, Tiffinies knee was hurting, and we slowly made our way through. About 2 miles before the end of this road Tiffany spotted cougar tracks on the road, and started noticing gentle but consistent rustling in the bushes that seemed to follow us. Me, thinking she was just anxious becuse of her experience last year, kept minimizing it as likely rabbits or wild turkey. As we made our way to aid station 8, Tiffany kept facing the bushes clinking her poles, and blasting music, convinced something. Was following us. 

We arrived, finally, at the end of the unforgiving Jeep road to find more AIIA people cheering us on, as we prepared to decend until a four mile canyon, with narrow single track trail, to get to the paved road in the Right Fork of Hobble Creek Canyon. 

Upon leaving the aid station we broke off to the single track, and as the sun was decreasing in the sky, Tiffiny became more and more apprehensive, and finally 2 miles down the single track firmly demanded that I stop, turn around, and look in the bushes. There I saw the head of a big animal crouched, and realized, it was indeed a big cat, and Tiffiny has not been imagining. The cat had been hunting us for the last 4 miles. It is very unusual for cougar to hunt humans, in fact there have been no reported deaths in Utah due to a cougar attack. It is especially rare for a cat to stalk two humans together. However, when cougar hunt, they sometimes will track their prey closely for over an hour to corner their prey into a position that it can jump at it, and swipe to cut its jugular vein. 

This is likely what this car was doing, following us, and hunting us into this narrow canyon waiting for the perfect position to jump. I once again, pulled out my glock, and shot into a bank Ned too it's head, in which the cat froze out of fear, and we slowly backed away from it. It did not continue to follow us after that point. We came into Right Fork rattled by the experience and ready to be done with the course. 

Having survived to mile 56, we started the decent to the finish line, on the lady 6 miles on the paved road, and were jumpy about any noise we heard. Just before 10:30pm we arrived at the finish, greatful to be done, and showing the world that two determined women with POTS could finish this difficult course.

I'm honored to have run this course with Tiffiny and thank the race director, John Bozung for working with us and allowing us to complete this course. I also thank my coach Lisa Smith-Batchen, and am greatful for Vinnie Tortorich's book, as well as Mark Sissions who's information has helped me make huge progress this year! 

Never, ever, ever , ever give up!

Tomorrow let's slay this beast! 

Desert RATS Multiday Stage Adventure Race

About three weeks ago, I received an email invitation from Lisa Smith-Batchen to participate in the 2015 Desert RATS stage race. A 143 mile race across 6 days of climbing desert mountains, sand, and in scorching hot temperatures. The conditions are so brutal that the race director proudly claims a finish rate of 50% or less.

I didn't think I was ready for this year. I said I would love to try it when I was in shape enough to complete it. Lisa wrote me back and told me I was in shape enough and I could finish. So I trusted my coach wouldn't lie to me, and I took a deep breath and signed up. I was instantly petrified.

I didn't know how much good it would do with only two weeks to train, but I started overdressing on my long runs, running in the hottest part of the day (already was running in the hot parts of the day, just not with extra clothing to simulate 100+ degree temperatures. 

Suddenly Squaw Peak 50 lost its focus and became a training run 1 were before DR. The week before I fretted, I read the racers manual 100 times. I was afraid of getting lost, I knew i couldn't afford to get lost because I wasn't fast enough to afford time losses, like some runners are.

It would be a true test of how much my body has really recovered from POTS to be exposed to the sun and heat for several hours every day. I was a little nervous to go talk to my Doctor about needing medical clarance for a race in the heat, and he did question my sanity but agreed to clear me after a discussion on how I know my body and don't ever push myself to the point of becoming a medical liability. I always stop if I really don't feel like my body is working properly. 

I showed up at the pre-race meeting on Sunday June 14th, I gave my medical profile to the staff Doctor and he told me he has never seen anyone with POTS who was well controlled, but I confidential ly stated that I was and had been working on it for 5 years. 

Sunday night my stomach was all in knots, I didn't sleep well, something was different in me with this race. I wanted to prove to myself that I could finish, a hot race, all of the worse possible factors working against a person with dysautonomia, all of the elements for failure were stacked against me, and I wanted to beat all of them in a way that I've never cared about before. I wanted to finish this race officially, and within all the time limits. 

Day 1- after getting up at 3:30 am and getting totally ready to run because I was too nervous to sleep I was able to finally fall asleep from 4:30-6:30am. At 7:30

I arrived in front of the Gonzo Inn, in Moab where two fellow Dreamchasers Traci and Sada were also waiting. We loaded the vans, and headed out to Loma Utah to the start of the Kokopelli Trailhead. Fearing that any mistake would cost me the race, I was grateful to have loaded a map app with the route into my phone that proved to keep me from going off the course several times. 

Day one started at 10 am with temperatures in the high 90's. The first day we completed just under 20 miles, and I came in 5th for women and 7th overall, out of 16 who started the race. That blew me away because since I've struggled with POTS its effected my speed, and I didn't realize how much I really have improved and how much my hard training this year has paid off. I finished stage one in 5:44- 1:46 ahead of the cuttoff time. 

Day 2- we went about 35 miles and temperatures reached 100 degrees. This was a difficult day because the heat was unrelenting. I worked hard and with the help of some anti-nausea medicine was able to overcome the effects of heat and sub on my body long enough to reach mile 29 in just 8 hours. However,

At mile 29 I was overheated and sick and had to stop for over 45 minutes to recover, and then I had to take the last 6 miles very slowly finishing stage two in 11:09- 1:21 ahead of the cuttoff times.

Day 3- we had a by of a break, we ran a short 12 mile section, I started the first two miles walking slowly and then decided I needed to pick it up to finish faster to get out of the sun. It was a hilly trail section, and I finished in 3:17- 1:43 ahead of the cuttoff

Day 4- became the true testing ground for me, we had nearly 43 miles to complete over very hot, and steep mountain climbs into some of the toughest technical trail sections of the course. It was over 30 miles of climbing and only about 13 decent. The first 12 miles were tough but I felt OK, and then it started to get hot, I believe it probably hit close to 110 degrees on some of the sections. After mile 18, there was a long 2000 foot accent section, with no water drops or aid. I ran out of water about 8 miles into that section and it was still over 100 degrees out, it was a very slow and painful 4 miles until I was able to get to the next aid station around 7:30pm, in order to remain official I needed to complete the stage by midnight. With 4:30 hours left, after rehydrating and being able to eat again my energy came back and I pushed out a strong 12.5 mile section to finish stage three in 16:45- just 15 minutes ahead of the cuttoff times 

Stage 4 was so difficult on my body that I had severe muscle cramps from dehydration and heat sickness all night, and developed a bacterial infection on my face.

Day 5- The next day was a recovery day which I spent rehydrating, correcting my eletrolyte depletion, and wading my legs and feet in the cold water. I also was started by the camp doctor on a course of antibiotics to fight the infection. I could barely walk, yet still had one marathon to run the next day to compete the race. The medical team fixed up my feet, and for the first night of the whole event I was able to sleep well. 

Day 6- I woke up feeling much better and we started the race in waves. I started at 7:30 am, and climbed the first 6.5 miles of the course (over 1500 feet of gain) in under two hours. From there I started the downhill decent and my sore feet started to calm down. I went from hobbling a 15-6 minute mile to being able to tolerate a 12-13 minute mile consistently down until I got to the technical trail out-and-back from miles 15-19.5 to Porcinine Rim. This section was long, hot and difficult, and slow. But after completing the trail section instarted the last 6.5 mile downhill section on road and was able to keep about a 12.5 minute mile pace and the last two miles a 8-10

Minute mile pace to finish the stage in 7:29- 1:01 ahead of the cuttoff time.

As I crossed the finish line the emotion of what I had just done overcame me. There were times on stage 4 that I was sure I would not be able to get the cuttoff, and then something deep inside would rebel and I would find it somewhere to push faster and stronger, and committed to be at the finish by midnight no matter what. 

Only 6 of the 16 who started were able to finish as official finishers, placing me as the 4th place female. However, the unofficial finishers were just as impressive, some of them being eliminated early on, went on to give it all they had and covered the same distance without the motivation of official completion. That was truely impressive to watch. 

Today I am recovering and humbled at the strength I have regained through a lot of medical and physical support, and spiritual guidance and healing. I'm very humbled by what I was able to do this week. Inhale to thank my coach, family, friends, and many wonderful care providers who have helped me along the way, and God for making healing possible. 

Every one of the names on the list above proved to be some of the most courageous people I've ever met. Everyone of them struggled and gave it all they had. The odds were stacked against all of us, and we all showed up and gave it what we had. There is nothing to be ashamed about giving it your all no matter what the results are. 

Looking forward to a week off from running this week.

Tire pulling and POTS

As I prepare to run across America next Spring (targeting March 14th as a start date), I realize I'm probably an outlier case study. TI mean less than 1% of the entire population has run a marathon and less than 1% of people who run a marathon have run an ultra marathon. How many of the 1% of the 1% struggle with POTS? I don't even know, but I wanted to talk about how tire pulling has helped relieve many of my symptoms. 

One of the theories in finding ways to midigate POTS symptoms is to help reduce blood pooling in the lower extremities by strengthening the calf muscles. 

A couple of months ago I started running with a tire. I'm now averaging 20-25 miles or about 1/4-1/3 of my total weekly training miles pulling a tire up and down a hill. I have noticed in the past month a significant decrease in my POTS symptoms overall, and a great increase in my energy level since I started pulling a tire. 

I don't know if tire pulling will work for all people with POTS, but it seems that there might be something to this idea of strengthening the calf muscles, and even individuals who find running difficult may benefit from resistance or weight bearing exercises that strengthen calf muscles.

Marshall Ulrich has a good post about how to make a tire. I didn't make mine as fancy as his. I took an old camel back shell, stole a long piece of webbing from my husbands climbing bag (yeah it was his good one), and then he drilled a hole in my tire and basically just a bolt with a washer. Run the webbing through the bolt, tie to back-pack, and run. 

If you don't want to pull with your back,Marshall's  article tells you how to fashion a system for a waist pull:

http://marshallulrich.com/blog/tire-drag/

We all need a coach to push us

I ran my first marathon in 2007, and it was a rather spontanious decision. At that time I was recovery from a long-term battle with anorexia and bulimia that had started when I was 13 years old. In the eating disorder recovery world running often gets a bad wrap, with many experts believing that individuals who struggle with these disorders are just doing it to lose weight, don't really love running, and highly discouraged me from doing so in some cases.

However, I choose to ignore the negative professional badgering because I found that running was not a part of my eating disorder and in fact helped me to learn how to respect and love my body. Since that time I have gained and lost weight due to post-hysterectomy side effects and POTS. Through it all I've come to appreciate my body more and I take care of my body. I am more intuitive then I have ever been in my life because I love running and I know there are many out there suffering from POTS who could never imagine being able to have the strength to run, and some who have difficulty with just normal everyday activities. I am happy to say that I am 100% recovered from the eating disordered mindset that I grappled with for years, and that running is a love that I am intuitvely drawn too.  I have discovered evidence that it is what I should do to preserve my health while living with dysautonomia.

Because my struggles with health in the past, speed and hydration have been difficult, but I want to testify that my investment into hiring a running coach is not just benificial to running. I believe has helped me save thousands of medical bills now and in the future. The side benefit I'm experiencing is that my strength and speed are now sky rocketing after 18-months of personal online-coaching with world-class ultra runner and coach Lisa Smith-Batchen. Her record speaks for itself,she has lead many ultra-runners into elite status, and has a remarkable personal running resume.  

In 2015, 8-years since my first marathon and ultramarathon, I have lost count of my finishes. I'm healthier physically, mentally, and spiritually then I ever have been in my life. My body is doing incredible things again with running, and my weight is dropping naturally without dieting and just being intuitive. I want to lose weight to improve my speed, but it is not the focus of my training. I love my body where it is at, and have accepted that I will train and be intuitive, and if it wants ton drops weight it will. And surprisingly, not focusing on my weight is the most succesdful thing I've done because the excess weight is coming off.

I highly recommend hiring a coach to push your running and health levels to new level. I am looking forward to a bright future of running accomplishments that are beyond what I thought I was capible of.

New goal for 2016 - The Forest Gump Stunt

I'm reviving my goal to run coast-to-coast. Projected date in 2016 coming pending being able to get support crew! I've started tire pulling and did 8 miles of tire pull hill repeats today, and 3 more bonus miles. I want to hit 77 miles this week by Sunday night and make this my biggest mileage week so far this year. 

I hit 604 miles today YTD meaning I've hit 25% of my goal. Now with my new goal to run transcontinental next year I may have to up my 2015 mileage goal! 

Cleared to run Wasatch 100 with POTS!

This year, I once again made the lottery into the Wasatch 100. Wasatch 100 finish and belt buckle is my dream, and a difficult course for a Potsie, because of the intense hill climbs. But I've poured my heart and soul into training hills this year, and have started tire pulling to improve my ability to be speedy on hill climbs. I want a Wasatch 100 finish more than about any other race. I want to not be chasing cut-offs. 

This year, due to my activism and public openness about POTS, Wasatch 100 race committee requested a medical clearance letter for me to be able to run the race. I respect their concern for the health and safety of runners, and it gave me an opportunity to see Dr. Elizabeth Joy again, the wonderful doctor who was able to properly diagnose me in 2010, and put me on the right path to symptom management with POTS. 

I had a full physical with her today, and she also told me that she is putting some of her POTS patients on high intensity exercise programs because she sees a lot of symptom improvement with more intense exercise with dysautonomia. It was very validating to hear support for my high intense training and that running 100 milers is good for me. She gave me the letter of clearance and clean bill of health that Wasatch 100 needed. And it was also good to check in with her and be validated in my running plans and supported in running with POTS. I've clocked 570 miles so far for 2015, and my next big run will be Squaw Peak 50 in June, I'm hoping for a sub 15 hour finish for Squaw Peak this year! 

Thank you once again Dr. joy for your knowledge of Dysautonomia and support in achieving my running dreams! 

39 miles and counting

I'm a little behind for January due to The Community School of Midwifery launching into our 3rd year last Friday. I plan on completing a 30 mile run on Saturday to catch up and meet a minimum of 200 miles for January towards 2400 miles in 2015. 

It appears that I may be changing the name of my campaign as I just discovered that ACNM has a Miles for Midwives Marathon that they host yearly, so to keep in good comradery I'm looking for a new name for my campaign. I'm open to suggestions.

This year is the first year our school started with 3 classes, and we wi have our first graduating class in November of this year. We hope to raise over $150,000 to support MANAs division of research for supporting the advancement of high-quality midwifery care and to move our school forward with accreditation and support to grow our local and distance education program. 

To donate to my campaign go to:

http://www.gofundme.com/j3tknc #gofundme

Race to 100 for Dysautonomia International $10 per mile

Many individuals suffer from chronic invisible illnesses like mine, Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome. I'm blessed because I've been able to mitigate or minimize many symptoms, and I am able to run and function normally (although it has taken a lot of effort in healing!) But at least 25% of individuals with POTS can not function normally and many had to end careers and some are bedridden. Help find a cure for dysautonomia by donating to my race for 100 campaign to support research and treatment for those suffering from this hidden, chronic illness.

I've officially joined Team Dysautonomia and wish to raise $10 for every mile I race for the remainder of 2014 and 2015

https://www.crowdrise.com/Raceto100forDysautonomia

Wasatch 100, 2014 race report

October is Dysautonomia Awareness Month! Please consider a donation to Dysautonomiainternational.org. I'm grateful I can run, because 25% of those struggling with POTS are significantly impared by their illness, and I'm in the 50% that still is struggling more than 4 years after being diagnosed. I'm seeing improvements, but many people struggle the rest of their lives. 

It was a temperate Thursday afternoon on September 4 th, as I pulled into Sugarhouse park like I have in years past. Here it was again, the prerace briefing of the Wasatch 100, one of the toughest 100 mile races in the Rocky Mountains.

Think back to 2010, my first attempt at Wasatch 100, just 3 months after being diagnosed with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS). That year my body was in peril and I was in trouble with my hydration by the time I hit Francis Peak aid station at mile 18.4, just 20 minutes before the cut off. DNFing that year was the right thing to do, my body just wasn't functioning properly enough, and I had had some trips to the ER and many days in bed unable to move. 

The second attempt occurred in 2012, this time still not fully working and a months after a hystorectomy I made it not even all the way to Francis peak 1 full hour after the cut off. 

Discouraged and defeated I decided not to start in 2013 and instead helped run aid at Pole Haven, and decided that I would train much harder for 2014, and work with Lisa Smith-Batchen on improving my running prognosis. Starting in January I finished a snowshoe 50K, and then 62 miles of Buffalo 100 in March, and then Squaw Peak 50 miler (which I had not been able to finish since 2010), and then Deseret News Marathon,  38 of Kat'cina Mosa 100k, and finally Wasatch 100 came. 

I knew that the first 18 would be tough for me because of POTS, my heart rate goes up too much on hill climbs, and it slows me down, but I kept a slow and steady pace and reached Francis Peak aid Station at mile 11:41, 19 minutes before the cut off. Feeling good, and moving on I continued to Swallow Rocks at mile 35, and made the decision to drop when it was 7pm, and I still had 4.5 miles to Big Mountain and would not make it before the cuttoff at 7:30pm, my decision to drop at Swallow Rocks was of courtesy to the aid workers to not have to wait for me when I was going to time out anyway, and because I'm running another 100miler, Yellowstone/Teton 100 on September 20-21.

I feel very good after Wasatch and recovered quickly, and am feeling confident about a finish for YT100, because I am much faster on road, and not as many steep hill climbs. 

I'm hoping to return to Wasatch in 2015, and with another good year of training have a finish! 

One thing that has been helping lately is I started taking q96, and have noticed: better tolerance to heat, my heart rate is more stable, I have a lot more energy overall,  and I have stopped taking 2 of the medications I was on to control my POTS symptoms. 

All in all, I feel hopeful because I doubled my distance at Wasatch this year , and am on my way to finishing it! 

Ultramarathon Running and Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome(POTS)

Running Ultramarathons with POTS: Recovering Strength and Endurance

By: Tara Tulley LDEM, LCSW

A few individuals have asked me lately how I have been able to continue running with POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome). I decided I would write my story on how I discovered I had this condition, how it has affected my life, and how I have decided to run anyway.

In 2007 I completed my first marathon, Deseret New Classic Marathon on July 24th. At that time I was also recovering from a long-term eating disorder, and was warned repeatedly that running would kill me. I found the opposite to be true; I found that running was the catalyst that changed how I viewed my body. I started to respect my body and appreciate the abilities that it had to endure, and through a long journey now consider myself fully recovered from an eating disorder, and no longer struggle with the daemons that kept my head bound for many years. Two months after completing my first marathon, I decided to run in the Top of Utah Marathon. I loved running distance so much, that I wondered how many other marathons there were around Utah, and it was then I was introduced to the world of the Ultramarathon.

In October of 2007, I ran and completed the Ogden Valley 50 miler. No one thought I could do it, I had only run two marathons, and had not done much distance training before that summer.  I not only completed a 50 miler, but also discovered that I was not as tired and sore after running 50 miles as I had been running marathons.

In fall of 2007, I also decided to return to school. I had been a practicing midwife in Utah for about 8 years, and had been politically active in passing legislation to license midwives. When I went back to school, I initially thought I would complete another bachelor’s degree that would get me into a Nursing program, with the eventual goal of becoming a nurse practitioner. Somehow that plan changed and I ended pursuing a degree in social work, and a Masters degree at the University of Utah. 

In 2008, I decided to take things a step further. I signed up for the Utah Grand Slam, completing 5 marathons in a 4-month period, and also completed two 50-mile races. I also starting training in Mauy Thai, and started participating in local smoker bouts.

In 2009, my speed was getting better, I signed up for more challenging mountain races. It was during an attempt at the Kat’cina Mosa 100K that I started noticing some odd things about my running. Mountain racing was a different ballgame than road running. In the heat of the August summer, I ran out of water on a difficult 9-mile stretch of the race, and became seriously dehydrated. Making it difficult to traverse down the mountain I experienced dizziness, hallucinations, and made it to the aid station 1 hour after the cut off time. I was completely defeated and demoralized, because it was my first time not being able to finish a race. Brushing it off to poor planning with hydration, and 100-degree temperatures I thought it was a fluke. I attempted the Bear 100 miler in September that year, and again had the dehydration issue and had to drop at mile 45.

During the fall of 2009 I started my Masters program at the University of Utah. I would typically awake at 5am and drive to Salt Lake City to beat traffic, and arrive early at school. I would then go for an early morning run, sometime meeting my brother, Swan, at his training gym (he was working as an elite triathlete coach), and we would run around Sugarhouse Park, and then I would run back to school. I would spend a long day at school and then go home. The days I was not in school, I was working as an intern at the Utah County Justice Center, and also spent long days at that practicum. During the in-between hours I studied and sometimes slept.

In April of 2010, I decided to go down to the Grand Canyon with Jim Skaggs and Brian Beckstead to run the Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim challenge. We started at Bright Angel Trail on the South Rim early in the morning, and made our way to the North Rim. I was able to keep up with them for the first 19 miles, but around mile 17, when the heat of the day started hitting, I started feeling very sluggish and sick. At mile 19, at the beginning of the assent to the North rim. I had to stop, and I could no longer keep up with the boys. After lying down to take a short nap, I felt better enough to slowly climb the North Rim.  I was about ½ mile from the top when they passed on their way down, and I felt OK by then, so I told them to go on, and I would return at my own pace.

During the day I had been taking about one Scap (300mg or so) of Sodium per hour, and eating mostly Lara Bars and gels. On the way down I started feeling week, but not horrible yet. When I was about 7 miles from Phantom ranch, I started feeling sick, and was running out of food. I had not understood how much I needed to carry for a self-supported run. I made it to Phantom ranch just after dark, and was able to sneak into the store to buy a few items.

After crossing the bridge at the Colorado River, I crashed. I was dizzy and weak, and slowly made my way up the 9-mile stretch, and finally made it out of the canyon about 3am. I was out of Scaps, out of food, and no stores are open in the Grand Canyon at 3am. I quietly drove back to the campsite, and in the morning found Brian, who had come down with me, and he had to drive my van back the 10 hours to Utah. I experienced hyponatremia and it was a very scary experience. I almost passed out several times when I would stand up and my ears were ringing. I think I ate a whole plate of bacon, and could not even taste it because I was so depleted of sodium. It took me about 3 days of hydrating and drinking sports drinks before I could taste normally again.

In May of 2009 I attended a Global Eating Disorder Conference, and listened to a presentation by Dr. Elizabeth Joy. After hearing her presentation, I knew she might be able to figure out what was wrong with me. I had started experiencing other strange symptoms after the Grand Canyon run. I started having issues with my blood sugar. Any time I ate carbohydrates, my blood sugar would spike to 200-300 on a glucometer reading and then return to normal within 90 minutes.  I also started dealing with increasingly extreme fatigue. By the time that I ended the May 2010 school year I could barely get out of bed. Some days, I would sleep most of the day, and still be tired. Moving was a surreal experience, sometimes I felt like I was not even connected to my body. After seeing Dr. Joy in June, she immediately suspected that I had POTS syndrome. She ran several blood tests on me, and the only one that came back positive was a norepinephrine test showing that I had a pretty good case of androgenic POTS. Dr. Joy told me that what I was doing, running (to increase my blood circulation), increasing salt intake, and caffeine 100mg in the morning was about the best I could do for POTS, and she discouraged me from using a Beta Blocker, which is used in some POTS patients, because she was afraid it would interfere with my distance running.

At the time I was working with a sports nutritionist, and so we started a painstaking process to unravel how to keep my body functioning and able to run.  I was able to complete one 50 miler in June, by putting scaps in my hydration pack and drinking Coconut water. During that race my nutritionist told me to try taking 1500mg of sodium per hour, which was about twice what is recommended for a normal person. I completed the race, but still had difficulty and was still hyponatremic after the race. After that race I ended up in the ER three times needing IV fluids to stabilize, and having more blood sugar issues. For about a month I could barely get out of bed. But I kept forcing myself to move. When you have POTS, every morning when you wake up, it’s like you have the flu. The one way to get over the symptoms for me was to make myself move past it and get my blood circulating, then the flu symptoms would be not as bad when I was moving. 

My nutritionist had me increase both my potassium and sodium intake to 10000mg potassium daily and 5000mg of sodium daily on days I was not active. In the mean time I worked with my Uncle, Dr. Kory Branham, who believed my POTS was likely tied to my adrenal gland function, especially given the blood sugar issues I was having. This was a plausible theory, as my paternal grandmother suffered from Addison’s disease. Over a couple of months of taking a lot of supplements and slowly making myself return to exercise, I was able to reduce my need for sleep to 12-14 hours per day instead of 20 hours per day, and I attempted a couple of races.

The next race, 2010, was the Speed Goat 50K. My nutritionist had me taking 3000-5000mg of sodium per hour in the heat at this point. This was helpful for my energy and hydration, but not good for my gastrointestinal system, and so I made it about 22 miles of that race with severe GI issues.

In August of 2010 I again attempted Kat’cina Mosa. I started out OK following the high sodium regimen, but on the most difficult climb of the race, suffered a severe hyperglycemic episode. I had taken an Ensure before the climb, and about half way up started feeling dizzy and seeing yellow half moons in one of my eyes. I had to stop for about 30 minutes, and wondered if I was having a stroke. I recovered, and made it to the checkpoint at mile 23, and went on to barely make the cutoff at mile 41 at the Little Valley Aid station. At Little Valley, I again drank another ensure, and within 30 minutes started having blood sugar issues again, this again slowed me down, and I had to quit at mile 46. What I discovered is that fructose, especially high fructose corn syrup is not tolerated by my body during long events.

After Kat’cina Mosa, my body was very tired, and I started my second year of graduate school demoralized, and sick. I could no longer keep up with the early morning trainings before school, because I was too tired. I needed at least 12 hours of sleep per night. I managed to struggle my way through Grad school, I attempted the Wasatch 100 in September, but had to drop at mile 18, and it was the most difficult year of POTS in 2010-2011. However, slowly but surely with perseverance and strict adherence to nutritional needs, I started to be able to do things again, and tolerate running. In January of 2011, even though I was still pretty sick, I was able to summit Mount Kilimanjaro, and completed a Snowshoe 50K that same month.

I graduated with my MSW in May of 2011, and tried a 50 miler, but suffered a stress facture and dropped at mile 25. The rest of the season I was out for running. I did, however complete 45 miles of a 100 miler in October of that year. In February of 2012, I underwent a partial hysterectomy. That year of running was a wash, because it took 12 months for my abdominal muscles to strengthen, and I could barely keep a power walking pace. However, I experienced an unexpected benefit of some of my POTS symptoms decreasing in severity. I slowly started improving, and by summer of 2013, I was able to slowly finish 30 miles of a 50 miler.

I again attempted Kat’cina Mosa 100k in 2013, but experienced a panic attack on the course, and dropped at mile 13. I realized on that course that I had experienced so many set backs from racing, that I was having PTSD symptoms on races about DNFing, and as a result DNFing. So in September of 2013, I connected Lisa Smith-Batchen about couching, and working through my running anxiety. My body was working better, but my anxiety was pulling me down.  I was able to complete 50miles on Lisa’s race in 2013, and completed a 50K a week later.  Another challenge that came with POTS and a hysterectomy, is that despite the fact that I exercise and don’t over eat, I gained 50 lbs. After starting training with Lisa, I’ve been able to drop about 25 lbs, and slowly I finally starting to see my weight come off. That has also taken a lot of nutritional adjustments, and continues to be a challenge.

Through a lot of training and effort, I have started completing ultramarathons again in 2014. In January I completed a Snowshoe 50k, I was slow, but I finished! In March I attempted a 100 miler on Antelope, and was only able to make 62/100 miles, but that was the furthest distance I have ever completed, so it was a win. Then I completed the Squaw Peak 50 in June of 2014, I had difficulty with some POTS symptoms in the heat and was slow after mile 33, but I finished! I ran the Deseret News Marathon again and finished on July 24^th. And then there was Kat’cina, I felt OK for the most part, but had difficulty on some of the hill climbs with speed, and my heart rate, and it slowed me down. I was rushing to try to get to the cut off at Little Valley by 4:30, but fell and hurt my back on the way down. I was devastated, because I wanted to finish this year so badly, but reflecting, I realize my speed still is increasing, I did not get dehydrated, and my blood sugar stayed stable.

My next challenge to overcome with POTS is increasing heat tolerance, and increasing my ability to tolerate hill climbs and my speed. I’m hoping Kat’cina helped my body so that I can finish Wasatch 100 this year. The first 18 miles are going to be the most difficult for me. That is the big climb on Wasatch, and that is where I have timed out twice. I plan on doing a lot of heat and hill work in the next 3 weeks, and praying that I make it. It is my dream to complete 100 miles, and it is a bigger dream to beat POTS, be a fast runner again, and win a 100-mile race. As my coach says, “If your dreams don’t scare you, they aren’t big enough”. I know I can do it, I know there is a formula, and somewhere there is a cure for POTS waiting to be discovered. When it is discovered, I’ll be first in line for a cure! I dream of someday, being able to be fast climbing hills again. I visualize it every day. I am faster every year, and yes I still have POTS, but it is not dictating my life.

Some things that I’ve learned from POTS:

Sleep is important. I no longer practice high volume as a midwife because my body doesn’t handle endless nights with no sleep as well as it used to. 

What worked for me may not work for everyone; you should see a doctor who specializes in POTS to determine what is right for you.

Fatigue makes everything difficult, but perseverance out wins fatigue.

Respect your body

Medications: some medication have helped me such as a serotonin–norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI). These medications are typically prescribed to treat depression, but with Androgenic POTS SNRIs have help control my norepinephrine response which helps mitigate: dizziness, flu-symptoms, fatigue, and increase blood pressure and circulation. This is what has helped for me, but your case may be different since there are different causes of POTS.

To read more about POTS go to: http://www.dysautonomia