Miranda walks us through her Ute 100 from signup to finish, including the heat, the GI distress, the hallucinations, and the one hour nap that flips the race back in her favour. We also unpack the deeper reason she wanted a harder 100 miler and what it reveals about identity, failure, and the parts of ourselves that only show up when everything hurts.

Episode highlights:
• Choosing Ute 100 to find the edge of quitting
• Training highs and training challenges
• Getting sick late in the build and managing confidence
• Summit’s emergency vet scare and the stress of caretaking
• Crew chief logistics for a remote race with sparse aid
• Race day heat in Moab and early navigation mistakes
• The Mann’s Peak climb, water and ice shortages, and nausea onset
• Bloody noses, vomiting, and hallucinations on the South Mountain loop
• The mental negotiation around quitting and what it means for identity
• The one hour car nap, simple food, and the return of clear thinking
• Finishing the brutal final climbs and accepting time goals are gone
• Reflection on failure avoidance as both strength and risk

Jon's photos: https://joneisen.me/photos/

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Thanks for listening to Running With Problems. Follow us on Instagram @runningwithproblems. DM us there with questions in text or audio messages! Or email us at podcast@runningwithproblems.run.

Hosted by Jon Eisen (@mildly_athletic) and Miranda Williamson (@peaksandjustice). Edited by Jon Eisen. Theme music by Matt Beer.