2012 Debbie record 175 miles
Honesty and integrity are the foundations
In the world of ultraendurance sport
We discover our limits…..
And train to go beyond them.
There is no fear or jealousy here…..
We develop the self-confidence to trust
Our own skills and admire those of others.
Honesty and integrity are the foundations
Of our sport, of our very lives…..
When we say we will do something, it will be done
Even if everyone else says it is impossible.
Our training gives us the vision to
See beyond the obstacles in our path…..
And the courage to continue when others give up.
We enjoy our victories without boasting
And our defeats without crying…..
Either way, we know we did our best that day.
We need no medals, no prizes, no rewards.
We walk, swim, bike, or run for the pure
Joy of participating…..to be able to say
I DID IT!!
We are young, old, and in-between. If we begin
Our training in our early years, we soon
Realize we are training to handle Life…..
And we are better prepared for it.
If we encounter this world in our later years,
We appreciate the chance to restore the
Partnership between our bodies and minds…..
And we rediscover the beauty of movement.
We have our competition schedules planned
At least one year in advance, which means
Our training is set for the year also…..
This is not a last-minute decision sport.
As athletes we respect our bodies too much
To ask them to perform unprepared…..
We prefer to start strong and finish even
Stronger….this is why we train every day.
In this world of ultraendurance we are
Not afraid of Nature…..We walk, run, or
Bike wet or dry, only stopping in case of
Lightning. Day or night, we keep moving.
Those of us who swim train as much as we are
Allowed. It can be difficult to train
Properly in only one hour per day. In our
World, one hour of any activity is a baby step.
We need to be able to train in giant leaps. So
we do the best we can with what we have…..
Another life lesson learned through sport,
Another chance to strengthen our warrior spirits.
We love our ultra world…..Because of our
Involvement we are healthier and happier than
We have ever been. We invite everyone to
Walk with us, Run or bike with us, Swim with us,
Discover a new world with us…..Now is the time!!
Debbie Zapata, August 21. 2013
Just Do it!
From: Debbie Zapata
Date: 3/4/2013 8:16:58 PM
To: Marco Antonio Zapata
Subject: The chopped up article for you
1)
I have an inherited condition known as Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. This causes my joints to be hyper flexible and puts a lot of strain on my ligaments. I have been a rag doll struggling within my own skin all of my life. But I was a typical tomboy while growing up and I have always worked in jobs that are not exactly girlie, like the three years I spent as a horse wrangler on a dude ranch. I have never been afraid to sweat or get my hands dirty while working. Yet I never thought of myself as an athlete.
2)
I don’t look like an athlete. I don’t wear expensive sporty clothes. I don’t use fancy name brand shoes. I always have to wear a hat, gloves and long-sleeved shirts as protection from the sun. I am incapable of running. All I can do is walk. Fast. But I can keep walking fast for a long time. I entered my first 6 Day Race in 2009. I wondered what would happen. How would my body react? Would I get blisters? Would I get bored while walking? What in the world would I think about at three in the morning walking in the dark? Would I remember which way to go? I wondered how many miles I would complete. Would I even be able to move after the race was over?
3)
That first year I was a little intimidated by the presence of the other entrants, but I told myself to focus only on what I could do. Such events are mainly competitions against your own limits. The important thing is to find and trust your own pace. Each race is different. You cannot predict what will happen, what the weather conditions will be, how your body will be feeling during the week. There are no guarantees, no matter how well trained you may be. You have to accept each moment, even if you end up changing your race plans completely. Mental and physical flexibility is vital, the same as in life itself. In fact, I would say that any 6 Day Race is a highly condensed version of Life. Discover the correct approach to one, and you have the correct approach to the other.
4)
During any race the ultra-marathon athlete must approach life the way I do every single day. When I wake up each morning, my first question is what can my body do today? My second question is how can I push beyond that in order to do the things I want or need to accomplish? My third question is how much down time will I need today in order to stay consistent with my activities, to maintain my pace? These are the same riddles ultra-marathon athletes must solve. At the end of every 6 Day race, I always want to do it again, Right away. Which is really silly because of course recovery time is essential for anyone who participates in these events. Patience is the key factor here. But after a lifetime of struggling with my desire to do things and my body’s equal desire to not do things, patience can be hard to find. Many times when I get depressed because of my inability to be as active as I want to be, I have to remind myself that not too many years ago, after a particularly severe health crash, I could not even get out of bed until late afternoon. I could not hold a newspaper without feeling as if it weighed a ton. And walking? Well, I could not walk out to the mailbox and back without the need to rest for an hour after those few dozen steps.
5)
Since those darkest of days in 1996, I have worked diligently to recover a feeling of normality in my life. Normal for me, that is. I measure my progress from year to year rather than day by day. Every year I have improved in health, stamina, and overall strength. And every year, when I take that first step in a 6 Day Race, I hope to feel better during and after the event than the year before. I can accept my limitations during a race much easier than I accept them during my daily life. I spent so many years unable to do even the simplest things that I sometimes overdo now in the pure joy of being ABLE to do. I can get away with this once in a while in Life but in a 6 Day event there is much less wiggle room. I know that when my body asks in a certain way for rest I need to let it rest or my race is over. These days my biggest challenge is to remember to be fair to my body every day, not just for six days a year.
6)
In 2012 I participated in the second edition of the 145 Hours Ultra marathon. I was able to complete 175 miles. Success! And not only because I came closer to my goal of 200 miles, but simply because I was here. All of our events are open to the public….if you can move, you can participate. I am always surprised by how many people say they are interested in the idea of our races, but then never show up. Or the people who immediately say they cannot possibly walk or run for six entire days. Facing the unknown is challenging, exciting, and scary. The trick is to feel the nerves and uncertainties, but not to allow them to grow so powerful that they stop you in your tracks before you have taken a single step. Don’t let that nervous energy be a barrier, use it to launch yourself into your future, whatever it may be.
7)
We always tell everyone to come register, join us for the first lap, and then do as many or as few laps per day as you choose during the week, record them in the official event logbook and join us again for the final lap. Nothing could be easier. But there are always excuses, usually from healthy people who have no idea what it is like to be unable to move, to live with pain every day. If I made such excuses for myself, I would still not be able to hold a newspaper. I did not and do not want to live a life of immobility. Because I am an athlete after all.
~ ~Each paragraph can be a separate posting, if that is how you plan to have it…but they need to be in order or they won’t really make sense, since they do tie into each other. Even someone with the attention span of a rock ought to be able to learn something here.~ ~
