Cocodona 250

 Cocodona 250

Chapter 1. Just kidding. There are no chapters, just a lot of words.

Leading up to the race, I sent Jodi a text when my bib number was assigned and told her I was excited to have bib number 23. I had no real reason for this to be exciting, but it’s a good number. Probably a dozen people mentiod to me that I had the best bib number, or as Crystal said, 23 is her favorite number. Several people also noted to me that it was Michael Jordan’s (MJ) number. Later, you’ll understand why this matters.

On Monday morning, May 1st , I lined up at the start line of Cocodona 250. I remember telling Jodi I was nervous, and she asked “why are you nervous? You’ve got this.” I kept thinking “easy for you to say, you do these things in your sleep.” I think I might actually be right about that.

The first section of the race sends through the Bradshaw Mountains, where you get to climb 10k feet in the first 33 miles. There are minimum water requirements for this section of 4 liters, as it is fully exposed, over 90 degrees, with some hard climbs. I purposely placed myself at the back of the pack from the start, so I wouldn’t get caught up and take off. This was a good move, as around mile 18 I began seeing a lot of runners throwing up on the side of the trail. I handed out lots of salt chews to those who would take it.

When I got to Crown King at mile 37, I got see Jodi and Bob for the first time. I already had lots of blisters that had formed and popped during those rocky, treacherous, climbs. I knew I wouldn’t see my crew again until the next day, so I took the time to tape up, change socks, eat cheeseburgers, and get going. The next 26 miles seemed to just fly by. I rolled into Kamp Kippa (mile 63) with the plan of going to the bathroom, eating, putting on another layer, and heading back out. I did not plan on having my most embarrassing moment at an ultra, occur at this aid station. Because of the remoteness of the aid stations, bathroom accommodations consist of a 5-gallon bucket with a toilet seat and a shower tent for privacy. This one happened to be placed on the sidewalk, directly under a light, just down from the entrance to the building. I quickly ducked inside and got seated, just as the wind picked up and took the shower tent right off me while I sat on a bucket, with my pants down. As I scrambled to grab the tent before it hit the ground, the bucket wobbled and all I could think of was what could be worse? Being fully exposed to all runners coming in and out, or having other people’s waste spill on me? Once I finally got the tent back over my head and placed my foot on a corner to hold it down, I finished up and exited with my head down, hoping no one would recognize me for the rest of the race!

Between miles 63 and 71 I shared miles with Jared Buchanan from Connecticut. This was his 6th race of this distance, and something he began doing after his father committed suicide. He was also involved in a severe accident where he was literally hit by a truck. We had a lot of serious conversations and a lot of laughs. We even peed at the same time, where he would turn away from me and I would pop a squat facing his back and announce “all clear” once I had my pants pulled back up. It’s weird how normal these things become during a race of this distance! Jared took a nap when we arrived at mile 71, then went on to finish well in approximately 104 hours.

At mile 71, Jodi joined me. Jodi is my rock. I feel like I can accomplish anything if Jodi believes I can. After we made it through Whiskey Row, we had several miles in town. When we were waiting for a light to change, Mike McKnight joined us. When the light changed, we took off and I gave it my best effort to stay with him for about 30 seconds, just so I could say I ran with Mike McKnight. He went on to take the win, in an incredible come from behind performance. As we ran through the dells, I believe close to mile 85, we saw Scott Rokis taking photos. Scott recognized me the day before, around mile 35, and asked if I had paced Jodi there last year. I told him that I had, and that now Jodi was here to pace me. Scott took a couple great photos of Jodi and I together in the dells, which were posted on Instagram with the caption “Mindy Coolman paced Jodi Semonell in last year’s edition Cocodona 250 and now their roles have been reversed. Time for the friend to return the favor. Love it!” I may have been a little giddy when Jodi showed me the post.

This may have been the section where Jodi and I first started talking about next year’s Cocodona. Jodi mentioned that on the livestream, there was a conversation about team registrations. I told Jodi I thought it would be super fun to register and run together! We talked about our individual strengths and what how we could benefit each other. We decided then and there that we would be Team MJ for 2024.

Once we left the Dells, we spent a few miles on a Jeep road with a strong crosswind. True to form, Jodi and I began peeing at the same time (it’s totally a thing with us), so we both turned our butts to the wind and popped a squat. I basically pee at the speed of light, so I finished first and was about to head on and let Jodi catch me, when I saw what the wind was doing to her urine stream! It was across both lanes! The laughter seemed to boost us along to next aid station.

The sections between Iron King, Fain Ranch, and the start of the climb up Mingus Mountain were perhaps the worst of the entire course. I changed out of my Hoka Speedgoats and into my Nike Trail Pegasus at the Fain Ranch aid station, hoping that a shoe change would give current blisters a break. This was a very good move!! This section runs through cow fields, with lots of grass overlaying cow  poop, rocks, and uneven surfaces. Plus, with the heat of the day and the wind, it felt like a hairdryer was being blown directly in our faces. We still managed to entertain ourselves, naming the cows in the field after our crew members. Sorry, Brady, Bob, and Paul. I'm pretty sure the one we name Paul was actually a female. Once we reached the top of Mingus Mountain, I ate a large bowl of lasagna (thanks for the recommendation, Heather Gothard!) and then settled into one of the cabins for a 3-hour nap. I slept very sound for about an hour, then the sounds of people coming in and out, having conversations, plus my constant urge to pee made for some very broken up sleep after that.

Once Jodi and I left Mingus Mountain and headed to Jerome, I began to feel good again. The nap was refreshing to my body, I was excited to hit the halfway point, and I was excited to get to see Paul and Brady for the first time. As Jodi and I navigated our way down the rocky terrain of Mingus Mountain and dawn began to show, I pointed out some flowers I thought were pretty. I told Jodi not to ask what kind of flowers they were, because I never know. Shortly thereafter, we popped out on the gravel road. As we came around a corner, we randomly spotted some purple flowers and I quickly stated that was the same flower as the tattoo I have in memory of my dad on my arm. Jodi told me it was a sign, that my dad was with me on this journey. That led to me crying and running at the same time, only to have a drone, which was there for the start of the Sedona Canyons 125, swoop right down in front of my face. What a mess. We stopped quickly to grab a photo with the halfway sign, then continued just in time for the 125-mile race to begin. As this race took off, we had the privilege of running with Bronco Billy (Jeff Browning) for about 30 seconds as he breezed by us. This made the livestream which was pretty cool. Naturally, he went on to win that distance. This ended up being my fastest mile to that point in the race. While at the Jerome aid station we discussed my shoe situation. My Nike’s were treating me very well,  but the pair I brought with me already had a lot of miles on them. Jodi suggested checking with local running stores to see if they could grab me a new pair. I figured this was worth a shot, though I doubted they would carry the pair I needed. 

The next two sections were with Paul, then Brady. The 9 miles spent with Paul included a section through Cottonwood where the woman who tracked and cheered for every runner by name last year, was once again out on her porch to cheer on participants. She told us she was not tracking every runner individually like she did last year, as she got so caught up, she barely slept for 2 days! At the end of this section, I made a quick transition and was out with Brady for the next 13.1 in under 10 minutes. This section was HOT!! Brady and I were both rationing water by the end. I ran out with about a mile to go. I took that as a good reason to stay at the mile 148 aid station to rehydrate, nap, and do some foot care.  We got lucky with the shoes; the local running store had a pair of the Pegasus in a 9.5. I wear a 9 but told my crew to go ahead and get the 9.5, knowing my feet were swelling. After a nap, getting me feet cleaned by Paul, and putting on a brand-new pair of shoes, Jodi and I headed out.

The first mile or so of this section was still hot and uncomfortable for me. Then we saw the sign for 100 miles to go! I was excited and felt my energy shift; this was perhaps one of the most amazing things to  out there, how often you can go from feeling beat up and done to happy and running again. As Jodi and I made one of the bigger climbs during this section we began talking about next year again. This team idea was more and more appealing as we went. About that time, we saw Howie Stern taking photos. He happened to get a great shot of us, which would later be used in the registration email sent to participants for next year. Jodi and I decided this was, yet again, another sign. As Jodi and I approached Sedona, we had a couple of miles in town. At one point, as we were crossing an intersection, I became convinced that the light was changing, and the oncoming traffic was going to plow us over. I took off at a dead sprint, startling both of us. I have no idea what went through my head, but I was suddenly superwoman for all of 5 seconds. Jodi says in all the years we’ve been running together, she has never seen me move so quickly.

Poor Paul. My elevation chart we were referencing had an error and what we thought was a fairly flat 17-mile section, ended up with 4200 feet of climb. Prior to reaching the climb, however, was the river crossing. We somehow ended up with a very needy woman who was in the 125, attaching to us and repeatedly saying “help me, don’t leave me!” as she wanted to cross the water with the light of my Kogalla. Once we reached the river, I headed right in. Said woman panicked, as she apparently was going to take off her shoes and socks first and plowed in right behind us. With the use of a rope to cross, the more people on it at a time, the more difficult it is to balance. About halfway across, I looked down to see a snake in the water (I swear I was not hallucinating!). Now it was my turn to panic! I freaked out and tried to jump onto rock, which resulted in me sliding down the rock and into another one. My poor toes. Their only saving grace was that the water was cold enough to make them feel numb. Once we made it out of the water, we began to climb. Our tag-a-long wanted to change clothes but we told her we were not stopping as we were about to get quite warm with the climb. She kept asking about the snake as we tried to focus on the climb. I think she finally realized we weren’t going to be chatty through this section. At the top of the hill we stopped to put on more clothes. This meant a full pant change for our friend, who while standing there pantless, kept saying "it's not like you haven't seen this before." Interesting. Eventually a guy who had been running with her, who I loaned out my extra headlamp to, caught back up to her and she stayed back with him. He found my crew at the next aid  station and returned my headlamp. This is the 3rd race where I have loaned out a headlamp and had it returned.

Once we were done with the climb, we popped out on a very rough road. This was where my sleep deprivation began to take over. It was more than 72 hours into the race, and I was delirious. As the hallucinations ran wild in my brain, I would occasionally glance over at Paul to find him looking very intently at something in the woods. I would tell him “It’s not real Paul. Whatever you think it is, it isn’t there.” Occasionally he would say “what is that? Look at that.” Or my personal favorite “someone is using a table saw.” I think he described what he saw a few more times, but I was too wrapped up in my own made-up images to know what he was saying. Eventually I made myself only look directly in front of me to stop all the distractions. A few times I had to refocus Paul to keep him with me.

Once we arrived at the next aid station, I knew I had to sleep. I climbed into a tent that Bob had ready and waiting for me and proceeded to get the best 3 hours of sleep I had during the entire race. For whatever reason, I do not remember leaving this aid station. This is a very strange feeling for me, as I tend to remember things very well, even deep into races. My memory seemed to come back into focus as Jodi and I passed by the parking lot where an aid station was located last year. I suddenly remembered sleeping on the ground in that parking lot last year and waking up around 2 am to Lee Addams bringing me a donut. He told me to share them, which I may or may not have done. This section with Jodi had a lot of downhill road running. Along the way we caught up with Andrew Glaze. Andrew ran Antelope Canyon 100 over the weekend, before toeing the line at Cocodona, dubbing his adventure CocoCanyon 350. Andrew said he was struggling to stay awake like he’s never struggled before. We spent the next 4 miles running with Andrew and another runner, Evan. We talked about Andrew being Instagram famous. I told him I’m not cool enough to be famous on social media, which is shocking, considering my last name is Coolman. I think I also randomly told Evan to stop talking so much a few times as he was very quiet.

Upon arrival to the next aid station, I happened to be wearing a singlet for the first time during the race. Prior to the start line, I got a new tattoo on my left shoulder. This tattoo has been in the works for months and requires a real quick explanation. Several months ago, during a morning run with Brady, he happened to mention how his wife Alicia had referred to me as his best friend. At that moment he tried- to move right past that comment, but I quickly stopped him saying “hold on, I’m your best friend????” This has turned into me reminding him of this fact every opportunity I get. He continues to deny it, though we all know the truth. Well, Brady has a tattoo on his hand that I think is cool, with mountains and the phrase “Do More”. So naturally, I decided what better surprise for him than to discover we have matching tattoos 192 miles into my race? Our intention was for Jodi to get his reaction on video but plans tend to leave your brains seconds after making them with so much sleep deprivation. Still, the moment Brady saw my tattoo is one I will never forget; mostly because he said verbatim what I predicted. As I bent over some of my things, I hear him say “what’s on your shoulder? Is that a tattoo? Wait, is that real? What the F#$%?!?!?” I responded with “yes, it’s real. We have matching tattoos!” He then told me the “Do More” part of this tattoo is his handwriting. Even better. If you know Brady, you understand why this moment was one of the best moments of the entire race.

I was so fired for the next section with Jodi. I knew it meant I was going to go over 200 miles! What neither of us anticipated were the downed trees. They looked freshly down, perhaps from the high winds we had at the beginning of the week. If I had to guess, I would say there were probably about 30 of them, but my recollection is a little skewed so perhaps there were only 15. Jodi managed to capture some video of me making my way over one tree, where I happened to get stuck halfway over. Don’t worry, I figured it out.

Once we made it past the point of all the trees, we spent a significant amount of time on a dirt road. I began to struggle to stay awake and move well so we decided I would try a trail nap. We found a box on the side of the road and broke it down so I could lay on it. I told Jodi to watch for me to fall asleep and then give me 5 minutes. She decided once I fell asleep to give me 10, but I woke up at 7 and said I was good. About 10 miles into this section, we came to a Y in the road, and I told Jodi I knew we stayed to the left because last year when we were at this section, we were discussing her bucket hat that she bought from REI that was slightly too small for her. I told her if she bought a bigger one that I would buy that one from her. There’s no apparent reason that I remembered that conversation so vividly, or the location in which we had it, but it served to keep on the right course. Shortly thereafter we were pointing out the spots where we hallucinated last year, right down to the mailbox that Jodi had believed was a lifeguard.

As we got closer to Fort Tuthill, I began getting cold. The kind of cold that doesn’t make sense for me, as I am always hot. It was apparent that my ability to regulate my body temperature was shot. I took my final 3-hour nap at Fort Tuthill, ate a very large bowl of pasta, and headed out for the next 17-mile section with Brady.

The next section was super fun. I was excited to be getting closer to my final day. I hadn’t been on a section with Brady since Wednesday afternoon and had lots to catch him up on. He says he’d already heard every story I told him, twice by me and once by Jodi, but that cannot be true. This section went by fast until about 2 miles to go. I felt like I was once again starting to sleepwalk. When we made to the final aid station where I would have crew, I took a one-hour nap in the vehicle. When Jodi woke me up, I felt like it as not possible that an hour had already passed. This was the aid station where the livestream shot footage of my organizers. I purchased waterproof shower bags to hold all my gels, cold gear, chargers, etc. I must brag a little, it’s the most organized I’ve ever been for anything! The setup worked very well as it allowed me to visualize everything I at every aid station. My crew was phenomenal at making sure it was all there, every time. As I sat eating a breakfast sandwich, Lee Addams stopped by to say hi. It’s like I forgot he was also participating in a race, Elden Crest 36, and kept talking to him. After chatting with us for a bit, he headed on out to get that finish.

As Jodi and were preparing to head out, I was uncontrollably shivering. We debated whether I should change out of my thermals and into shorts or regular tights. If I’m being honest, changing sounded like a lot of work, plus we were not sure what was going on with me that I could not get warm. It also meant carrying more clothes in my pack if I wore shorts. I finally decided to just continue in my thermals, knowing it was going to get cold on the climb up Elden. This was a big mistake on my part. As soon as we hit the direct sunlight of the next section, I felt uncomfortably hot. I slowed down, feeling miserable. I accepted that it was going to be very slow until it either started cooling down due to the time of day, or because of the climb. When it finally felt like too much to handle, I told Jodi I was going to try another trail nap. I told her to let me sleep for 15 minutes. I woke up at 9 minutes, feeling much cooler thanks to some shade, and shortly after began the climb up Elden. The climb was difficult, but honestly, I loved it. My climbing legs were much better than my descending legs. As we climbed, we passed a couple runners in the 36 and 125 distances. Their encouragement for how well I was moving gave me a little boost. Then someone asked where we were from and when we told them Omaha, NE, they asked how we trained for such a climb. I responded with “I started training for this on Monday.” They laughed, which naturally encouraged me to use the same line on everyone we saw. I’m sure Jodi was not as amused as I was. At the top of Elden, we encountered snow. My fear of slipping made my heartrate elevate more than the effort itself. I was so relieved when we reached the top!

At the aid station, with 8 miles to go, I sat and consumed all the ramen noodles my stomach could hold. volunteer took a picture of us, stating it was for Henry Bickerstaff. This was one of many times I felt appreciative of knowing so many people were following and showing their support. For the record, it really does matter and doesn’t go unnoticed! 

The final descent. Holy foot pain! Perhaps it was knowing this was it, that I finally allowed myself to fully acknowledge how bad it hurt. The grade was just steep enough to make running feel impossible. I reminded myself that I was here to enjoy the experience and accomplish a distance goal and nothing else. I settled into a slow trek to the finish, while Jodi played music for me.

Once we reached Flagstaff, I told Jodi I would not be running to finish like she did. She said “ok” in a way that told me she wasn’t buying it. I think I tried to convince her, but that conversation may have been in my head. I stuck to my word until I hit that final turn. The energy of the finish hit me all at once and next thing I knew I was “sprinting” to the finish. I’m sure my sprinting pace was about as slow as my fastest walking pace when fresh, but it felt fast! When I crossed that finish line, all the pain I felt seemed to melt away. I was so ecstatic to see my crew and be done! I was super bummed that Paul had already left, but so happy to have Bob, Brady, and Jodi there with me.

During many parts of this race, Jodi and I kept seeing my mile splits including the number 22. Whether that was 17:22 or 22 even, and we would say “it’s a 22, pew, pew, pew.” It’s a really dumb quote from a very specific TikTok video that we for some reason find hilarious. A few days after finishing, I was sitting in my office and happened to look up where I have a photo of Jodi and I at the start line last year. This is when I noticed her bib number last year was 22, in 2022. I was 23 in 2023. I immediately sent a text letting Paul, Brady, and Jodi know that this was yet another sign that Team MJ needs to happen
next year. We all agree.

The things that went well. Nutrition. I tend to throw up a lot at my longer races. I also gag terribly every time I take a gel after about 60 miles during my 100’s. Sometimes before. I know this has a lot to do with effort level and I managed my effort level very well. I was able to eat an exceptional amount of real food at every aid station. I was able to consume numerous gels and chews between aid stations. My hands never swelled from fluid imbalance, as usually happens. I consumed at least 3 liters of water between every aid station or water stop. In fact, I think this was a topic of conversation among my crew. Every time I felt like the frequency of peeing was too often, I took to salt chews and consumed a significant amount of water. My pee also stayed clear the entire race. Foot care. While I should’ve taped my feet from the start, doing this after Crown King was a game changer. It really saved me from having worse blisters. I do not think there is a way to cover that distance without significant foot pain simply due to pounding, but all things considered, my feet came out well. Attitude. I stayed positive the entire time. Every time I would see my crew again, I couldn’t help but smile. I focused on never considering the distance as a whole, but rather the distance until the next aid station. This is a bigger deal than anyone realizes. Keeping the mind in the game for that many days straight, with very little sleep, pain, and focus on the terrain, was something I’ve never done to this capacity. I also never fell! I took the right people. Bob was fully invested in making sure I had absolutely everything I asked for at every aid station. He drove his own vehicle from KC which was perfect for the task. I don't think Bob thought about anything other than getting me to the finish line the entire week. Paul, Brady, and Jodi are 3 of my favorite people. They all know what I need when I need it and genuinely make me laugh all the time. Lastly, I want to talk about the people who followed along. It is impossible to mention everyone, but when your messages reached me, they meant something. When I finished the race I had over 300 texts. About half of those were my crew communicating back and forth and the rest were a couple of groups and then individuals. I read every single text and tried to respond (between falling asleep) over the next few days. Some messages were relayed to me out on course, such as Ed Green, as he sent Jodi a message during the week to cheer me on. The icing on the cake was when Jodi pulled into my driveway at home and I saw my front lawn signs: Cocodona 250 Finisher! Then to see Karen and Laurie pop out from behind the signs in their sequins dresses made my homecoming all the better!

While this was the hardest thing I've ever done mentally, I've hurt worse during 100's. The recovery has also been worse after some of my hundreds. I cannot wait until next year, to do this again, with Jodi by my side?