Skipping 13.1 Miles

I don’t mean I skipped running a planned half marathon. I mean I skipped a half marathon.

I started training for this Guinness World Records Title at Disney Land. I mean, where else can you start skipping without being judged? OK, so I was probably judged, but my family was heading to the next ride and I was off skipping to get our fast-passes and meeting them at the next ride so they didn’t care.

141+ miles skipping (not all logged) and over 250 miles running in 2019 preparing for this Guinness World Record attempt

The training profile in 2019 looked like this: 141 miles skipped, 250 miles run, 1040 miles biked. I was planning to skip the Famous Idaho Potato Half Marathon in May but I fell off an electric ride-share scooter in some light rain 2 days before the race (don’t ride them in the rain!) and ended up in the emergency room. I needed to take some time off and delayed the attempt until Oct 13 at the City of Trees Half Marathon. (Boise comes from “Les Bois” in French meaning “the trees”).

Two days before I originally planned to break the record

The previous record was 2 hours 27 minutes 1 second or about 11 minute 13-second miles. I trained for enough time that I was sure I could break the record but wasn’t sure by how much. I never trained with food or Gatorade and barely had any water on a hot 12-mile training skip. I had 2 power gels and plenty of water and Gatorade at this even which helped immensely.

The biggest problem is the skidding of the feet on the ground. In only 141 miles of skipping I have completely destroyed 4 pairs of shoes. My shoes weren’t a problem. My feet were the problem. Watcher beware on the video above, my feet are absolutely shredded. I got blood-blisters covering the entire ball of my foot during the training runs and the half was probably the worst of them all since I went the furthest and fastest even though I build up huge callouses before.

I may need to avoid walking for a little while…

Shoes lost the blue sole, the wide next layer and are into the third layer of black. I only wore this for one 6 mile training skip plus the half marathon.

I had two runners following me for the entire attempt and stuck with the 2:15 pacer for almost half the race after I caught up (I started a minute after the start horn to avoid the crowds). I pulled away at the halfway mark and finished in a time of 2 hours 13 minutes 41.8 seconds. I far exceeded my goal and really hope not to have to do this one anytime soon (hopefully I’ll be able to walk soon).