Foolish Gerbil 24hr Trail Run

http://www.clubfatass.com/blog/karl-jensen/flash-foolish-gerbil-twenty-four-hour-trail-run-results

Foolish Gerbil 24 hour Run: Stats and other fun stuff

high ~35F, low ~30F with freezing fog (that moved around the course all night)
10K trail loop in BC, Canada25% of trail had hard packed snow which turned slushy mid-day and crunchy-ice at night1 major highway crossing (to prove we were lucid I think), which froze at night - very slick.

Race Start ~ 9:10 am SaturdaySunset ~ 5:00 pm (10 hours of day light)Sunrise ~ 7:00 am (14 hours of darkness)Race end ~ 9:10 am Sunday

Distance KM (Miles) / Time:

Gilles B. = 144K (89.28) / 23:59
Karl J. = 144K (89.28) / 23:59
Tony C. = 140K (86.80) / 20:58 (8 hours of daylight, 13 hours of darkness)
Shawn M. = 130K (80.60) / 20:58 (8 hours of daylight, 11.5 hours of darkness)


The FG24hr run was a very good test of our mettle. With a forecast of 50F during the day and a low of 39F at night, we were hoping for good weather to see how our legs were prepped this early in the year. We had also hoped that the rain would have melted most, if not all of the snow and that we would only have the trail, some mud, and the normal eliments of running for a day to contend with. Even so, we brought plenty of gloves, rain & and winter jackets, extra shirts, changes of shorts, long pants, hand and toe warmers, etc., to ensure we had the tools to perform the task at hand. Shawn did a wonderful job of packing the food & liquids so there was plenty to eat and drink each time around the 10K course.

Pre-race excuses: I had nickle size blister on my big toe that I received from BT50K the week before. Wednesday evening I came home with a head cold. Shawn bought me some Theraflu and Niquil which made things better by Friday. Happily, neither of these were a hinderance during the run.

Here is what Shawn and I had at our aid station (Subaru Forester)

Foods:
Cookies
2 packs of Gummy Bears
Potato chips (Ruffles)
Doritos
BBQ chips
Plain Bagels
Cream Cheese (for bagels)
Sliced turkey
3 packages of Oberto Pep sticks
Gold fish
left over cheese pizza
left over all meat pizza
bananas
GU

Liquids:
Water (5 Gallons)
Gatorade
12 pack of Mocha Frappachinos
12 pack of Lipton Green Tea
1 box of Propel powder

Clothes (*tc only):
North Face gortex windstopper jacket (circa 2000)
Rain Jacket (circa 2003)
Patagonia down sweater (circa 2004)
3 long sleeve shirts
3 short sleeve shirts
2 pairs of snow gloves
1 pair of mittens
3 pairs of regular gloves
2 pairs of running shorts
1 pair of sweats for afterwards (but that could have been used in an emergency)
1 long sleeve under armour shirt
2 pairs of Montrail Leona Divides
1 pair of new trails shoes
5 pairs of running socks
2 beanies
2 baseball type caps

Other equipment :
2 headlamp (AAA)
2 hand-helt light (AA)
Extra AA & AAA bateries

Other necessities:
2 boxes of baby w
ipesibuprofin (COSTCO bottle)
Tums smoothies
Succeed tablets
2 Beach towels
Several tall kitchen garbage bags (for during or afterwards - makeshift rain coat, dirty laundry, trash)
Kleenex
Duct Tape (duh)!
Band aids
Tooth brush and tooth paste

Actual summary of our run:
There were about 13 of us who started the event with 4 who were there to run the 24 hours. Also, others joined throoughout the day/night. Since Shawn and I were new to the course, we followed Gilles and company for the first loop. This gave us a chance to start out at a mellow pace, ask questions and look for places to get lost (as if I can't do that on my own). I chatted with Tim, with whom I'd run 20+ miles last year at the 20th Century 100K.

The highway crossing was a bit disconcerting as it was a pretty major highway and cars were travelling at least 3 times the maximum speed (only slight exaggeration there). We would have to really be on our toes come night fall.

There were 3 stretches of snow on the course that we figured covered 20-25% of the 10K travelled each loop. Some sections were out and back so we hit the same snow sections more than once. The snow laid wherever there was exposure so where there was not snow, there was darkness from trees. The fog was there when we started and never really left us throughout the entire day/night. Rather, it seems to move in and out of different parts of the course. It was quite unnerving during the night as we didn't know where it would show up next. There was a washroom close to halfway into the loop and at a turn around location. We would make good use of this while it was open during the day. About 5 miles into the loop was a porta-potty that we could use the whole time.

Shawn and I set out on our own somewhere during the second loop. Tim and another gal were running ahead of us whilst Gilles, Karl, and the rest of the gang were content to let us "burn ourselves out." I had to remove myself from running with Tim because he did have that "pulling" affect on me and was going a bit faster than I wanted to go.

Shawn and I continued on, stopping each loop to refuel and make clothing adjustments where necessary. Early on, my main stapple was the pepperoni sticks. I used these at Plain (during training and the race) and they worked quite well for me which surprises me because of the grease. It's interesting to find out what works for you during an ultra. I also ate Ruffles, Gummies and cookies. I didn't feel the need for Succeed as I was getting plenty of salt from the food. I also ate only 2 GUs the entire time. Again, I think is works better for me to eat regular food and use GUs as a "supplement" to get me to the aid station. I became low on energy only once when I had put myself on a diet for 3 loops (what?). We ate pizza after 50K and I over consumed the pep sticks, so I didn't eat much for the next 3 loops to get rid of the sluggishness.

Shawn and I had fun running at our own pace, talking some and quiet a lot of the time. It was peaceful out on the trail where there were others out walking their dogs or getting in a daily jog. We only got one, "Aren't you cold wearing shorts," but I'm certain there were other silent inqueries. During these early loops, I worked on figuring out the snow running, where I could avoid snow by hitting thin patches, actually sliding my feet to make a smoother path in some areas, and clearing some of the large blow down branches so we wouldn't trip too much at night. These all worked well - one of the reasons I like loop courses is that I can find ways to adapt along the way (yes even on a track). By 50K, my hips were really starting to hurt from the awkwardness of running through the snow. I took some ibuprofin here to calm the hips and quads down and worried how I would continue through the night if my body didn't adjust. Thank goodness this was the only time I had to take ibuprofin.

It became dark while we were on loop 7 and we didn't have our lights on yet (though we were carrying them). At the half way point of the loop, we dawned our lights. We would have plenty of dark hours so we didn't want to put them on until necessary. As with any night run, the darkness made the going slow and we had to adjust our walk run strategy some. We were mostly running to this point with short walk breaks on the incline on the out section. Also, we increased the pace some to get momentum in the snow and to keep our balance. This takes strength away but I felt it was necessary to keep the hips from falling apart. It seemed to work for both of us so we continued with this through out. We also had a short (200m) flat section where we were tripping over embedded rocks. Once it became dark, we used this as a walk break as it was right before the snow in one directin and right before crossing the highway in the other. That adjustment reduced the frustration level.

We hit 80K (about 50 miles) in ~ 10 1/2 hours. We had plenty of time to make 100 miles but we hadn't run very long in the dark. The fog, as I said, moved around the course and made the 30F temps seem even lower. We were warm though and were feeling pretty good about our progress. At 100K, we made plans to change our shirts. With the changing time and time to eat, we ended up getting cold. We decided to get in the car and turn on the heat to warm up before heading out. During that time, G&K came in and spotted us sleeping. We hadn't slept more than 5 minutes but knew we needed to wake up and get back out there. We did and probably had spend over 20 minutes of down time.

G&K had just unlapped us so were heading back out to get the lap back. It was slow going with achy legs/joints and shiverring bodies. We shuffled until we could muster a slog, then a jog and finally a bit of a run. Soon we were at crusing speed again and caught the Canucks walking a bit of the incline out. We exchanged unpleasentries and moved on.

There was another couple that showed up late afternoon (Lorie Alexander and Barry Hopkins). So during the night, there were 3 couples crossing paths heading back and forth through the loops. It was nice to see others out there and definitely a good thing that Shawn and I had decided to run together as it was extremely dark and probalby not too safe in the park.

After another loop (now at 110K) Shawn started to becomd sleepy. One thing we found out is that she gets sleepy while running and needs to walk to wake up, whilst I fall asleep walking and have to run to wake up. Not the greatest combo but we can help one another as there is usually one of us awake at any given time. Unfortunately, Shawn couldn't take the sleepiness and sucumbed to napping after that loop. I told her she had one loop to take a nap while I ran alone. I did that lap in 90 minutes - now at 120K and with 5 hours to complete a mere 31K or 19 miles to make 100. No problem right!

Once I got back to the car, I woke Shawn then ate and got ready for the next loop. She woke up easily and was ready to rock if not roll by the time I was ready. We started out a bit slow while she got the kinks and shivvering out, which was fine by me as my quads were getting extremely sore. I thought it was a passing thing but found that I would have trouble running any of the incline on the out section. We walked and jogged but I could never really get going. Shawn was fighting the sleep monster again but was doing better than before her nap. 2 miles into the loop, I wanted to just turn around and head back. I wasn't getting better and now my hands were getting cold from walking. I had the right gloves back at the car but had to get there first. I thought maybe on the decline on the way back I could get some momentum and produce some heat. I tried but couldn't keep going long enough to produce the needed heat. (Note: adjustment for next trial run; use backpack and carry heavy gloves and/or hand warmers). I finally put my water bottle under my jacket and my hands in my jacket pockets to keep them warm. I really wasn't that cold but add the time of night, the cold temps, dank trail, sore quads, etc., and I just wanted to be back in the car. I told Shawn that I would stop at the car - I was finished! We figured the loop would take us 2 hours and we would only have 3 hours to do the 2 loops I needed for 100 miles. By adding gloves and my down sweater, I could walk 1 more loop and get 150K. It just wasn't worth it so I decided to call it a night. The trudge back took forever. Shawn and I exchanged painful moans and groans and we fought the sandman each step of the way back.

We easily fell asleep and would wake just before 8:00 am. We decided to go hunt for a coffee shop while we waited for G&K to finish. The two had come in and headed back out to put in the rest of the minutes on their feet, which gave them an extra 4k. They quickly dressed and the 4 of us headed for our reward - breakfast!

We had a great breakfast at one of Gilles favorite spots and just hung out and talked for a while. Finally, we found our way out of town and to the border where we would wait for about an hour to cross. Made it home by 5:00PM; took a shower and put in a couple hours of work. By 8:00, we found ourselves falling asleep in front of the tube. Nothing was on really but the background noise sure put us to sleep.

For this workout, I give myself a B-

See you on the trails! Next stop PIGTAILS!!

*tc