Frosty Bottom 26.2 (47.3 miles) [5:13]
Marathon #102
- 20.3 miles from finish to the start; cutting the beginning and end trails. This was run on the sidewalks and bike paths.
- 27.0 miles
The course was changed a couple of years ago to include some single path trails. This makes the beginning of the race difficult for me. I'm usually in the back of the pack for most of the first 5 miles; slowly picking off people throughout the run/race. I had a decent day, wasn't too cold, and finished with a 5:13 marathon. My goal was to be under 6 so I was well ahead of that. I did bonk a little 20 miles into the marathon (40 miles into the day) but just pushed through at a slower pace. Leaving the house at 3am for a 5:30a early start was tough, but the marathon doesn't start until almost 10a, which makes running the 20 miles before easier to do than after the race. Why do I do the extra mileage? Mostly because I can but also because coordinating a carpool is more stressful to me than just doing the extra mileage; and it's fun.
Susitna 100M (DNF/DQ) [22 miles-7:06 - missed the 7hr cutoff] - DNF
I've had mixed experience/success in this race. I am not a good snow runner, especially deep snow and when it's snowing hard. If we have those conditions, I'm sure to drop by mile 62. That's an easy evac (catch a ride) so if I drop, that's where it will be. If we have a good weather year; packed snow, I am a runner again. Even though I'm pulling a sled with 50 lbs. of gear, I can still run well. 2022 it was hard packed, and I ran under 24 hours. This year, we had a week of fresh snow dumped on the course. I was barely moving and knew it was going to be tough. We have 7 hours to get to the first check point, which is about 22 miles. No problem. Well, unless you suck in deep snow as I do. I missed the cut off by 6 minutes. It was a blessing in disguise though because had I made it through, I would have been fighting the cutoff for the next check point at mile 33 and the evac would be $300 for a snow machine ride or who knows how much to have a plane fly me out; and the choice is not your own. To date, with about 270 ultra marathon starts, this is only the 2nd time I've missed a cutoff. The other time was in 2011 when, at age 50, I timed out of a 500-mile mountain race. In that race, we had 8 days and I was only able to get 370 miles by that time. For 2024, I've decided to run the Susitna 50K. Even with bad weather I "should" be able to finish, even if it takes 10 hours. Fingers crossed.
PacRim One Day Race (62M
or 100K-12:20, 50M in 9:20)
ultra #244
My
running suffered the rest of February as mentally it was tough for me to get
back into running as consistently as I had been all winter. I used the excuse
of shoveling snow during my lunch break and to not run as much. March wasn't
going too much better and I had a 24-hour race coming up in May that I really
wanted to race. So I made a last minute decision to run a Washington race that
I had run 10 times while living there - The PacRim 24-hour. I had no intention
of running the entire 24 hours but wanted a friendly course where I could get
in a 50-mile training run. I wasn't even sure I could run 30 miles without
walking at this point so my goal was to attempt to run to at least 30 miles and
then do what I could to 50. As it turned out, I was able to run for most of the
50 miles. I then decided to continue walking to 100K before heading to the
hotel for a hot shower. Mission accomplished. It was nice catching up with many
who I'd shared miles on this course in the past. We were really lucky with the
weather as it didn't really rain much. This race is known for its cold, wind
and rain throughout the day and night.
Dawn-to-Dusk-to-Dawn 24-hour [112.59 miles - PR - 3rd place OA]
ultra #245 - the 1st race that I actually raced this year
This is
another race where weather can be the difference between making it to 100 miles
or not. My goal when racing 24-hours is first to see if I can get to 100 miles.
Then to do whatever I can after if so. It was hot and raining during the day.
The cool thing about some of these races is that you're competing amongst elite
runners. They don't get lane priority and have to go around you if they want to
pass. I try to stay near the line between lanes one and two so that the
speedsters can go by. It's interesting to watch as they all have their crew
feeding them; handing them gels; making soup; making sure they're hydrated;
etc. Me and my buddy Dave, we have our chairs on the outside of the track; have
to go over there to get food or drink; and so on. So it's a whole different
race. There were some very fast women in the race and one guy in particular
(Harvey Lewis of Big's Backyard fame) who were running 8-8:30 or so miles. As
for myself, I generally start at whatever's comfortable and that's usually 9:30-10
pace for the first 30 miles or so. With stopping for potty breaks; food and
drink breaks; gear change if necessary included, my pace for 30 miles was just
about 10 minute per mile or 5 hours. I generally slow and have a mini slump
between miles 40-50, sometimes longer, and this time was no exception. I hit 50
at 9:05 and was on track to hit 100K under 12 hours until my back started
acting up. This happens in almost every race at some point over 50 miles. It's
not weak back but tight quads; so I know what the issue is. The quads get tight
because of weak glutes; If I would just spend time working on those instead of
just running, I could take care of this - but I don't. Anyway, I got to 57 miles
and decided to lay on my back on the edge of the wet track. I stretched for a
while; got some fuel; then started running again. I got to 100K just over 12
hours. I was doing well most of the evening and night yet felt bad seeing the
elite women struggle with puking and not being able to move like they wanted
to. Harvey even had issues and his goal (to keep his spot on the US 24-hour team) was slipping away. As this was happening, I continued to do well and
just kept plugging away. I was easily on pace to run under 20 hours for the 100
but, once again, had to stop at mile 97 to stretch my back. I sat in my chair
this time and took a 20 minute break. I struggled to make myself stop and rest
my back because I knew I could have pushed myself to get under 20 hours for
100, which would have been a PR. But I wanted to see what I could do beyond
that and made the decision to take a break. I was about 20:30 for 100M. I was
really hoping I could keep the walking to a minimum in order to get beyond 110
miles. The top elite woman had dropped at 110 so I was targeting that number
just to give me something to keep me moving. Another elite woman was struggling
to get to 100 and I barely got there before her. And yet another elite woman
spent an hour on her hands and knees in the middle of the infield alternating
between puking and laying down. Harvey (age 47) spent time off the track in a chair
while his crew took care of him and let him rest. He was the eventual winner
with 137.24 miles. Second was another 47 year old with 116.86; I got to 112.59
and stopped with 30 minutes to go. I was just staggering too much on the track,
trying not to fall on the turns. That was good enough for 3rd place overall and
a new lifetime PR for me. My previous PR was 111 miles back in 2001 that I had
set at age 40. 22 years later at age 62, I was super happy with that result.
Even though I told myself after I could have walked the last 30 minutes, that's
just the forgetful brain. In the moment I did try to continue, I stopped in the
middle of the track at one point and sat on a bench. I was shaking, probably
from dehydration and not enough calories, and mentally all I could think of
was, "How the heck am I going to get my gear to the car after the
race." So I walked around the track to my chair and put on extra clothes
and packed my gear. I made my buddy Dave drive to the friend's house we were
staying at, an hour away. I did my best to keep him awake and we didn't die.
That's all I can say - ha!
6/2: Alask Endurance Trail Race 24-hour - 55 miles (8pm start - 6 hour drive to Fairbanks, AK)
ultra #246
First
trail run of the year. I don't know why I signed up for this race. I don't like
trail running and this is a 6-mile loop with plenty of elevation gain and loss
each loop. I determined to go 50 miles, sat and ate some food, then drove 300
miles south back home. My body was in more pain than it should have been the
following week. I also felt like I was coming down with something the following
Monday/Tuesday and didn't commit to head to my next race until Wednesday.
Again, I should have skipped this race but really miss running with friends.
Living so far from everyone now, I use every opportunity to race and hang out
with other runners.
6/9: Tsalteshi Backyard [4.1667 mile loops] - 50 miles (5pm start - 6 hours drive to Soldotna, AK)
ultra #n/a - back yards considered DNF unless you win
This is
the second weekend / race in a row where I had to drive 300 miles and start the
race soon after getting there. It's tough to get out of the car and then start
moving. Since my first meal is always after my noon run daily (usually around
2pm) I do the same thing for races no matter when they start. I stopped in
Anchorage on the way south to get a teriyaki and rice bowl for my pre-race meal.
That worked out well as I felt good before the race. I set up a pop-up tent,
card table and chair. Then ran I a 1-mile bathroom loop and chilled before the race
start. The course was a flat route, mostly on gravel roads. After realizing
earlier in the year that this race was being put on, I wished that I had
skipped the trail race the week before. I feel like I could have done well as
this is right in my wheelhouse. Instead, I cruised along until 50 miles and
stopped so as not to hurt myself for future races. Backyard races, if you're
not familiar, are races that continue until there is a "last person
standing." You run a 4.1667 mile loop within an hour. The idea behind the
exact distance is that if you can continue for 24 hours, you will hit 100
miles. You can use the time between when you finish a loop (or yard) and the
top of the next hour to sit, sleep, eat, drink or whatever you want or need to
do. You must be in the starting corral before the top of the hour. This
continues on loop after loop, hour after hour, for as long as someone is out
there. Once the 2nd to the last person cannot continue or misses the cutoff,
the last person has to complete one last loop to be the winner. I was
consistently completing my loops in under 50 minutes and was never close to
missing a cutoff. I may have continued but really wanted to be able to run the
Mayor's marathon the following week. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.
Recovery was pretty easy this week.
I hope to
be ready for this race in 2024 and shooting for the win if I'm healthy.
marathon #103
I wasn't
sure how I had recovered from the week before but my body seemed ok. I ran a 2-mile poop loop to get my body ready. I started way back of the pack so that I
wouldn't go out too fast. That was a mistake as the crowd funneled onto an 8
foot wide bike path and folks were walking. Instead of easing into it I was now
anxious and started running on the grass outside the path in order to pass
people. I continued to pass people for miles, eventually getting to a place
where I was going at a comfortable pace with those around me. I felt good,
running 8:30s to at least mile 15. At this point, we took a dirt/rock trail for
a couple of miles. That slowed me down a bit though I was passing more people
again. We went off the trail before mile 18 and onto a slight down hill on the
road. I crossed over an overpass and got close to mile 20 where I started
tightening up. Mile 20 was my first 9 minute mile and I didn't want to push
through the tightness so I walked for 10 yards to adjust my pace. That works
for me as I'm used to doing that in ultras. I started up again at 9:30s and
continued on. I think I was running close to 10 minute pace by the end but I
didn't care. My primary goal was to finish and if all went well, to see if I
could break 4 hours. I was easily under 4 so I just slogged in at a comfortable
pace. Recovery was even easier this week and now I had a 3 week break until my
next not-race race.
7/8: AKtive Backyard [4.1667 mile loops] - 50 miles
ultra #n/a - back yards considered DNF unless you win
Hilly
trail loop mostly on grass and second trail run of the year. Not really my cup
of tea but I needed something to run so I entered the race. It was mostly a
non-eventful run up to mile 30. "Pride preceedeth the fall," as the
Bible says. Looking up on the 8th lap I saw one person ahead of me. Each loop
is NOT the race; there's no prize for finishing them first but you must
complete each loop under an hour to continue on. But I thought, "I can
catch that guy in front of me. He's in the lead." Then BOOM! I hit the
trail hard before I knew what was happening. I lay there for a bit to gather
myself and the aforementioned verse came to mind. I got up and must have looked
horrible because the guy behind me was worried about me limping along. I shook
it off and started running again. Now I knew that I wouldn't be going farther
than 50 miles. As I approached 50, and even though it was summer time in
Alaska, there is a bit of a dusk at 7p. I didn't want to risk getting hurt from
falling so I stopped at the end of the 12th loop feeling strong. Recovery went
well the week following. Next race would be 4 weeks away.
8/5: Hatcher Pass 50 [double marathon] - 52.5 miles
[9:17:53, 2nd overall and 1st place dude]
ultra #247 - the 2nd race that I actually raced this year
The
Hatcher Pass marathon was created by a my friend David Johnston and his wife
Andrea Hambach in 2012. It's a point-to-point uphill race on a mostly dirt
road. It's 25 miles up then a steep down hill the the finish. When Dave and
Andrea gave up the race to another team (my wife and me), Dave decided to do
the race both ways. He'd start early and do the downhill; get to the start with
time to rest for a bit; then do the marathon. A couple years later, we turned
over the race to someone else and I started doing the double with Dave. He and
his wife moved in 2020 so I was left to do it alone in the years following. One
year, a couple other folks ran the double with me. After doing the double
informally for 4 years; along with doing the reverse double 1 year; the newest
RD decided to create the HP50. I felt a bit of pressure knowing my name was
attached to the double. To be sure, I let all know that Dave invented the idea
and I just popularized it. Just as the moon walk is attributed to Michael
Jackson even though others were doing it decades before him. Anyway, the race
started at 5a with the traditional uphill marathon starting at 9a. Of course, I
couldn't help thinking of the idea of trying to get to the turn around under 4
hours so that I could start the uphill race with everyone else like I did in
years past. In the past I had left way earlier than 5a to have a 30-45 minutes
rest. On this day, I got to the marathon start/turn-around about 3 minutes
under 4; grabbed some water; and headed out while the RD was giving the
marathon race briefing. But before getting to the turn around, 2 runners were
at mile 27-ish, while passing me the other way, with me at mile 25. I was happy
about hitting the marathon under 4 but soon found out that was a huge mistake.
I knew that I wouldn't catch the female ahead of me because she is strong and
would not be slowing down enough for me to catch her but I didn't know the guy
who was with her. I soon forgot about them both and struggled to keep up with
the back of the pack marathoners on the climb. I stopped and sat in a chair at
the 9 mile mark (35 miles for me) and ate some gummy bears. I slogged along
until reaching the mile 17.5 aid station (43.7 for me) and took another sit
down break. I topped a switch back at close to mile 45 and saw someone walking
ahead. I thought, "is that the guy? No probably not." I caught up
with the guy just beyond mile 46 where we were going into increasing uphill
climb. He saw me and said, "Hey, another 50 mile runner. We can run it in
together." There was no way I was going to stay with him. This is my
strong suit in this race and I wasn't going to wait - it's a race afterall. He
tried to run/walk with me until I put together a long stretch of running before
hitting the steep switch backs. He soon gave up saying, "I can't keep
up!" With him behind me, I pushed at the pace I knew I could run over the
pass. I struggled with leg cramps on the way down the steep downhill but wanted
to keep moving until the finish. Kamie, the overall winner with a time of 8:49
had already left for home. I finished in 9:17 and the second dude came in over
16 minutes behind me at 9:34. Second lady, and fellow 60+ runner, came in at
10:27. This is a tough race and I was lucky because my base mileage and
experience, especially on this course, helped me significantly. Recovery would
be slow and I wasn't sure how I'd be able to race the 49K in two weeks. That's
my number 1 target race each year.
8/20: United Physical Therapy 49K (30.44 miles) [4:18]
ultra #248 - the 3rd race that I actually raced this year.
This race
has been run since 2014. I've run it each year that it's been held. In 2020,
the race was not held because of COVID concerns. However, by request from the
local running community I suppose, they put together an alternate race; a
marathon that was certified so that Alaskans had a chance to qualify for
Boston. It was limited in number but I got in and, though Boston is not my
thing, I was one of the few who ran a BQ. All that to say, I've run this race
every year and as of a couple of years ago, I'm the last person to maintain the
race streak. This year was year nine (9) and in 2022, I finally got a best time
on the course by about 30 seconds. But I still wasn't able to get under that
4:20 barrier. This year I really wanted to get under 4:20 and was hoping that I
didn't ruin my chances by running so hard two weeks prior. Having to leave
quite early from home to get into town well before race start, I had plenty of
time to process coffee and water along the way. I try to get to these shorter
races an hour early in order to get my porta-potty stop out of the way. For me,
that requires running a mile or two before hand. One year, I ended up with
almost 4 pre-race miles. This year, I was fortunate to get things moving within
a mile. Now free to banter about with like minded runners, I discussed
strategies with a few. A friend, who is coming back this year from a long
injury (2021 and 2022 I believe) was getting stronger with each race. He was a
sub 3:20 marathoner a couple of years ago so is much faster than me. I told him
that I would try to keep my early miles "over" 8:15 pace. In order to
get comfortably under 4:20, I needed only to run 8:30 pace. The issue for me is
going out too fast for the first 20 miles. I've done this a few times in the
past and the last 10+ miles end up being a struggle. My friend told me he
didn't want to go out faster than that either. I didn't believe him, and told
him so - ha! I pointed out the lady who ran close to 4 hours last year. I
warned him not to be tempted to go with her. The first 3 miles were quicker
than I wanted but at least not sub-8s. I purposely pulled back as I felt my
friend, Matt, charging towards the aforementioned lady. While Matt forged
ahead, I seemed to be pulling the another guy along. There's a small hill at
about 4.5 miles that I usually use to "get away" from others around
me. I tried not to be too aggressive on this hill but still was able to pull
away. I love this out section of the course as it has rolling hills with a
"giant" hill at about mile 10, which is also the first turn around.
Well before the hill, a mile or so out, I started seeing the leaders. These
guys will be running somewhere in the neighborhood of 3:15-3:20 for the
distance. Then I start counting runners coming back. This is a small race so
I'm usually between 5th and 10th place. This year I was in 7th overall by the
turn around. Matt seemed so far ahead of me so I assumed he must be feeling
pretty confident. I did a gut check after the turn around; "am I running
too fast?" I felt good and held myself back as I saw those behind be
coming the other way. When you get to mile 13-ish on the course, you pass the
marathon turn around - mile 9 for them. Here I start merging with marathoners
and feel tempting to pick up the pace. It's tough to not catch the next person
in front of me but I tried to temper it as much as possible. Mile 15 I'm
running over a decent hill which will kill me if I push too hard. Felt good at
the top and still good at mile 17. Soon I'm cruising by the 3:40 marathon pacer
who I was looking for to hang with. He has too many people around him so I pass
by slowly and move on. Mile 20 is where I guage whether I went out too fast or
if I'm able to put it in cruise control. I didn't get the bonk feeling so
closer to the cruise control for now. Im cautiously optimistic. Between miles
21/22 I see a guy who looks like it might be Matt; he's walking. I catch him by
22 and urge him on. Going over an overpass beyond mile 23 and I'm feeling the
burn. I don't want to slow as this causes me to lock up and my pace tends to
plumit. Heading to the 24 mile turn around, I actually walk to grab something
to drink; I'm feeling dehydrated and crampy. I hand the guy the cup as I don't
see a trash can near by, and I turn around to head back when he yells at me,
"Hey, the turn is over there." Another guy says, "That's ok.
Close enough." I turn around and don't see anything that indicates where
to turn and had assumed I should turn where they were standing. Not wanting to
cheat, I turn back around and when I got to the guys I asked where to turn.
They point to an invisible spot on the ground that was maybe a couple feet
beyond where I turned the first time. I became quietly annoyed at this point as
I was risking missing my sub-4:20 goal. I walked to the where they were
pointing at and asked, "turn now?" No response. I turned and tried to
get back into a groove. I see the 3:40 guy coming and knew he would be passing
me soon. He had dropped all his followers by this point. A little bit later I
start cramping in my feet. I try to adjust my form to aleviate the cramping
(basically, run flat footed as much as
possible) and to not cramp in my calves, which complained as soon as I changed
form. I'm now doing the "duct tape and baling wire," shuffle routine
hoping not to trip on a crack on the bike path, and maintain a reasonable pace.
I definitely had enough energy and felt strong leg wise so I pushed through as
much as possible. By mile 25 I had passed another ultra runner and was now in
5th place. I attempted to check my watch at the marathon point but it was
locked and I was too uncoordinated to unlock it. (After the race, using my
official split time at mile 24.5 and the average pace from there to the finish,
I estimate that I was close to 3:37:30. I'm very happy with that time as I
don't race the marathon very often and I wonder if I can still run under 3:30).
Back to the race ... I move as well as I could and hit the final hill just
before mile 30. Mile 30 split read 4:15:xx so I mustered up all I had to push
it to the finish. My "sprint" after the last turn I'm sure looked
rediculous. Still, I was happy to see the clock showing 4:18:xx. final
time,4:18:54.
9/10: Trails 50K - 30 miles
ultra #249
Silly
trail run (3rd trail run this year). I was a bit nervous about doing this race
as it's very rooty and I was worried about falling and breaking something; or
worse yet, pulling a muscle trying not to fall by tripping. The urge to meet
with like-minded folks for a "supported training run" outweighed my
fear of falling. And fall I did. This was a two (2) loop course which I ran
cautiously slow. With most of the faster trail runners heading to Fairbanks the
following week to race the Equinox trail marathon, this race was mostly a small
group of locals. I came into the first loop unscathed and feeling great;
grabbed a baggie of pretzels I had brought and filled my bottle with Tailwind.
Heading out on the 2nd loop, I passed by another runner finishing his first
just before I made a right turn onto another trail. As I started to eat, BOOM!
I hit the ground hard; smashing my pretzels and landing on my right forearm
pretty hard. I walked some as my forearm was stinging with pain. Scraped in a
few places but no blood and no broken bones. It's a, um, comforting feeling to
know that at 63 my bone density is good. I fell another 6 or 7 times on this
loop and hard a few times. So much for slogging slow miles like I do on roads.
You actually have to pick your feet up and not get tripped by roots. I fell so
hard one time, using my water bottle to break the fall. My bottle split so it
no longer held water without sloshing all over me. At two of the aid stations,
I just filled the bottle and drank it down before I headed back out. I finished
strong moving from 3rd to 2nd place by the end. The guy who won was 31, exactly
half my age. I hung around for a few hours sharing running stories as more and
more racers came in. By the time I left, nearly all were done. Though I fell a
lot, I still had fun running the whole way; stopping only to refill water and
pick myself off the ground when I fell.
09/29: tc Birthday run - 63K (39.2 miles) for my 63rd
birthday.
unofficial run
I was
hoping to be able to run 63 miles for my 63rd birthday (actually Oct 1st) but
having to figure logistics in the small town where I live, and running alone,
makes for a difficult mental run. Though my birthday was on Sunday, I didn't
want to miss church. I also didn't want to be stressed on Saturday in
anticipation of a very long solo run Sunday. I decided to take off from work on
Friday and do my run. I settled on doing kilometers versus miles the week of
the run, based on my mental state of mind. I planted water so that I wouldn't
have more than 6 miles without water later in my run. I also didn't drink any
water or eat anything until I got beyond 16 miles. With the cool weather and
non-race speed, I can get away with not drinking water for up to 20 miles. I
don't like to hold off that long though because then I get behind. To that
point, I was running under 9:15 pace; this was noted in retrospect as I wasn't
really paying attention to my pace and went back to Strava to see what I was
running. I also noted that I slowed to 9:30 until about mile 30. By mile 25, I
had picked up one of my planted water bottles and my wife texted me soon after
to say she was heading to a nearby trail for a short run. I stopped at my car
at mile 30 for a few minutes to eat and drink some Tailwind. I had made plans
during my earlier texting to meet my wife at the trailhead where she was
running as it was a little over 9 miles from my car. So instead of doing an out
and back from mile 30, it worked out perfectly to just meet up with her and
hitch a ride back to my car. Miles 30-39 was a struggle bus as I was only able
to maintain a 10:15 pace. I must have looked worse than I felt as the pastor's
daughter told me as she passed by me returning from an errand that I looked
aweful. I felt ok but knew my form was waning as I struggled to finish without
walking. The cool thing about this distance is that it's a marathon + a half
marathon. Or 3 half marathons. My moving pace was 9:43 pace (6:20). And still
under 10:00 pace overall (6:28) with 5 minutes at mile 30 and 3 minutes for
combined water stops. I hope I can have better planning and better weather for
my 64th so that I can attempt to run 64 miles. On the track in a 24-hour last
year I hit 65 miles in 12-hours so I think I can do it with the right mental
state of mind. I think in order for that to happen, I need to allow myself to
walk - I tend to not do that when doing my birthday runs. I'm trying not to get
old as I age.
11/11: Stinger all comers track 24-hour (50.75 offically)
(9:48) ~ 50 mile split 9:19:41
ultra #250
I was
hoping for another good 24 hour. Unfortunately, I failed mentally on this one.
To be fair, I did start out travelling on the day of the record setting snow
fall for Anchorage. As I normally do, I purchased my airline tickets months
beforehand. I thought I'd be smart and leave on Thursday in the morning (rather
than a red eye as I normally do). Well we got so much snow that, even though I
left way early to make the flight, the flight of course was delayed. I knew
that we would get out of Anchorage because they don't shut down that airport
for anything. They just delay and wait for openings in the weather pattern. I'm
having trouble trying to recall the details as I don't really want to relive
this experience ~ too depressing. We left over an hour late which meant that I
would miss my connection in Seattle. No problem, there was another flight
leaving at midnight to ATL; WRONG! That one was full so I got booked on the
next available flight to ATL a 6am on Friday. Also, I was told that if I wanted
my luggage, it would take up to 4 hours. That meant that I would be staying in
the SEATAC airport for 13 hours. Oh, I could have gotten a hotel close to the
airport without my luggage, but I just didn't think it was worth the back and
forth stress. Long story short, I spent the night sleeping on the floor near
the gate I was to leave at in the AM. I got maybe 4 hours of poor-interupted
sleep and could not sleep on the flight. I met my buddy Dave at the airport and
we were able to get our rental car pretty quickly. Hotel 90 minutes away
(Friday night traffic); we had time enough to go to the local WalMart to get
some cheap lawn chairs, food, and other supplies we might need for the race.
Then we changed and headed out to the pizza place where a few other racers would
meet us. Since I normally fast and don't eat airplane food, the evening meal
was my breakfast. I pretty much swallowed whole my pepperoni calzone. Good meal
and good discussion then back to the hotel to get a good night's sleep -
finaly! I told Dave I was thinking of switching to the 12 hour race; which you
can do before you start. He talked me into staying in the 24-hour race which
was a mistake. I think I would have stuck with the run for 12 hours and tried
to hit 100K if I had gone with my instincts. Anyway, good sleep and we headed
to the start of the race which was only about 2 miles from the hotel. It was
raining when we got there and raining the entire time. Dave and I found a place
away from the track to put our chairs and gear out of the rain. It wasn't ideal
as we would do extra mileage each time we had to get food or gear. I started
out at my normal 9:30-10 pace and actually felt quite good. I was cruising
through 50K and didn't start having trouble until 40 miles or so. That was a
bit early for my usual low point in a 100/24-hour race but not out of the norm.
The weather was not improving and my back started bothering me so I spent the
next 10 miles rationalizing in my head why I should be out there (or rather,
why I should call 50 miles good). I went off the track a little beyond 50 miles
and took a nap in a heated building close by. I would decide after that what to
do. I was unable to sleep and my back was not improving; probably because I
couldn't relax. After a couple hours of fighting it, and seeing that the rain
had not abated, I decided I was done with this race. I went back to the hotel
and told Dave I'd pick him up in the AM. While my race was a shamble, the 50
miles didn't hurt me physically but mentally it was worse than my DNF at the Susitna
100M in February. I go to these races, as I've stated, to do what I love
"run" and be social with like minded folks. I tried to call this a
win in the 2nd category as I did spend a lot of quality time with my
"timed races" running friends. I'm likely going to skip this race
next year. It's beginning to get too tough for me to travel to the east coast
in such a quick turn around. My way of saying I'm getting too old for this
stuff.
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