Dizzy Daze 2024

 

Dizzy Daze 12-hr (20 x 3.2-mile loops / 64 miles) 

I went into this race with a goal of running 100K (62.2 miles). The course is a 3.2-mile loop around Greenlake in Seattle. As with most timed events, only full loops count officially. That means I would need to run 20 loops to get over 100K. This should be doable as I can usually run 60 miles in the first 12 hours of a 24-hour race. That said, this is my first spring race of the year. More specifically coming out of the Alaska winter, where I'm running 9:30 - 10:30 mile pace on my daily runs on packed snow and/or ice. 

On the Thursday before the Seattle race, I ran the first time on asphalt since some time in October. We've had quite a mild winter and the bike path I have been doing my long runs on was clear for the first time. I travelled to Seattle on Friday; drove to my hotel and put on my running gear to run to the where the race would be. It was a nice run as the temps were in the mid-50s and was my first-time wearing shorts this year. Saturday's race plan would be to run by feel and hopefully not start out too fast. I wanted to start out at close to 9 or 9:15 pace and settle into a 9:30 to 10 pace; play it by ear after that. You might think, "well that's what you've been running all winter. Should be easy to figure out your pacing." You'd be correct except running on packed snow and dry asphalt is completely different. I'm so slow on snow. 

On Saturday morning I got to the race early, as I generally do, and was able to catch up with friends, some of whom I hadn't seen since the last time I ran this race in 2018 and some even longer than that. It was quite chilly at 38F which was quite nice for me. It was clear out and I hoped for somewhere in the 50s during the day. I was not disappointed.

Jill Hudson / Delores Sentinella

Jim Boyd / Steve Walters

I had mixed 3 x 32 oz bottles with Tailwind for the race. I also brought 2 x 20 oz handheld bottles that I could pick up and run with during the race. I ended up drinking one of the 20 oz bottles before the race as my pre-race hydration. I also brought sliced cheese and pretzels which have been my main stay lately in ultras. Lastly, I brought GUs although I only ate one of those at mile 10 ~ same time I had my first Tailwind during the race. Otherwise, I started fasted and ended up not eating solid foods until after 32 miles. 

Ready to start the race, I dawned my lightweight rain jacket to keep the chill off for a loop or 2. I started at the back of the pack and quickly moved up. The course ran around well-known Greenlake in Seattle. There's an inner loop that is asphalt that we were NOT running on. Then there's an outer loop on crushed gravel and dirt. Outside of that loop is a 2-way bike lane that is 10 feet wide all the way around the lake, with a yellow line for bikes going either way. I mention this as this is an asphalt lane that we were told we could run on as long as we were respectful to bikes and moved out of the way. That would be where I spent the day, wanting to run on asphalt. With the extra distance, the loop for me was close to 3.25 miles. In the end, my watch read 65 miles.

My plan to start out at 9-minute pace fell apart immediately as I was running low 8s from the start. I know it had to do with running on the road after having run on snow all winter. I assumed I would slow eventually and just continued to run comfortably. I mostly don't use my watch in timed (24-hour) events and run by feel but decided to run with a watch this race to see how things went. By 3 loops, 9.6 miles, I was still running fast. I decided I would just go with it and see what kind of 50K time I could run and deal with the consequences of my decision later. It was a beautiful day and I reasoned that I could just walk / jog later in the day. By lap 7, 22.75 miles on my watch, I decided to sit for a few minutes and eat some cheese and pretzels that I had brought. I probably sat 4 minutes then restarted at a slow pace. 

Van Phan

My unofficial marathon split was 3:53; not bad considering I took that break. I still felt great and slowed a bit hitting 10 loops (32.5 miles) in 4:54 (50K split 4:39 ~ an even 9-minute pace). At that point I sat down until the 5-hour mark; reset my watch saving my "fast" 50K time and got ready to start fresh. I knew I would pay for my quick start, but 7 hours should be doable right? Yeah, that should be plenty of time to run another 10 laps. 

32.5M time

 

• Marathon: 3:53
• 50K: 4:39

Bathroom break on 5th mile

4-minute break 

Part 2 of my race, as I'm defining it, went as would be expected. I started my watch at noon (the 5-hour mark) to start tracking again. I walked out of the aid station area and eventually started a slow jog. I thought I would start doing a jog walk but I mostly just jogged the loops and instead of walking, took down time at the aid station to sit. 

Jess Mullen ran a lap with me after 45 M

I sat after mile 42 (10), mile 46 (14) and then again at mile 52 (20); parenthetical mileages are from the second Strava entry (see below). On those stops I ate pieces of bananas, pretzels and cheese. After the last long break, I thought I may have to work to get in my last 3 loops. I believe I had 2:05 left so loops would have to be under 42 minutes each. As I was running, I thought, "maybe I'll just get to mile 60.8, 2 more loops, then do a short out and back to get 100K." That loop ended up being in 36 minutes, just over 11-minute pace. So, I knew I could reasonably do 2 more. The next was at 35 and the last at 34. There was no stopping to speak of between these last three loops, but I did take some small walk breaks. I finished 20 loops (64 official miles / 65 on my watch) in 11:40. 

• 50M: 8:32
• 100K: 11:11 (4:39 / 6:32) - so much for pacing 
• 65 miles: 11:40 

Trish Steidl

Matt Haggen