More recollections from the Lone Ranger 24hr Run

Two interactions at aid stations come to mind:

The first one was at the R1 aid station after dark, so that's maybe
9:00pm. There were three aid station voluteers. The first aid station
volunteer said "Welcome, what do you need?" and I replied "Can you
please fill my water bottle up with ice water?" The volunteer said
"Water is over there and ice is in the bag". So I went to the next
volunteer and I said "Can you please fill my water bottle up with ice
water?" and she gave me a confused look. So I went to the last
volunteer and I said "Can you please fill my water bottle up with ice
water? I can't do it myself." And she did it. I explained to her as
she was filling it that after 11 hours of running most people are
happy being able to open the top & drink out of it, let alone screw
open the top. And she wished me well and off I went. Someone needs to
give the volunteers an idea of what physical/mental state the runners
are in, if they are going to be really helpful.

The second incident was at the R3 aid station on either my last or
next-t-last loop. The volunteer came to meet me and said "How are you
doing? How do you feel?" I said "Have you ever seen Monty Python and
the Holy Grail?" He give me a surprised look and says "Yeah, I've seen
it." And I said "Do you remember the Black Knight routine?" And he
says "Yeah, I remember the Black Knight." And I said "So I feel just
fine!" And he laughed and I laughed and that laughter picked me up so
much, it was worth gold.

(For those who haven't seen it, paraphrased: the King meets the Black
Knight who challenges him to combat. The Black Knight's right arm is
cut off. "It's only a scratch. Fight me, you coward." The Black
Knight's left arm is cut off. "It's only a flesh wound. Fight me, you
big coward." The Black Knight's legs are cut off and the King starts
to leave. The Black Knight is standing on two leg stumps with no arms
and says "Come back here you sissy and fight like a man, and I'll bite
your kneecaps off".
The quotes are not exact, but you get the point: The Black Knight
feels fine and is ready for combat.)

--
Sent from my mobile device

Peter
http://peter-peter-blog.blogspot.com/

Foundering

It's not the first time, and I always knew in my mind that there would be a second time, so I don't know why I feel surprised. Still, after my run last weekend I was not feeling any discomfort and could see no discoloration (not that I thought to look for any, since there was no discomfort).

But now I look at the toenail on my right big toe and the bottom left quadrant is purple. It started on Tuesday as a faintly different shade of the normal pinkish-purplish that my toe nails normally are. And in the days since it has grown into a more robust shade of purple with more clearly demarcated edges. And it appears to be getting bigger.

Science has two theories while runner's toe nails come off. Both are linked to nails which are longer than they should be.
Theory #1 says that the edge of the nail gets caught on the sock or the shoe or something and gets pulled upwards as the foot rolls through from heel to toe, with the most pulling force being applied at the point of push-off. The pulling causes a small separation of the toenail from the nail bed which leads to the nail falling off.
Theory #2 (I like this better) says that the nail is being pushed back onto the toe over and over and over with pounding force, and that this separates a portion of the toe nail from the nail bed (does not need to be any particular part of the nail) which leads to the nail falling off.

In my defense I trimmed my nails the day before the race, so this should not have happened to me.

I 've tried ice and rest, and now I'm going to have to run on it anyway even if it does hurt. I'd like the nail to stay on, but I know falling off is not the end of the world if it does not.

Back-on-Your-Feet 24-hour Lone Ranger ultramarathon

In lieu of a more-complete race report, here is a collection of FB postings from the race [along with some additional commentary]

Saturday July 18
Weather forecast was for low-to-mid 80sF, 40-50% humidity, mostly sunny, slight breeze.
4:02am Has his sunscreen on and his rice bagged. [I decided to put out some FB postings as a quick way to communicate my status to others. I turned the phone off in-between times so that the battery wouldn't die before I was done - it won't last a whole day otherwise. Some people were wondering why I didn't respond to their FB posts re: my comments - that's why, I never saw them. I just powered on, put my post in, and powered off again]

4:05am Is on the road to the Philly Back-on-my-Feet 24hr Run. [later than planned, but with some time to spare]

6:48am I'm at the race site in Philadelphia, an hour early. [ahhhh - ahead of schedule! time to exhale and read my copy of "The Lore of Running"]

8:15am I'm chilling, waiting for the pre-race briefing. [got a great looking red technical shirt and a hat]

9:42am Pre-race briefing is complete, 15 minutes to the start. [nutshell version of briefing: thank you for coming. stay on the path. drink a lot of liquids. avoid moving objects coming at you on the path. play nice with others. have a wonderful time]
r>11:29am Almost at mile 6. A bit ahead of plan. Lovely day, sunny & clear, low humidity. Lots of Philadelphians running around. [I chose to run on dirt/grass versus run on asphalt through about mile 40. the difference is that my shoes swung through the tops of the grass, requiring more energy to run. It may not seem like much, but over 40 miles it is a lot. I should have stayed on the asphalt and just kept at it] [Fairmont Park where this was held is this huge green space and it is just gorgeous. A great location for the race. Lots of active people exercising on a Saturday morning]

12:17pm First lap down, feeling fine. Met Larry Solomon (wearing a Team Accenture shirt) who was running the relay event. On to lap 2. [all sorts of people are into running!] [I felt great here, but of course everyone feels great after 8.5 miles of a long long race]

12:54pm Mile 11. Sometimes a runner will pass me who is built like an inverted pyramid - broad wide shoulders - and I can't help but think "You're a born swimmer with that awesome arm leverage. I hope you are training for a tri." [sometimes I think of the most interesting things while I am running]

2:38pm Lap 3. Wiped all the crud from my legs. Reapplied sunscreen "liberally" & somewhat sloppily everywhere. Ate some more rice (Josh) and back on the road again. Thinking about a deliverable walkthru next week. [wiping the crud and putting on more sunscreen, while good intentions, i think just cost me time in the final analysis without providing me any benefits]

2:40pm This lap will be half as fast as the last. Heat of the day. [this really was a good time for me to walk]

4:46pm Mile 24. I've kept to my pace plan and I feel good. The temp has dropped a lot and a gentle breeze has kicked in. The skin on the backs of my calves are red-blotchy, I attribute to either heat rash or something in the road dust here my skin doesn't like. They have Philly soft pretzels which are wonderfully salty even if they are a little hard. [the second coating of sunscreen i put on didn't stick, apparently. I was hot and sweaty and the sweat apparently just washed it away. so the backs of my calves are sunburned.] [the road dust/dirt was a problem. the insides of my ankles are bruised from it being kicked up by the other foot]

6:34pm Mile 30. The sun is sinking, and my legs are tired. I ate too much carbs at once at the end of the last loop, and they are sitting in my stomach. The good news is my weight is neutral since the start of the race, which means I'm not dehydrated on a net basis. Continuing to walk as planned should clear my stomach and leave me able to run later. [a very nice breeze came up about now. I had changed into a singlet from my short sleeved shirt and the air was wonderfully chilly against my skin. But the temp was still about 82F, so the message in that was I am not drinking enough] [i realized when i was in the staging area that I was spending too long there. I easily blew a half hour there. I just could not get myself together and get out the door! It also took time to download my race data from my watch onto my laptop - a requirement b/c I track my running and the log space was filling up - and a foggy mind is no match for technology]

8:41pm Lap 5. Despite my efforts I am still down almost a gallon of fluids. I'm going to have to force more fluids into me this lap [hydration is a serious problem for me. I was drinking a ton (GU2O and water with the odd splash of Gatorade), urinating a lot [good because it meant fluids were still being absorbed vs. either pooling in my body cells or being all lost by sweating] but I was not retaining the water. It just went on out. I needed it to stay around inside longer]

[I should have made a habit of posting every mile or every hour or something. It would have provided me with another game to play and distracted me from my hurting feet]

[after the race i compared the shoes I wore with my old shoes, because my feet hurt sooo much and are marked and red all over. Did you know, the new shoes have laces that are several inches shorter? So to tie them, I had to make the shoe tighter. No wonder my feet hurt so much. Am I annoyed at not finding that earlier!]

Sunday
1:36am Mile 53. I am so very tired. Wonder if I'll get a second wind? Trying to find something else to think about [I was not a happy camper and the negative talk was getting me down. I turned the conversation around shortly thereafter] [At the second aid station they asked "what do you need?" and I said "a pep talk" and the answer the guy gave me was sooo weak. I went to another lady, whom I had talked with on all prior laps, with the same interaction and she said "well, i'm going to be here as long as you are, so I don't know what to say" with a tentative look on her face. I replied "so I guess the pep talk there is that the sooner I finish the sooner you can go home, right?" We chuckled and I went on my way]

1:52am -You're never going to make 100 miles so you might as well quit. +but I've been going faster and I might make up time. +besides, everyone expects me to finish. -your body hurts. +yes, but it will hurt tomorrow whether I stop or not. +besides, a lot of the places that used to hurt don't anymore. =and so it goes. [My intention here was to provide my non-runner friends with an idea of what conversations go through a runner's mind during a long endurance event. The "negative talk" is part of the mind game and it can make you stop or give you a straw man to punch at. I choose the latter]

2:22am Thank goodness for Jeff Galloway & his run/walk. I think it's gonna get me through. [I should have started this a lap earlier than I did. I didn't make enough progress on the first half of the race. While simplistic and having many critics, the Galloway Method does an excellent job at keeping me going during tough times]

3:48am Mile 60. Nauseated. Nothing spoils a run like an upset tummy. Luckily I packed Pepto Bismol. [those little pink tablets just do wonders, besides turning your tongue black] [they had all sorts of eats on the course: water, GU2O, GU gels, turkey sandwiches, ham sandwiches, PBJ sandwiches, M&Ms plain and peanut, Enteman's doughnuts, Phila. soft pretzels, gummy bears, GU Shot Blox, cookies, muffins, mini muffins, potato chips, pizza, granola, trail mix, peanuts, mixed candy, and the list goes on. They also had washcloths soaked in ice water for an instant cool-off]

8:38am Some kind soul persuaded me to just "rest for fifteen minutes", and three hours later it was 8am. I admit to being a willing participant in that scam. Even now I could get out there and capture a few more miles, I've chosen not to. 67.65 miles is enough for this run.
[I was at the point where mathematically I could not complete 100 miles, which was my only race goal. Faced with that, I decided to call it a completed race]

[Statistics:
* I finished 67.648 miles in 19:37 for an average pace of 17.4 minutes per mile. I didn't turn the timer off at any time, so that includes the various stops I made.
* I finished 12th out of 24 men+women who finished with the same distance.
* I finished 44th out of 115 men.
* I finished 61st out of 163 overall.
* The overall winner was Serge Aronba who finished 146 miles in 24 hours.
I wonder what he eats while he runs?]

Philadelphia Run Plan

I've come up with a run plan that vaguely makes sense.

The race starts at 10am.

The forecast is for low 80s during the day, 58 at night.

High humidity.

Thunderstorms are likely in the afternoon.

So.

I'm going to run at a 17-minute pace through about 8pm.

I've allocated a 20-minute pace from 2 through 4pm if necessary.

Then I need to pick up the pace and get in some miles through 8am.

Then I will run at whatever pace I feel like, depending upon the miles I've completed.

The overall goal for me is to stay hydrated and make positive progress while the temperature is higher.

A consistent 15-minute average pace will allow me to finish the race at exactly 100 miles.

Really, that's not very fast.

A 17-minute pace is not that much slower than a 15-minute pace.

I should be no more than 2 hours behind by 12am (meaning the race is half over at 10pm but I won't be at the half-way mark until 12am).

But I am counting on being able to make up for lost time after that. I need to work the kinks out of my legs and get going. If I can't keep up a 12-minute pace I won't be able to finish my 100 miles. A 12-minute mile isn't that fast, normally. After 12 hours on my feet and a thunderstorm, I suspect it will seem kinda fast.

I'm also counting on not losing any time to a thunderstorm. The forecast is for 40% chance of rain, meaning that only 4 in 10 of the raindrops will hit me. There is a protocol for clearing people off the course in case of thunderstorm. I just don't know what they consider   sufficient thunderstorm to close the course. 

The other reason they might close the course would be due to a high heat index. There's a protocol that calls for the course to close when the heat index rises to dangerous levels. So that could also set me back.

Well, at least I have a plan to work from now.

I need to draw up a list of what clothing and other supplies to bring.

--
Peter
http://peter-peter-blog.blogspot.com/

See my Lone Ranger 24-hour run status

You can see my status on the 24-hour run this weekend by checking

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=rIboqWJjl5YI8ja0Rw0Cwvg&output=html

FYI The race website is http://www.20in24.com

The 2009 Back on My Feet 20in24 Relay Challenge, Lone Ranger Ultra-Marathon, Midnight Madness Run and Pajama Loop Presented by Nike

I'll try to send out some updates during the race, depending upon how manic/depressive I get.

:-)

Sweat Test

Today was warm (88F) and on the dry side for here (40% humidity), so I decided to do a sweat-test run around lunch time. I ran to Giant and back which is just under 5 miles. I tried to stay within the heart rate parameters of my online Coach. It took me 20 minutes to get there, 30 minutes to get back (I had to stop and let my heart rate and EPOC level drop because I was trying to stay within these guides, or I would have done it 20 minutes each way).

I got my hair wet and weighed myself before my run - 173.5 pounds.

After the run, I toweled off the excess perspiration and weighed myself - 167 pounds.

I didn't eat or drink anything between the two, so that 6.5 pounds difference is almost all perspiration. If water is 8.35 pounds per gallon, and perspiration is almost all water, then my hourly sweat rate is about one gallon per hour.

Today felt a lot like my most recent marathon, Seattle. I felt dry from the get-go. Maybe I just lost a ton of water in Seattle, and that was why I didn't feel well? Makes sense.

To replenish my internal body water supply under these conditions, I need to absorb about one quart of water every 15 minutes. That is a lot of water to drink. And it isn't just drink it, but absorb it from my stomach/intestines into my blood stream.

Typcially people don't lose much electrolyte in their perspiration. But at rates this high, I am losing a lot of electrolyte. I haven't figured that one out exactly, yet. Sodium, potassium, chloride, calcium, and magnesium I think are the big five.

So to be successful at the Philadelphia 24-hour run, all I have to do is make myself drink a quart of liquid each 15 minutes. People are going to get out of my way in the race when they hear me sloshing along behind them.

Dahlgren Historical Rail Trail (DHRT) Run

I've found my August run - there's an abandoned rail line near Dahlgren, Virginia. It's a 40km run, quite small at a couple hundred people, on August 8 at 7:30 or so. Should be a good time.

August marathon

I'm looking for an August 2009 marathon.
Should be first three weeks of August.
Needs to be in a state I've not run in before (rules out VA, MD, PA, WA, DE, and FL)
Suggestions?