Series Preview: Running Ragged 20in20

Starting tomorrow, I’ll be doing a series of marathons on 20 consecutive days.  It’s called Running Ragged 20in20.  The series is sponsored by Mainly Marathons, which puts on series of races all over the country.

Most Mainly Marathons series are set up so you’re running in a different state each day.  One of the challenges of a series like that is having to get on the road and drive for a few hours immediately after each race.  Your legs get stiff, and you can’t spend as much time on recovery activities.  I’ve done a few of those series, but the longest one was five days.  Running marathons for 20 straight days is way beyond my experience.

One of the Mainly Marathon series is called the Heartland Series.  It includes races in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.  They have another one called the Prairie Series, which includes races in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri.

The two brothers who own Mainly Marathons live in Minnesota.  Last year, they had a series of four trail marathons near St. Cloud, MN.  They called it the Minnesota Brothers Trail Series.  I ran that series last year.  This year, they expanded that series to six days and renamed it “Summer Camp.”

They wanted to do something special for 2020, so they arranged to hold these three series back-to-back.  If you did all three, you would be racing on 20 consecutive days.  They were planning to have a special award for anyone who did all 20.

Because of COVID-19, Mainly Marathons has had to cancel several of their series.  I wasn’t signed up for the Heartland Series or Prairie Series, but I was signed up for all six days of the Summer Camp Series, and I was hopeful that these races could still take place.

One of the difficulties of putting on a multi-state series during a pandemic is working with permit authorities in several different cities and states.  During the pandemic, each state has had its own guidelines regarding what types of outdoor events can be held.  In July, I saw a notice that the Heartland Series, Summer Camp, and Prairie Series wouldn’t be held in their original format, but would instead by combined into a single series called Running Ragged 20in20.  People who wanted to run 20 marathons and get the special medal still could, but all of the races would be held on courses within 15 miles of St. Cloud, MN.

I was already signed up for six of these races.  Running marathons for 20 straight days seemed awfully intimidating, but I wouldn’t need to do any travel between races.  All of my other fall races got cancelled, so I didn’t have anything else planned.  I couldn’t do the New York City Marathon or any of the international trips I had planned.  This series gave me something different that was still a new challenge for me.  The clincher was that the races are all in Minnesota.  I’ve done every Minnesota marathon at least once, so I felt I should really do these ones as well, as crazy as it sounded.

I’ve been a follower of Le Tour de France for more than 30 years.  I’ve always been impressed with how those professional cyclists can ride hard for several hours and then go out and do it again the next day.  For the first time in my life, I’m doing something similar.  I have the luxury of going at an easy pace, but like those cyclists, I’ll be at it for several hours every day for roughly three weeks.

The races will rotate between five different venues.  Three of these venues were used for last year’s Minnesota Brothers Trail Series, so I was already familiar with them.  Those courses are all trails, but they’re fairly non-technical.  The two new venues have paved routes.  Here’s a calendar showing where we’re racing each day.  Note that we’re at Quarry Park for four days every week.  This park has multiple paths, so I assume we’ll have a different route each day.

The drive time to and from St. Cloud is just long enough that isn’t practical for me to stay at home.  I’d be spending three to four hours driving each day, in addition to running the races.  Instead, I’m staying at a hotel in St. Cloud for three weeks.  That’ll allow me to just focus on running and recovering.

My hotel is one that’s oriented toward longer stays.  Each room has a kitchenette with a full-size refrigerator, and dishes and utensils are provided.  That will make it easy for me to prepare my own meals or get take-out.  I’ve been avoiding dining in restaurants, unless they have outdoor seating.

St. Cloud is close enough that I didn’t need to fly.  That means I’ll have the use of my own car.  It also means I didn’t need to pack light.  I could bring anything I could fit in my car.  I brought things I’ve never brought with me before, including a bathroom scale and a drying rack for clothes.  I brought a variety of running clothes, but I’ll still need to do laundry occasionally.

I picked up my packet today.  I’ll have the sane race bib for the entire series.

My original plan for these races was to run at a slower pace than usual and take walking breaks.  Ideally, I wanted to keep my effort easy enough that I wouldn’t really feel like I was racing.  I wanted it to feel more like each day was a full day of running and walking, but nothing that would leave me feeling sore or fatigued.  Even small amounts of soreness and fatigue can add up over several days.  I had hoped to wake up each morning feeling the same as the day before.

That all changed with a recent knee injury.  I first noticed it five weeks ago.  After a fall during a trail race, my knee just didn’t feel right.  At first, it seemed to be getting better, but I think I aggravated it with some of my weight training exercises.  Two weeks ago, the inflammation in my right knee started to affect my running.  I ran a virtual marathon last weekend, wearing a knee brace.  During that run, I could feel some discomfort in my knee, but it didn’t seem to be getting any worse.  Several hours after finishing, I noticed significantly more soreness around my knee.  I definitely did not feel the same way the next morning as I did the day before.  Since then, I’ve been resting and treating my knee.  It’s improved noticeable, but a week isn’t enough time to heal completely.  It’ll be an issue for this series.

The timing of this injury couldn’t be much worse.  My challenge for the next three weeks will be getting through each race without making my knee worse.  These races don’t have time limits, and I don’t need to travel between races, so walking is an option.  I don’t want to walk the entire way, but I could if I have to.  How much I run and how much I walk will be a daily negotiation with my knee.

This series was intimidating, even when I thought I would be healthy.  Now that I’m running with an injury, it’s downright terrifying.  The good news is that my knee is only inflamed.  Nothing is torn.  I saw an orthopedist who knows what I have planned.  He didn’t tell me not to do the series.  When I asked him about it, he said I wasn’t going to feel great at the end of this series, but I also wasn’t going to do any permanent damage.

This series will challenge my patience and my willingness to accept slow times.  I can hopefully get through it with enough walking, but I’m going to have some long days.