On the weekend of June
6-7, I ran the FANS 24-Hour Run. I do
this race almost every year. For the
last several years, it’s been held at Normandale Lake Park in Bloomington, MN.
In a 24-hour race, you
can run, walk, or take rest breaks, but the clock is always running. The objective is to run or walk as far as you
can in 24 hours. We started at 8 AM on
Saturday, and we had until 8 AM on Sunday to see how far we could go.
The 24-hour race has
separate divisions for runners and walkers.
I usually do the 24-hour run, but there are serious race-walkers in the
24-hour walk. This year there were three
walkers from Europe who came here to see if they could earn a Centurion badge
by walking 100 miles in 24 hours. The
one rule the walkers have to follow is they can never have both feet off the
ground at the same time.
Besides the 24-hour race,
there’s a 12-race, a 6-hour race, and a marathon. The marathon was new this year. All of the fixed-time races started at 8 AM,
but the marathon started at 10 PM.
Our course was a 1.85-mile
loop around the lake. The whole course
is paved, except for two short wooden bridges, where we cross Nine Mile Creek.
This is a local race for
me, but for the third straight year, I chose to stay in a hotel that was close
to the race venue. A long-term
construction project on I-494 has made drive times difficult to predict.
I checked into my hotel
in Bloomington Friday afternoon. Then I
went over to the lake to pick up my race packet. For the second straight year, I had bib
number 2. Of the people doing the
24-hour run, only Ed Rousseau had more lifetime miles.
I had dinner with Deb,
Betty, and John. I went to bed early and
slept for about six and a half hours.
Then I woke up and couldn’t get back to sleep. I slept well the previous two nights, so I
crossed my fingers that I got enough sleep to get by.
There was an area on the
west side of the lake where we could pitch tents. As usual, I was sharing a tent with my
sister, Betty, and her husband, John.
Betty always volunteers at this race.
John does the 24-hour walk
The tent gave us a place
to store all our gear. Some people take
naps during the night, but John and I usually press on through the night.
The earliest we could set
up tents was 6:00 Saturday morning.
Betty and John were also staying in a nearby hotel, and we all arrived
by 6:00, so we could get our usual tent site before someone else claimed it.
After setting up our tent
and unpacking our gear, John and I each needed to pick up our timing chips and
weigh in at the medical tent. During the
race, we needed to weigh in every four hours.
It was a hot day. When I left the hotel, the temperature was in
the 60s. Humidity was so high that I had
to run the wipers, because my windshield kept fogging up. When the race started, it was 70 degrees, but
the afternoon high was in the upper 80s.
Making matters worse, it was a bright sunny day, and I rarely felt any
wind.
The last time I did this
race, my goal was 100 miles. I started
too fast, and I got dehydrated on a hot afternoon. By nightfall, I was struggling. I fought hard to try to stay on pace for 100
miles, and I wore myself out. My
attitude was “100 miles or bust.” When I
was no longer on pace for 100 miles, I stopped.
This year, my goals were
more flexible. I was hoping to get to
100 miles, but I had doubts about whether I was in good enough shape for
that. The weather conditions made it even
more unlikely. I started the race on
pace for 100 miles, but if I couldn’t get there, I would do whatever I could.
The course is moderately
hilly. None of the hills are long or
steep, but there are about a dozen hills in each lap around the lake. My pacing plan was to walk all the hills. That gave me a dozen short walking breaks in
every lap. The beauty of this pacing
plan is that I actually looked forward to the hills. Instead of taking more energy, the hills were
my rest breaks.
For the last two months,
I’ve been doing most of my training on the race course. More often than not, I’ve been walking the
hills, so I could get an idea of what my average pace would be. This is an image I captured after one of my
training runs. The dark blue segments
are where I took walking breaks.
I found that if I walked
every hill and ran the rest of the loop at a comfortable pace, my average pace was
between 12:00 and 12:30 per mile. That’s
without stopping to eat or drink. During
the race, I needed to stop briefly at the aid stations. I also needed to stop occasionally for
bathroom breaks, periodic weigh-ins, or to get things from my tent. Factoring in these stops, I expected my
average pace to be at least 30 seconds per mile slower.
To get to 100 miles, I
needed to average 14:24 per mile for 24 hours.
I was OK with starting a little faster than that, knowing I would almost
certainly slow down in the afternoon heat.
I also expected to be slower in the second half of the race.
There were two aid
stations on the course. The main aid
station was set up near the bandshell.
This aid station had water, Gatorade, and a variety of snack foods,
including cookies, fruit, and sandwiches.
The secondary aid station was at the opposite corner of the lake, near
Nine Mile Creek. This aid station also
had water and Gatorade, but not as much food.
I drank Gatorade at both
aid stations. To take in enough
calories, I also occasionally ate solid food at the main aid station.
There were two methods of
lap counting. The primary method was
chip timing. We all wore ankle straps
with timing chips, and there were timing mats at a few different places. As a backup method, there were also
volunteers at the main aid station who were manually recording our laps.
Every lap finished at the
main aid station, but the first lap started near the medical tent, where we
checked in. This was done for
convenience. Our first lap included an
out-and-back segment, making it longer than other laps. This was done so the 100-mile point would
come right at the end of the 54th lap.
The out-and-back was new
this year. There was one other small
difference. We used to go down a steep
hill just before the secondary aid station.
This year, we approached that aid station from a different
direction. That made each lap slightly
longer than it has been in past years, but it removed a steep drop that was
somewhat uncomfortable. The new approach
was more gradual.
I did dozens of laps on
this course in training, so I would know every turn and hill by heart. I was training on the old course, so on race
day, I had to get used the new approach to aid station #2.
There have been other hot
years, but I usually felt comfortable during the morning hours. This year, I felt warm right away. I noticed the humidity from the first lap.
My past experience was
that drinking a cup of Gatorade at each aid stations was sufficient for the
morning, but I needed to drink more in the afternoon. Last year, I didn’t drink enough, and I got
dehydrated. This year, I
overcompensated.
Because it warmed up so
quickly, I started drinking three cups per lap.
At one aid station, I’d drink two cups.
At the other, I’d drink one cup, and I’d sometimes eat some solid food.
For the first hour of the
race, I was averaging about 12 minutes per mile. As I started taking bathroom breaks and
spending more time at aid stations, my pace slowed to about 12:30 per mile. That was about the same pace as my training
runs, and it felt pretty easy.
By noon, it was 80
degrees, and the sun was intense. Now I
was drinking two cups pf Gatorade at each aid station.
My first periodic
weigh-in was at noon. I was up 3.5
pounds compared to my pre-race weight. I
was shocked to have gained so much weight so quickly. The next four hours would be the hottest of
the race, yet I cut back on my fluid intake.
I had a cooler at our
tent filled with Gatorade bottles and crushed ice. I was expecting to need to supplement my
fluid intake by drinking Gatorade each time I came by our tent. I held off on that.
To cope with the heat
during the afternoon hours, I started putting ice in my hat each time I came by
the tent. I also started taking
electrolyte capsules.
In the afternoon, I was
making more frequent bathroom stops.
Those stops, plus the time I spent at our tent getting ice, caused my
average pace to slow down. My afternoon
pace was slower than the 14:24 I needed to average. Some miles took more than 15 minutes.
About every four laps, I
ate something at the main aid station. I
had a couple pieces of energy bars. Then
I had some trail mix. When I came by at
the end of my 13th lap, I saw pizza.
One of the sponsors was
Parkland Pizza, and they delivered pizza at different times during the
race. It was a tavern-cut, making it
easy to grab one square and eat it during a short walking break. The pizza was better than any of the other
odds at the aid station, so I ate pizza three times during the race.
I reached the marathon
mark in 5:47. That’s longer than I’ve
taken in the past, but anything faster would have been too fast for the
conditions.
I needed to focus on
intermediate milestones. The next one
was 50K. I reached that during my 17th
lap. When I finished my 18th lap, I was
more than one third of the way to 100 miles.
I got there in less than eight hours.
In theory, I was on pace for 100 miles.
In reality, I had already slowed down too much.
With more frequent
bathroom stops, my pace got slower.
Sometimes it was slower than 16 minutes per mile. It became obvious that I was no longer on
pace to get to 100 miles. Realizing that
goal was out of reach, I switched my pacing strategy. Instead of walking the hills and running
everywhere else, I started mostly walking.
I only ran on downhill sections.
For several laps, I kept
forgetting to get a pill ready. I
wouldn’t remember until I was already at the aid station. Rather than stopping to get a pill out, I
kept telling myself I’d remember on the next lap. Then I’d forget again. That contributed to problems I would
experience later.
At 4 PM, I weighed in
again. Despite cutting back on my fluid
intake, I was up another half a pound.
By now, most of the ice
in my cooler had melted. The rest had
frozen into large chucks. I no longer
had enough small pieces of ice that I could put in my hat. I thought it was late enough in the day that
I no longer needed to out ice in my hat.
I neglected to consider that it was actually hottest at 5 PM. Without ice in my hat, it was harder to cope
with the heat. I didn’t realize how much
the ice was helping until I no longer had any.
My body was sending me
mixed signals. In the late afternoon, I
was needed to stop to pee every lap. On
one lap, I made two bathroom stops.
Between that and the weight gain, it seemed clear that I was
overhydrated. On the other hand, my
mouth and throat were always dry.
Now that I was doing more
walking, I started to walk at a somewhat brisk pace. My average pace wasn’t much slower than it
had been when I was mostly running, but I wasn’t working as hard.
By 8 PM, I had run 48.1
miles. In theory, I was on pace for 96
miles, but that was misleading. At the
pace I was going now, I would be doing well to get into the 80s.
This is an RRCA state
championship event. There were RRCA
awards for the top male and female overall, and well as the top male and female
in the open 40, over 50, and over 60 divisions.
I wondered what it would take to win the over 60 division. When I’ve won it before, I did at least 100
miles. On such a hot day, would something
in the 80s be enough?
I weighed in again. Finally, I had some good news. My weight was down two pounds since 4
PM. I was still two pounds over my
pre-race weight, but I was moving in the right direction.
After another lap, I
reached the 50-mile mark. When I
finished that lap, the lap counters ran a cowbell for me. They do that whenever someone reaches 50
miles, 100K, or 100 miles.
Betty had been doing lap
counting from 2 to 8 PM. When her
volunteer shift was over, she checked the live results to see how competitive
the over 60 division was. There was a
guy over 60 who was already 18 miles ahead of me. He was in third place overall.
Clearly, I could forget
about competing for that award. That
left me with one other goal. I needed
140 miles to get to 1,500 lifetime miles, so I could join the 1,500 mile club. If I could run 70 miles this year, I would
just need 70 more next year.
To get to 70 miles, I
needed to finish 11 more laps. That a
lot of laps. At this point, each one
seemed to take forever. I had plenty of
time. At the rate I was going, I could
get to 70 miles and still have time for a few more laps.
The sun set at 9:00 and
within half an hour, it was dark. The
course was lined with battery-power lamps, but there were still dark
patches. We were expected to use a
flashlight or headlamp to help with visibility during the night.
Once the sun went down,
it immediately felt cooler. The
temperature came down gradually, but without direct sunlight, it was much more
comfortable. I didn’t need to drink as
much, but it was hard to resist drinking at aid stations. On some laps, I only drank at one aid
station. At others, I couldn’t resist
drinking at both.
As the night progressed, it
got harder to maintain a brisk walking pace.
I wanted to average at least three miles per hour (20-minute miles), but
I had to go faster to compensate for bathroom stops and other downtime. With effort, I was keeping most of my splits
under 19 minutes, but that effort was wearing me down.
I had to focus on more
immediate milestones. The next one was
getting to midnight, when I would weigh in again.
At midnight, my weight
was up again. I had regained the two
pounds that I previously lost. I didn’t
realize it yet, but that was my undoing.
I was drinking too much, and I wasn’t getting enough salt. My fingers were starting to swell, which is
one of the symptoms of hyponatremia.
By now, I started to
notice that I wasn’t always walking in a straight line. At first, I wondered if I was just a little
disoriented because I wasn’t seeing the full width of the path. I also wondered if it was the result of
muscle fatigue. I was also starting to
lean to my right, as my core muscles got fatigued.
This was something
else. Over the next several laps, I
noticed it more and more. I was weaving
back and forth. I also started to feel
punchy. It was like I was drunk.
My next lap took me to
100K. The lap counters rang the cowbell
for me again. After that, I still needed
four more laps to get to 70 miles.
On my next lap, I was
staggering, but I kept making forward progress, and I got through that
lap. Now, I just needed three more laps.
The next lap was much
more difficult. It was scary. I didn’t know if I could get through another
lap safely. I worried that if I started another
lap, I might not be able to stay upright.
I was still two laps
short of 70 miles, but I couldn’t go on like this. I told my lap counter that I was going to
take a break at my tent, so he shouldn’t be concerned if he didn’t see me for a
while. Then I went just far enough
around the loop to get to my tent.
I borrowed a heat sheet,
so I wouldn’t get cold, and I sat down to rest.
The guy in the adjacent tent asked me if I needed anything, such as
water, Gatorade, or chips. Potato chips
sounded wonderful. He gave me some
potato chips, and they were wonderfully salty.
It was just what I needed.
Rather than rest in the
night air, which was getting chilly, I decided to go back to the hotel. I took a hot shower and climbed into
bed. I set an alarm and tried to take a
nap.
Before I could fall
asleep, I needed to get up to pee. I
climbed back into bed, but before long I needed to pee again. This went on for a while. I never got to sleep, but I was gradually
passing all the excess fluid I had been carrying for most of the race.
I eventually got dressed
and went back to the lake. I felt
better, but I chose not to run any more laps.
I ended the day with 66.78 miles.
That’s disappointing, but I didn’t want to drag myself through another
lap or two in my current condition.’
I talked to the people at
the medical tent. What I was
experiencing can sometimes be a symptom of hyponatremia. I’ve heard of this symptom before, but I had
never previously experienced it. It’s
sometimes called water intoxication or water drunkenness.
John, who was walking,
also had a goal of getting to 70 miles.
He went well beyond that, getting to 75 miles. He could have gone farther, but he stopped at
75, so we could start packing up our campsite.
By 8 AM, we were all packed up.
After the race, there was
a post-race breakfast, followed by an awards ceremony. A surprising number of runners had strong
races, in spite of the tough conditions.
Two of the race-walkers earned centurion badges by getting to 100 miles.
I expect to be back at FANS again next year. I need 72.6 miles to get to 1,500 total. That’ll probably be my overriding goal.
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