I'm a few weeks behind on regular weekly blogging, but wanted to get my thoughts down on this event from last weekend!
I signed up for this event somewhat spontaneously.. I've had a nagging desire to do one of these 24hr+ ultra events and wasn't sure when or how to go about it. I signed up with the thought that I could really do whatever I wanted (run just one lap? sure why not!) and just kind of see what the event was all about without really setting any big goals or targets. It also offered an opportunity for family camping in perfect fall weather, plus there was a biking event on Sunday afternoon (which ended up getting cancelled at the last minute). I also planned to use it as a test of "what does my body do on very little sleep for extended endurance events" in preparation for the 12-hour
overnight ruck event in December.
The race format was a 6.5-mile loop on mostly trails and 30 hours to complete as many loops as you can.
I rolled up to the start line without having trained on trails or big running miles in quite some time, but of course I had to set SOME kind of goals.
Baseline goal: complete 50k+ (achieve longest event distance / longest 24-hr distance)
Stretch goal: complete 100k (personal distance record)
My plan to complete the 100k was to approach it in a similar fashion as the
Yeti 24hr Ultra challenge that I've done in the past... do a set mileage (in this case 1 loop) at specific intervals, and rest in between each time for however much time I have. The goal was to start 1 loop every 3 hours. Luckily my campsite was just past the start/finish area, so I ended up completing the first 0.2 miles of each loop immediately after the prior loop, then I would begin my rest period.
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| Course map: purple arrow is where my campsite was (course runs clockwise) |
So, showed up Friday night in time to set up camp and hang out for a while at the lakeside bonfire. At one point they had everyone go around and say who they were, what event they were doing/what their goals were, and share anything else they wanted to about their ultrarunning experience. There are some people who have accomplished incredible things!
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| Campsite at sundown |
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| Moon reflected over the water |
Got to bed at a decent time but overnight the wind was crazy! Kept having acorns fall on the tent/car and the rain fly whipping against the sides of my tent which meant very broken sleep through the night. Finally died down in the early morning hours and got a bit more sleep as the sun rose. The race started at 9am so I was able to have a leisurely morning getting up, getting food, and preparing for the day (and night and following day) ahead.
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| At the start, ready to do some running! |
It was chilly in the morning and still a bit breezy. I layered up but quickly realized the sun meant I would warm up easily. After some brief verbal instructions, just after 9am, we were off!
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| Maybe asleep |
I ran most of the first loop at an easy pace, trying to keep the excitement under control and walk anything that felt remotely like exertion. It was SO difficult to not run hard, especially since some of the others running were doing a marathon distance (*only* 4 laps... which is so odd to say) so they were pushing much harder/faster.
Finished the first lap in 1:16 and really felt like I wanted to keep going for another loop, but forced myself to go back to camp and relax. I ended up snoozing a bit in my hammock, which felt nice.
At noon, I set off for lap #2. Again, felt quite nice though the temps had warmed significantly in the sunshine. A bit slower (10-ish mins) than the first loop, but still ran a good portion of it. Laps 3 and 4 passed in similar fashion, felt good but not difficult. I forgot to grab my headlamp before I set out on Loop 4 at about 5:45ish... I started it a little earlier than the planned 6pm time to try to get in another full loop before dark.
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| Did my best to snack a lot in between each loop to maintain calories. |
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| Sunshine on the trail |
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| Clear sky and trees and dirt! 💚 |
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| Feeling good, but warmed up for sure! |
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| Chasing the sunset on the last loop before dark |
After that, darkness settled in and things got very slow and challenging. I started the 9pm loop and realized just how dark the trails were and how tired I was. Decided to do 2 back-to-back loops with the goal of having a longer block of sleep... which kind of worked-ish. Was motivated by the fact that Loop 5 brought me to the 50k mark, and my 6th loop took me over my personal distance PR!
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| Moonlight |
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| Dark, dark woods. |
Walked most of the 9pm loop which took a little over 2 hours, then walk/easy jogged the next one. Finished close to 1am and got snuggled into my hammock for a snooze til the 3am loop.
I woke up to my ~2:45am alarm and was shivering... SO cold, and the breeze had picked up again. The temperature wasn't really that bad (low 50s) but I bundled up with several layers to make sure I wasn't wasting any energy on shivering. The 3am loop was a slow slog, basically all walking, as well as the 6am loop... both were 2+ hours. But then... oh then, the sunrise started within the last couple miles of the 6am loop, and it brought new life and energy!
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| First light through the trees! |
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| Gorgeous sunrise 😍 |
With the slow walking it was after 8am when I finished Lap 8, so I only had a brief time to lay down in the hammock before I was to start my 9am loop. After that point, everything turned into a blur of exhaustion and "just finish the thing". I was super energized for the second to last loop at 9am, and it ended up being my second fastest lap of the entire event! I think the realization that I was indeed going to reach my goal had me very motivated... however I used up a lot of energy and went a lot slower on the final loop (which I started early bc I just wanted to be done!).
Finished the final lap around 1pm and was so glad to be done! I'd achieved what I wanted to achieve.
Can definitely say I've found a new fondness of ultra running, and look forward to more events like this in the future!
