2014 North Coast 24 Endurance Race

Best Laid Plans Gone Awry

This was my goal race, the one I'd been preparing for an entire year since I ran my first ultra here last year. I even took an extra day of vacation so I could take two days to drive up if needed. I took my time packing and double checking everything so I wouldn't leave something critical behind like my charging cord for my Garmin. At last I had everything packed, including some items I remembered at the last minute like my hat. I'm sure I over packed and wouldn't needed half of what I was bringing, but if I left something behind, I know that's what I would need. I was ready to roll by 11:00 am Thursday morning, first stop the ATM to be sure I had enough cash. Traffic was slow getting to the turnpike because of construction, but once on the turnpike I made such good time that I was in Ohio by 5:00 pm of so. At that point I didn't see any sense in stopping for the night, so I continued all the way to Lakewood in the hope that the Travelodge could accommodate me a day early. They could, so I had Friday free to relax, check out the detour to the park, walk around the course, relax in my room before heading back to the park to enjoy an evening of pizza with friends. I met another runner, Pat, at the park as well as our timer, Charles, then met Ed, a 75 year old runner who had run Six Days in the Dome earlier this year. Back at the park that evening we had some returnees from prior NC24s as well as a few new runners in the group. Lori, whom I've known for years but never met in person before, brought two friends, Julia and Anya, down from Canada with her. Angela and her sister Teresa were there. Diana was up from Maryland for her first ultra. We had both run the Endless Summer 6-Hour Race back in July. Chris, Eric, Mary, and her husband Brett, rolled in a little later. Crew chief Laura arrived with pizza and sodas. I hope I didn't forget anyone. Eventually we said our good nights and headed back to our respective hotels.

I had perhaps the worst pre-race night I've ever had. I don't think I slept more than two hours total and most of the time just lay in bed with my eyes closed. I finally got up about 5:10 am, dressed for the race, double checked the bag I was bringing to the race, and finally went out to wait for breakfast at 6:30 am. Much to my delight the coffee was already out as were some of the breakfast items, so I didn't have to wait. I think everyone at breakfast while I was there was connected in some way with the race. Lori, Diana, Anya, and Julia all came in just before I left for the race. Since I would be setting up my tent for the first time, I wanted to be sure I had plenty of time to figure it out. As it turned out Laura and Brett were a big help. I didn't really think I would need it, but I was glad later that I had set it up. We all picked up our bibs and chips. Some of us had two bibs, one for the front with our number, and if we were USATF members, a second with our age group for the back. It seemed superfluous, but it did allow us to see what age group some of the other runners were in and who our competition was, though I don't think that made any difference to anyone during the race. We pose for the obligatory pre-race pictures of runners and crew before walking down to the starting line. We were later getting down there than I thought and missed the national anthem sung by Charles Moman, one of the runners who was making a miraculous comeback from a horrific auto accident last spring. He was quite an inspiration for many of us.

As expected most of us started slowly, some walking. After some consideration I had settled on running 3 minutes and walking one, since that worked well on one of my long runs where I felt good rather than beat up at the end. I didn't adhere strictly to that, but modified it as needed to time walking breaks with arriving at the aid station and on the two mild rises on the course. Once in a while I would deviate from that pattern to walk with runners I knew, otherwise I walked or ran with whomever was near me going about the same pace. Knowing that nutrition had been a problem in the past, I stopped every lap to grab something, sometimes something to eat and drink, sometimes only one or the other, especially if I was feeling a little bloated or full. I stayed with items I tolerated well in the past, mainly Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and PB&J sandwiches, along with almost anything they had to drink, e.g. water, Gatorade, Mountain Dew, cola. I think Laura asked me so many times as I passed our table if I was eating and drinking, that I had runners whom I'd never met before asking me, too.

Since it felt cool before the race, I didn't bother with wearing my hat, but one lap convinced me it was going to be sunny and warm enough that I would want it. Between that keeping the sun off my head and the lake breeze, the warm temperatures didn't really bother me. I could feel it getting warmer, but mild adjustments to my pace and staying hydrated seemed sufficient. I never felt uncomfortable with the heat. The early pace was a little faster than expected, but slower than last year. I felt strong so I kept that effort, eventually settling into a good rhythm. The race was developing well and I had high hopes of meeting all my goals. Of course that's when things started to unravel.

The first hint that all was not going as well as I thought was a sudden sharp side stitch that momentarily doubled me over at about 25 miles. It disappeared in a minute or so, but I've learned not to ignore what seem like minor annoyances during ultras. I was only a few hundred meters from finishing the lap, so a quick stop at the med tent was convenient. While working on the cramp, the staff noticed my leg quivering, a sign of electrolytes being out of balance. Apparently my food and drink choices weren't getting me enough sodium. Fortunately that was easily remedied by switching to Ramen noodles, hamburgers, and more Gatorade. About 8-10 laps later I started getting hot spots on my right foot, so I stopped again to have that taken care of before getting major blister problems. That actually took two stops with a lap between before it felt like we had it under control.

It's getting dark now and we've been running 12 hours plus. I'm passed 40 miles and still feeling pretty good, though I am walking a little more and have slowed down. That's when my left knee began to feel sore, a pain straight across the middle of my knee cap. Since it hurt more running than walking, I increased the amount I was walking in the hope that I could continue and it might eventually go away or at least not get any worse. By the time I reached 50 laps (45.1 miles), it was time to get that checked over as well. With no soreness above, below or on the sides, the med staff ruled out patellar tendonitis. they eventually asked Dr. Lovy to take a look at it. His assessment was that the knee cap wasn't tracking properly and there might be cartilage damage behind the knee cap. In the hope that a short break might ease the pain and I would be able to continue after icing it, I walked back to our site to sit for a while. After about 20-30 minutes I attempted to get up to see if I could continue. That's when I discovered I couldn't place any weight on the leg and I wouldn't be continuing at all. I wasn't sure I could drive at that point, besides I wanted to be there in the morning for the finish, so I crawled into my tent to take a nap. The heavy rains and wind woke me about 2:30 am, but I rolled over and went back to sleep. When it started getting light I crawled out and pulled myself together to I could watch the rest of the crew run their final laps.

Although I was limping, I could get around better to watch the finish, then break down camp and get ready to leave. After saying good byes, I didn't see any sense in staying the extra night, so when I got back to the hotel, I grabbed my other bag from the room and checked out. The drive home was uneventful, though I stopped frequently to stretch and get a few minutes nap since I'd only slept a few hours total.

Monday morning I called my doctor and got the name and number of a sports medicine orthopedist and was able to make an appointment for Tuesday morning. The net result was a diagnosis of patellar chondromalacia and a script for PT to stretch and strengthen the quads and hamstrings. I've also had time to assess where I am and reassess my plans for the rest of this year and next with some good feedback and suggestions from the ultra forums. I have to admit that I've jumped into ultras similarly to how many beginners jump into their first marathon. It was a calculated risk, but I had hoped with all the years I've been running that I could avoid this type of injury. I still enjoy the long ultra races, but will spend some time consolidating my gains and focusing on 50K and 12-hour races, which will also take me close to 50M but without the stress of facing a cutoff time and DNF. If I can continue to make gains, 50K and 100K races are still out there and I can enter 24-hour races to give me more time to cover those distances. While the results were a major disappointment for me, they also brought me back to reality.