2016 North Coast 24 Endurance Race
Another Try at 100K
Leading up to NC 24 this year my mileage has been down all year. Early months were very low mileage and I've been trying to play catch up all year. I would finally get in a good week or two then drop off again. Working more on hills also cut into my overall mileage, so once again I was under trained. I haven't had a good race all year and my prospects here were not high, so I would have to be at my best with race day execution, especially controlling the pace early. Once again my goal was 100K, a goal I've fallen short of in my last two 24-hour races.
I drove up the day before and made very good time. My first stop was Edgewater Park to see if the construction would be an issue getting there, and also to stretch my legs with a brisk walk around the course. While the weather was fine then, the forecast for the race was a 90% chance of rain and thunderstorms. Being a 24-hour race, the clock would start at 9:00 am Saturday and stop at 9:00 am Sunday. Entrants run at their own risk so each runner has to decide whether to continue running if it's lightning or head for shelter. In either case the clock keeps running. After checking out the park I checked into the Days Inn. I'd planned on posting some short notes on FB and the RW forums, but I couldn't get an Internet connection even though the motel has free Wi-Fi. This plagued me all weekend since the motel staff could not resolve the issue.
As usual a group of us met for dinner. The big difference this year was there were only 5 of us, so it made more sense to meet for dinner at Angelo's where we normally bought our pizza and brought it to the park. With more choices only two of us bought pizza and the rest of us various types of pasta. Rumor has it that it's one of the best pizza restaurants in the Cleveland area and considering how crowded it was the entire time we were there from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm, I can believe it. After heading back to my room I tried to relax and get to bed early. That usually proves futile since I wake up every couple hours through the night anyway, and this was no exception. I was up well before the wake up call I'd left. I was dressed and ready to go by the time my wake up call came and breakfast was served. The breakfast was disappointing. I've stayed at other Days Inns as well as other motels in the Wyndham chain and this had the poorest choices: toast, cold cereal, oatmeal, bananas, juice, and coffee. No eggs or bacon, no waffles, no muffins or breakfast pastries. I would have stayed at the nearby Travelodge but I forgot to make reservation until the last minute and this was the best I could find and be close to the park.
It's only 5 minutes to the park so there was no rush. I arrived in plenty of time to set up my tent, see friends, and pick up my packet which included a nice half-zip fleece pullover. Then about 8:00 am or a little after the rain started and quickly became a heavy downpour. It looked like we would be soaked before the race even started. I think I heard cheering when it eased up about 15 minutes before the start. For some reason the start was moved up to match the finish so we didn't have that very short partial lap at the beginning that had been included previously to make 100 miles end precisely at the finish line. Instead it looks like 100K will be exactly 69 laps.
The start was delayed about 4 minutes. I suspect the heavy downpour may have caused some problems with the timing. I know the first time the monitor showed my lap count wasn't until 16 laps into th erace. It always amuses me how so many runners here maneuver to be in the back. Everyone has the same plan to start slow. Even so, and it was slower than normal for me, my first mile was still sub-13:00. After that I settled into a good rhythm with mile splits falling between 13:40 and 14:20 depending on where my walk breaks occurred. That put me on pace for over 100 miles and I knew that was not feasible. I anticipated that both my running and walking paces would slow. Hardly any ultra runners manage even splits in the longer races. I've heard that the average is to run about 60% of your mileage in the first 12 hours and 40% in the second twelve. I did note a slight slowing after 16 miles with my pace starting to creap up toward 15:00, but I was still feeling good and strong. As I finished my 27th lap I had a really nice surprise when Joy from the RW Starting Line Forum met me by the timing mat and joined me for 3 laps. Those laps flew by even walking. As she had to leave I noted that she had accompanied me on the laps that took me past the marathon distance into ultra marathon territory since 30 laps is just a smidgen over 27 miles.
It was only a few laps later that I started to come unraveled. It started as I stood at the aid station with one of our crew deciding what to eat when I got so lightheaded that I had to grab the table to stay upright. She and one of the volunteers walked me over to the medical tent where I spent most of the hour trying to get rehydrated and figuring out what I should be eating. The general consensus was that I was not drinking enough even though I grabbed a cup to drink every lap, and that what I was eating was too high in sugar with insufficient complex carbs and protein. When I continued it was at a walk, not brisk but at least not a survival shuffle...yet. The next seven miles or so saw me averaging close to 18:00 as I stopped every few laps for a brief rest. The walking was also producing blisters on the large pads on the bottom of my feet resulting in yet another stop, this time at the podiatry tent to tend to those. After treatment I could walk but it was still uncomfortable though bearable without causing me to limp. With all the breaks by the time I reach 40 miles almost 12 hours into the race my overall average pace was about 17:40.
From this point the pattern became walk a couple laps until I reached the point where I had trouble walking in a straight line, rest for a while at our site, repeat ad nauseum. I was getting discouraged as I saw the possibility of 100K getting further away and those types of negative thoughts tend to feed back on themselves in a downward spiral. It only took 3-4 repetitions before I didn't have the desire to force myself out for another lap, gave up, and headed to my tent. At least all the work on rehydrating was having the desired effect as I was up to hobble down to the restrooms every hour. Finally my feet started feeling better as I hobbled, I was still two laps short of 50 miles, and I was walking back and forth to the restrooms anyway, so I got back on the path to slowly finish the two laps I needed at a snail's pace to reach 50 miles after a 5+ hour break. I didn't feel as bad as I expected and as hard as it was to believe I was moving faster than some others on the course, so I continued to move forward for another lap or two or three. I was just leaving the aid station to start another lap with about 36 minutes left when I saw the volunteers bringing out the table with our blocks on it to mark our position on our final partial lap. As slow as I was moving, and anticipating a possible rest break, I backtracked to grab my block just in case this would be my final lap. I'm not sure how long that lap took but I finished it and still had a few more minutes left so I kept going. One of my Canadian friends, Kimberly, caught up to me and offered to walk with me until the horn sounded ending the race. She always has a smile and an incredible positive attitude. It was a great way to finish the day. With the partial lap my total was 54.78 miles. Of course that partial lap put us as far from the finish as possible, so it was a long walk back to the pavilion to turn in our timing chips and pick up our finishers medals.
The group seemed disorganized this year, no group photos either before or after the race. I missed saying goodbye to several of them. I had breakfast, then took down my tent, packed up, and drove back to the motel, not even waiting for the awards ceremony. I spent most of the day alternating between napping and watching NFL football. I finished my leftovers from Friday's dinner for lunch, but never got out for supper. I half expected to sleep fitfully that night, but instead slept through until 6:30 am. I grabbed breakfast and drove home taking breaks as needed. Thus ended this year's adventure.
Once again our crew was instrumental in getting up through the race. I can't say enough about the help we get each year from Laura and Tracie. Nonetheless after this race on top of the other disappointing finishes this year including a DNF, I'm having second thoughts about running more ultras. I love the races but find the training daunting. That's a combination that does not work. My problems this race certainly have their roots in a paucity of long runs over the course of the year as well as the mismanagement of my nutrition. The two go hand in hand as I never came close to mimicking race conditions in long runs, so there was no opportunity to test it. The one mitigating factor is that I ran stronger for longer into the race than normal since I moderated my early effort better. I have one more race scheduled this race, my celebratory 70th birthday race, the Mount Desert Island Marathon in Acadia National Park on October 16th. I had intended to run another ultra in November before the holiday retail season began, but I'm having second thoughts about the wisdom of that. It's time to regroup and see where I want to go and what I'm willing to do with my training and racing. That puts my entire 2017 racing season in limbo.
