2022 Year in Review

Great Start, Slow Finish

I had great hopes for the year after my first two races went so well. I kicked off the year with the 50K at the Pistol Ultras in Alcoa, TN, with expectations of simply getting in a good, solid effort in the 7:40-7:45 range. Realizing partway through the third and final lap that sub-7:30 was within reach spurred me to a greater effort. I not only finished sub-7:30 (7:27:40 gun time), I picked up third in my age group, which also earned me an unexpected third place award. I followed this with an exception 6-Hour race only two weeks later on the track at the Alexander County 24 logging over 25 miles. This raised my expectation for my first 12-Hour race six weeks later at 3 Days at the Fair.

I wouldn't say life got in the way, but other activities took precedence over tapering for the race. As a result I was not well rested, which became evident early on with a slower than normal pace for the first few laps. With no hope of a decent time I spent many laps socializing and settled for 35 miles total. My next race was a team event with the top priority socializing with my teammates. I was happy with 25 miles plus only two weeks after 3 Days at the Fair while still in recovery mode. It made for a good workout and, hopefully, good preparation for the 6-Hour at Merrill's Mile. The challenge there would be the Georgia heat and humidity on the Fourth of July weekend.

The main challenge at Merrill's Mile was finding the race site. I had to stop several times to ask for directions, then barely made it to the start with only 15 minutes to spare when I picked up my bib. I knew my goal was unrealistic in the heat and humidity. With the stress of finding the race, coupled with finding my hotel the day before, I knew I would have to settle for whatever I could salvage for the day. Conditions were challenging and I battled with the heat once the Sun was well up and no longer had any shade from the trees lining the course. What I hadn't planned on, and didn't suspect until after I finished was having another a-Fib episode. My cardiologist confirmed that once I got home at the end of the week. That prompted me to be cautious, perhaps overly so, when at my 12-hour race over Labor Day weekend. I took several long breaks when I felt heat related symptoms, as well as paying much closer attention to my electrolyte intake. That must have worked because I didn't get any calls from the monitoring service or my cardiologist, though it did limit my distance to just over 38 miles.

I had only one more race on my schedule, though there were several others I was considering. As it transpired, I had to pass on all of them. I didn't think a lot about a pain in my ankle the first time it occurred. It became an issue and a problem when it kept recurring. At first I thought I could get by with switching to the 12-hour from the 50K because it would be at a slower pace and less intense. That wasn't sufficient and I had to cancel after all. At that point it made no sense to register for any more races. Self treatment of eliminating any intense training like intervals and tempo runs, and even taking off as much as three days, wasn't sufficient, so a visit to the orthopedist was my next option. I even the year wearing an ankle brace and will start 2023 the same way.

 

2022 Hainesport Summer 12-Hour
Survival in the End of Summer Heat

Last year this race was Fourth of July weekend; this year it's Labor Day weekend. I had hoped that might mean cooler weather, but the area has had a succession of heat waves throughout the summer and it will be hot. In the aftermath of my Merrill's Mile race, I'm concerned about the possibly of a recurrence of the heat issues and A-Fib. I will be paying close attention to my fluid and electrolyte intake. I've also recently had a fall from heat induced dizziness, so I'm planning on being extra cautious at the first hints of any issues.

The trip to the hotel was on a round about route because my preferred choice had significant delays due to holiday activities in Philadelphia. The hotel had several issues, so if I return for future races, I'll stay somewhere else. I had problems with the door key and accessing wifi, then they are still on the "help yourself to some granola bars and coffee" for breakfast. At least I got to the race on time to pick up my number, t-shirt, and mug. I even found a convenient place for my chair and cooler. I had expected all the close areas to be filled with tents and canopies for the 24-hour and 48-hour runners, but I was only a few steps away from the aid station as you finish the loop. Then after the race I forgot to pick up my medal.

With 24 and 48 hour races starting concurrently, there were over 100 runners on the narrow path through the park. While I wasn't at the very back, it still took me 15 seconds to cross the timing mat, though that's an insignificant amount since only full laps are counted and I've never cut it that close on my last lap. I had been running a lot of my training runs at run 1:15, walk :45 or even run 2:00, walk 1:00, but I thought to best to stay conservative with run 1:00, walk 1:00. It was a slow pace, but well within my expectations. There were patches of shade on sections of the course early, but once the Sun was high enough it warmed up quickly. I had my first hint of heat issues about 10-11 into the race. I may have overreacted, but I immediately switched to all walking. About 5 miles later I was definitely having problems and my pace was falling off drastically, so I took an extend break of about 15 minutes to cool down. With the drop off in pace I was worried that I might be experiencing another A-Fib episode. (So far I haven't received a call from the monitoring service or my cardiologist, so I'm hoping it was just the heat.) I had been regularly drinking mostly Gatorade with some ice water for hydration and cooling, so I don't think dehydration was an issue, just the heat from the ambient air temperature couple with direct sunlight. I managed 9 more miles back at a reasonable pace before I needed another long rest to cool down. That put me at almost 26 miles. I could see finishing with 40 miles or more gradually slipping away. Once I finished that lap I had 4 hours to finish 14 laps. That doesn't sound like much, just 3.5 laps per hour, about a 17:10 pace, but with stops at the aid station to grab something to eat and refill my water bottle, I was moving at close to 17:45-18:00 average pace. To add to the challenge, I ended up taking one more short break of about 10 minutes which pretty much ended any chance of reaching 41 laps (40.64 miles), even 40 laps would be a stretch. Frustratingly I seemed to have the energy, it was just the potential or actual heat issues holding me back. With about an hour left I decided there was no reason not to try to resume running. At this point, since it was evening and the sun wasn't a factor, my main concern was my back cramping, which was uncomfortable, but didn't directly affect my pace. Adding in running 1:00, then walking 1:00, improved my pace but not to the point where 41 laps was possible, though maybe 40 laps. Making some quick mental calculations, I figured I would have to step up the pace for two laps by 1:00 per mile and that would leave my hardly any leeway as well as still leave me short of 40 miles since the lap distance was .9913 miles. I was also concerned not only if I could pick up the pace that much, but would it worsen my back cramps. The potential gain just didn't seem to be worth the additional risk and a very large likelihood that I could make the 40th lap within the time limit.

I slowed to a leisurely last lap walking to finish with 39 laps, 38.6607 miles, and I believe a 5th place finish in the small field of about 20 males. Official results haven't been posted yet. It was a trifle disappointing, but satisfying that I was able to work through the minor difficulties and stay on the course to the end. I'm having second thoughts about running 50K for my next race and considering upgrading to 12-hours to go after 40+ miles in hopefully cooler weather next month. Two considerations are paramount, 1) no phone call from my cardiologist when the office reopens Tuesday after the holiday weekend, and 2) I recover reasonably quickly and can get in at least a couple long runs before tapering for the race on October 8th.

2022 Merrill's Mile 6-Hour
Merrill's Mile Meets Murphy's Law

When I added this race to my schedule, I knew it would be hot, but I should have part of May and all of June for acclimating to the heat. It didn't exactly turn out the way I planned. Temperatures seemed to whipsaw back and forth between mid-70s with clouds and rain, and upper 80s. Just as I was starting to get used to the heat, it would cool off for several days, and I felt like I lost any acclimation I had developed. The closer race day approached, the more I realized I needed to reduce my expectations for a distance goals.

The drive down to Dahlonega, GA, would be about 12-13 hours, so I would need to make it a two day trip to avoid arriving exhausted from traveling. Day one would be longer so the second day of driving would only be about 5-5.5 hours. At least that was what I planned. This seems to be a common theme for me driving to races. Once again I missed a turn. By the time I realized I was way off course, I was 30 miles south of where I should be and in the middle of metropolitan Atlanta rush hour traffic. Needless to say the added travel time and rush hour driving did little to reduce the pre-race stress. By the time I found my hotel and checked in, all I felt up for was a short mile walk to work out the stiffness of another 8 hour day driving. Unfortunately that wasn't the end of my Odyssey. It was supposed to be an 18-20 minute drive from my hotel to the race. Another missed turn took me miles out of the way and turned it into an hour long adventure. I arrived only 15 minutes before the start, barely enough time to check in, find a spot for my drop bag, walk back to my car to get something I had forgotten, and get to the starting line with a minute to spare.

By this time my goal was to be on the course and moving for 6 hours with hopes of reaching a minimum of 20 miles. While the temperature at the start may have been in the low 70s, the humidity was oppressive. At least that early in the day we did get some shade on the course before the Sun rose over the trees. The first few laps on the .9902 mile course weren't too bad, a little slower than I had hoped but acceptable given the conditions. As the Sun and temperature rose, moderating my effort to keep from overheating became my primary focus. By two hours into the race I shifted from running 1:15 and walking :45 to running until I felt too warm, then walking as long as needed to cool down. A quick check on the time indicated I could comfortably reach 20 miles by maintaining a 20:00 per lap pace. Anything faster and I might be able to finish one or two more laps. With a visit to the aid station almost every lap to maintain my hydration and food intake, not to mention adding ice to my drinks as the afternoon progressed, I added a good 30 seconds or more on each lap. By this time those long straightaways seemed interminable. As narrow as the course was, they were almost a half mile long with a very short, almost hairpin turn at each end. Moving automatically I was often unaware of exactly where I was as it seemed like I would never get to the end to turn back toward the finish. With my erratic pacing lap time varied from 16 to 18 minutes plus. On the rare occasions when we had a break with the Sun behind clouds, I could run a little more and log a faster lap.

One thing that kept pushing itself into my mind was that the course was marginally short of a full mile. With only full laps counted that meant I had to run 21 laps, not 20 laps, to officially reach 20 miles. 20 laps was only 19.804 miles. That kept me running as much as I could in the heat. I was making my calculations based on 20:00 laps or 3 laps per hour, but was actually running closer to 17:00 per lap. As we moved toward the final hour to hour and a half and I ran through another calculation, it was obvious that I would have no problem finishing 21 laps, and 22 laps was a possibility. That kept me pushing steadily and running when I could, rather than coasting to the finish with a steady walk. I finished moving steadily throughout the race with a little over 3:00 to spare with a total of 21.7844 miles. Given the conditions I was more than satisfied with that because I was on the course the entire time and had no drastic slowdowns where I had to walk for an extended period.

Recovery following the race was inexplicably slow. I felt like I could barely move as I walked back to my car to drive up to my daughter's cabin in North Carolina. The next day I couldn't finish an easy 3.2 mile hike with her. I had to stop after 2.5 miles while sweating profusely with legs that would not move, and wait while she walked back to the car to come pick me up. I took off the next three days completely with no exercise beyond walking around the local park for some of the Fourth of July activities. Then I received a call at the end of the week from my cardiologist because the upload from my pacemaker indicated I'd had an atrial fibrillation event, which explained my symptoms. So I'm scheduled for a follow up consultation and my future race plans are on hiatus. I do have one race scheduled for Labor Day weekend, but it remains to be determined whether I can race it or not.

2022 3 Days at the Fair 12-Hour
Anticipation, Disappointment

I had high hopes for this race and had designated it as one of my goal races this year. My performance and final mileage total were a huge disappointment, but in hindsight not that surprising. The week leading up to the race, which should have been a relaxing time with reduced mileage and little else to do, was filled with a lot of activities that expended a lot more energy than planned or expected. While I can't say for certain, scheduling my second COVID booster shot on Wednesday probably wasn't the best timing, but after having to wait four weeks after scheduling it, I wasn't about to postpone it further. Wednesday also include a long drive, 3.5 hours round trip, to have dinner with my daughter and granddaughter. My daughter was up from Florida visiting and I was not going to pass on this opportunity to visit with her. Looking back on my running log, I also noticed my resting heart rate was running 3-4 beats higher than normal, which should have indicated to me that I wasn't as rested as I should be.

Leading up to this race I was building my training back to the levels I wanted and seemed to be going well. After a very surprising and solid 50K at Pistol Ultra followed by a strong run in the 6-hour race at Alexander County, my confidence was strong that I was ready for a real breakthrough performance, hence setting 3 Days at the Fair 12-hour as a goal race. My initial estimate for a goal was 46 miles or more, however I would need good weather, not a good expectation for a mid-May race in New Jersey. While the week before was cool temperatures, heavy rain, and strong winds gusting to 50 mph, the race day kept drifting toward temperatures in the mid to upper 70s with a probability of rain. The rain might be welcome if not too heavy, but those temperatures coupled with high humidity meant lower expectations. I hoped 44 miles might still be possible.

After the cold, rainy weekend I moved my last short tempo run from Monday to Tuesday. In hindsight that might have been a bad idea, but it seemed to work well at the time. Wednesday is when my taper week really started to veer from normal. First I had my second COVID booster shot. I had scheduled that four weeks previously and didn't want to postpone it. I didn't recall any after effects other than a sore arm, so I didn't think it would matter, but I'm wondering if it contributed to my feelings of lassitude and lethargy during the race. I compounded the stress of that day with that 3.5 hours round trip to have dinner with family. My daughter was up from Florida and I didn't want to pass on the opportunity to see her. I eased up some on my shake out runs Thursday and again Friday after driving up for the race, but I think the damage had been done by then. I was able to meet for a pre-race dinner with a friend, then turned in early for me. I still had my typical unsettled sleep the night before a race.

After a good breakfast at the hotel, I made the 10 minute drive to the race to check in. I found some friends already running the multi-day events, set up my drinks, and generally relaxed until the start. After a typical relaxed start I settled into my normal run 1:00, walk 1:00 schedule and felt fine. The first lap went in 13:49. Since that's basically a warm up, I expected to see the pace increase as I settled into a rhythm. Instead the second lap was slower in 14:15, and the third even slowed in 14:57, though that included a short pause to grab a drink. Standing around before the start it didn't seem too warm, though it did promise to be uncomfortable by the afternoon despite the cloud cover. Moving though, even in a jog-walk, generated a lot of heat because we weren't getting any evaporative cooling in that humidity. With the effort required to break out of that slow pace not worth the risk of blowing up later, I resigned myself to a mediocre mileage total, perhaps 40 miles, and focused on being sure I took in enough food and drink. When I had the opportunity I walked laps with friends enjoying the time to chat. A few times that meant walking a one mile lap in 30 minutes or more. More perplexing considering I couldn't seem to run any faster, was that I could maintain a jog-walk, when I wasn't walking with friends, well past the 7 hour mark. As I checked on the time remaining, I realized I would have to be more consistent with my lap times, which meant less walking with friends, or settle for less than 40 miles. I opted to spend the time with friends, sometimes even taking a break with them. It made the day more enjoyable, though it also guaranteed a disappointing total. Even so the walking was taking a toll on me. Getting up and walking again after a break involved a slow shuffle to loosen up before I could walk normally, so I decided it wasn't worth the effort to continue with no real goal in mind. After I stopped and did some quick calculations, I realized I was one mile short of 60 for the week, so back out for one more mile. Then I fell into a good rhythm, so I kept going. Maybe I could catch up with the friends I had been walking with. They were a little surprised to see me still out there. This time when I finished the lap with a little less than an hour left, I really did stop, paused my Garmin, removed my timing chip and turned it in.

After a restless night, I returned in the morning to watch the finish and the awards ceremony. Several runners I know placed in the top 3 or reached lifetime mileage milestones. Those are an incentive to return each year. I'm still a few miles short of the minimum.

While my next "race" is only two weeks after this one, it will be more a social event where I am part of a team and rules permit team members to walk and run together rather than adhere to a strict relay format. From a raining perspective it will simply be a long run day including long rest breaks if desired. With that consideration I have a full seven weeks to recover and prepare for my next race, Merrill's Mile 6-Hour on July 2nd. That is an unshaded course in Georgia, so there's a strong probability of extreme heat and humidity. That will be more a test of how well I have adapted to the conditions, which will be important if my early fall races are also under hot conditions, a distinct possibility.

2022 Alexander County 6-Hour

Quick Turnaround

It wasn't until I started planning my recovery runs that it hit me how close this was to Pistol 50K. March 19 to April 2 seemed a lot longer than a mere two weeks. I was rethinking running this race for the first week of recovery, but that was going so well that I decided it was worth the time and expense to register and make the trip to North Carolina. I did really want another long run or race before 3 Days at the Fair on May 14th. With trail races no longer under consideration, Spring SOMO Timed Trail Races was not an option.

Despite being an eight hour plus drive, I decided to make it in one day. Since the race was more a supported training run and not a goal race, I wasn't as concerned about being as well rested as possible. With breaks for food and fuel, it took me nine hours. My hotel was a mild disappointment. It was relatively isolated and the only place for a short shakeout run was the parking lot. It also was not serving breakfast in any form, not even coffee and prepackaged pastries. That necessitated a stop at McDonald's on my way to the race Saturday morning. Dressing for the race presented a quandary. With frost warnings overnight, the temperature at start time was only slightly over freezing, but by afternoon could be approaching 60F. Since the cold bothers me more than the heat, I opted for tights and a lightweight long sleeve shirt over a t-shirt and gloves. The gloves came off after a couple miles, but I wore both shirts the entire race. While it did get warm and I did consider shedding the long sleeve shirt, it was also very sunny. It functioned well in lieu of stopping to put on sunscreen.

As usual I started slowly, quickly dropping toward the back of the field, though not last. With three races, 6-hour, 12-hour, and 24-hour, there were 33 runners total. Uncharacteristically I had to stop just a couple laps in to retie a shoe. I can't remember the last time that happened. Then a couple miles in I had a sharp pain on the inside of my left ankle. At that point I wondered if I would have to walk the entire race. Fortunately after sitting and working on ankle rotation for a minute or two to stretch the area, the pain disappeared and I was able to run. I lost a few seconds retying my shoe and maybe a minute working on the ankle, but in the end it wouldn't make any difference. I kept a very steady run one minute, walk one minute for the first 20 miles. A few laps were a little slow when I swung wide to grab something from the aid station positioned on the outside of the track. At that point I was averaging about 13:50 pace. With Garmin error and the track being certified at 400.68 meters, getting a precise split time was not possible. After 20 miles I felt fatigue building quickly in my legs, probably the result of racing so soon after running the Pistol 50K. For a few more miles I tried to maintain my run one minute, walk one minute schedule at a slower pace, but eventually had to extend the walking to a lap or lap and a half. Walking a lap took about 4:10-4:15 which ate into my 4:00 cushion a little each lap. Keeping an eye on the clock to be sure I had a cushion to meet my 100 lap goal, roughly 40K/25 miles, I occasionally ran for a minute each lap to maintain about a 4:00 cushion. That gave me the option to run one more lap for a total of 101. In distance that works out to 25.146 miles or 40.47 kilometers. Overall I finished 5th of 10 runners, 4th male. Interestingly, though it's not the farthest I've run in 6 hours since I have some 6 hour splits in 12-hour races that are longer, it is a personal best in a 6-hour race.

With the late race fatigue, this was probably one of the hardest races I've ever run, rivaling the Bob Potts Trail Marathon back in 2013 when I was training for my first ultra race. That one had me crying by the end. I'm definitely taking some time to recover before resuming training for 3 Days at the Fair 12-Hour in May. I tried a few days with two short workouts for recovery from the Pistol 50K and preparing for this one that seemed to work well. That had me moving more, but not enough to generate more fatigue. I plan for 3 Days at the Fair to be a major goal race, so I'm hoping we have decent weather and not an early heat spell.

2022 Pistol Ultra 50K 

Kicking Off the Year

Using the winter to build a better base, I hope to set a good benchmark for the M75 age group. I was amused to see Ultrasignup predict my time as 7:41:42 since I was about 18 minutes faster than that at the 50K split at Crooked Road 24.

Since I wrote the preceding paragraph circumstances have drastically altered my expectations. I seemed to be recovering quickly after having a pacemaker implanted, but then noticed severe swelling in my upper left arm. An ultrasound identified blood clots present and running contraindicated. At best it looks like I'll lose four weeks of training where all I'll be able to do is brisk walking. Factoring in time for a taper, that would give me 6-7 weeks at most for getting back to running. Any thoughts of a decent time at Pistol are gone, and I'm considering scratching the race entirely to save travel expenses and eat the entry fee.

I may be fooling myself, but I'm determined to run Pistol 50K. At the least it will be a good fitness test. It's early January and I've been able to return to run-walk training, though slow and limited in duration and distance so far. Assuming I can finish within a reasonable time, 7:30-7:45, I'll have most of the rest of of my race schedule set through October. If I'm slower than that, I'll need to rethink the entire year for racing.

Training is progressing at an uneven pace, if I may use that term (pun intended). My training pace is back to normal, maybe even a trifle faster than expected, but increasing the distance remains challenging. I've yet to manage even a full two hours on my long runs. Winter weather is also affecting my training as I work around days with low temperatures coupled with wind and the resulting wind chill. I still have nine weeks until race day, so about seven weeks for additional training, maybe eight as this is not a goal race and I can shorten the taper. It's a dynamic situation and progressing unevenly, so it's hard to forecast where I might be by then.

After a 3 1/2 month break I finally put together back to back long runs. It's only 25 days until Pistol 50K, so rather late in the training cycle and almost time to start a taper. Hopefully I'll have one more set of back to back long runs before I start my taper. That doesn't leave much time for a full taper, but I've generally used less of a taper than typical. Interval workouts and tempo runs have gone well, though often require a little more recovery, i.e. I need to keep the pace very easy. I few times I've thought it best to take a full rest day. All this leaves me with a great deal of uncertainty in setting a goal and pace for at least the first two loops.

Final training and taper still leave me uncertain of a reasonable goal. There's no question I have the speed, but maintaining that for almost three times the distance of my longest training run leading up to the race is a major concern. Assuming a significant slowdown on the last of the three loops when I expect to be mostly walking, I think 7:40 is possible. To reduce stress and maximize rest, I'm taking two days for the drive down. The weather looks good with temperatures in the 50s and no rain forecast.

I arrived at the race with plenty of time to spare, even with the long walk from parking to the start on the far side of the park. After meeting a few friends, the 50K started five minutes before the 100K and 100 mile races. I quickly settled into as easy a pace as I could comfortably maintain. Mile splits varied between 13:16 and 14:00 (Garmin splits which may be off by 7-8 seconds per mile) depending on where the walk breaks fell with slightly slower splits when I paused too long at the aid stations. I never did figure out how the snacks were arranged and spent too much time looking for something that appealed to me. I also discovered at the second aid station that the race was cupless, which I had overlooked on the race website. Fortunately I was able to get a cup at the next aid station, which I then carried with me for the remainder of the race. Much to my surprise and my delight I was able to maintain my run 1:00, walk 1:00 schedule through 24 miles before shifting to a brisk walk. I had one very slow mile which I think was the result of an overly long aid station stop, but otherwise I maintained a very brisk walking pace. I had made the shift when I did to avoid falling into a slow shuffle like I did at Crooked Road 24. With my first lap about 2:23:40 and my second about 2:28:00, I was well under 7:30 pace when I started my final lap. I was closely monitoring my time and the approximate distance remaining. When I realized that even with the slower walking pace a sub 7:30 time was possible, I started planning when I'd be able to start running some again to give myself more leeway to make that goal. With about 1.5 miles remaining I restarted my 1:00 runs and pushed that pace as fast I as could and still be able to hold it to the finish. By my rough estimate I closed at a 12:40 pace for the last 1.5 miles to finish comfortably under 7:30 in 7:27:25. Much to my surprise that placed me 78th overall of 141 runners and 3rd of 9 in the 70+ age group.

This had been intended as more a test to see where my fitness was, but it is only a few minutes slower than my 50K split at Crooked Road 24 and still ranks among my better ultra races. I had intended to run a 6-hour race in two weeks as a supported training run to help prepared for 3 Days at the Fair 12-hour in May, but I'm uncertain how long it will take me to recover from this hard of an effort. Hopefully I can postpone that decision until the last minute and still enter the race if it isn't full.