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.