2023 Six Days in the Dome 12-Hour
Hoping to Endure

Circumstances have altered to where this is not the peak goal race I had planned. My a-fib has returned and has had a marked effect on my training and racing. With the combination of a-fib and pacemaker, I can't seem to get my heart rate over 120 bpm, which seriously limits blood flow when my muscles demand it. As a result, I've been unable to run anything intense such as intervals or tempo runs. Even what should be normal pacing has been difficult to maintain for more than 5-6 miles. The net result has been stopping short of 6 hours at my last two 12-hour races after running about 20 miles. I've discussed this with my cardiologist and we are pursuing a promising course of action, but in the meantime my challenge is how to adjust my racing strategy to allow me run a more acceptable distance and continue for the full 12 hours.

I'm still leery of relying on flying, besides I want to bring additional gear such as my chair and sleeping bag, so I took two days to drive to Milwaukee. The first day was longer than I had initially planned, so I skipped an easy shake out run. As a result I arrived in Milwaukee hours before check in time. That worked out well as Bill and Mike were already at the Pettit National Ice Center setting up for the races beginning the next day, and I was able to add another set of hands to help. After checking in to my hotel by early evening I was able to get in a short run to loosen up some from the two day drive.

The 12-hour race did not start until noon, so I was able to sleep in, so to speak, considering my usual experience of waking up every two hours the night before a race. Nonetheless I was back at the Pettit Center before 9:00 AM to watch the start of the 24 and 48 hour races. I set up my personal area on the bleachers, which bordered the outside lane of the track, so anything I wanted there was within easy reach. Mainly I kept my Gatorade and water bottle there. The aid station provided all I needed in the way of food. Since I had planned to run and walk in lane two and leave lane one available to the faster runners, I was only a step away from anything I needed. The track had only three lanes. The added distance in lane two would be irrelevant unless the day turned into a disaster and I was struggling to reach even 50K.

There were only five of us starting the 12-hour at noon. Four more would start on Saturday and the final 12-hour runner on Sunday. One of the runners was attempting to set national age group records for 50 miles and 100 kilometers while the rest of us plodded around the track at a more sedate pace. He beat both records and stopped. His 100K total was still enough to win the 12-hour race as the second place runner barely reached 50 miles. I wasn't sure how I would respond to the race conditions and physical challenges I had been facing. The temperature was maintained at about 55F, so I was wearing double layers, a long sleeve shirt over a short sleeve shirt, and my warm up pants. At least I didn't have the added challenge of combating heat and sun. Most of the time I was comfortable, though I was cool at times when I was walking slowly.

I began the race slowly at a very easy effort. I had learned from my training runs that I would quickly tire if I attempted to run my normal pace. It was still a bit disappointing to see that my run-walk average pace was barely under 15:00, maybe 14:45, to start. I was pretty consistent with that for the first 3 miles, then began some gradual slowing. The average pace was also impacted by short pauses at the aid station and port-a-potty, but moving pace was now averaging about 15:30-16:00 through 16 miles. That's when I needed the first of seven breaks that I eventually took ranging from six to 32 minutes. Those totaled well over two hours for me to sit and recover from pushing the pace a little too hard or simply continuing long enough that I needed a rest. Between the rest and the slow pace dictated by my medical issues, they limited me to far less than the 40 plus miles I normally expect at a 12 hour race. Eventually I worked out that I could maintain about a 5:15 per lap pace for about 2.5-3 miles before needing a short rest. I think that works out to about an 19:00 mile. In any case I reached 50K, what I had set as an absolute minimum distance, at 10:43:39 when I finished lap 113. I took one of my longer breaks at that point, then continued on to 120 laps. I was in need of more rest at that point, although I could have pushed through if there had been a strong incentive to do so. There wasn't, so I rested until there were 12 minutes left, enough time for me to walk two more laps and have a small cushion if I was walking really slow. I finished at 11:58:35 with 33.6171 miles. Given all that I'd been dealing with physically and medically, I was quite pleased to exceed my minimum distance and last the full 12 hours.

The rest of the racing season this year is in abeyance until my medical issues are resolved, which may not be until late September while I work with my cardiologist. I'm not too upset about that as I struggle with the summer heat and hadn't planned any races until October anyway. Likely I will stick with fixed time races, skipping the 50K races I had considered, if and when I return to racing this year.