2024 Six Days in the Dome 12-Hour
Revising My Race Strategy

photo by Tuan Nguyen

Like last year, circumstances have altered to where this is not the peak goal race I had planned. It's been a struggle to regain fitness after my ablation last September. I haven't been able to get in the long runs of 2.5-3 hours that I need to prepare for these races. That was glaringly apparent at D3, so I've decided to modify my approach slightly from a run 1:00, walk 1:00 schedule for as long as I can maintain that to a run 1:00, walk 2:00 in the hopes that I can maintain that for a much longer time before leg fatigue forces me to shift to all walking. That will mean a much slower 50K split, but hopefully a better overall outcome for 12 hours.

I managed to replicate last year's drive out to Milwaukee: 12 hours the first day and stayed in the same hotel. The second day was much shorter, so I arrived at the Pettit National Ice Center just before noon. Bill made sure I had something to eat, then I got to work with whatever Bill needed me to do. Mostly I kept the aid station offerings filled, helped put out the catered lunches and dinners, then cleaned up and put away any not picked up. Some of my other duties were checking in runners, handing out the swag bags, giving basic instructions, and answering questions if I knew the answer. Over the weekend I also helped out with a couple resupply runs to Walmart. Between check-in and manning the aid station, I got to meet a lot of the runners. Besides that I took a short break each day for a couple mile jog and walk to loosed up. Sunday that was cut short when I stepped outside into 90F heat after being in a controlled 55F environment for most of three days.

My 12-hour race started at 9:00 AM on Monday. There were just three of us, me and two women. The other 9 runners were starting later in the week, mostly on Friday or Saturday. That meant that the three of us were sharing the track only with the 10-day runners and one or two others who opted for early starts. It was an uncommon experience for me to be passing people, but with many of the 10-day runners walking I enjoyed the sensation while I could. The staggered starting times meant I was in first place for all of 17 hours and 20 minutes until a Tuesday starter exceeded my total.

Normally I begin a race alternating running 1:00 with walking 1:00. This year at Livingston Oval 6-Hour that lasted a little over 3 hours, and at D3 even less. Finishing D3 was a difficult struggle and only the prospect of a second place finish got back on the track instead of contemplating a DNF. I was miserable those last 5-6 hours and did not want a repetition here at the Dome. My coach agreed that extending the walking recovery might keep me going longer before needing to cease running and walk the rest of the race. That was the rationale behind walking 2:00 instead of 1:00. It worked well in that I maintained the run 1:00, walk 2:00 for 5 hours, roughly double my other races. The main drawback was a slower pace. In this case a lot slower then expected because I woke up Monday morning feeling on the verge of being sick. Because of that I kept my effort even easier (and slower) than I had hoped I could. Mostly I was keeping each lap under 5:00 except when I paused at my site or the aid station to eat and drink, or when nature called. While that was working well as far being able to run longer, it was immediately apparent that none of my primary goals would be attainable except getting a minimum of 50K.

Once I realized that my A and B goals were unattainable, and my C goal very unlikely, I relaxed and chose to enjoy the rest of the race, taking full breaks to eat, walking and talking with the 10-day runners, taking shorter breaks when I noticed my pace was flagging. While all those breaks probably reduced my overall mileage, I felt much better and each time returned to the track refreshed and moving quicker. I did keep an eye on my lap count and mileage. When I realized my lap times walking weren't that much over 5:00, I contemplated whether I could start running again without crashing badly. For simplicity, and as a cautious approach, I chose to wait until there was only an hour left in the race before trying to resume my run 1:00, walk 2:00 schedule. Oops, I miscalculated thinking I would only be running 1:00 10 times, when the actual count was double that. It worked out well anyway. Not only was I able to drop my lap times below 5:00, I even had a couple under 4:30. My last 10 laps were the third fastest 10 lap split in the race and brought my total to 130 laps, 10 more than last year. Those 10 laps are 4.4354 km or 2.756 miles. That brought my grand total for the race to 35.8216 miles or 57.6492 km. I finished my last lap with just over a minute to spare.

While tempted to find the nearest chair and plop down, I resisted the urge and walked several laps to cool down. Bill brought me my medal and removed my shoe tag. I'm not sure I could have bent down to do that and gotten up again. I gathered all my stuff, then called my daughter with the good news, before finally making the rounds to say good bye to as many of the runners, crew, and staff as I could find before leaving for my hotel to clean up and do my best to get a good night's sleep.

While my 50K split was much slower than D3, I never hit a low period when I felt like stopping and quitting. Obviously I finished extremely strong, so I should be able to improve on my total later in the year. More than that I enjoyed this race and never felt miserable or reluctant to continue at any time during it. So far I haven't made any race commitments for the second half of the year, but it will definitely include another 12-hour race and maybe a 24-hour race. Much depends on how well the rest of my summer training goes, which is definitely problematic since heat is not kind to me. For now I'm looking forward to recovery and a July vacation trip.