2025 Goals and Plans
A Return to 24-Hours, and Maybe More

After running very slow times, even for me, in 2024, I'm considering a return to 24-Hour races, and possibly even venture a 48-Hour race. A secondary consideration is having to walk for a major segment of my training, not just run-walk, but steady walking, which eventually resulted in walking a couple 12-Hour races. At the Stinger I walked almost as far as I ran and walked at Six Days in the Dome, which had me wondering what distance I could cover in longer races.

The year will be structured around four key races, Crooked Road 24 to assess my fitness and training up to that point in March, Dawn to Dusk to Dawn (D3) as my primary 50K, Six Days in the Dome 24-Hour as a goal race, and Midnight Dreary 12-Hour as my final goal race. Any other races would be for preparation toward one or more of these races. Most likely I will run What the Duck 12-Hour again and a possible November or December race to close out the year.

Kicking off my racing season with Crooked Road 24 and a view to beat the PA resident age 78 24-Hour record of 33.6 miles, I hope to easily surpass that. I expect to better the 50K PA resident record of 10:48:56 also, but since there are no official splits, my time would not be eligible. There is no current mark for 50M, so if I reach that distance it would also be a record if it were eligible. My main goal will be to break my own M75 24-Hour PB of 44.909 miles, and possibly even my overall PB of 58.02 miles. Finally running 100K would be an unexpected, but gratifying result as I've been chasing that for 10 years. Whatever the result, barring a catastrophe, it will set a baseline for my fitness and guide my training adjustments for Six Days in the Dome. My main concern is adverse weather conditions at that time of year.

Next up is my annual race at D3 since April doesn't offer any races I would be interested in running as long supported training runs. The only one that looked even the least bit tempting is a night run, and I think that would disrupt my regular routine too much. Past D3 races have run the gaunlet of very good to disastrous, though I'm still amused that I picked up the second place male award in 2024 due to the lack of good runners while running one of my worst races there. This should be my second opportunity for a PA resident age 78 record as the current 50K record is 10:48:56. I thought last year I could set the age 77 record, but that blew up in my face, so I'm not taking anything for granted this year. The record would be a serendipitous byproduct if I meet my goal of running faster than last year and hopefully running a sub-9 hour time.

Although it's only two weeks after D3, I usually run What the Duck 12-Hour as a long supported training run and opportunity for a social gathering with some long time running friends. In the past I have limited my time to 6-8 hours, but this year I plan to run the entire 12 hours as preparation for 24-Hours at the Dome. I'm not setting any distance goal, though I do expect to run at least 50K, and instead focusing on maintaining a consistent effort over the entire 12 hours. I will still have 4 weeks to recover and prepare for the Dome.

Six Days in the Dome is my main race for the year. Conditions there are ideal being indoors on an oversized track. No rain or wind, no summer Sun beating down, and a consistent 55F. With approximately 40 6-Day and 10-Day runners on the track, I hope to find some to keep me company at times and reduce the expected boredom. The final list of runners isn't complete yet, but I expect there will be many that I know. It helps that I've run the 12-Hour there a couple years. Besides the RD, timer, and volunteer captain are all friends. A secondary consideration is that there are several fall and early winter races for a second attempt at my goals, if I don't reach them here. Although I hope to run at least 100K at Crooked Road 24, that would be a stretch, so that is my main goal here. Along the way, because official splits will be recorded, I hope to set PA resident age 78 records at 50K, 50M, and 100K, as well as the 24-Hour record. If the earlier races and training go exceptionally well, then I may optimistically aim for 65 miles.

Summer will be a time to recover from the physical and mental stresses of preparing for and running Six Days in the Dome regardless of the results there. I'm not planning any races and will reduce my training load for at least a short time. A vacation may be in the works as I'd like to revisit both Gettysburg National Historical Park and Colonial Williamsburg.

So far fall brings only one scheduled race with as yet to be determined date, The Midnight Dreary where I'll be looking for a good 12-Hour effort. The PA resident single age record keeper doesn't track 12-Hour races, so no record is at stake, making an M75 age group PB my goal. With my current PB at 38.66 miles, 40 miles would be a nice, round goal. The race is in South Carolina, so I plan to include a Charleston vacation and treat myself to some luxury after the race: B&B accommodations, eating at good restaurants, a few historical tours. The rest of the year is open. Whether I schedule another race or not will depend in part on whether I'm feeling burned out from racing. If I'm up for another race, several possibilities are available, including the option of my first 48-Hour race. Fat Ox and Across the Years, both in Arizona and put on by Aravaipa Running, are the most likely choices.

As 2024 draws to a close and more races are announcing their 2025 dates, several intrigue me that I hadn't considered or were doubtful possibilities.  The Mad City 50K is the USATF National Championship and would fit nicely in April and give me a second definite 50K race.  Fat Ox has always been a possibility, albeit not high on the priority list, but it is the USATF 24-Hour National Championship.  It's always nice to earn a second medal for placing in my age group as so few ultras offer age group awards.  The level and amount of competition is problematic.  In the past I have won age group awards when I least expected it, but if the race does draw interest, finishing top three in my age group would be a challenge.

Addendum:
PA Age 78 Records
50K 10:48:56
50M N/A
100K N/A
100M N/A
24HR 33.6 Miles

PA Age 79 Records
50K N/A
50M N/A
100K N/A
100M N/A
24HR N/A

2024 Year In Review
Looking Promising Until My Ankle Said No

It's not quite the end of the year, but with nothing else besides my normal training planned, there's nothing planned that would materially change my end of the year summary. The year started with some solid, but not great training. I seemed to be in a rut running about 30 miles per week. For what I wanted to set as goals for Dawn To Dusk To Dawn 50K and Six Days in the Dome 12-Hour, that was inadequate to say the least. Serendipitously I learned of a 6-Hour race in New Jersey, The Livingston Oval 6-Hour, that would allow me to test my fitness, then make needed adjustments to my training. Despite a cold rain for much of the race, I was able to record 22.9 miles, which was better than expected. On the down side I was not able to increase my training mileage and continued to log 25-30 miles per week leading up to D3.

Without going into a detailed race report, D3 was less than satisfactory, starting to head downhill after about 25K, which is what I could realistically expect given my limited training. At one point I was seriously considering a DNF, but Mike Melton, the timer, notified me that I was somehow in second place and could probably hold that given my lead and current pace of third place. I still have a certain amount of chagrin about accepting the large plaque that went with second place having run only 9:11:09. Apparently only one decently fast runner entered the 50K, the remainder having chosen either the 12-Hour or 24-Hour races.

Training remained static at about 30 miles per week including racing at What the Duck 12-Hour where I limited myself to a little over 6 hours of running and 18 miles total. I was getting in some good quality speed work, but that wasn't what I needed to prepare for the 12-Hour at Six Days in the Dome. My longest runs were barely an hour and a half. With lowered expectations I planned to take more frequent breaks, not push the pace early, and in general enjoy the race, but first a couple days volunteering, mostly at the aid station. My 50K split was even slower than at D3, but I felt much better and was able to continue for a total of 35.8 miles. As it turned out, that would be my best total for the year.

Even given time for recovery, I couldn't seem to log over 30 miles per week, though I was still running good quality interval and tempo workouts. Then in early August I reinjured my left ankle just as I had in December, 2022. Since the doctor's orders then were basically rest with no specific physical therapy, I followed that. I limited my walking initially to 30-45 minutes at an easy effort to not place any strain on my ankle and wore the brace I had been issued. I tried to gradually increase effort to a more brisk pace and also increase the distance. After about a month I reintroduced running, but that proved to be too soon. The setback had me walking as a very slow, leisurely pace to ensure no further injury and hopefully still be able to compete at the Hainesport 12-Hour Endurance Run. I was able to complete a few walks in the hour and a half to two hour range. I hoped that would be enough to get me through the race. As it developed, even wearing the brace, my ankle gave out by five and a half hour into the race just short of 17 miles.

Following Hainesport I increased my mileage, concentrating especially on two hour plus walks and doubles to give me more time on my feet. My ankle was feeling better, but I continued to be conservative by wearing the brace and postponing a return to running. The Stinger has announced that this year was the final year to be run and I had had that on my bucket list for almost five years. I didn't want any additional obstacles keeping me from this last opportunity to run it. At the race I had a last minute panic when I realized I had left all my water bottles at the hotel, so I had a last minute rush to get them and returned to the track barely in time for the final instructions before the race. The race went exceptionally well. The primary difficulty was my legs not holding up well over the last 3-4 hours and needing frequent rest breaks, though while I was walking I was able to maintain a good consistent pace. Even with no running at all I finished with less than a mile under what i had at the Dome.

During recovery the following week it was easy to include a transition to running, initially not much more than a 30 second shuffle every couple minutes, but gradually increasing that to what I had been doing before the injury. I had been considering one final race, the Frosty Looper 8-Hour in December, but between uncertain weather that time of year and the course being a 3.75 mile loop, I eventually dismissed the idea. Among other considerations was the need to focus on being able to tackle longer workouts on my own with a view to running some 24-Hour race next year and possible a 48-Hour race.