Training thoughts. The official race website is here.

Once a month, walk or run for 24 hours. Around my neighborhood, using home as the aid station. Start Saturday morning early and go 24. Then sleep Sunday. mid month June, July, August. Have 3 test runs under my belt by mid September.

record weight, weather, distance, time, etc. mini race report for each test.

I measured the loop around the manor - 0.9 miles on the dot if I come in the driveway to the garage door each time. This should simulate the NC track somewhat.

when racing, the training should have been stressful enough to be able to enter the race with no question of ability to finish. The race should be a sure thing. It is to my South African friends - there is no doubt they will finish Comrades in 12 hours.

I am working on a training plan that will get me to the NC24 with some degree of confidence. It occurred to me that a race event with an entry fee should never be something with an unknown outcome, unless something unexpected happens. By that, I mean that when I start the 24 hour in September, I should have no doubt that I can finish it, and I should have some idea about how far I will get. To prepare, I must move for 24 hours several times so that it's not new. My plan is to try that once each month until then. I am planning my first attempt this Saturday. I will start at either 3 or 4 am and keep going for 24 hours. I may decide to bail at 18, since even that will be new ground for me. I think I will try to walk for 18 or 21 hours, and then try running as much as I can. At least this first time. I measured the outer loop around the development that I live in, and it is 0.9 miles if I go down the hill to my back door, around the back of my house, and then back out to the street each time. In fact, it's just over that, so I don't need to go around the house on each loop to have an average loop length of 0.9 miles. The course at NC24 is 0.9 miles. So this will be good practice. I am going to set up my aid station on my back patio, outside the slider door. There is a bathroom just inside that door, so I won't have to track through the house. I can set up my aid outside or inside the door, depending on the weather. There are no lights in my "manor" and that will simulate the NC24 course (I think). If I do go from 3 am Sat to 3 am Sun I will be able to sleep and rest up for work on Monday. I'll have an initial idea of what it takes. Then I will try this in mid July and mid August as well.

At least that's my secret plan as of now. I need to do a little more research on what caloric rate and fluid intake rate I should experiment with for starters, and lay things out. I plan on 3 changes of clothing and footwear, at each 6 hour interval. I won't need any support, except someone to hold my revolver to make me keep going.

It should involve some learning!

Training Event 1 Results - June 26

Weighing 194.1, Saturday at 0336 I started training event 1, planning to go 24 hours. The weather website said 56.1 degrees F, dew point 54, humidity 90%. There was no wind, barometric pressure falling.

I decided the purpose is to experience continuing to move for 24 hours. I will not even consider running until the 22nd hour. Starting out with a walk to the UPS mail box, drinking the first of 6 mugs of coffee, when I finished my first “lap” on my “course” I was at 2.7 miles. So it was almost like I had done 3 laps and never been off course. I started making laps of the course.

Drinking coffee, I didn’t drink any water or other liquid in the first 3 hours. I was stopping every other lap to use the bathroom. In the 3rd hour I ate the first of 5 Clif bars. I ate 4 lifesavers in hours 4 and 5. In the 5th hour I remembered to start taking a salt capsule every hour.

In the next hours 3-6 I drank a quart of water. In the 7th hour I ate 4 “gin-gins” and 3 Lifesavers. I decided the gin-gins gave me indigestion and I threw the rest out. Mary made me another pot of coffee which I drank in hours 6-8 and finished it.

Mary brought Morrie over and he and Mary did about 5 laps with me. Mary was acting as crew sometimes and getting things out to the back deck aid station that I had forgotten. It was a huge help.

At 8 hours, I had changed my socks once (more on this later). I had covered 25.6 miles (I was shooting for 3 mph, or 72 miles in 24 hours, or 24 miles in 8 hours, so I was comfortably ahead of plan.) I changed all clothes at 8 hours and weighed 190. I noticed the balls of my feet were very hot from the first pair of socks. I changed into Montrail shoes and took a second 800 mg ibuprofen and a salt cap. I packed a backpack with sunscreen, bug spray, 3 Clif bars, 4 lifesavers, a quart of water and 24 ounces of accelerade. I headed off for Green Lakes via the canal.

I drank and ate everything I took with me, and about another quart of water from the park’s fountain. I walked around the GLER course there, and then back. Coming back, I felt the big blister on the left foot rip open at about 13.5 hours, or about 43.5 miles. I got home at 13:51 walking time and 44.11 miles for an average pace of 18:46 per mile. I weighed 190.8 at this point, before eating. Apparently I was hydrating properly. And I had no cramps.

Mary had taken my order and gone to Wegman’s with my shopping list: a Danny’s favorite sub, potato chips, plain M&Ms, another 4 pack of Red Bull, a box of Chips Ahoy chocolate chip cookies, and some Cherry Coke. I changed into another set of dry clothes and a quick check confirmed my fears on the foot blister. I was really hungry so I wolfed down half a sub, chips and a Red Bull. Then I greased the feet up with Vaseline and put on my Injinji compression socks, dry shoes, and grabbed 6 cookies as we took off for more. Mary was pacing me until 8:30 p.m. I had lost some time, but was still ahead of my goal pace of 3 mph.

After a half mile my foot felt better - probably just got used to the feeling of it. After a couple laps, I could tell I wasn’t digesting what I had eaten. I started having bad heartburn, which I haven’t had for years. I also noticed that when we walked down the bank to the “aid” station or back up to the street, it was VERY painful on the foot. And I started wondering if I should tear my foot (feet by this time) up really bad, or maybe use some reason. Since I still have most of the reason I was given at birth in reserve, never having used much of it.

We kept making laps, but I couldn’t eat more. I drank a Cherry Coke, and that really bloated me. I decided I wasn’t used to digesting while working out and that I should have eaten more consistently from the very start. Like every 20 minutes, instead of a huge meal at 14 hours.

Well, I decided in the 16th hour to bail. My 310 GPS beeped with a low battery warning at 16 hours, so I started my backup 305 GPS, and kept the 310 running. I had really wanted to make 57 miles to have a distance PR as well as a time PR, but that would take to 18+ hours and I was afraid I was tearing my foot up badly. I should stop, heal my foot and try again in 4 weeks.

The word “decided” is decidedly strange. As soon as I would make a decision, I would start second guessing it. Maybe this is why they make you say “final answer” on “Millionaire.” As soon as I decided that I would drop out, I started lobbying for another lap, another hour, another n miles.

I decided to keep going to 17 hours. This yielded 52.6 miles with an average pace of 19:24 per mile. This is very encouraging. I am sure that if I wear proper socks and take care of my feet, I can go 24 hours at 3 mph or faster and yield at least 72 miles. That is what I will try in July. In August, I will try running at the start, using the 2.0 / 0.2 run / walk plan, and continue as long as I can, then hang on for 24 hours. This will get me to the starting line at Cleveland with a better idea of what to do.

I am happy to report that there are no knee symptoms at all - none! I did use 3 800mg ibuprofen, once every 8 hours, which is my normal regimen for an ultra.

The boredom never set in. I listened to about 11 hours of Stephen King's non-fiction "danse macabre" and at others times was on the phone with Mary, or she and her dog were here. Coming back from Green Lakes I was getting tired and hungry, so I switched from the book to a playlist of marches that I keep handy - Colonel Bogey, Stars and Stripes, Semper Fidelis, etc. and that boosted me up quite a lot.

48 hours after starting, I can remember some more. My hands were about twice as big as normal - some sort of edema I am sure. I would have thought my feet were too, but I never felt any friction on the toe box or top of my foot. Only the bottom, from the very beginning, from the old, worn-out Hind socks that I got free someplace and am too cheap to throw out. They are now ladder cushions to keep the ladder ends from marking the wall. Anyway, my feet look swollen, and my weight is up 7 pounds from the start of the experiment. This (weight gain) happened after MTD also. I think it is retained fluid. Although I did eat too dang much yesterday, I can’t imagine my body’s little fat cell factory churning out 7 pounds of slimy, yellow, yucky body fat in 16 hours or so. It has to be retained fluid, and is serving to ferry repair material to all the little bruised mitochondria and heal up the entire body, while ushering the by-products and waste out of the way on their return trip to the main water works.

I think I need to try a much more regimented fueling system next time. What else would a control freak like me think? At the end of each hour:

1. 1.hot black coffee 8 oz.
   

2. 2.8 oz water. 1/2 Clif bar (130 cal)
   

3. 3.hot black coffee 8 oz. 1 eGel (150 cal)
   

4. 4.8 oz water. 1/2 Clif Bar (103 cal)
   

5. 5.hot black coffee 8 oz. 1 Hammer Gel (90 cal)
   

6. 6.8 oz water. 1 serving Oatmeal (150 cal)
   

7. 7.hot black coffee 8 oz. 12 oz. Accelerade (120 cal)
   

8. 8.8 oz water. 1 cookie (90 cal)
   

Something on this order. I used to train all the time for long runs by walking every 20 minutes. Every 20 minutes I would eat a bite of a Clif bar (maybe 1/6th or 1/8th of a Clif bar). On the 10 minute interval I would pop a lifesaver (5 cal). This would sustain me for a long time (12 hours) when added with eGels, cokes, and whatever other individually wrapped items I could pick up at the Comrades aid stations. I believe this kept my digestive system functioning the entire time, allowing me to refuel on the run. I’ve gotten out of this practice, and I think my body was un-accustomed to digesting on the run.

Update July 7

After becoming aware over the weekend that headphones are not going to be allowed at this race, I have changed my plans. When I registered for the race in December, headphones were specifically allowed. Since then, the race has become designated as the USATF national championship for the event (24 hour race). As a result, one of the USATF rules says that electronic audio devices are banned. After engaging in dialog with the race director, and researching the rules, I've decided that I will neither withdraw from the race, nor go to it. In effect, they will keep my entry fee as a sign of my financial support for the sport, and I will not participate as a sign of my resistance to governing bodies and rules imposed on the unsuspecting public. After all, I have no desire or intention of competing for a championship. I was registering for a 24 hour event with lap timing and support (and a technical t shirt! And finisher's medal). Nothing more, nothing less. This rule change provides me with something less. I will choose to not support the elitism demonstrated by this type of competition.

Instead, I will continue my training as planned. Another 24 hour attempt on Saturday, July 24, walking only until at least 21 hours, then deciding if mixing in some running would be OK. Another 24 hour trial on Saturday, August 21, with a tentative plan to run 2 miles, walk 0.2 miles as long as possible, and then hang on for 24 hours. And then, I will run my own NC24 on Saturday, September 18, at home. I will do my own timing, my own aid, and see what I can do. I will save my driving time to and from Cleveland, nights in hotels, and conduct my own test. Perhaps some friends will pace me for an hour here, an hour there. I will also likely start in the wee hours, rather than waiting until 0900 to start.

Monday July 5 Tom and I ran the Highland loop. It was hot, humid and just as difficult as it always was 10-15 years ago when we were running it every Sunday morning. The bad news is that I've lost a lot of ability to run downhill in the intervening years. It is more painful, and now seems foolish to rocket down the hills out of control as I used to. So I am much slower.

The good news is that I haven't lost a thing running uphill. I always was the worst uphill runner in the world. That has not changed at all.

Proposed fueling plan - needs more work.

0230 Thursday 08 July 2010 got up at 0200 due to sleeplessness over work issues. Walked up to the UPS box at 0230. It is about 72, 88% humidity, and the air is thick and heavy, like vomit, making it hard to breathe. A thin, yellow saber of moon rising low on the eastern horizon reminds me of flying saucers and driving to the ADK to backpack deep into the wilderness. Home dripping after a 20 minute walk, I wonder if I’ll ever run again.

Update July 12

Well, I did run again. In spite of the humidity, I ran 5 miles that morning. We played golf after work, and ran most of the Highland Forest loop on Sunday. I also took my first hilly bike ride of the season, a 38 miler out through Chittenango, Cazenovia, nearly to DeRuyter and home through Pompey Hollow.

In addition, the race rules changed again, and now I will be allowed to run with headphones, without competing for the USATF national championship. Won’t they look silly if I outright win it?!?

Thinking more about my fueling plan, I won’t be cooking oatmeal and other things at NC24. So I need to plan (and test) fueling with something I can take with me. Clue? Peanut butter sandwiches! Some with jelly, and some with cheese.

Clif bars and bananas the first half, sandwiches the second. Accelerade and lifesavers sprinkled throughout, a good dousing of hammer gels, and voila!

Preparations for Saturday, 24 July

Made my shopping list for the above plan. Thinking about mileage goals, even though the only purpose of this event is to walk for the entire 24 hours. I’ve been walking under 18:30 pace in the mornings, without really trying all that hard. Of course, after 18 hours, it may require a Herculean effort to maintain 18:30 pace walking. Here is a table showing what average pace is required for what milage:

This Saturday I hope to cover at least 75 miles, average pace 19:10 per mile. This is only 14 seconds per mile faster than my last attempt with the horrible blisters. If things are going well, then I’ll go for 80 miles, trying in the last 3 hours to bring the average pace down to 18:00 per mile.

Supposing I was averaging 9:10 per mile at 21 hours. I would have covered 65.74 miles, and would have 14.26 miles left to cover in 3 hours to get to 80 miles in 24 hours. This would require averaging 12:36 per mile for the last 3 hours. Not likely.

Results for Saturday, 24 July, Training Event #2

I went for 18:45 and covered 52 miles. I decided that there will be no 3rd attempt. This was because I have not lost the weight necessary, and because these very long training “events” take a lot out of me both physically and mentally. I finished off my training with consecutive weekly mileage of 12.6, 8.1, 19.3, 10.5, 17 and 21.7 miles. Wow!