Well, what a year it has been, or rather, I should say, what a year and a half. That would be the year and a half since I started running. So how about a quick look back.
I managed to run five marathons, a dozen shorter trail runs, as well as two 50k trail runs. I also finished three 50 mile runs, got my first DNF during a 50 mile run, at mile 40, and qualified for Western State! To top it all off I decided to run a 24 hour run New Years Eve Run, in San Fransisco.
That's where I started, at the beginning of this blog, with a New Years Eve Run. I have very mixed feeling about my first attempt at running for 24 hours. First off, I failed. I quit, I stopped. I got beat. At 5am I laid down and died. Okay wait a minute.. This is not how it sounds. I am always a success. If you, somehow, find yourself at the starting line, make no mistake you are a winner. That said, I went into this 24 hour run with some trepidation. I knew it was going to be hard. I knew it was going to be farther and longer than I had ever run. I went into this run thinking it would be good practice for the 100 mile races I want to run in 2012. I knew I wasn't properly trained and that a jump from 50 miles to 100 miles was a big jump. Still I went into it thinking I could get real close. I had my splits all figured out and I was fairly confident that I could reach my goal.
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| Winter in SF |
You could not ask for a better day to run 24 hours in San Fransisco, in December. Temp's were in the 50's low 60's, just a slight breeze blowing in off shore and we had the gang from Coastal trail runs to make sure everything was running smoothly. My sweety, Amy, was there to crew for me. (A BIG THANKS Amy) {A little side note. If you have a friend willing to crew for you during a 24 hour run, you had better count your blessing, and a real nice sea food dinner after, doesn't hurt either.} We set-up our tent and got everything ready for a long day and night of running.
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| Home for the day. |
This day would have three start times. There was a 24 hour group starting at 9am, a 12 hour group starting at 12 noon, and a 6 hour group starting at 6pm. Our race started right on time, 9am, and we had around 48 runners or so. I was very surprised how many people came from out of state to run this race, I met runners from Seattle, Iowa, Chicago and Canada. What's wrong with these folks? I thought it was a little crazy to just run 24 hours, but to travel hundreds of miles to do it????
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| Waiting for the start. Note: the woman in purple with black gloves, she ran 126 miles. |
My plan for the day was to run the first 50 miles at a 12:45 minute pace, or about ten hours. Then I would run the next 20 miles at about a 15 min pace, and then finish off the last 30 miles at 18 min miles.
I started out great, I was feeling strong the course was easy and there was a great bunch of runners to run with. First thing I noticed was that the aid station was just a mile away and I guess it was just too easy to stop and get a drink of coffee or whatever, and next thing I know I'm needing to pee, a lot. Then I had to take a "sit down" and before I knew it I had fallen off pace. That lead to the " It's okay", which lead to the " You didn't really think you were going to run a 100 miles", which lead to the inevitable slow mental death. When 10 hours came and went and I didn't have my 50 miles, I tried to tell myself it was okay, but in the back of my mind I knew it wasn't. I was slowly beating myself.
I hate to make sound like it was a terrible day, it really wasn't. There is the runner in me, and then there is the guy that knows better. The guy that knows better took time to enjoy the day. I was going to run into the New Year and that made everything okay. I was with my Honey, and she was running laps with me now and then. The weather was just beautiful and it was a great day to be alive.
The midnight hour was soon upon us and Amy and I ran a lap, into the New Year together. As the two of us ran down the coast line of Crissy Field, the City was lit-up with fire works, the lights of the Golden Gate Bridge were behinds us and we were running into the New Year! My God! what a way to bring in the New Year. Oh and don't forget the New Years Eve Kiss......
The midnight hour brought in the New Year, but it was the end of the run for the 12 hour and 6 hour runners.That meant that things got real quite. The crowds of the day and two thirds of the runners were now gone. I had started to walk down wind and run up wind. It was getting colder and I did want to spend anymore time on the breezy side of the run then I had to. Still it was only and hour or two before I was power walking the whole course. I was down to three laps an hour and I had started to get blisters on both feet. I tried to change shoes and socks, and I had thought that my older running shoes would work but I guess they were too far gone, my feet went from bad to worst. It was around 5am when I finally gave in. I laid down and that was it. I was beat. Mentally and physically. At 7am we pulled up stakes, packed and called it a day. I had run 72.1 miles.
Epilogue:
Today is the day after. I've had time to think about the last 24 hours and about my run. And of course I would do things a little different. One thing I did not do was ask for help. It's so easy to ask for water or something to eat, but to ask for moral support is just as important. I never told anyone I was losing the mental battle. I never asked for help. I should have woke-up my friend and told her how low I was. I could have asked an aid worker to kick my ass and help me get back on track but I didn't. I will next time.
I also learned a lot about myself. I can run 72.1 miles! How many people can say that? I learned that with a little more training I will run a 100miles. I learned that old running shoes have no place in a race. I learned that even though I quit, I'm not a quitter.
I know I've been a little hard on myself, maybe that's what happens when you start running ultras. But I also know that there are many more miles out there with my name on them and I intend to run them all!
Amy and I hope you all have a great New Year and we're sure we'll see some of you out on the trails real soon.
I started out great, I was feeling strong the course was easy and there was a great bunch of runners to run with. First thing I noticed was that the aid station was just a mile away and I guess it was just too easy to stop and get a drink of coffee or whatever, and next thing I know I'm needing to pee, a lot. Then I had to take a "sit down" and before I knew it I had fallen off pace. That lead to the " It's okay", which lead to the " You didn't really think you were going to run a 100 miles", which lead to the inevitable slow mental death. When 10 hours came and went and I didn't have my 50 miles, I tried to tell myself it was okay, but in the back of my mind I knew it wasn't. I was slowly beating myself.
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| Still looking good and knocking down some miles |
I hate to make sound like it was a terrible day, it really wasn't. There is the runner in me, and then there is the guy that knows better. The guy that knows better took time to enjoy the day. I was going to run into the New Year and that made everything okay. I was with my Honey, and she was running laps with me now and then. The weather was just beautiful and it was a great day to be alive.
The midnight hour was soon upon us and Amy and I ran a lap, into the New Year together. As the two of us ran down the coast line of Crissy Field, the City was lit-up with fire works, the lights of the Golden Gate Bridge were behinds us and we were running into the New Year! My God! what a way to bring in the New Year. Oh and don't forget the New Years Eve Kiss......
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| Golden Gate at midnight |
were now gone. I had started to walk down wind and run up wind. It was getting colder and I did want to spend anymore time on the breezy side of the run then I had to. Still it was only and hour or two before I was power walking the whole course. I was down to three laps an hour and I had started to get blisters on both feet. I tried to change shoes and socks, and I had thought that my older running shoes would work but I guess they were too far gone, my feet went from bad to worst. It was around 5am when I finally gave in. I laid down and that was it. I was beat. Mentally and physically. At 7am we pulled up stakes, packed and called it a day. I had run 72.1 miles.Epilogue:
Today is the day after. I've had time to think about the last 24 hours and about my run. And of course I would do things a little different. One thing I did not do was ask for help. It's so easy to ask for water or something to eat, but to ask for moral support is just as important. I never told anyone I was losing the mental battle. I never asked for help. I should have woke-up my friend and told her how low I was. I could have asked an aid worker to kick my ass and help me get back on track but I didn't. I will next time.
I also learned a lot about myself. I can run 72.1 miles! How many people can say that? I learned that with a little more training I will run a 100miles. I learned that old running shoes have no place in a race. I learned that even though I quit, I'm not a quitter.
I know I've been a little hard on myself, maybe that's what happens when you start running ultras. But I also know that there are many more miles out there with my name on them and I intend to run them all!
Paul I admire your attempt at a hundred miles in 24 hours. Don't beat yourself up, 72 miles is amazing. It really sounds like you learned some good lesson that you can apply to future 100s like shoes and support and whatnot. I've found that in order to be successful in 100s I have to go " that place" in order to get to where I want to be. Each race "that place" is different and unknown until you get there. Part of it is to embrace it (the pain or whatever) and make it work for you. As one of my favorite running songs says, "there's beauty in the breakdown.". Keep running And one day I'm sure I'll see you at a race. Since you didn't get in to WS this year you should try pacing. It is a neat way to see the course.
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