Tuesday, May 17, 2016

72 HOUR RUN for ANDREW and CAH AWARENESS

Thursday morning at 9am I started to run for 3 straight days........What was I thinking?

I'm not going to argue with anyone that says I might be a little obsessed with running long distances, or maybe I'm a little crazy.  The fact, is I am crazy!  and I don't think of my running as a problem, I think of my running as more of a solution!

From what I can remember about the last 3 days, (and believe me when i tell you), I don't remember much. I can tell you, that any problems or stress I had going into the race, were gone for 3 days, and that was great.  The only thing I thought about was completing another mile.

PERSONAL AID STATION
Thursday started out nice and cool at the start,low 40's with lots of sun.  We had set up my personal aide station a day early in a primo location, under a tree (good for extra cover during the impending rain and shade during the hottest parts of the day).










I went into the race with a few goals.  Last year I ran 156 miles in the 48 hour race.  I went out too fast, running over 100 miles in the first 24 hours, which hindered my performance during the 2nd day.

So the plan for the 72 hour run would be to take it easy on the first day, I obviously would need some gas in the tank for 2 additional days of running.  The constant mantra I would repeat to myself:  "this is a 3 day race, not a 1 day race."  My stretch goal was to run 216 miles, so I could earn a coveted spot in the 3 Days at the Fair 500 Mile club.  My fall back goal was 200 miles, and then my worst possible scenario would be to finish with 185 miles.

DAY 1 (Thursday, May 12 - 9am)

I started the race running with my high school friend Karl for the first 4 or 5 hours, which essentially was the first marathon of the day.  The sun was blazing, there was no shade on the 1 mile loop course.  I was sweating quite a bit and my navy blue shirt showed layers and layers of dried salt.  I was losing a lot of sodium, which if not taken care of early, could be the beginning of the end.

2:00pm - THURSDAY
It was a good reminder for me to keep hydrated.  So for most of the next 65 or so hours I carried a handheld bottle full of liquid, primarily gatorade.  Sometimes Gatorade mixed with water, occasionally straight up water, or water mixed with a little cranberry juice.

The heat had taken its toll on Karl, and at mile 24 he had to drop from the race, showing severe signs of heat exhaustion and dehydration.  He would spend the better part of the next 18 hours recovering, and stayed on as part of my crew.  Karl is a numbers guy, and he became an integral part of getting me to my goal  and setting my hourly pace!


According to some of my notes, because like I said, I don't remember much.  I believe I took a 30 minute nap around dinner time (my wife, Sandy, had delivered hamburgers, fries and chocolate milkshakes from a local diner) which I ate and then closed my eyes on the cot for a few minutes.

8:30am - FRIDAY
I got up and hit the 50 mile mark around 8pm.  I believe my first real sleep came overnight around 1am.  I stayed underneath the canopy and slept on the cot for 90 minutes.  Making sure I set the alarm to the loudest level.  Karl set an alarm for backup.  I woke and hit the pavement again.  By the end of 24 hours, I had covered 82 miles.  It was at this point, 24 Hours into a 72 hour race, that I started to have some doubts.  I grabbed some coffee and prepared myself for day 2.  How could i possibly keep up this up for 2 more days.  I would need more sleep and would have to run harder.

DAY 2 (Friday, May 13 - 9am)

I can't remember.  I really don't remember.  I know all the talk in the morning was about RAIN. When was the rain going to come?

1pm - FRIDAY
1pm - FRIDAY

I crossed mile 100 at 1:05pm and took a few minutes to rest.  

The rain arrived around 3pm on Friday, nice steady downpour with some wind.  I broke out the rain gear and sloshed on.  Can't remember how long it rained, but it was quite a few hours. 




4:30pm - FRIDAY
Dinner on Friday - Sandy brought a turkey club sandwich from the diner, which I ate and then I slept for 90 minutes in the car, from 6:30p-8pm.  I remember this because I was prepping for the arrival of my friend Doug, who was going to run (trudge) through the night with me.  Doug is Andrew's dad,

Doug arrived just before 9pm.  I believe when Doug arrived I was at 110 or 115 miles.  I had registered him for the 12 hour event, so he checked in and was given a chip.  The race discourages non-registered runners acting as pacers, so registering him, and paying the entry fee was a way to circumvent that rule.

2:29am - SATURDAY
Doug stayed by my side throughout the night.  The overnight hours get rough.  It's cold and quiet, and lonely.  Having Doug there was a huge advantage for me.  I believe we took a scheduled 90 minute break around 1am.  I remember waking up about an hour into my sleep and I got up and just walked.  This selfie was time stamped for 2:29am Saturday morning.

By 9am Saturday morning my total mileage was 
141 miles.  I had covered 59 miles in Day 2.



At this point, 48 hours in, (2 days of running), I was at 141 miles.  I had slept roughly  3.5 hours in 2 days.  I began to assess my goals and unless I developed super human strength, 216 was going to be out of reach.  I knew I would have some left in the final few hours, but it was not going to be possible to put in 75 miles on the 3rd day.  But could I duplicate day 2, and cover 59 more miles to get me to an even 100???????  Karl grabbed a pad of paper and began scribbling.  I did a few more miles, and when I stopped back into the tent, he had mapped out the next 24 hours of running for me, and it included sleep breaks.

DAY 3 (Saturday, May 14)

9am - SATURDAY

Sandy returned Saturday morning with my boys and dog, Abby!  It was great to see them, it felt like it had been weeks.  Provided me some good motivation and was able to run until around 1pm.  Karl had left earlier Saturday morning, and Doug left as soon as Sandy arrived.




1pm - SATURDAY


Then it started to get ugly.......I look like I've been pummeled by a UFC Fighter.


Look at this face:----->



I took another nap, and I know it was only a nap based on the picture, because by this point, if I was going to get any substantial sleep, I did it in the back of the Yukon truck.

1:45pm - SATURDAY














Saturday afternoon, around 5pm, the rain clouds rolled in again,  When it I had covered 160 miles, more than 6 marathons with 16 hours left to run.


4:45pm - SATURDAY
At 9:45pm, I was at 170 miles, and had started the death march and posted a delirious video mumbling about my double chin and that I needed 30 more miles in 11 hours, to reach 200 miles.  At that point, all I could do was walk.  Everything hurt.  My legs were so tight, if you would have poken them with a safety pin, I'm convinced they would have exploded like a water balloon.

I stayed out on the course until around 2am, crawled into the truck with Sandy, and went to sleep, for what was supposed to be 90 minutes, but turned into roughly 2.5 hours (darn snooze button) I jumped up at 4:45am, in a panic.  I was sitting at 182 miles, and needed to run 18 more miles in the final 4 hours. but at the pace I was running last, there was no way I was going to make it to 200 miles.

From 5:16am to 7:16am I had covered over 10 miles.  Comparably,  On an average day of training, I would run 10 miles around Central Park in about 1 hour and 20 minutes.  So was I moving fast?  NO, but I was moving at a pretty good clip, considering.

The end was in site.  I wanted to get to 200 so badly.  Tears were coming to my eyes, as I fought hard to hold them back.  Andrew and his mother Katherine arrived early Sunday morning to see me finish!  It was a great surprise and motivator to get through the last few miles.

Andrew ran across the finish line with me at 8:40am Sunday morning.  71 hours and 40 minutes after the start Thursday morning - 200 MILES in the books.

DAY 1 = 82 Miles
DAY 2 = 59 Miles
DAY 3 = 59 Miles

Next year?????  6 Days????????

watch the video here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiR1tnTDZOg



1 comment:

  1. Dude, you are crazy! Congratulations on finishing and raising money for such a great cause. You looked beaten in a few of those pictures, so I know how hard it was. 3 to 6 is too much...my thought anyway!

    ReplyDelete