I don't know anyone who has ever run 50 or more miles without having some highs and lows. Of course I had my share at ATY (Across the Years) 72-hour. I loved the cold weather and was disappointed that I missed the snow on the first night. My stomach did great, which was a result of disciplined eating (less).
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| This was my bed during ATY |
My biggest problem was a poor lacing job. It caused me to arch up my toes the first 50 miles, putting strain on my calves and lower shin muscles. By mile 50 I had to go lie down for a few hours to relieve the pain. I fixed the laces before continuing and was able to make it to mile 178 before the shin pain came back in a big way on the right side and I could no longer walk.
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| My second 200-mile buckle |
After limping a couple of miles, and maybe crying a little (there were no witnesses this time), I found that if I arched my toes up (ironically the same thing that caused the problem in the first place), it didn't hurt. Before long I hit 200 and kept going until I hit 206, one more than the other 72-hour runners who had finished the prior 2 days and stopped a few miles past 200.
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| Tom Polen went on to run 4 more laps in the final 45 minutes |
I went to bed tied with Geoff Foote at mile 206. He had finished the night before and I kept teasing him that no matter how many miles he did, I would do one more the following night. So after sleeping I came back out and hobbled a final lap with Tom Polen to keep my promise.
That's the short version. The long version is boring. It's not really the running that makes these events worthwhile, it's the people. I met some great folks and shared laps with some amazing runners. I'll write about them in another post.
My daily mileage was roughly 84/69/54, which is very close to the other folks who did similar mileage. I think that if you're going for 200 in a 72-hour for the first time, the 80/70/50 plan is probably ideal. It takes advantage of your freshness the first day and gives you some wiggle room at the end when things go wrong, which they will.
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These 3 pairs of Altra Olympus were the only shoes I wore.
The pair on the left is laced badly, though it's hard to tell. |
And now for some product placements. I wore Altra Olympus and Injinji toe-socks the entire time. I ended the race with zero blisters. Zero foot pain. Zero lost toenails. I tried 5-Hour Energy for the first time ever, and it had some cool effects which helped me get through the lowest part of the night. If you want to feel like dancing in the street at 4am, try it out some time. Results may vary.
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| Nice sunset taking off from PHX on the way home. I'll be back to visit these mountains later this year. |
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