"The gods of the valley are not the gods of the hills, and you shall understand it."
-Ethan Allen
Ethan Allen wasn't talking about a track ultra when he made the above assertion, at least I don't think so, but it felt fitting in a quick write up about my experience at the Ethan Allen 24 hour ultramarathon, brought to us by Noreast Trail Runs.
Signing up for a 24 hour being a perpetual "kids race" ultra runner (read that as 50 milers and less please) was perhaps overzealous with a minimal window of preparation time and a point in my life where responsibility is anything but minimal. Nevertheless, I took advantage of a generous registration offer and spent the next 10ish weeks scratching my head thinking "how the fuck do I prepare for something like this, let alone what is the goal here?" Circles around a track at my former high school in Bennington, VT was always sort of a punishment, one step up from the hamster wheel device collecting dust in the basement. I guess ultra running is a pass time full of "why's?" and "WTF's" so why should this one be any different.
I took training for this as seriously as I could, but quite a bit less than other big races in the past. my peak weeks were minimal 30-40 miles at best, and a lot as trail and mountain (see Ethan's thoughts on that above...). Since preparing the human body to accept repeated steps over the entire cycle of the earth is relatively time consuming, I found the best way to manage it was to be in training all day. My key workouts incorporated my homemade commuter mutt of a bicycle, which took a lot of strain off of my joints and by the way, it got me to work and forced me to get up early...training all day, see the theme here?. While at work I am either functioning as a boat engineer, law enforcement officer, or straight up desk jockey. I made a conscious effort to remain on my feet from the minute I woke up to the minute I went to bed. The cycle commute conveniently passed by a high school track on my return trip home, this allowed me to do longer runs so to identify physical and mental challenges I may face in 24 hours of running. Here is what an average day looked like in my peak weeks of training:
0415: Wake up
0435: Mount the commuter mutt and pedal towards work
0535: STARBUCKS cold brew with a few shots
0545: Stand at my desk and answer every email in rapid fashion (thanks coffee and undiagnosed anxiety!)
0630: Eat hot sauce smothered breakfast sandwich and get back to work.
0800: Head offshore to do coast guard things
FAST FORWARD
1600: Start pedaling in the other direction
1640: Stop at Pentucket high school and run in circles at a 9-10 minute pace for 2 hours or so
1800: Pedal to burrito joint
1805: Eat burrito while standing watching 24 hour news
2300: Sleep
0415: Wake up
REPEAT
Race Day
I arrived to the venue about an hour and half prior to the start, and set up my minimalist aid station. doing so I met with Joe Viger, one of the premier race photographers in New England, and some other participants. I didn't exactly stack my home made aid station, and as it would turn out there were only a few key items;
Compression shorts/socks
Sunscreen
2 lb bag of swedish fish
2 lb bag of power pellets (Peanut M&M's)
2 ga of lean mixed tailwind
2 flasks of my maple/honey/sea salt concoction
Aleve
Hummus and crackers
Salming D5's
Salming Enroutes
Everything else seemed to just be an over preparation on my behalf. At the brief I was pretty excited to share the track with some legends of ultrarunning to include Ann Trason, Lance Parker, and Amy Mower. Also in the group were some extremely talented locals like Brian Teason. In addition to all of the awesomeness gathering at the starting line, I was joined by another Active duty Coastie and a Coast Guard Auxiliary member....in Bennington, VT, unlikely? perhaps. Cool? YES.
The Early Miles and Smiles
Photo: Joe Viger
At the start I had a solid amount of encouragement from Bob Dion, a legend in his own right, and founder of
Dion Snowshoes and Tim VanOrden another world class local and founder of
Running Raw. My main theme for the morning was being self aware of what my limits may be and keeping my speed under control, as I would much prefer to trot at a quicker pace normally, and on the advice of friends I stopped early and often for walk and nutrition breaks. Going into a slower pace my hips are always my number one concern. My theory on keeping them loose was to run a quarter mile at a 7-7:30 pace whenever they felt tight and sore, this made for some funny sub 2 minute split times that left the timing folks confused.
The race had scheduled turn around times to switch direction, these were good milestones,and bolstered morale getting a face to face interaction with the other runners. Robert Kootz, a USMC vet and endurance extraordinaire, seemingly transformed on each of these laps and was by far the most enthusiastic person at those moments.
Carey Stoneking and I clicking miles off as the sun goes down.
To the far right is the overall winner Emily Collins who covered 113+ Miles
Photo: Joe Viger
Throughout the evening I had several highs and lows, and it was almost maniacal to be inside of my own head. I tried to take advantage of the high points and not dwell on the lows. Just before 9:00 PM Ashley brought me a burrito and I thanked her and apologized but got right back onto the track thinking that a 60/40 split would be fantastic for morale. So babe, here is an official "Thank You" you're the best for supporting my crazy adventures, and I Love You! The rest of the night consisted of constant grinding, and keeping myself moving forward relentlessly. At no point did I think I could stomach real food, so the Swedish Fish and Peanut M&M's served as my go-to.
At 22:46 hours I slowly hobbled to the triple digit 100 mile mark and earned myself an Ethan Allen 24 hour buckle. Despite my body not wanting to continue forward I was urged to keep adding mileage so as to not lose my slim second place position. Through the night I had progressively slowed down enough to ensure I would reach my goal of 100 miles but did very little else to go beyond that. In the final moments those of us still on the track were given a small flag with our bib # on it, and we placed them on the track when the final bell rang at 9:00 AM the next day. In all I covered 102.888 total miles in 24 hours, which was good enough for third place overall and second place male.
The Pile of swag from this awesome event, missing is the
embroidered fleece pullover
http://ultrasignup.com/results_event.aspx?did=57083
THANK YOU!
Ashley, Mom, Dad, Mike & Kim for coming by!
Adam Schalit of Noreast Trail Runs and I celebratin' post race
with a solid fist bump.
Moving Forward "Chubby Time"
Since my knees haven't been up to any sort of distance I have been keeping up with the bicycling. I have been mixing terrain, and added a new (to me) fat bike to the stable. Most of my rides have been road and gravel, but recently I have taken to the sand on the fatty! Happy trails!
Plum Island Beach Ride, The New Fat Bike is a Mongoose Vinson
with Vee 4.7" Bulldozers and some other mods. Stay tuned for a 1X
setup and studs.
The Multi Surface mutt amidst a 32 mile ride out to Great Neck, MA
"I'll see you somewhere over the rainbow"
