Race Report: Frosty Looper 8-Hour
I'm back!
The Race. The race started at 8 AM on Sunday morning. It was in the low 50s and windy for most of the race with occasional drizzle. In the last hour it started raining a bit more steadily...but overall the conditions were better than could be expected for mid-December in NJ. My plan was to run 10:something minutes/mile for as long as I could. I knew I could hold that pace for 22 miles since I did it in my last long run. I also knew that I could probably go much further at that pace since my heartrate was still sustainably low at the end of that long run. I faded ever so slightly in the 2nd half of the race...but picked it up again at the end. This is the most even pacing I think I ever achieved in an ultra. (The one slow split below included a 3-minute bathroom stop. It happens.)
I used a simple fueling strategy. The race consisted of 3.75 mile loops (run as many as you can in 8 hours). Just before finishing each loop I took a gel. I alternated between caffeinated and non-caffeinated gels. When I finished the loop, my crew handed me an 8-oz water bottle. While continuing to run, I drank most of the water to wash down the gel. About half way through the loop I took some supplemental calories (alternating between 1/4 Clif bars, 2 Clif blocks, or 2 dried mango slices). I then finished my water bottle. So I was taking in around 160-170 calories per loop and each loop took me just under 40 minutes to complete on average. I felt kind of sick in the last quarter of the race, but I never felt acutely nauseous. Obviously I still had "gas in the tank" at the end since I was able to pick up the pace a bit. So...this worked well enough. I may have ended up slightly underhydrated...but again this worked well enough. Some of the gels had a high salt content, which I think kept sodium levels about right.
I focused on running easy, especially during the first 4 hours of the race. There were a few small climbs on the course and I slowed a bit on them. My heart rate started in the 130s and drifted up gradually to the high 140s by the end. 140 is a typical long run heart rate for me and is quite sustainable. So, aerobically, I was fine at the pace I ran. To run faster than this for an ultra distance in the future I will need more cardiovascular fitness (…and I could use to lose a few pounds of body fat as well...that would help).
Obviously my training was a bit thin for this kind of effort with only one long run over 20 miles and only two weeks where I exceeded 40 total miles. However, even after 4.5 years without running a race, I was able to pace myself well and carry out my fueling plan exactly as I had practiced during long runs (where I ran 3.75-mile loops to mimic the race setting). This bodes well for future races at longer distances.
What's next? Well, I don't know exactly. I have never before gone through an ultramarathon recovery after my knee surgeries and as I am pretty soon to turn 59 years of age...I am in unfamiliar territory. It could be that I'll only be able to handle one ultramarathon per year at this point. That would be just fine. However, I will see how I feel and how fast I recover before deciding on my next adventure. I'd love to try a 24-hour race at some point. Running another 100 miler would be cool as well. I have my eye on a few races in the spring, but something in the summer or early fall may give me the time I need to recover and train to a higher level.
I'll do another post at some point soon to sum up the things I tried in rehab, PT, and training that worked and the things that didn't work. I'm so happy I was able to have this day (and share it with my wife who had an excellent performance at the Frosty Looper as well). My wife is amazing for putting up with this "high maintenance," aging, crumbling distance runner. I could not have achieved any of this without her.
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