Race Report: Loopy Looper 24-Hour

 

Alright. I promised a race report, so here it is.

It went poorly. I only covered 63.75 miles and went home about 10 hours early. Not near my goals. Disappointing.

I had problems with overheating, pacing, chafing (in a variety of anatomic locations), fueling, nausea, and finally the weather (lightning). So what didn't hold me back...my knee! As the purpose of this blog is to chronicle my return from 2 knee surgeries that didn't go so well, this is the key insight. My knee held up through training. I did 30+ mile long runs. Had an 87-mile week. Did VO2max, tempo, and steady state workouts. And my knee made it through all of that, got me back in the game, and I had an opportunity to compete in the sport I (usually) enjoy.

Now...to whine about my race. It was hot. And humid. No breeze. No clouds. I didn't have the level of respect for the heat that I should have and waited too long to really slow down and concentrate on keeping cool. Felt ok'ish early and was doing the 3.75-mile loops at 11:00-11:45 mile pace. Tried to keep cool with an ice hat and an ice gator and getting soaked with water. That wasn't enough for me and I gradually became overheated and nauseous. Spent some time on the sidelines cooling off and eventually went back to running (with a little walking) slow loops. After dark, a lightning storm rolled in. Still feeling pretty bad and now endangering my family (serving as my crew), I decided to call it a night after 63.75 miles.

Being hot and constantly soaked with water and sweat exposed weaknesses in my clothing and chafing protection. Also, fueling became difficult as I began to reject the Tailwind drink that was a key part of my hydration strategy. I learned a lot from this race even though it didn't go well. I'm now making some changes to plug these holes in my game.

So, what's next? Going home early allowed for a quick recovery and a chance to jump into another race sooner than later. I'm aiming for another 24-hour race in October. I've revved up my training again and did a 32-mile long run earlier today. My confidence is a little shaken, but I'm looking to get back up on the horse and give it another go. I'll follow up with more on my training and how my knee is holding up in a future post. I'm still striving to see just how far my repaired right knee will take me.