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Elijah Bristow 24HR (6hr - 50K+ run)

June 18, 2016 (Morning)

Exercise Type: Run

Weather: Crazy weather: 2x TORRENTIAL RAINS

Comments:
In 2014 the EB24 was started by Ed Willson (our trail clearing guru) and Stephan Willow (another local running goon). It's a neat idea, so we always try to support it. I ran the 6 in 2014 - under dry, ideal conditions - and it was a rather nice training stimulus that really launched my Waldo '14 training. So I figured we'd do the same this year. CA was also intrigued, so we both entered the 6hr.

The weather was supposed to be partly cloudly and mild, but that wasn't quite the case. I wore my green, flat, bare N2 roads, since this "trail" is mostly hard-packed gravel.

The field was maybe a bit bigger than the first couple years, and included bowhunting big-wig (and crossover "extreme athlete") Cam Hanes, who I've known a bit for a couple years. He's a nice guy but he can be a little over the top on social media. But in his defense...the guy has a six-figure sponsorship from Dodge, among others, and it pretty legit. But besides that, he still likes to run far, so he was here, once again, for the 24.

So it surprised me a bit when the horn sounded for the start that, 400m into the race, he hustled up beside me.

My HRM wasn't working, so I was going purely on feel: an "honest" pace that felt aerobic. PURE feel. No agenda, other than to be OK grinding.

So off we went, just me and Cam. I wasn't sure how it would be - I almost ALWAYS race alone - but around and around we went, chatting away! Really had some great convos! Mostly about his upcoming race (200mi!) and the science of endurance running, and the mental-survival aspects of it. Really cool.

To begin with...the trail was a little damp. MUCH more than the previous years. No big deal...until the rain came. Around 5 laps, it began to rain...then absolutely POUR. It hammered rain for about ten minutes, turning the small, winding trail into standing water puddles and slick turns. It was triple-worse for me because the N2s roads (the '13-14 models) have ZERO tread!

Thankfully, the rain (and hail and cold) subsided, but the puddles remained. Ed and Tommy were out there trying to shovel and broom the water away and, after maybe another hour, it worked pretty well. But there was still a lot of mud.

Things slowed a bit for Cam and I, but we stuck together. It was fun, and it helped. My legs were not fresh going in, and the heavy-leg was accumulating. So I welcomed the company. When he'd stop for a drink, I'd stop and walk a bit - and vice-versa. I had a guy at the aid station helping me with my bottles (2-10oz mini-bottles), alternatively taking coke and water, which was great.

Just as it seemed it was drying out...it POURED, again! This time double-worse! Again, standing water mud puddles! Yeesh! Now, the course was so bad that three different corners were "tip-toe" - otherwise I'd fall over, having had a good half-dozen near-miss slips.

It got a lot harder after that, and after about 20 laps, Cam stopped...then stayed back. So I went, intent on just finishing my 29+ laps to get 50K. It became a tedious math game: number of laps to 50K "...then another half-lap". They went by...slowly. The first half of the lap had most of the mub, but I enjoyed the second half. I just kept chipping away.

The stride...was so-so. Going left ALL day made pelvis-trunk symmetry REALLY hard and I invariably did not-so-well. On top of that, it was hard to do the right thing with feet. But I hung in there.

Laps (per 1.05 miles)
7:51
7:47
7:41
7:31
7:40
7:44
7:35
7:39
7:29
7:51
7:44
7:42
7:37
7:44
8:08
7:25
8:13
7:54
8:01** (rain hard again)
8:22
8:11
7:53
8:03
8:11
8:13
8:28
8:13
8:21
8:10
-----3:53:15 (50K)
8:01
-----3:57:39 (total)

I was pretty wiped out after. The *effort* wasn't hard, but the legs were SO heavy. CA did pretty well, but struggled with her "Dead Butt" all day.

Post-race: went home to clean up, then came back to help out 'til about 10PM. Solid outing.

Also: got a call from my sis that my Grandpa had a stroke...while my mom is down there visiting. It was pretty serious...he's slowly doing better...