Race Recap - Around the Lake Ultra

On Friday evening I ran the 24 hour Race Around the Lake in Wakefield, MA. I did the 12 hour race, and I had set a pre-race goal of making 16 loops, or 50.75 miles. Add the .85 distance to make the first eight loops an official marathon, so 51.6 total miles was what I was striving for.

It was a fantastic event from start to finish. Mrs. TL and I drove down on Friday, she checked into the Sheraton Colonial, and we headed to the Lord Wakefield hotel for packet pickup. There were 54 runners doing the 12 hour race, a similar amount doing the 24 hour, and about 150 doing the marathon. There were also 10 teams doing the relay, where they have a team between 6-8 runners who split distance over 24 hour span.

The vibe was excellent. We camped out near the chute with a cooler and a few folding chairs. It had a tailgate atmosphere, as people set up tents, folding tables, grills, and every amenity a runner and their support people could need.

I felt good at the start. Now I didn't train specifically for a 12 hour, 50 mile ultra, but about a month ago I learned about this race and felt I could handle it. The next 2-3 weeks I increased my milage, so if the Higdon plan said 14 for a long, I'd to 16-17, and etc. I knew I could run 26.2, and anything after that is icing. Last week was a taper week, as I did two 8 mile runs just to stay loose. I wanted to be fresh for the race.

I didn't want to focus too much on the fact that I'd be running two back to back marathons - just running loops. 8 loops made a marathon, so my strategy was to run nice and easy for the 1st 8, then taking short walking breaks after completing each loop.

7pm and it was on. My biggest challenge early on was making sure I didn't go out too hard. I ran a deliberately slow pace, and settled into a nice groove. 1st three laps felt great. I made sure I drank HEED sports drink at the 2 mile water stop. I had GU roctane at the start, and one at lap 3. Lap 4 I took a gatorade from our cooler, and walked while I drank it.

It was cool to see the moon rise over the lake - like I mentioned to someone during the race, you know you are going a long way when you get lapped by a celestial object. I had a 24 lumen head lamp, which helped a good deal. The lake is well lit, but I used it for several sections where the walkway was bumpy from roots and where the curb drops down to the road. Even though I had a reflector vest on, I chose to run on the walkway because you just never know when someone will come screaming around the lake, possibly drunk, and mow you down. So no chances.

Mrs. TL left for the Sheraton after my 4th lap to get some shuteye, about 10pm or so. She planned to return around 5am. Agricola was going to arrive around 4am to run the final 3 hrs with me - more on that later.

The weather was ideal - cool, maybe high 60's when the sun set, and gradually eased into the high 50's. Insects were not an issue either. Lap 5,6,7,8 - I maintained a steady pace. Finished the marathon in 4:45, and that was when the hunger really kicked in. I grabbed 2 slices of pizza from the food tent, put one slice on top of the other, downed 2 cups of HEED sports drink, and gobbled a huge handful of pretzels. I ate as I walked, about ten minutes or so, covering roughly a 1/2 mile.

Refueled, I then ran a quick lap just to get it out of my system. I ran it like a 5K road race, about 8 min miles, and that cured the desire to go pedal to the medal. A questionable thing to do, but I felt terrific at the time knowing I just finshed 26.2 and had the steam to crank out an all-out 5K at race pace. I then returned to my regular, conservative pace.

After finishing lap 9, my routine was consistent - pass through the chute, go to food tent, grab whatever my body craved at that moment, take it with me, and eat while I walked for 5-10 minutes. This worked. At times it was pizza, other times salty foods, still others outright sweets. I was pleased with my fuel intake to that point - I stopped to pee twice, my sodium levels were good, and if I felt hungry I ate before it became an issue.

I also grabbed my iPod and from midnight through 3am I ran to music. My standard long distance running mix, with NFL films soundtrack, Rocky selections, The Hives, The Killers, Green Day, etc.

I had some great conversatons along the way - the runners were all so friendly, willing to chat. Around 3am I struck up a conversation with one of the 24 hr runners - he was 43, and done VT 100 5 times, and last year attempted the Grand Slam of Ultra Running - the Western States 100 (complete with river crossing), Leadville 100, VT 100, and Wasatch 100. He DNF'd Leadville and Western, but got the Buckle from the others (100 mi in under 24 hours). So impressive. He's friends with Scott Jurek, and talked a lot about his training - being from CT, all the miles in the world just don't prepare you for the altitude out west. By far the biggest challenge he faces.

Lap 12, feeling great. That was when I noticed I was lapping some of the other 12 hour runners.

Around the 2.5 mark of lap 13 was one of the darker stretches and I wasn't paying as close attention as I should have and didn't realize the sidewalk was ending and I stepped down into the side street, a good 12-16" down, and really banged down hard on my left foot. Immediate pain. Up until that point my cardio and overall muscle fatigue was feeling good, but where my shin met my ankle was now throbbing. Not good. I pressed on.

At 4am I rounded the mile 3 marker into the parking lot and saw Agricola. I was stoked beyond belief. I was finishing lap 14 (44 miles) and he gave me an enormous boost. Felt pretty decent overall with the exception of my shin.

Three more hours, and two laps to go until I hit my goal of 50. My left lower shin area was only getting worse. We walked a good part of lap 15 while the sun rose, and when I went through the chute to complete 15 Mrs. TL joined us. We walked the first 3/4 of a mile, then Agricola said something - I don't recall precisely what he said - but whatever it was it got my engine going. I began to ran, and it was excruciating. My shin was burning with pain.

Those last 2 miles were the longest 2 miles of my life, but both Agricola and Mrs. TL made it bearable. I would not have run if they weren't there. As we approached the Mile 3 marker I started to break down emotionally. I pride myself on getting by with mental toughness, and when I saw that big 3 sign I picked up the pace as best I could. I babbled "I can do this" over and over to Ted, and when we hit the final turn and the chute was in sight I sprinted as fast as I possibly could, completing 51.6 miles in 11:00:16.

I was done. I broke down in massive tears. I did it. I gave Mrs. TL a big hug, and one for Agricola as well for pulling maximum effort out of myself despite being a complete state of agony. But agony is temporary; the achievement lasts forever. I am forever grateful for their encouragement.

An hour was left on the clock but I knew I couldn't complete another lap with the pain in my shin. I knew I was done, but not before the run of my life.

I am still waiting for the official posting from the Somerville Road Runners, but the printout at the race table showed I finished 19th out of 54 runners in the 12 hour. I feel good about that. The winner of the 12 hr did 23 laps, 2nd place did 20, and 3rd did 19.

I will definitely do this again next year. Perhaps even the 24. I will know what to expect, and will have specifically trained for an ultra.

For giggles, here is what I consumed in that 12 hour period. Reads like Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar:

9 bottles of 12 oz. Gatorades
30 (?) cups of HEED (guess)
3 GU roctane
9 slices of pizza
2 giant eclairs
2 giant oatmeal raisin cookies
1 bag of pretzels (approx)
3 bananas
1 peach
1 pb& honey sandwich
8 slices of watermelon
2 shots of 5 hour energy for caffeine
more M&M's and jelly beans than I've eaten in my life....and STILL lost 3.5 lbs.

Prepare the right way - do the work, don't cheat yourself - and the results can be astonishing. I have learned not to impose artifical limits on myself. I will keep pushing forward, in running, and in life.