Timing wasn’t perfect: I wasn’t recovered from last race. Ultra marathon was a poor way to prepare for Texas Road Rash. But there were limited weekends outside of racing season. This could be my best chance for 100k.
Goal: 100k in 24 hours.
_Logistic
A safe approach was to use the house as the base and return often. This worked well in 2012. Kay and Voon signed up for a White Rock 5k on this Saturday morning; running a 5k with her friend was Kay's fitness goal. I wanted to be there.
_Running to a 5k race
I planned a route to the 8am race using Google map. I picked only familiar paths. I was concerned about White Rock Creek Trail: it cut through car traffic, but 1 bridge could be flooded. I would be easy to rob. Driving would sidestep many issues, but running 19.3 miles to a 5k start was appealing. I memorized the route for 3:30am start time.
I shoved down calories with coffee, wanting to reduce luggage. I played Midori SACD that prepared me for the half marathon 13 days ago. The concerto sounded different.
I had too much stuff to carry and eventually found a way to balance gels, sunglasses, headlamp, iPod, and visor on my head. I organized the Fuel Belt such that using the phone wouldn't require exposing cab fare. I got out the door 10 minutes late. I was down to 20 spare minutes to reach registration before 7:30am deadline.
GPS was set to 11:00 pace. When too far ahead, I walked the climbs to bleed average speed. Weather was nice.
_Detour
I had fond memory of White Rock Creek Trail: the first back spasm, re-learning skate stride, and meeting Texas Flyers. I entered the dark parking lot, turned on the headlamp, and was greeted by the sign "White Rock Creek Trail Closed. Use Cottonwood Trail….”
I didn't know whether the Cottonwood was a trail or a street; I didn't know if it would help me cross the interstate highway. I could
1. whip out the phone to search for a new route, but I didn't want to increase my mug-ability.
2. use car-friendly route, which would add 5k to my run; I didn't have extra 33 minutes.
3. trust the trail to be usable on the other side of the 4-lane highways.
I turned on my sense of direction and ran through LBJ construction then along Central service road. This reminded me of Mackowski's interstate shoulder skate at Tour de Donut. I located the trail 15 feet below Central Expressway.
The detour cost 20 minutes. I started to skip walking breaks.
Over the concrete barrier at the construction site, something resembling police crime scene tape caught the visor and yanked stuff off my head. I looked at $300 of merchandise on gravel and marveled how complicated my running had become. Miraculous, the 5' drop didn't damage the iPod, Oakley, and Petzl. I changed my mind on ROI of Oakley Transitions lenses.
The final challenge was sidewalk-less residential area along Buckner Blvd. I didn’t anticipated wet lawns. Keep socks dry was a priority. I ran on medians and inside car lane against traffic.
_5/15k race
I ran with Voon and Kay averaging 11:00 pace. I gain new perspectives watching runners at this speed. I was amazed at Kay’s efficient strides and conjectured spine and muscle pain shortened the feedback loop--much like running barefoot.
Voon set a 5k PR.
_Weekend morning with friends
I joined Timo and Casey’s 15k’s final mile. It was a nice surprise to see Shelley and other Pegasus Flyers. They skated Tour Dallas.
Casey was my sponsor for the day. He provided sunscreen, replacement gels, and bought me taco plate at Fuzzy's.
Timo seemed surprised that I used shrimp tacos as fuel but didn’t argue with its scientific principal: assuming a skinny Asian could ingest 60 hotdogs in 10 minutes....
_Nutrition
Dehydration was the main concerned. I learned the hard way my body didn't absorb water at sufficient rate. I sidestepped the issue by spreading the miles throughout the day. I carried 2 10-oz bottles in Fuel Belt. 32-oz Gatorade was easy to find.
_Round 2
Running became easier after Casey collected the unneeded gear. Taking off headlamp was a big relief. I held 11:00 pace with no drama for a few miles after brunch.
_Issues
I tallied surprises and mistakes around 50k:
Trail closure
Dropping headlamp, iPod, sunglasses
Losing mileage on GPS due to user error
Forgetting to store iPod in car for 5k
Forgetting sun screen before round 2
Losing 1 headphone insulator when getting it out of visor packet
Long events were engineering as much as biomechanical challenges.
_Detour (part 2)
Cottonwood Trail was easy to identify at the south end. It never came near the detour sign for White Rock Creek. 1 year into the 5-year construction, Dallas had not put up a reasonable sign for trail closure. I felt the city council loathe non-motorists. I fantasized taking that triathlon-friendly J2EE job in Boulder, Colorado.
The trail took me to neighborhood where gas stations’ main traffic was lottery enthusiasts. I felt like an intruder standing in line to pay for Gatorade with Visa. Times like this reminded me that logic and reason were often irrelevant. 非我族類其心必異. Not a comforting thought.
_Undertrained
Beyond the annual long run, I didn't practice the pace, nutrition, walking, and equipment. I was inexperienced in dealing with fatigue beyond marathon.
I lost the will to run somewhere around mile 38. I wasn’t hurting exactly, but without conscious effort, I found myself slowed to a walk—reminiscent of eating donut #18 when I beat Mackowski at the donut race.
_Rest
I made it home by 4pm to discover uncle & aunt dropped off fresh eggs, fruits, vegi, and mochi. It was sweet. I was still a kid in their eyes. The eggs came with feathers.
I made Muscle Milk blueberry smoothie and noticed minutes elapse between sips. I didn't feel tired but dozed off when not in motion. I ate a quick dinner then went to bed after shower. I needed 14.5 miles in 11 hours, plenty of time.
_Round 3
I woke up at 9:45pm unmotivated. I looked for excuses to shorten the run but finally made it out of door by 11pm. “Just run 5-mile loop 3 times. Just do it!”
_Eat and Run_
I sometimes felt the authors tailored their stories for me. I saved _Eat and Run_ for 2013 long run. Scott Jurek articulated the mechanism that made ultras difficult as my average speed dropped below a fast walker.
Jurek and I shared certain social challenges. I faced similar cross roads that led to his conversion to plant-based diet. Maybe long runs heightened my ability to relate to others. There were parts I thought he was reading my mind.
After all these years, it’s still weird to hear Chinese philosophy terms in English. This book included multiple vomits and recipes for guacamole and other dishes.
My natural running pace was now 11:30 min-mile, as opposed to 8:30 pace marathon training’s recovery run.
_Random thoughts
After finishing Jurek’s 8-hour book, I continued with Updike’s _Rabbit is Rich_. Some scenes were incompatible with physical activity. I turned iPod off and let my mind wonder.
Biff would start Ironman Texas 70.3 in a few hours.
Aunt Sherry ate her first Whataburger after 30 years in the US.
Roger Ebert passed away.
Family in Taiwan faced new health challenges.
Ninja’s master cylinder failed.
Endless house maintenance: DE filter pressure gauge, RO filters, door paint, landscape. “Why do I own 4 exterior doors and 4 toilets?”
A tooth seemed to have cracked.
“Aren’t long runs supposed to clear my mind?”
I was mostly walking by now. There wasn’t enough time to finish 100k by walking. I didn’t care. I started to think about food for next 24 hours.
_Wrapping up
I made the final stop at the house to defrost edamame, bacon, crab cake, shishamo, clams, and chicken. Great culinary experience was more about context than best of everything--I looked forward to finish that bottle of awful sauvignon blanc with salty fish.
_Final miles
I listened to David Sedaris for the final loop. Plano cops didn’t hassle me; I wondered how often they saw laughing runners with sun visor 3 in the morning. I wondered what would happen if I flagged the cruiser down and offer to buy coffee and donuts.
5k to go. I tried sub-8:00 pace; it didn’t happen. I had to focus to hold any single-digit pace. I reached home 7 minutes before 24-hour deadline.
_#'s
3:39am 47.4 mi@12:30
11:00pm 10.4 mi@16.11
2:32am 4.8 mi@12:29
total: 100.7 km + unrecorded distance in 23:53:00
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