85,020 steps

[luckycanuck]

That's how many steps I reckon I took in my 12 hour race, provided that I averaged 1 metre per step.

I was a bit restless on Saturday  as I packed everything up and tried to get some rest.


That's about 16,000 calories.  Way more than I needed, but at least I knew I wouldn't run out of anything.

Mum and Dad came to pick me up and set up the tent.  There was no warm up.  It was a pretty slow pace and a long enough race that there didn't seem to be much point.  There was no ceremony at all.  Just the organiser telling us it was 7pm and that we could start whenever we felt like it.


7:00pm.  For about 30 seconds I was in first place, for whatever that's worth.

Within the first hour some dark clouds were gathering and Canberra took on a very old testament kind of atmosphere.  And yea, God did strike at us with wind and rain.  There were waves on the lake big enough to splash over the wall and on to our legs, and shortly thereafter a driving rain that felt like hail.  Running face first into the wind made it almost impossible to see until you got to the turnaround point and suddenly had the wind at your back.  The rain didn't last long but it did leave it's mark.


8:14pm. That's my dad on the far left in shorts.

After the rain things settled down and we had no more nasty weather.  I did have to be disciplined and force myself to walk regularly, even though I had plenty of energy to keep going.


9:08pm Settled in to a rhythm of mostly running with short walks, and walking while eating.  I learned to do that when I kept running while eating and wound up feeling a bit spewy.


10:18pm. Still feeling fine in the dark.

My parents stayed past their scheduled shift until 10:00 when two friends whom I had trained up for the half marathon last year arrived to stay until midnight.  Later another friend from the Convicts pitched in for an hour.  Our receptionist from work came by and visited briefly too.


11:08pm.  By the four hour point I had apparently developed evil eyes and had become partially see through.

Just before midnight I stopped, popped into the tent that bakerypenguin  had loaned me, and changed my socks.  I was finally confident that the rain would not return and thought dry socks would be better.  In the end I got no blisters at all.

Eating was a bit tricky.  I had a few Weetbix washed down with Up & Go.  I had Vegemite smeared on Crackers.  I had plenty of sports drink.  I had some of my Mum's soup.  I had Anzac and Arrowroot biscuits.  I had a handful of lollies here and there.  By around 1am I was still moving fine, but I was feeling a bit over sweetened, so I switched off sports drink to water and opted for more crackers and vegemite and soup.  One of the other runners offered me some potato chips which went down very well.  At no time was I really hungry or thirsty, so maybe I worked that out pretty well.


1:26am Carrying on with the National Carillion in the background.

We started with about 25 runners, but many had no plans to stay for the whole time.  They steadily drifted off and only a few of us remained.  It was nicer having fewer people around actually.  It made me feel that much more elite.  It also meant fewer distractions.

My tactics ineveitably changed as I became more tired.  By the time I was in the 50s I had started walking on the outbound part of the lap while heading into the wind and eating, before running the return leg with the wind at my back.  Occasionally I would walk most of a lap, taking care to walk quickly and with purpose rather than just strolling.  The mental discipline had gone from forcing myself to walk to forcing myself to run on legs that were getting stiffer and sorer every hour.

Sometimes I stopped to stretch in the middle of a lap.  My hamstrings were sore and tight, and as I went further my quads went the same way.  I got plenty sore, but I didn't get especially tired.


3:02am.  Throwing back a nice cold flat Pepsi.

The efforts of bakerypenguin  and Cupcake Goddess did a lot to see me through the really dark hours.  It was critical to have a supportcrew, as it meant that all I had to worry about was putting one foot in front of the other rather than organising something to eat or drink.  If I needed Vegemite smeared on some crackers, if I needed some soup, if I needed my Staminade diluted by 25%, it was done and I kept going.


3:56am.  A lot more walking now, but still stubborn enough to run.

As the night wore on, I found myself frequently doing math in my head to determine how close I was t reaching my goal.  I fond myself thinking "if I can run two hours in total out of the last six, I should make it with 2km to spare."  I found myself more and more wanting to confirm with every lap how far I had gone.  Thankfully my support crew were pretty sharp, and Cupcake Goddess even joined me in walking a few laps and discussed her certainty that my goal was well within reach if I could keep up with her walking pace of 5.5km/hr.


5:17am.  The sky is getting lighter and I am realising that if I can keep going, I will make my goal.

My parents came back for the final shift at 6am.  CG stayed and continued walking alongside me, and wound up staying right to the finish.  By 6:30, the accompaniment duties had been taken over by Dad as I tried to run as I tried to run the last few laps.  There was nothing to hold back for now, and even with stiff legs I managed to run at a pace that caused my dad to remark that I was "moving pretty well right now."


6:43am. Finishing 84km and running as much as I can in the remaining time.

As I set off on my last lap I was told that they didn't want people starting new laps in the last 10 minutes so that everyone would be at the finish at 7am.  I ran the whole last lap with exhausted legs that could hardly bend, and even managed to "sprint" the last 40 metres or so.


6:51am.  See that look on my face?  Everytime I tried to run in the last two hours I got that look.

So I managed to sprint across the line, completing 85km in 11 hours 51 minutes.  I am confident that if they had given the ok I could have done 86.


6:52am.  As it was, having poured everything into lap 85, I was happy to finish without collapsing to the ground.

The others finished as I cooled down amidst a couple of proud parents.


Someone mentioned that it was clear we had inherited traits.  "Yeah," Dad said as I came back to reality, "like stupidity."

In total, six of us finished the whole 12 hours.
I decided to wear my Mr Lazy shirt.  IRONY!!!

Dad drove me home and I struggled up the two stairs on our porch and into the house.  I managed to get myself into a cold bath and then got straight into bed.  I wasn't able to make it to the baptism two hours later I had planned on attending, as it took me twenty minutes to get clothes on and another five to get to my keys.  By that point I decided that driving while I could barely move was probably a bad idea.

I slept until the afternoon and spent the rest of the day walking with the aid of my trusty Kokoda walking stick.  Helga seemed to find it hilarious that at one point it took me 5 minutes to sit down on the sofa.

I was at work on Monday and today, and have been getting steadily better.  I am getting a lot of odd looks from people on account of walking like Frankenstein.  I think they're just jealous.

The donations to beyondblue have picked up a lot recently.  So far they total $860 with more still pledged to come in.  I even managed to collect a few donations on the night from passers by or people on my support crew.

Now I just have to hope I recover from this in time to make a showing at the Warrior Dash on Saturday.  Why oh why do they have to be so close together?

Comments

[luckycanuck.livejournal.com]

No I am bulkier. I was probably the heaviest guy to finish.

The soreness is getting much better. I ran up a flight of stairs about five minutes ago.