Monday, May 23, 2016

3 Days at the Fair 24 Hour Race - Analysis


In review of the race I will cover my race plan and execution, and things I think worked well.  Or not.
It should be noted that this was my first fixed time race and the approach was really an "attempt to finish" experiment, not a maximum results effort. 

General plan

·         Run the first hour, then run/walk 4+ miles per hour; keep moving at least 90% of time

·         Run the most flat or downhill sections; walk uphill parts. Running 3/4ths of the 1 mile loop.

·         Try for 200+ calories per hour

·         Get food/drink mostly at the race provided aid station, eat/drink while walking

·         Keep stops to a minimum, only for restroom, clothing, stretching, treating/fixing something

·         Set up own aid station along the course, preferably on the walk portion.

 
Pre-calculated pace notes
Run 3/4th of lap - 11:15 to 14:00 minutes per mile.  57 to 46 miles over half of event
Run 2/3rd of lap – 11:45 to 14:45 minutes per mile.  55 to 44 miles over half of event
Run half of lap – 12:30 to 16:00 minutes per mile.  51 to 40 miles over half of event
Assumption of run pace of 10 to 12 minutes per mile, walk pace of 15 to 20 minutes per mile.  Expecting the quicker pace earlier and the slower pace later.

 
Actual performance

I ran the first 6.75 miles stopping once for water.  From this point I ran only part of each lap, walking some of every lap.  Three or four laps I walked the entire loop.  I eventually switched some parts from run to walk sections.  Occasionally I walked more of a specific lap as I felt it would permit me to keep going better overall.  I didn’t wear a watch, checking the timing monitor for the time of the current and prior laps, plus overall average pace, total miles.

I mostly ate and drank as appetite/thirst dictated.

I stopped and sat down to prop my feet up 3 times for 10 to 15 minutes.  I also drank chocolate milk and ate some of my own foods: brownies, peanut butter crackers, peanuts, honey/coffee energy drink.

I took acetaminophen about 5 times during the race.

I stopped with 101 miles at 22:55:32.

Regarding pacing, I basically ran at my easy long run effort level for about 3/4ths of each 1 mile lap, walking 1/4th.


Analysis

What worked:
The one mile loop was good in that I never needed to carry anything except what I was eating as I left the aid station.

Access to food and drink every 15 to 20 minutes was enough.  Access to my clothing and gear every lap was a good thing.

The 1 mile loop also made it easy to identify when to walk or run.  No need for a watch to signal walk/run.  The default was the same every lap, adjusting only based on recovery needs.

The run walk ratio worked well for me.  It was never a longer run portion than I felt I could manage.

To prevent chafing with rain expected, I used a diaper rash treatment in the “diaper zone”.  I rubbed my feet with vasolene before putting my socks on. 

The lighted course probably helped avoid sleepiness compared to running through normal nighttime darkness.

I had practiced walking quickly and easily.  And I practiced run/walk transitions on long runs.

I think I was able to get close to maximum miles in the race for the training I had done.
 

Less than ideal

Being my own crew cost a little time for each thing I needed to get out.  For maximum miles a support crew would be important.  This was true for both my own aid and the race provided aid station.

Playing it by ear for nutrition needs probably was not ideal.  I think I got behind a little in the first few hours.  If I had figured this out in advance I could have just been eating/drinking per schedule.

Having a loose goal plan gave me permission to stop before time was out.  I had a minimum goal of exceeding my age, then to keep moving the whole time, and a "completely satisfied" goal of 100 miles.  I surrendered the keep moving goal after reaching the completely satisfied one. 


Unknown
I think my effort level was low enough to allow some digestion throughout.  Perhaps running for longer blocks of time, then walking longer while fueling/digesting would give higher mileage.

Perhaps a liquid nutrition approach would allow a little higher effort level throughout since digestion/absorption should be easier.


Training note: My training was mostly marathon training for a mid-March race for which I tapered and recovered. As training ramped back up, I included some lunch time walk practice and some walk/run portions on long runs.  Typical weekly mileage totals in the 50s with a few 60+ weeks.  And a little cutback in mid April for a family trip to Boston as a marathon spectator.
(Marathon shown as smaller red bar at right of graph, big red bar, far right is 3 Days at the Fair)



Mile Splits

Lap
Lap time
Total Time
Average Pace
1
09:51.6
0:09:52
0:09:52
2
09:39.6
0:19:31
0:09:46
3
09:37.5
0:29:09
0:09:43
4
09:52.0
0:39:01
0:09:45
5
09:38.3
0:48:39
0:09:44
6
09:37.3
0:58:16
0:09:43
7
11:17.3
1:09:34
0:09:56
8
11:12.0
1:20:46
0:10:06
9
10:29.3
1:31:15
0:10:08
10
11:11.2
1:42:26
0:10:15
11
10:33.7
1:53:00
0:10:16
12
11:29.8
2:04:29
0:10:22
13
11:59.9
2:16:29
0:10:30
14
10:59.9
2:27:29
0:10:32
15
10:33.3
2:38:03
0:10:32
16
11:38.0
2:49:41
0:10:36
17
10:42.0
3:00:23
0:10:37
18
11:17.6
3:11:40
0:10:39
19
11:48.7
3:23:29
0:10:43
20
11:03.9
3:34:33
0:10:44
21
13:03.2
3:47:36
0:10:50
22
11:54.0
3:59:30
0:10:53
23
11:08.3
4:10:38
0:10:54
24
12:05.1
4:22:43
0:10:57
25
11:15.1
4:33:59
0:10:58
26
21:13.7
4:55:12
0:11:21
27
13:19.6
5:08:32
0:11:26
28
12:12.5
5:20:44
0:11:27
29
13:20.2
5:34:05
0:11:31
30
13:21.6
5:47:26
0:11:35
31
11:23.9
5:58:50
0:11:35
32
15:07.0
6:13:57
0:11:41
33
12:17.7
6:26:15
0:11:42
34
11:49.0
6:38:04
0:11:42
35
26:28.1
7:04:32
0:12:08
36
11:37.3
7:16:09
0:12:07
37
13:41.8
7:29:51
0:12:09
38
12:50.7
7:42:42
0:12:11
39
14:29.9
7:57:12
0:12:14
40
11:27.5
8:08:39
0:12:13
41
16:30.4
8:25:09
0:12:19
42
12:45.1
8:37:54
0:12:20
43
12:49.3
8:50:44
0:12:21
44
13:43.8
9:04:28
0:12:22
45
14:57.1
9:19:25
0:12:26
46
12:09.4
9:31:34
0:12:26
47
19:51.7
9:51:26
0:12:35
48
12:20.5
10:03:46
0:12:35
49
13:26.2
10:17:12
0:12:36
50
11:26.7
10:28:39
0:12:34
51
39:57.5
11:08:37
0:13:07
52
11:40.1
11:20:17
0:13:05
53
13:43.8
11:34:00
0:13:06
54
11:45.4
11:45:46
0:13:04
55
18:10.3
12:03:56
0:13:10
56
11:39.5
12:15:36
0:13:08
57
15:23.6
12:30:59
0:13:11
58
14:02.5
12:45:02
0:13:11
59
12:20.2
12:57:22
0:13:11
60
13:13.0
13:10:35
0:13:11
61
11:46.8
13:22:22
0:13:09
62
13:26.7
13:35:49
0:13:09
63
16:18.4
13:52:07
0:13:12
64
15:44.9
14:07:52
0:13:15
65
15:17.0
14:23:09
0:13:17
66
14:56.3
14:38:05
0:13:18
67
14:47.0
14:52:52
0:13:20
68
11:50.9
15:04:43
0:13:18
69
13:51.1
15:18:34
0:13:19
70
11:36.3
15:30:10
0:13:17
71
12:02.7
15:42:13
0:13:16
72
14:01.8
15:56:15
0:13:17
73
11:34.6
16:07:49
0:13:15
74
11:54.8
16:19:44
0:13:14
75
17:20.6
16:37:05
0:13:18
76
13:22.7
16:50:28
0:13:18
77
14:04.2
17:04:32
0:13:18
78
12:20.1
17:16:52
0:13:18
79
16:29.2
17:33:21
0:13:20
80
11:58.5
17:45:20
0:13:19
81
13:56.9
17:59:16
0:13:19
82
22:47.0
18:22:03
0:13:26
83
13:23.5
18:35:27
0:13:26
84
12:21.7
18:47:49
0:13:26
85
12:44.5
19:00:33
0:13:25
86
15:39.6
19:16:13
0:13:27
87
14:31.2
19:30:44
0:13:27
88
12:35.5
19:43:19
0:13:27
89
13:25.0
19:56:45
0:13:27
90
16:00.7
20:12:45
0:13:29
91
13:14.2
20:25:59
0:13:28
92
16:09.6
20:42:09
0:13:30
93
14:52.7
20:57:02
0:13:31
94
12:48.7
21:09:50
0:13:31
95
15:06.9
21:24:57
0:13:32
96
15:32.5
21:40:30
0:13:33
97
15:13.8
21:55:44
0:13:34
98
14:02.7
22:09:46
0:13:34
99
15:53.9
22:25:40
0:13:36
100
16:24.7
22:42:05
0:13:37
101
13:19.4
22:55:24
0:13:37