Across the Years 2023-2024
December 28, 2023 - January 3, 2024
Running five out of six days in the 48 hour and 72 hour races with a day off in between seemed to be a winner for me. I usually have a difficult time sleeping during a six day and this negatively impacts my running. So to force me to sleep better I decided to complete two races with a day off at a hotel in between where I showered, slept and used my recovery leg squeezers. This helped me start the 72 hour running which felt wonderful. In fact I got 83 miles on the first day of my 48 hour and ran 72 miles on my first day of the second race. This sets me up for a successful second day in any race. Now my goals were not to get as many miles as possible. In fact my goals were to get two hundreds and not hurt myself. Both goals achieved as I feel pretty good after 293 total miles. Running for many days can really give you some aches and hurts and the last few times I did this kind of mileage I came away with aggravated tendons that needed icing and time off from running. None of that this time.
Another goal and perhaps the most/important one is to have fun. This means chatting with friends and being silly. Check! Goal achieved. Because I wasn’t trying to get all the miles on the second day of both races I would sit with my feet up and wait for a friend to come by and when they did I would join them for a few laps. This is a great social strategy as walking and talking can make the miles fly by. Sometimes I had to run a little to catch up to a buddy on the loop so this means I could have run more but that wasn’t my goal. Happy that my legs are strong. Not every event is all about getting the most miles, in fact getting the most smiles is a win. Even when I was walking alone I managed to giggle and laugh at the book I was listening to or just about the silliness of running loops and never finding the exit.
Other details include earning my 2000 mile coat and moving up on the all time list for ATY miles. I also slept early for the first time. I have never slept much during a 48 hour event and this time I slept for three hours during the first night. This set me up for success for the week.
Always learning, I didn’t bring enough shorts as I brought more cold weather clothes that didn’t get used but managed to be clothed for the entire race. I ate well and probably gained weight but never had any tummy issues. And I learned to use an inhaler to keep flem from gathering in my lungs in the cold.
ATY offers many options for runners. There are timed events, 6, 12, 24, 48, 72, 144 hour events and recently they have added fixed distance events such as the marathon, 100 and 200 milers. Because of construction the dirt, gravel and pavement course had to be changed from a little over one mile to a 1.4 mile quirkey loop. The new loop of 1.4 miles adds a section where we get to pass other runners going the opposite way for about 100 yards. This allowed for many high fives and support of other participants. I think this added to the positive feel of the race. Also the gal, Ashley, who won the 100 and set a course record lapped us many times with such a positive and fun attitude that it set the tone of positivity (no grumpy pants allowed). There was a new race director, Katie and she seemed to do a good job with a positive attitude. New timers had some issues and it was a bit frustrating but in the end they fixed things, still it was a bit unnerving. The new mashed potato bar during the overnight hours was da bomb. All in all, another great experience at ATY.
Stats
48 hr, half, 2:41, marathon in 5:45, 50 miles in 12:30, 100k, in 16:09, 83 miles on day one, 100 in 29:28, total of 129.6 miles in 48 hr
72 hr, (didn’t get half time bc timers were messed up), marathon in 6:06, 50 miles in 14:05, 100k in 18:42, 72 miles on day one, 100 miles in 34:19, 163.4 in 72 hours
293 in five days
