FANS 2016 - 103.5 miles
Posting Date: 6/7/16
Race Date: 6/4/16
Finishing Time: 24 hours
Placing: 5th in the Men's race, 7th overall
When you cross the line to to the other side checking the box on a goal that was three years in the making, it is kind of a big deal. At 6:58am on June 5th, 2016, I cross the line and had accomplished my goal of running 100 miles in 24 hours (roughly 22:10, actually). I proceeded to unknowingly complete another lap, along with a handful of short laps to end up at 103.5. Good thing, because that got me a cool plate for being the 5th place male.
It takes a special event to inspire someone to run around a lake 46 times to make the coveted goal of "100 Miles in 24 Hours." FANS is that event to the Twin Cities and has been for 27 years. I first heard about FANS five years ago. I had just on-boarded a new Personal Training client, Tony Villano, who was training for one of his bucket list goals; to run 100 miles at the FANS 24 Hour Endurance Run. To the bench pressing, deadlift loving kid I was at the time, this sounded like lunacy. There is no way the human body could run 100 miles in 24 hours...right?
Fast forward five years...I'm 50 pounds lighter, haven't bench pressed in nearly a year, and run an average of 80 miles per week. Apparently that nutcase name Tony had a real impression on me.
My first FANS was in 2014 and it was my third ultrarunning event ever. I had run just 50k prior at Chippewa, with a 40 mile longrun in training and a DNF (did not finish) to my name at Zumbro 50 mile. I put in 22 laps (51 miles) and was toast. I vowed the next year I'd be back to get my hundred. In 2015, I came painfully close with 97.7 miles, even getting the coveted "Closest to 100 Miles Without Making It" award that the FANS directors give out each year. Yet again, I vowed I'd be back to finish what I'd started. I wouldn't say my 2016 race was a perfect race by any stretch, but if there is one thing ultrarunning has taught me, it's how to adapt and persevere. Those two traits served me well this year and I am happy with the outcome.
My FANS 2016 started out just the way it should, in the ultra truck, Tony's 1992 Toyota Tacoma with god knows how many miles on it, and about a dozen race stickers strewn across the back of the topper. It has served us well as a mode of transport to many races, and hopefully it will for many to come. I had my gear packed up from the night before in a big Rubbermaid tub. Four pairs of shoes, six pairs of socks, three headlamps, two changes of clothes, a handheld water bottle and 24 Hammer Gels, and my trusty Zumbro tested raincoat.
We arrived at the lake around 6:30am, set up the tent, and then Jeremy and I did the pre-race weigh in and got ready for the start. At 8:00am sharp, the 6,12, and 24 hour races began simultaneously. Per usual, the excitement of the start led to several sub 18 minute laps before Jeremy and I parted ways to manage our own paces independently. Jeremy is a faster runner, and he tends to settle into a quicker pace earlier in events. I settled into a comfortable 20-23 minute lap pace (each lap is 2.14 miles) and kept that up for some time. Around the 30 mile mark I spotted Jeremy sitting back at the tent. This ended up being a real blessing, because we linked up and kept a strong 22-24 minute pace through the 100k mark. At the 12 hour mark, we found ourselves with just over 65 miles. While it was clear that we could make our ultimate goal of 120 miles from a mathematical standpoint, our minds and bodies were not quite as confident. We held a good pace until around 10pm, when Jeremy and I parted ways. I was slowing down due to excessive sleepiness. I was not happy at how early this was happening, as I expected it to happen, but not until the early morning hours. After crossing the 75 mile mark, I opted to take a 20 minute nap in the tent. Laying down in a race can be a risky move, as it is frequently shared wisdom that it is never easy to get moving again. That being said, I've now taken cat naps in two races, and found them to be tremendously beneficial. This one was no exception. After waking again, I managed to get back on a strong pace, slowly improving my lap times until settling back into a 24-27 minute per lap groove. A few laps after starting back up, I spotted Jeremy in the tent under the blankets. Apparently the cold wet night had caught up with him, and was starting to go slightly hypothermic before deciding to hunker down and warm-up. Although I passed Jeremy in the tent two times, I would be lucky enough to link up with him again on my last full lap. By the time we finished our lap, what I thought was 46, but turned out to be 47, I was toast. Although physically good in most respects, my feet were blistered enough that each step was quite painful. I proceeded to finish out with several short laps before the official end of the race at 8am.
The feeling of accomplishing a goal of this magnitude always takes a while to sink in. On our last lap Jeremy and I just kept reflecting on the last year of training. A year ago we had just began training together with the dream of passing the 100 mile distance. While we both came close at FANS 2015, we had now surpassed our goal on two occasions, first at Zumbro, now at FANS. For me it was also a moment to reflect on how much my work this year paid off. I began training in January, dealt with an injury early on in the year, taking me out of training for the entire month of February, before coming back strong. I put in a total of 13 back to back long run weekends of 40 miles or more each, ran an average of 80 miles per week, with several weeks up above the 100 mile mark. What allowed me to train at such a high mileage was my relative intensity. I focused hard this year on keeping myself in a very comfortable aerobic zone for 90% of my training. This left me feeling like I could recover between runs with no problem. By the last few back to back long run weekends I did, I hardly could feel that my legs were tired on the second day, pretty cool!
Overall, FANS 2016 was a great experience. It was one my checkbox on my list of goals that is complete, and It helped further establish confidence in my ability to continue to improve as a runner. Next stop Voyageur, then the entire length of the 310 mile Superior Hiking Trail in September. The fun is just getting started this summer.
Gear List:
HUGE Thanks To:
Race Date: 6/4/16
Finishing Time: 24 hours
Placing: 5th in the Men's race, 7th overall
 |
| Dopey post race smile with my 5th place plate |
It takes a special event to inspire someone to run around a lake 46 times to make the coveted goal of "100 Miles in 24 Hours." FANS is that event to the Twin Cities and has been for 27 years. I first heard about FANS five years ago. I had just on-boarded a new Personal Training client, Tony Villano, who was training for one of his bucket list goals; to run 100 miles at the FANS 24 Hour Endurance Run. To the bench pressing, deadlift loving kid I was at the time, this sounded like lunacy. There is no way the human body could run 100 miles in 24 hours...right?
Fast forward five years...I'm 50 pounds lighter, haven't bench pressed in nearly a year, and run an average of 80 miles per week. Apparently that nutcase name Tony had a real impression on me.
 |
| Tony and I after one of our first runs together |
My FANS 2016 started out just the way it should, in the ultra truck, Tony's 1992 Toyota Tacoma with god knows how many miles on it, and about a dozen race stickers strewn across the back of the topper. It has served us well as a mode of transport to many races, and hopefully it will for many to come. I had my gear packed up from the night before in a big Rubbermaid tub. Four pairs of shoes, six pairs of socks, three headlamps, two changes of clothes, a handheld water bottle and 24 Hammer Gels, and my trusty Zumbro tested raincoat.
We arrived at the lake around 6:30am, set up the tent, and then Jeremy and I did the pre-race weigh in and got ready for the start. At 8:00am sharp, the 6,12, and 24 hour races began simultaneously. Per usual, the excitement of the start led to several sub 18 minute laps before Jeremy and I parted ways to manage our own paces independently. Jeremy is a faster runner, and he tends to settle into a quicker pace earlier in events. I settled into a comfortable 20-23 minute lap pace (each lap is 2.14 miles) and kept that up for some time. Around the 30 mile mark I spotted Jeremy sitting back at the tent. This ended up being a real blessing, because we linked up and kept a strong 22-24 minute pace through the 100k mark. At the 12 hour mark, we found ourselves with just over 65 miles. While it was clear that we could make our ultimate goal of 120 miles from a mathematical standpoint, our minds and bodies were not quite as confident. We held a good pace until around 10pm, when Jeremy and I parted ways. I was slowing down due to excessive sleepiness. I was not happy at how early this was happening, as I expected it to happen, but not until the early morning hours. After crossing the 75 mile mark, I opted to take a 20 minute nap in the tent. Laying down in a race can be a risky move, as it is frequently shared wisdom that it is never easy to get moving again. That being said, I've now taken cat naps in two races, and found them to be tremendously beneficial. This one was no exception. After waking again, I managed to get back on a strong pace, slowly improving my lap times until settling back into a 24-27 minute per lap groove. A few laps after starting back up, I spotted Jeremy in the tent under the blankets. Apparently the cold wet night had caught up with him, and was starting to go slightly hypothermic before deciding to hunker down and warm-up. Although I passed Jeremy in the tent two times, I would be lucky enough to link up with him again on my last full lap. By the time we finished our lap, what I thought was 46, but turned out to be 47, I was toast. Although physically good in most respects, my feet were blistered enough that each step was quite painful. I proceeded to finish out with several short laps before the official end of the race at 8am.
The feeling of accomplishing a goal of this magnitude always takes a while to sink in. On our last lap Jeremy and I just kept reflecting on the last year of training. A year ago we had just began training together with the dream of passing the 100 mile distance. While we both came close at FANS 2015, we had now surpassed our goal on two occasions, first at Zumbro, now at FANS. For me it was also a moment to reflect on how much my work this year paid off. I began training in January, dealt with an injury early on in the year, taking me out of training for the entire month of February, before coming back strong. I put in a total of 13 back to back long run weekends of 40 miles or more each, ran an average of 80 miles per week, with several weeks up above the 100 mile mark. What allowed me to train at such a high mileage was my relative intensity. I focused hard this year on keeping myself in a very comfortable aerobic zone for 90% of my training. This left me feeling like I could recover between runs with no problem. By the last few back to back long run weekends I did, I hardly could feel that my legs were tired on the second day, pretty cool!
Overall, FANS 2016 was a great experience. It was one my checkbox on my list of goals that is complete, and It helped further establish confidence in my ability to continue to improve as a runner. Next stop Voyageur, then the entire length of the 310 mile Superior Hiking Trail in September. The fun is just getting started this summer.
Gear List:
- New Balance Fresh Foam Zante - Wore these for about the first 1/3 of the race
- Pearl Izumi N2 Trail - Wore these for a cumulative 1/3 of the race
- Scott Kinabalu 3.0 - Wore these for about 1/3 of the race
- Basic Saucony running socks - changed socks 4x throughout the race
- North Face "Better Than Naked" running shorts
Nutrition:
- Hammer Gels - Used about 10 of these before getting sick
- Avocados - At the recommendation of Brian Klug and John Storkamp. These worked phenomenally and provided the majority of our nutrition for the race.
- Pizza - Around midnight they had Old Chicago delivered. Awesome as always.
- Water - I didn't do any sports drinks this year
- SaltStick Electrolyte Caps - Kept on a schedule of one of these about ever 2 hours
HUGE Thanks To:
- Tony, Tanya, Isabel, and Savannah for crewing for us! You guys were awesome.
- Kurt Decker for telling me to slow the f**k down early in the race.
- John Storkamp and Brian Klug for recommending avocados during the race.
Comments
Post a Comment