85km done!
I ran the Lemming Loop this last weekend. And I had a great time doing it.
I started my day early, arriving about 10 minutes late for the start of the race. Oops. This was probably a blessing in disguise. It was pretty dark, so I used my headlamp for the first few lamps, wore a toque, gloves, and long pants.
Since it was cold the previous night, there was dew on everything including the trail. A light coating of mud was impossible to avoid stepping on. My runners very quickly gained "platform shoe" status. Fortunately, the ground hardened up as it warmed. My toque, gloves and long pants quickly came off. I fortunately had thought ahead and brought a 2nd pair of runners.
I saw only 1 other person on the trail until the 6-hour runners started at 9:00. I got passed a lot. It didn't bother me in the slightest, as I knew I still had a long way to go. At 9:55, I strode into the aid station in time to meet some of the 3-hour runners. It was at the point that I realized I had run almost as far as those guys were about to. That was a bit of a confidence boost to know that I still felt fresh and ready to go after 3 hours.
Unfortunately, my freshness wouldn't last all day. By the time I was on my 9th loop (45km in), my left knee started to hurt. A lot. Popping a few advil didn't help very much either. I was pretty happy that I had already run a marathon (albeit in 6 hours), but was scared that I would have to drop out far short of the 12 hours I signed up for. At 50km, I decided to have a walking lap, to rest my knee up, and get some encouragement from the friendly folks on Twitter. It turns out that strategy saved my race. I determined that the total distance I ran didn't matter. In the end, I just wanted to keep moving forward for 12 hours. Quitting wasn't an option no matter how much I hurt.
After 65km had passed, I had figured out a stride that put less pressure on my left knee. It kept my left straighter than it normally would, and I lunged my right leg forward. This caused me to heel strike on my right left far more than I normally would. But it stopped the pain that I was experiencing at the time. By the time 80km came, even the modified running stride wasn't helping. I walked my last lap and got back to the aid station/finish line 6 minutes before my 12 hours was up. It was at this point that I found out only three people had completed the full 12 hours, out of 7 that had registered.
My legs tighened up fast, and I had the drive from hell going home. I'd never been so glad that I had cruise control. The next day, my *right* leg hurt. I couldn't move my foot without my shin hurting. At first I thought I had a stress fracture. But since then, the swelling has gone down somewhat, and the pain has subsided a lot. Now if feels like I have the shin split from hell. Small price to pay, in my opinion, to run two marathons in one day.
I started my day early, arriving about 10 minutes late for the start of the race. Oops. This was probably a blessing in disguise. It was pretty dark, so I used my headlamp for the first few lamps, wore a toque, gloves, and long pants.
Since it was cold the previous night, there was dew on everything including the trail. A light coating of mud was impossible to avoid stepping on. My runners very quickly gained "platform shoe" status. Fortunately, the ground hardened up as it warmed. My toque, gloves and long pants quickly came off. I fortunately had thought ahead and brought a 2nd pair of runners.
I saw only 1 other person on the trail until the 6-hour runners started at 9:00. I got passed a lot. It didn't bother me in the slightest, as I knew I still had a long way to go. At 9:55, I strode into the aid station in time to meet some of the 3-hour runners. It was at the point that I realized I had run almost as far as those guys were about to. That was a bit of a confidence boost to know that I still felt fresh and ready to go after 3 hours.
Unfortunately, my freshness wouldn't last all day. By the time I was on my 9th loop (45km in), my left knee started to hurt. A lot. Popping a few advil didn't help very much either. I was pretty happy that I had already run a marathon (albeit in 6 hours), but was scared that I would have to drop out far short of the 12 hours I signed up for. At 50km, I decided to have a walking lap, to rest my knee up, and get some encouragement from the friendly folks on Twitter. It turns out that strategy saved my race. I determined that the total distance I ran didn't matter. In the end, I just wanted to keep moving forward for 12 hours. Quitting wasn't an option no matter how much I hurt.
After 65km had passed, I had figured out a stride that put less pressure on my left knee. It kept my left straighter than it normally would, and I lunged my right leg forward. This caused me to heel strike on my right left far more than I normally would. But it stopped the pain that I was experiencing at the time. By the time 80km came, even the modified running stride wasn't helping. I walked my last lap and got back to the aid station/finish line 6 minutes before my 12 hours was up. It was at this point that I found out only three people had completed the full 12 hours, out of 7 that had registered.
My legs tighened up fast, and I had the drive from hell going home. I'd never been so glad that I had cruise control. The next day, my *right* leg hurt. I couldn't move my foot without my shin hurting. At first I thought I had a stress fracture. But since then, the swelling has gone down somewhat, and the pain has subsided a lot. Now if feels like I have the shin split from hell. Small price to pay, in my opinion, to run two marathons in one day.