2019 Outrun 24 (O24)

I had big plans going into this race weekend. I was in much better shape physically and mentally than in 2018. The goal was 100 miles in the 24 hours.....the actual was 31 miles in 6.5 hours... beyond the disappointment of not hitting the goal was a back pain that I have not felt in a long (nearly 20 years) time. It started Thursday evening somehow but when I woke up Friday I was in bad shape, I was able to get in to see a chiropractor before hitting the road for the race but then sat in a car for almost 2 hours and put up tents when getting to Chapin Forest in Kirtland OH.

After getting things set up I was able to relax for a bit then went to sleep hoping to wake up Saturday feeling better. When I woke up I did feel a bit better but not great but got dressed and fueled to go run. It was cool and very gray, misty and foggy. We also had a threat of rain most of the day.

This race has a great atmosphere and it was easy to get in the mood to run pre-race at the start line.
At 8 am we began the event that would officially end at 8 am Sunday. The first 10 miles went by fairly quick and I had built the buffer of time I wanted so now I just need to stay on pace to hit the goal by the next morning. Over the next 10 miles I fell into my grove and fueling was right on point.

Over the miles I ran into lots of folks I knew and got to meet some new friends and was having a good time. However as I got to 25 miles my back was starting to really cause me issues. By mile 29 I was starting to get behind my goal time to the point that I had eaten all of my time buffer up. When I realized that I would not be able to get to the 100 mile goal in the 24 hour time limit I decided to call it a day at the 50k.

I had and still have mixed feelings about stopping. Other than my back I felt great, alert, high energy and mostly enjoying the day. However, my back was happy to stop and with the type of event it is... its not like dropping from a normal race. This race is designed to do what you want or feel like on that day.

On Monday I went to the chiropractor again and he put my back in place...again. As of this blog post its Friday and my back feels pretty good and I jumped into a duathlon this weekend. All and all I am happy with how O24 turned out. My fueling needs were handled by #hammernutrition , shoes were from #columbia1938 , and of course I wore my trusty #suunto Ambit2

Gear:

Hammer race kit

Columbia Montrail Colorado's
Swifwick wool socks
Columbia Titan Ultra shorts
Amphipod handheld
Sunnto Ambit2

Fuel:
Hammer Gel
Hammer Sustained Energy
Hammer Raw Energy Bar
Hammer Tissue Rejuvenator
Hammer Endurance Amino
Hammer Race Day Boost
Hammer Recoverite