Done: 123km in 24 hours

Yesterday during daytime I prepared the clothing and some food. After the kids came from the kindergarten at 6pm we went to Bakio, a beach town where we have a flat. A 7:15pm I started my 24-hour adventure. The car was my center of logistics. It was parked in front of the flat. In the trunk I had stored everything needed:

• a large thermo with hot tea, a few energy drinks, energy bars, home-made cookies, a sandwich, peppermint drops, chocolate, a banana, several apples, vitamin tablets, dextrose,
  
• head lamp,
  
• GPS,
  
• spare clothing (which I never had to use),
  
• ibuprofen pills, sports tape.
  

With the car as the starting point I would do my rounds and at the end of each round I would come back to the car. I could drink, eat, change clothing if necessary, etc. And whenever necessary I could go up to the flat for a hot meal, use the restroom or any emergency. I would carry basically nothing, just an energy bar some dextrose tablets, and a few peppermint drops; everything else stayed in the trunk.

On the very first lap I realized that the initially selected course was too steep. Especially on the downhill it put a lot of stress on my knees. Secondly, on the uphill I would start sweating and on the downhill I would freeze. Considering that I traditionally have knee problems, I changed the course to the beach promenade - nice and flat.

It was also a lot colder than expected. We had 3 degrees Celsius when I started, 1.5 degree at midnight and at night the dew on the cars and the beach froze. Luckily I had brought mittens and a hat.

The primary objective was to finish the 24 hours. So, after some brief initial running I decided to walk at least the first 12-16 hours. Should my knees feel fine I could always run at the end. Running at the beginning and then having to give up after 12 hours, was what I wanted to avoid at all cost.

My approach was to stop every 30-minutes for 1 minute to eat a few bites: either 2 cookies, a bite from the sandwich, half a fruit, or similar. This way I would steadily and continuously feed my body in small doses. Also every 30-minutes I would take a few sips of fluid (mostly hot tea and infusions). Since the temperatures were so low I was rather freezing than hot; I would sweat little (or at least I did not notice any sweat). Every 4-6 hours I planned a larger break to eat a full hot meal (vegetable stew, pasta, rice). The timing of these larger breaks were decided on the go. In total I took 5 real breaks (10 to 30 minutes) and a sixth short break to play with my kids (some 6 minutes). These full-meal breaks were at kilometers: 12, 32, 56, 78, and 102.

Hours 17 through 19 were the hardest. I was around the 100km mark. My left knee started to hurt slightly 10s of kilometers before. I was tired, deprived of sleep as I was up now for some 28 hours. Mentally I was down. My wife said that I looked like I was in bad shape. A lot of muscles hurt, especially a pair of specific muscles in my upper thighs. My back hurt. I was stiff. The sole of my feet hurt. And it cost me energy just to get my feet of the ground.

For unknown reason (or was it because I took an ibuprofen tablet?) quite suddenly after the break 19:30 hours into the adventure, I felt revived, re-vitalized, more energetic and fully optimistic. I think the break helped my get over a mental hurdle. The last 4 hours I was just cruising. I took it a bit slower on purpose to protect my knee.

After 24-hours I had walked 123km (76 miles). I was happy that I had not given up. I was also happy that I was able to cross the 120km mark. But above all, standing at the virtual finish line, I was looking forward to get some sleep.

My wife who had supported me during the adventure by preparing delicious hot meals and the thermos for me, now prepared a hot bath for me. Then the whole family had dinner together. The kids were quite happy to see me. And after dinner came the long awaited moment when I could go to bed. I slept some 10 or 11 hours. Since that was little (I was napping off while my wife talked to me during breakfast) I went back to bed for a few extra hours after breakfast.

Here for the very interested ones, the time and kilometer table:

km	pace (min/km)	24-hour time	day time	comments
0	-	-	7:15 PM
1	0:08	0:08	7:23 PM
2	0:08	0:16	7:31 PM
3	0:09	0:25	7:40 PM
4	0:08	0:33	7:48 PM
5	0:08	0:41	7:56 PM
6	0:09	0:50	8:05 PM
7	0:08	0:58	8:13 PM
8	0:09	1:07	8:22 PM
9	0:09	1:16	8:31 PM
10	0:09	1:25	8:40 PM
11	0:09	1:34	8:49 PM
12	0:09	1:43	8:58 PM
13	0:18	2:01	9:16 PM	break
14	0:09	2:10	9:25 PM
15	0:09	2:19	9:34 PM
16	0:09	2:28	9:43 PM
17	0:09	2:37	9:52 PM
18	0:09	2:46	10:01 PM
19	0:09	2:55	10:10 PM
20	0:09	3:04	10:19 PM
21	0:09	3:13	10:28 PM
22	0:09	3:22	10:37 PM
23	0:09	3:31	10:46 PM
24	0:09	3:40	10:55 PM
25	0:09	3:49	11:04 PM
26	0:10	3:59	11:14 PM
27	0:09	4:08	11:23 PM
28	0:10	4:18	11:33 PM
29	0:10	4:28	11:43 PM
30	0:10	4:38	11:53 PM
31	0:10	4:48	12:03 AM
32	0:10	4:58	12:13 AM
33	0:20	5:18	12:33 AM	break
34	0:10	5:28	12:43 AM
35	0:10	5:38	12:53 AM
36	0:09	5:47	1:02 AM
37	0:09	5:56	1:11 AM
38	0:09	6:05	1:20 AM
39	0:09	6:14	1:29 AM
40	0:10	6:24	1:39 AM
41	0:10	6:34	1:49 AM
42	0:10	6:44	1:59 AM
43	0:10	6:54	2:09 AM
44	0:11	7:05	2:20 AM
45	0:10	7:15	2:30 AM
46	0:10	7:25	2:40 AM
47	0:10	7:35	2:50 AM
48	0:11	7:46	3:01 AM
49	0:11	7:57	3:12 AM
50	0:11	8:08	3:23 AM
51	0:11	8:19	3:34 AM
52	0:10	8:29	3:44 AM
53	0:11	8:40	3:55 AM
54	0:11	8:51	4:06 AM
55	0:11	9:02	4:17 AM
56	0:10	9:12	4:27 AM
57	0:34	9:46	5:01 AM	break
58	0:11	9:57	5:12 AM
59	0:10	10:07	5:22 AM
60	0:10	10:17	5:32 AM
61	0:12	10:29	5:44 AM
62	0:12	10:41	5:56 AM
63	0:12	10:53	6:08 AM
64	0:12	11:05	6:20 AM
65	0:11	11:16	6:31 AM
66	0:11	11:27	6:42 AM
67	0:11	11:38	6:53 AM
68	0:11	11:49	7:04 AM
69	0:11	12:00	7:15 AM
70	0:11	12:11	7:26 AM
71	0:11	12:22	7:37 AM
72	0:11	12:33	7:48 AM
73	0:11	12:44	7:59 AM
74	0:11	12:55	8:10 AM
75	0:11	13:06	8:21 AM
76	0:11	13:17	8:32 AM
77	0:11	13:28	8:43 AM
78	0:11	13:39	8:54 AM
79	0:27	14:06	9:21 AM	break
80	0:12	14:18	9:33 AM
81	0:12	14:30	9:45 AM
82	0:12	14:42	9:57 AM
83	0:12	14:54	10:09 AM
84	0:12	15:06	10:21 AM
85	0:12	15:18	10:33 AM
86	0:12	15:30	10:45 AM
87	0:12	15:42	10:57 AM
88	0:12	15:54	11:09 AM
89	0:12	16:06	11:21 AM
90	0:12	16:18	11:33 AM
91	0:12	16:30	11:45 AM
92	0:12	16:42	11:57 AM
93	0:12	16:54	12:09 PM
94	0:12	17:06	12:21 PM
95	0:12	17:18	12:33 PM
96	0:13	17:31	12:46 PM
97	0:12	17:43	12:58 PM
98	0:13	17:56	1:11 PM
99	0:14	18:10	1:25 PM
100	0:15	18:25	1:40 PM
101	0:14	18:39	1:54 PM
102	0:15	18:54	2:09 PM
103	0:33	19:27	2:42 PM	break
104	0:14	19:41	2:56 PM
105	0:14	19:55	3:10 PM
106	0:14	20:09	3:24 PM
107	0:14	20:23	3:38 PM
108	0:14	20:37	3:52 PM
109	0:14	20:51	4:06 PM
110	0:14	21:05	4:20 PM
111	0:14	21:19	4:34 PM
112	0:14	21:33	4:48 PM
113	0:14	21:47	5:02 PM
114	0:14	22:01	5:16 PM
115	0:20	22:21	5:36 PM	break
116	0:13	22:34	5:49 PM
117	0:12	22:46	6:01 PM
118	0:14	23:00	6:15 PM
119	0:14	23:14	6:29 PM
120	0:11	23:25	6:40 PM
121	0:10	23:35	6:50 PM
122	0:10	23:45	7:00 PM
123	0:11	23:56	7:11 PM

Procrastination

Month after month goes by and I am delaying it with the usual excuses: too hot, too rainy, the kids, ... Now it is time to stop the procrastination. It is now or never, under any condition. This coming weekend I will give it a try.

Where?

About the "where" I have thought already for several months, but I cannot make up my mind. It should be close to home, it should be a small (e.g. 5-10km) circle so that I can leave all the food and water in the car, it should be a soft surface (ideally forest), etc. None of the locations I know fulfills all my ideal requirements. I will have to compromise.

Possibilities are:

• Getxo-Plentzia along the coast, between Punta Galea and Sopelana
• Gorbeia National Park
• Bakio between Bakio and San Juan de Gaztelugatxe
• more to be evaluated soon ...

When?

I just looked up the lunar calendar. Full moon this falls on April 2, May 2, June 1, and June 30. April 2 seems a bit early, let's see if I can make it May 2.

Checklist

So, what do I need for the 24-hour adventure?

• Full-moon (seeing at night will be a lot easier)
• GPS for the preparation, to measure the distance
• Head-lamp, batteries (for the night hours)
• Food
• Salt!!!
• Energy bars
• Dextrose
• Bananas
• Precooked pasta
• Vitamin tablets
• Drinks
• Water
• Isotonic drinks
• Painkiller
• Band aid (nipple protection), sports tape
• Knee protector
• Spare clothing
• Spare running, hiking shoes
• Cap
• Sun lotion
• Towel
• Toilet paper
• Watch
• Camera (for the before and after picture)
• Funny bag?
• MP3 player?

Anything else?

The Goal

With Aconcagua out of the way and climbed successfully I am ready for the next challenge. I want and always wanted to do a desert run. Desert runs are typically long runs, ultra-runs as they call them. I know that there are many professional desert and ultra runs out there: Mongolia Sunrise to Sunset Run, Badwater to Mount Whitney (see also Wikipedia), Des Sables runs (see also Wikipedia), Racing the Planet, Machu Picchu and other South American mountain runs, etc.

But what I do not like about them is the following: they are too commercial. All these races have the feel of business to them. Des Sables has a registration fee of €2550! I prefer a different approach, a more personal run, a smaller affair, with more responsibility, where I need to take care of everything from planning, via preparation to execution. I love the idea of the Fat Ass runs. They really represent the spirit of my vision, they capture perfectly what I want to do.

Anyway, I am not ready to do a desert run, not yet. First I have to gain a bit more experience in a long run. So first, as preparation for a true desert run, I want to start out with a 24-hour run. This is my current goal. If I manage that I can always extend my goal to the true desert ultra run.

I have never done anything like it, the closest I got was running the Marathon in Los Angeles, Long Beach and San Diego in 1990, that is 17 years ago! Wow, a long, long time ago. I am not quite in shape to run a marathon as fast as then. In Long Beach I finished the 42km in 3h14min, my personal best time. Today, older and without training it would take me a lot longer. Anyway, the point for me now is less to break a speed record, the goal is a slow and consistent run and making it to the finish line. Stamina, persistence, and touching the physical limit on duration is my goal. So instead of setting myself a goal in km (as in a 100km run), I want to set my goal on a duration, i.e. a 24-hour run.

This is really what my goal boils down to for my first stage: a 24-hour run. A test of endurance. Since I will not be able to run 24 hours, it will be a 24-hour run/trek/hike/walk. Pretty much anything is allowed as long as I keep moving. And since I am doing this only for me -- I have nothing to prove to anyone -- I will just do it on my own. Few people would be crazy enough to join me.

Clearly I also want to roughly know how far I can get in 24-hours, so I set myself a secondary goal: 100-km, because it is such a nice and even number.