Never say Never?. Have you heard of the Yeti Ultra 24 Hour Challenge? Never in my wildest dreams did I believe I would run more than 26.2 miles.
Seriously, running a 10K virtually was in my opinion hard enough. What I mean by hard is that it’s much more challenging to stay focused when you’re not getting chased or chasing some other runner?.
So when my virtual running buddies started talking about this Yeti Challenge, initially I thought they were all a little bit crazy. But like I said, runners do crazy things for fun.
Their enthusiasm obviously was contagious since I decided after seeing many others having so much fun with it, I thought what the hey….lets give this a shot. Many of us have never done an Ultra distance before this challenge, including me. But those that had, we’re happy to share some tips. Most had no time goals attached and simply wanted to have fun. We’re all runners no matter the distance or how fast we run.
Also, except for a few of these ladies, I know them only virtually. I did meet up with a handful of them a couple years ago at the Another Mother Runner Twin Cities Expo and it was SUCH FUN. It’s been amazing to be a part of AMR’s virtual running community and maybe some day I’ll have the opportunity to meet more of these ladies at an AMR retreat or another race, whenever that may be.
And by the way, I needed every single tip and suggestion that was given to me about running an Ultra over a 24 hour period. I had no idea what I was doing…..and to be honest, running in the dark in the middle of the night was a little intimidating which was the main reason I wasn’t too interested in this event in the first place.
In case you did not see my summary on my Insta Feed or Fb, the Yeti Ultra Challenge is running 5 miles every 4 hours for 24 hours for a total of 30 miles. However, because someone, or should I say many of us couldn’t leave well enough alone, we extended each segment to total an Ultra distance…..because why not?. So technically I am an Ultra runner becuase I ran over 50K….31.2 miles?.
I chose to run my legs starting at midnight on Thursday Night or Friday Morning….however you want to look at it. My next leg was at 4 AM, my third leg at 8 AM, my fourth leg at NOON, my fifth leg at 4:00 PM, and my last leg at 8:00 PM.
There was a handful of ladies that also ran at these particular times, but many also chose to start at 5 am, some at noon, and some ran it the weekend before, and others are running now, and some are finishing up this weekend, which is the deadline to complete the challenge. So guess what? There is still time to sign up if you’re up for this challenge?.
And by the way, I never once looked at my pace. Instead I ran by power using my stryd power meter. My goal was to run my first leg around 140 power and each leg after this I was hoping to increase slightly with a max power of 155 to 160 watts. These were guidelines given to me from Gus at Stryd. They have amazing customer service!
In Summary:
- My first leg was a midnight and considering I only slept about 2 hours before getting up to run, I felt good which was a good sign. I ran my first leg at about a 9:46 pace and 144 Watts.
- My second leg was a bit faster, still feeling good. My pace was 9:26 and 155 Watts. Slightly higher than I had planned.
- My third leg, still faster with a pace of 8:55 and 159 watts. Ok…where did that come from?
- My fourth leg about the same pace as my third. 8:59 pace and 158 watts.
- My fifth leg and the most challenging so far, 9:00 minute pace and 156 watts.
- My sixth leg was at 9:14 pace and 151 watts. It Was A TOUGH finish!
There is no doubt in my mind that I left every ounce of power I had left at the finish!! I was almost hyperventilating when I was done…..well maybe that is an exaggeration (or maybe not), but I was definitley breathing hard.
I took a shower after each run, changed into fresh running clothes, put my legs up the wall, and tried to rest as much as possible between runs. Originally I thought I would try and work in between runs, and or post as I went, but trust me, the time between each run went by very quickly.
As far as my fuel, simple seemed to work best. Because I ran my first leg at midnight, I had plenty of fuel in the tank for my first couple legs. I drank a little water and that was all I needed before runs 1 an 2.
Before my 3rd run at 8 am I had one 8 oz bottle of my favorite electrolyte drink, Shaklee Hydrate Performance, lemon lime flavor. After this run I made myself a recovery protein smoothie using my Vanilla Protein Shake. I also had some NUUN REST after each run.
After my 4th run, about 1 PM, I smeared one of my homemade sourdough bagels with some nut butter and enjoyed a bowl of sprouted cereal with a little non-dairy milk. I had more Performance and another Nuun Rest.
After my fifth run I had some left over sushi rice with a runny egg….it was simple and sounded good. I also had a slice of sourdough toast, more Performance and Nunn Rest. At the start of all my runs except for run #1 at midnight, I grabbed a Shaklee Energy Chew.
I finished my last run a little before 9 PM. I showered, put my nightie on, and crawled into bed about 10 PM. I was WAY TOO TIRED to eat. I definitley woke up hungry.
My mom and I had a fun morning planned the day after but I most excited for our first stop, MiMi’s Cafe to grab a fresh caramel roll and coffee. Unfortunately due to CoVid it was take out only, but still tasty. I love a good pastry after a race…..and even though this was hours later, it still tasted good and was the perfect treat after running 31.2 miles.
If you’re curious how I trained for this race, I actually didn’t. I simply maintained?. In other words, when I am not training for a marathon, I follow a consistent training plan from Fitness Protection Program with Coach MK called Maintain. I also am doing plenty of strength training through my friend Sarah’s Virtual classes. It’s a perfect mix for me!
Like my last virtual race, I chose to run this challenge by power verses heart rate because I knew my heart rate would not be as accurate. Why? Since I was running in humid conditions, I was a bit anxious about running in the middle of the night, and I hadn’t slept much, there was no way I could trust my heart rate to be accurate since it’s affected by all of these variables. And guess what….power doesn’t lie?. Plus I have enjoyed learning more about power running and find it interesting.
So there you have it. My first Ultra in the Books. Will I do this again. Maybe?.
Have you ran an Ultra?
What is your favorite distance to run?
Do you miss racing?
Have you participated in a virtual race?
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