Vote for 48 Miles in 48 Hours on Endurance Sports Bar

The time has come to vote for the two running contests on Endurance Sports Bar, and my 48 Miles in 48 Hours feat is eligible for both categories: improve yourself through endurance sports and help or inspire others through endurance sports!

If you feel it's the best of the group, please vote for it in both categories.

If it helps sway you, I did injure my foot at mile 35 and decided to continue on all the way to the end. Also, and I hate to even mention this, I was able to go into a burning building and save a child and a puppy, all while keeping an 8:30/mile pace. But really, that shouldn't sway you at all.

Voting ends on December 14 at midnight (PST). Thanks in advance!

Final thoughts on the run

It's now been a full week since I've completed the 2-day, 48 mile run south from Concord, NH to Tyngsboro, MA. This past week has brought all sorts of feelings, both physical and emotional, and I still haven't understood what I accomplished.

I've always been a fan of when good news/bad news is going to happen, start with the bad because you can look forward to the good.

The bad

There's really not much bad to report. I had some serious muscle pains, which went away by mid-week. Those were expected, and well, hysterical to those people who watched me walk around. I took the elevator at school and just generally hobbled.

The pain I felt in my foot is 90% gone, but it still lingers a bit. That means that I'm going to need to go to the doctor and probably get an X-ray to determine if there's some sort of hairline fracture. I'm thinking good thoughts, but I'm at least aware that the news may not be great.

Now to the good

One of the things that has given me the most personal satisfaction is that this run has inspired others. We talked more about running and fitness and people are getting out and becoming more active. People that didn't run before are running now and people who ran recreationally are now kicking up the miles.

Because this got some press at school, I've started to talk to people about what they can accomplish personally to get into better shape. It's been incredibly fulfilling and a wonderful side effect of this run. I talked about this more here.

It was great spending time with friends in pursuit of this journey. Liz, Karl, Jim and Eric all played an in-person part in this journey, logging miles next to me. They offered encouragement when I needed it and we talked about anything and everything. I simply could not have done it without them, and I am eternally grateful for their help, guidance, encouragement and support.

I originally thought about this run in July (while running) and it's been on my mind literally every day since. And since it was a self-created race, I had to be run it physically and run it logistically. I had to find runners, map the course, determine time lines, provide directions, promote the event, etc. It was a logistical nightmare that took an inordinate amount of planning to make it happen. The fact that I didn't screw it up too much is quite an accomplishment for me.

The biggest thing for me, though, is the sense of accomplishment. I've never been one to shy away from a challenge, but the reality of this challenge started to scare me. I had run 26.2 miles before, but this was almost double that distance. I felt like I could finish it, but I wasn't positive.

When I finished the run last Sunday, I felt a level of emotion that I don't think I could ever properly describe. It was a feeling of elation, of a huge weight being lifted off of my shoulders, but mostly, it was a feeling that I could do anything. 48 miles represented more mileage in two days that I had run in a full week (by quite a margin). It was crazy, but I did it. I would have cried if I could have, but I think all of the tear ducts had dried up at that point.

48 miles in 48 hours represented the single biggest physical accomplishment to date for me. I proved to myself that I could do whatever I wanted to do. I don't feel like I need to prove anything to anyone at this point, much less myself. The comfort and serenity from that feeling is immeasurable.

Finally, I want to thank all of you for your support. The emails, comments and discussions were incredibly helpful and meant the world to me. I feel very blessed to be in a community like this. Together we can do whatever we want!

Total miles completed

I previously posted about my numbers on the run (how many calories did I burn, how long did it take me, etc.). But I wanted to include those numbers of the people who ran with me, both in person and virtually.

In-person miles as part of the run:
Me: 48
Liz: 10
Karl: 22
Eric: 8
Jim: 8
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96 miles

Miles run virtually:
Runner Gal Leana: 13.7
Mission to a(nother) Marathon Marlene: 6.2
AddictedtoEndorphins, a friend of Marlene's: 13.1
I Run for my Life, Susan: 1.5
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34.5 miles

Total miles in support of 48 Miles in 48 Hours: 130.5 miles

Post Race Report - Lessons Learned

Yesterday, I talked about what went well.Today, I'm talking about what didn't go so well during the 2-day run last weekend.

Lessons Learned

Gatorade

While I did train with Gatorade, I didn't train with Gatorade right out of the bottles. I had always mixed it at home and I have the feeling that my home mix was diluted a bit. The stuff from the bottles was not. I used the bottles to fill my back pack and then consumed some afterward to replenish my electrolytes.

While I felt good after the first couple of segments, my stomach absolutely ached after the first day. I had too much sugar and my body wasn't ready for it. For the most part, the only sugar I have is natural sugar, like what's found in fruits and vegetables, so I wasn't used to this much on one day.

My upset stomach on day 2 caused serious problems. I couldn't eat much for breakfast because my stomach was upset and I didn't want to get sick. I didn't have much in between 4 and 5 for the same reason. This means that I didn't have enough calories to keep going, but I also couldn't eat too much because I would get sick.

It wasn't until we finally stopped at a Dunkin Donuts and I got two bagels that I finally started to feel like myself. I think I was a bit grouchy and listless prior to that, but those bagels were just what I needed to keep myself together.

Reverse the route

In retrospect, I probably should have started south in Nashua and gone north toward my home in Concord. That would have provided a couple of advantages.

1. I would have been closer to home when I was more tired near the end. That would have given me extra rest time.
2. I could have stayed with a friend in Nashua which would have lessened the travel time early on.
3. Friends could have met me in Concord and we could have all run the last mile or two. It would have been neat to have more than just one person around when I finished.

Transportation time

Another tough part was the lack of time between segments to rest. I don't know if it could have been helped (except maybe by reversing the route, noted above). It was just tough to only be home for 45 minutes at the most before having to leave again. In some cases, I was only home for 15 minutes before I had to change and go again.

The aftermath

I got home around 6:30 on Sunday evening and immediately showered. After plopping down on the couch for a couple of minutes, I ordered a meat lover's pizza from the local place. I picked it up and had my first beer in a week. It tasted good, but I just couldn't have much because my stomach was still upset.

I spent most of Sunday stumbling around, which continued through the early part of the week. I had the typical quad, hamstring, calf soreness, but I also had the problem with the outside of my foot that I discovered during segment 5/6. I'm hoping that I don't have a fracture, but it's been feeling better over the last couple of days, so I'm thinking not.

I definitely believe that my running shoes gave out. As soon as I'm functional, I'm going to the running store to get them replaced. I've got a half-marathon scheduled for two weeks from now, but I'll play that by ear based on how I feel. No need to prove anything to anyone, especially myself after this crazy run.

Post Race Report - What went well

It's hard to imagine that a week ago I was going through final preparations for the 48 Mile run that I did last weekend. At the time, I was telling people about how scared I was that I had made a mistake and how worried I was that I wouldn't be able to finish. Those turned out to be valid concerns, but by the time I got up early on Saturday morning, most of them were gone.

I wouldn't be doing my job as a runner blogger if I didn't provide my lessons learned for those of you who want to try something like this.

What went well

I've previously talked about the individual segments and how I fared on each one. I had originally planned for 6 8-mile segments, but that turned out not to be as realistic as I originally thought. It ended up working out, though, as I used some of the energy I had earlier in the weekend to get more miles in.

We decided to run farther than the 8 scheduled miles as long as I felt good. And, for the first couple of segments, I felt great. We finished 10 in segment 1, 9 in segment 2 and a little over 8 in segment 3, giving me over 27 after the first day. It was a great feeling going home after the first day knowing that I had less to do in day 2 than I had already done in day 1.

Twitter

I've never been a huge fan of Twitter or other status update web sites, but I found that it worked perfectly for this occasion. At the beginning and end of each run, I'd let people know where I was and how I finished. All I had to do was send a text message of 140 characters (or less) which would then populate my profile.

This proved to be one of the best ways for people to keep up with me and make sure I was OK and not lying on the side of the road. Family and friends kept the page up all weekend and refreshed it to stay aware. It also allowed them to send me text messages of encouragement when I finished, which were VERY welcomed.

Twitter also allows me to now remember different parts of the two-day race so that I can discuss it later. It keeps records of how I finished and when I was struggling. If I do something like this again, I'll be all over Twitter. Finally, with Twitter, I had the ability to link it with my Facebook status so that others at school could stay current.

Running with others

Although I train by myself, I absolutely could not have completed this race without other people running with me. We stayed conversational the whole time and they ran my pace, walked with me, etc. and just generally made sure that I was OK.

My friend, Karl, was especially good with me in segment 5/6. Had he not been there, I likely would have quit. We were able to talk about lots of different things to ensure that my brain continued to function.

Mile dedications

Like I did for my marathon, I did mile dedications for each of the 48 miles. This time, I dedicated miles to those people who were either currently fighting their battle with cancer or had lost their battle. Their strength, patience and determination helped me through when times were getting tough.

Charity

Related to the mile dedications, it inspired me to run to benefit the American Cancer Society. So many people have been affected by this terrible disease that it helped to have a strong cause behind me. If you're interested in donating, the link is still active here.

The back pack

I used The North Face Thresher as my back pack of choice for the race. It holds about 70 ounces of water and has enough room for a cell phone, wallet, gels and some other things. I found it to be very light weight and comfortable throughout the entire race.

Consistent weight

I tried to be conscious of my weight during this race so that I didn't lose too much. It turns out that I gained a pound in between segment one and two but ended up losing 2 at the end to bring me back to a net of -1 pound. That seems a bit odd since I burned 6,500 calories, but I guess that was an indication that I was at least eating enough to keep my weight up.


Tomorrow, I'll walk through what didn't go so well.

48 Miles by the numbers

At the end of the 2-day period, I burned 6,544 calories and ran 48 miles in 8:34:05. Six segments turned into five segments when I decided that I couldn't stop to rest and just had to finish the whole thing.

As you can see, the average pace per mile went up significantly as the days and segments went on. I was doing a respectable pace in the first two segments, and could even call the third segment respectable. As I got into the fourth segment (1st segment on the second day), I had to walk a bit more.

The 5th/6th segment consisted of mostly walking. The amazing part is that I still averaged under a 15-minute mile for that segment. I think that had a lot to do with the fact that I tried to run as much as possible in the last 2 miles... simply to be done.

Pictures from the insanity

This will be framed.

The map from Concord to Tyngsboro, MA

My face the way I really felt at the end

Never underestimate my ability to fake a smile after 48 miles. This is a look of amazement.