The Ranch 30K Race Report

When I last updated my race milestones I had planned to run a 30K race in May, 2011 (The Ranch 30K). However, due to an ankle injury, I decided to cancel the race so that I would not have any pressure during my recovery. My ankle ended up healing quickly. So this last weekend I completed a fat ass (self supported) trail run of 24 miles. I consider the milestone completed... although not as successfully as I would have liked. Keep reading.

Before I get into the run details I wanted to post a quick shout out to Justin and Jonathan, a couple of runners I met on the trail yesterday. I enjoyed our conversation. Hope to see you back out there again!

Now, about that long run...

My 50K training scheduled called for a 24 mile run yesterday. I really felt like I was ready for it. And in short, my legs were certainly ready. I felt I had lots of gas in my legs through the entire run. Even after I woke this morning my legs were feeling good (minor soreness, but still lots of energy) and I am ready to hit the trails again. But the overall run experience didn't turn out as I had hoped.

I had planned to run three eight mile loops. At the end of the first loop I was feeling GREAT. No issues. It was almost effortless. By the end of the second loop I had started to develop a headache and some cramps in my side and chest. I was also starting to feel really hot.

By the end of the third loop I felt like crap. No energy (although my legs still felt great), overheating, dizziness, headache, and my vision was starting to blur. I just figured I was hot from running in the heat and humidity. However, when I arrived home I weighed myself (like I typically do, to measure hydration). I had lost over 4 pounds. I tried to pee--there was very little volume and the color was almost amber. It became clear to me that I had become dehydrated.

When I thought back to my run I hadn't really paid much attention to drinking a predetermined amount of  water volume. At the end of each eight mile loop I just refilled my hydration pack and went on with my run. I realize now that I did not drink enough. The symptoms I was experiencing were classic dehydration symptoms. Here's the numbers...

In the past I had done a lot of testing to determine my sweat rate. Basically, you weight yourself before and after a run, keep track of how much weight you lost, compare that to how much you drank, and you can then calculate how much liquid you need to maintain your weight, to replace the liquid lost through sweating. However, I've also read numerous articles about the risks of trying to replace 100% of the weight loss. I had calculated that I need to drink about 11 oz per mile to maintain my weight, so I used 10 oz as a nice round number which was intended to keep me close.

As for this last run, I estimate that I was only drinking about two-thirds the contents in my hydration vest on the first and second lap, and I remember draining the vest on my third. My vest holds 70 oz. So that means I probably drank around 45 + 45 + 70 = 160 oz total. If my hydration goal is 10 oz per mile and I run 24 miles I should drink 240 oz. So I was short about 80 oz. One pound of weight is approximately 1 pint of fluids, or 16 oz. So 80 divided by 16 is 5 lbs, which is near the amount of weight I lost during the run.

I don't think this was an electrolytes issue because I was popping s-caps and e-gels during the run. I think I just didn't drink enough.

Live and learn.

The good news is that my legs felt great. Setting aside the dehydration symptoms I felt like my legs still had another loop in them, maybe two!

For my own reference, so I can adjust on my next 24 miler, I captured the following:

• At 2 miles, took an e-gel.
• At 8 miles, took an s-cap. Was feeling good. Almost effortless.
• At 9 miles, was feeling a little hungry, so ate a Clif bar.
• At 11.5, felt a little energy drain, so ate an e-gel.
• At 14 miles was starting to feel hot. Took another e-gel and an s-cap (probably way behind on water intake by this time).
• At 18 miles, felt like I was overheating. Dehydration symptoms setting in. 
• At 21.5 miles, took another e-gel and an s-cap. Drained my hydration pack.
• At 24 miles (back at car), drank a bunch of water, then headed home.

Notice the absence of tracking my drinking volume. I will add a specific amount of water intake and track it next time around.