12 Hour The Dam Hill Run - September 20, 2014 - Springbank Park , London Ontario

 This was my first race since Creemore way back on July 5th.  I have been running lots of trail and maintaining my distance but I have only done a handful of long runs since the July Race.   Almost all my trail running was done on my loop under some pretty warm conditions from time time.  The trail I Run isn't easy but not crazy hard...somewhere in between.     So I felt ready to go long ,  sort of.   There is no doubt I am in "Run Shape" ,  not speedy but in the enduring way.   In other words I felt strong but perhaps a little slow and I am OK with that because I am really happy just to be able to be out there doing these long runs.  

 I did have some goals for this race.  The A goal was 120km ...yeah right what was I thinking!  B was 100K , much more reasonable and realistic.  C was 80K not so great but at least I got a long one in.  

 Race day started the usual way ,   6 hours of mostly broken sleep , up at 3 am ,  hot tub for an hour ,   left  at 4:30 am for the 2.5 hour drive that included a Tims and Mc Donalds stop for a Mc Griddle!    Arrived about 45 minutes before the race started!  

We were off at 08:00 am sharp ,  I was a little bit late making it to the start but with 12 hours ahead it really didn't mater.   It was a beautiful morning clear Sky's ,  nice cooling breeze and comfortable temperatures.   Decided to try for a 4hr12 min Marathon,  5hr 50k and possibly keep the 50 Mile(80k ) under 10 hours...maybe.  So I headed out trying to settle into an avg 6:00 pace and that's more or less what I did over the first few hours.   Laps were 2.25k I got into a fueling routine right away and more or less nailed it through the race.   Every 3 laps I would Gel and in between take an S Cap or 2.  I took on water every time I passed the Aid Station and on the laps that I Gelled I would carry a water bottle.    I more or less only fueled with Gels over the entire 12 hours going through 16 of them.    I was only a few laps into the race when I took my shirt off.   The Sun exposure and increasing temperatures as well as humidity really warmed things up quickly.   3 hours in I started to fall off my 6:00 pace a bit .   It was just too hot so I was forced to slow down a little bit.   I cant recall my "Marathon" time but I know it wasn't 4hrs12min more like 4hrs20min ....will add the exact time when I get it.    I also knew that 5hrs for 50km was gone so I concentrated on pushing hard to the 50K mark then I would take a "lunch break".     Lapped the Garmin once I hit the 50 km mark.   Logged 50km in 5hrs24min for an avg 6:29 pace.   I was satisfied but ready for a break and some lunch so thats exactly what I did.    Nearing 50k my stomach felt a bit bloated ,  slightly nausea ...felt like I was cramming a bit too much in.  I knew the break and the addition of solid food would really help.    Looking at the Garmin Data I stopped at 1:45 pm after doing one slow lap after the 50k mark.   I took my shoes off and it really felt good.   Downed 2 Labats Blues  with 2 heavily salted boiled eggs and finished off my meal with 2 Tylonal's .... an awesome lunch!    I had briefly entertained the idea of stopping.   I was hot  and extremely salty and the idea of being home floating around the pool with a couple of Blues was very tempting.    After cooling down and letting my stomach do its thing I decided to keep going with the new minimum goal of 80K ...  100k was no way!    I didn't start my Garmin again until 2:29 pm .....YIKES ,  I didn't realize it at the time but I took nearly a 45 minute break!   I remember thinking later in the race why did stop for so long but then I reminded myself that I really needed to cool down ,   have some solids and up the calories otherwise it was going to be a rather miserable afternoon and eve.  Heading back out I walked the first lap and I kind of thought that the rest of the day was going to be that way.   I didn't enjoy the walking ,  it really sucked to on the second lap I started running again and found my new pace ,  some wheres around 7:00 min/k .... I was expecting a 7:30 pace but was pleasantly surprised at what the body wanted to do!   I entertained the idea of another sit down break when I hit 80K ,  one more beer and  egg!    I was music free through 50K but when I headed back out I grabbed the iPod and it was really great to be rocking away.    A sub 10 hour 80K was still doable so I maintained pace .  I was a little over I think it was around 10hrs9min when I tripped the 50 mile mat.    Will update when I get the official 50 mile time.    So with 1hr45 min left I decided to skip the planned break and bring er home.   Temps were cooling a bit and the Sun was almost gone so I wasn't feeling the heat any longer.  Threw my shirt back on for the last hour or so not wanting to catch a chill!   Crossed the start finish with just a little under 15 minutes remaining.   Thought about going out and tripping at least one more Mat but decided to call it a day logging 91.713k which is my longest run of 2014.

 The Hoka One Ones  were fantastic.     Left foot 100% ,  right foot a blister under my arch and my little toe was tender.  I didn't tightness the shoes much so that nay have contributed to the rub.   My feet were not sore or achy after pounding the enslavement all day.   The shoes really made a difference and were well worth the purchase.

I finished 6th out of 22 participants ,  5th out of 16 men logging a total of 91.713k.

Here are my times for the various distances...

1/2                2:23:24.8

Marathon  4:33:04.5
50 km          5:29:55.3  Garmin Reported 5:24:31
50 Mile      10:13:06.4
12 Hour     91.713 km 

Up next in two weeks in the Toad  50K   a nice short race!