This race is held in Minneapolis during the first weekend in June. A loop 2.5 mile loop around Lake Nokomis, the course is mostly asphalt with a few grass sections and one (eventually brutal) concrete bridge. There are really only two “uphill” sections of the course; one across the bridge and the other near the end of the big loop across a section of grass. The latter had a small sign posted that read something like:

Mount Nokomis
8:00am Saturday: elevation 15 ft
4:00pm Saturday: elevation 150 ft
12:00am Sunday: elevation 1,500 ft
8:00am Sunday: elevation 15,000ft

Overall the course was quite enjoyable. There was enough foot traffic from non-racers to keep the people watching interesting and the trail crowded enough during the day to keep monotony a non-issue. The MSP airport flight path goes right across the course and it was fun to watch the planes come in throughout the day.

The aid stations were sufficient in terms of food, but it would have been nice if they had some sort of endurance beverage beyond gatorade. I guess everyone has their own preference and in a small loop course, you can setup your own aid station for drinks.

I went to the pre-race dinner to pickup my packet and weigh-in (mistake! to do in my non-running outfit of jeans). The meal looked like the usual pasta and salad but I opted to go to a different local pasta place with my friend and host for the weekend. During the meal, there were participants in the FANS program present and a few of them got on the PA system to talk about how the program (for which the race raises money) has benefited them. I thought that was a nice touch. Some of the same people were working the aid stations throughout the race, which was also nice.

My race in particular

I went into FANS having never run longer than 8.5 hours or farther than 50K. I had high hopes of getting to the 50-mile mark in 24-hours (almost impossible not to!) but my training had been limited and I was worried about pushing beyond my known distance and time thresholds. So I started my race super easy at a very leisurely pace and made sure to spend time in a very easy jog or walk from the beginning. I quite enjoyed the first 4 hours and they really flew by quickly.

At the four hour mark, my troubles began … not with my body, but with the rules of the race. My first weigh-in had me at -8 pounds. Anything over 3% body weight was cause for putting a runner on a watch list; beyond 5% was grounds for removal from the race. In between the two, I was already on the medical team’s watch list.

So I made sure I kept guzzling liquids and eating bananas, turkey and ham sandwiches, drinkable yogurt, and such on every lap from then on. I had already been tanking up on Perpetuem (orange vanilla flavored) but the taste and texture were starting to bother me. I switched over to coke, fruit punch, and water. This might have been a mistake but I was holding everything down just fine and having no energy issues.

Somewhere after 4 hours I realized a strange sensation on one of my left toes. I took my shoe and sock off to reveal that my new shoe (New Balance 992) was rubbing a blister on the top of my second toe. I do have a slight hammer toe so it sticks up and rubs fabric in the toe box more easily. I put some fabric medical tape on it and that did the trick. I used the same tape on my back to keep the seam of my Race Ready Long Distance shorts from chafing.

After I got to the marathon mark, I began stopping for a few minutes at my personal aid station in the grass where I had my goodies. My 1-man crew had sliced up fresh cantaloupe the night before and I was happy to have it. It was just the thing to take care of my need for a sweet snack (and I’ve read it is good for elecrolytes, too–much more so than bananas).

This is the first race where I experimented with pain relievers. The bottoms of my feet get severely sore and are one of the reasons why I slow down late in an ultra. I took a single tylenol at the 4-hour and 8-hour marks and it helped significantly. I think I’ll be following this same practice in future events.

The second weigh-in came at the 8-hour mark. Not surprisingly, I was down a couple more pounds, putting me at -10.5 since the previous night. I usually lose a lot of weight on runs in warmer weather. Even though I didn’t feel bad at all (better than after every marathon in the past), the nurse was skeptical. Another person on the medical team suggested I could go from feeling great to total crazy (blackouts) in just a few minutes.

So after this second official weigh-in, I took some extra time out to rest, eat, and drink. Even after all that effort, I only put back about a pound. It would be an uphill battle from here. Though I felt fine, my weigh was causing concern. After each subsequent lap, I was weighed. At this point I was guzzling about 12 oz. of coke and eating a quarter of a sandwich every 2.5 miles. I lost half-a-pound after one lap and was at -10.5 again soon. I took another rest.

A thunderstorm was moving into the area around this time (late in the afternoon, around 4pm). When it started to rain, I decided to call it a race. I’d gone longer than before (35.5 miles) and my elapsed time was a bit longer than my first 50K (Bandera). Though I hadn’t moved fast overall, I felt I had a good race and built some confidence about shooting for 50 miles. Maybe Lean Horse?