dear master boomers, My boomer buddy I'm hoping to meet someday SLOjim from CoolRunning days is entering a 24 hour event this weekend and, since it seems to be at the last minute and on a whim, he seems particularly susceptible to lots of advice and encouragement so please chime in with anything you know about running (or doing any other sustaned physical activities) throughout the night from first hand experience or from friends or reading, etc. ps - I forgot where in SoCal but SLO refers to the acronym where he lives, not that he is slow (though not that he isn’t).

I have no idea what I'm doing.....I joined a team that has no structure so I don't have any set time I have to run/walk so that's good.... it looks like it might top 90 degrees on Saturday, so that's bad. It's all on high school dirt track, so boredom will also be a factor. It starts at 10 am so I thought I might start off with walking a few miles and then run for an hour or so before switching to walking. I'll probably take off in the heat of the day (sleep and maybe go for a swim) and then continue to run/walk into the evening. I'm usually ok with 5 hours sleep so I'll probably get up at 2:30 or 3:00 and see how much I can run ... hoping for a 20 mile run in the early morning and ending with more walking. My biggest concern is dehydration..... it always gets me when I run marathons. .... any suggestions??? just don't tell me to take my shoes off

Jim - no running barefoot on dirt trails for me either, . . . but I’m always envious when you get to run on the sandy beaches down there. I did my first timed event, a 12 hour’er last month, and loved running long without having to reach 26.2 miles, 50K, 50 miles or 100K by some artificial cutoff time not necessarily designed for us regular runners. In particular, there’s no DNF’s or DQ’s or other ignominy in the time events as even running only 10 miles, or one mile, and quit is usually a donation to a good cause, even if just to one’s own fitness. It’s all an experiment for us fitness runners anyway so I like your plan to run in the morning and then take an afternoon nap to avoid the blistering sun before proceeding into the night. My jet-lagged super-boomer friend took a nap at mile 13 in the Ironman Germany a couple of years ago and got so rejuvenated he passed all his fellow AG’ers in the last half marathon. In fact, maybe two naps might be in order for 24 hours. Though elites seem to run most, if not all, of the way in 24 hour events on flat-surfaces, I’ve heard of regular runners walking five or ten minutes (15-16m/m) for every 30 minutes slow running (12-14m/m) but my attempted super-ultras to 14 hours seem to work for five minutes running and from 2-5 minutes of walk-break). I think if I had a chance for a 24 hour event and did the afternoon nap too to avoid getting beat down by the heat, I’d probably try to do the remainder maybe at an even run/extended-walk break ration (maybe 10 minutes running (13-14m/m) and 10 minutes of walking (16-18m/m) until I couldn’t run anymore and then walk. Maybe another nap in the middle of the night if it’s impossible to walk anymore by then except that when I in-line skated from 10:30 pm - 3:00 am and then barefooted around and around the 2.8 mile Green Lake bike path from 3:00 am - 8:00 am for my first all-nighter last week (to track my SoCal friend’s progress in setting a world record of 242 miles in 24 hours on the longboard), the most interesting and memorable part was the hallucinating like mirages on the high seas or desert while sleepwalking/sleeprunning for about two hours in the middle of the night before getting rejuvenated by the rising sun and daylight again. I’m really hoping to take on a 24 hour event sometime and very much look forward to your experience. Ps - have someone call you on a cell phone once in a while when it starts getting dark and ennui sets in, take a massage stick, Tiger Balm or other analgesic and, if possible, have ilene be your support crew.

I am no expert here,but I just did my first 3 ultras very recently (...right Jon ..?) and I did a good bit of walking in all of them. While in the first 2 events ( 50 milers) my walking was relaxed, in the last one, the 100K, I pushed the walking to a speed walking which I had not practiced before...well, my ankles were not in good shape at the end of it and it took me a while, (two weeks) to completely get rid of the discomfort. So I promised myself that next time I'll go back to more easy walking ( and more running as well!). Good luck and have fun! Francesca

No advice here either, but you are one brave man. Just know that we'll all be thinking of you, so when it starts getting tough, fantasize about sitting down at the keyboard and telling us some fun stories. Good luck. Spareribs

{{SLOJim}} You crazy mofo!! Stay cool. If there are ice water cloths there, drape them on the back of your neck when you can and eat salty stuff. 102 degrees at the peak today. (Can you take a shady nap then?) Good Luck!!