As promised, here are the fun details of my race on Saturday! Hungryland offers two timed options- the six hour Runner Gunner, or the 33 hour Jogger Slogger. I’m signed up for the longer option. We’ll have 33 hours to run as many, or as few, 14.3 mile loops as we want. Here’s the thing- you only get credit for completed loops. So if you complete three loops, go out for a fourth but DNF on that loop, you DNF the entire race. Okay, let’s do a little math!
Four 14.3 mile loops would be 57.2 miles. That is NOT 60! It’s a conundrum, isn’t it? If I want to start a fifth loop, I have to either finish it (with 71.5 miles), or, if I drop out during that loop, I’ll have to take a DNF for the entire race. Hmmm.
Assuming that nothing goes horribly wrong, I’ll finish four loops and then have to decide what to do. If I start a fifth loop I have to be pretty sure I can finish another 14.3 miles. If not, I figure I’ll run on my own, around the parking lot, until my Garmin shows 60 miles. My official race distance will show 57.2, but I think I’ll be satisfied with my own personal 60 miles. I’ll make my decision depending on how the day goes!
Here’s some photos from the race website:
WHY would they include this one??? Are they trying to scare us? The truth is- if it’s Florida and there’s water, there could ba alligators. But having 75 runners traipsing through should scare them away (right? RIGHT???)
Anyway… deep breaths…today (Wednesday) is my day off and I’ll be running last-minute errands, picking up odds and ends I don’t already have (most of my gear is ready to go). I’ll also be making a special playlist, which I do for every race. The playlists have the names of the race for their title, so on a long run I can go back and listen to “Dunes 50K’ or “Skunk Ape 50” and relive parts of those races. This playlist will be called “Birthday 60” and obviously the first song will be the Beatles “Birthday” from the White Album.
Any suggestions for my playlist?
30 Responses
Oh goodness, that feels anticlimactic to have to run around the parking lot..could you run your extra miles ahead of time? HOWEVER, whatever works! If that means running around the parking lot, so be it.
I was listening to the radio today and heard a song and thought, ‘oh, I would want to run to this song, I should tell Jenny!’ (Not even knowing about your playlist) but of course I’ve forgotten what it was now. Likely it was not a great song for such a long run anyway, it was pretty fast.
No, no, fast songs are good!!! I need things to pep me up. If you remember the song, let me know.
Do you want a fast or slow , upbeat or calm sort of song? I’m mostly listening to depressing country music right now. Amen by shaboozy? Pour Me a Drink? I Had Some Help? Hard Fought Halleluia?
From our youth, Jenny 867-5309!
Loveshack, Closer to Fine, Salisbury Hill, Jump.
The alligators won’t mess with you- you’ll be mighty on this race!
Hee hee- Jenny 867-5309 is already on the list! Ah, the good old days…
i’m definitely looking for upbeat. Definitely not depressing country, lol. A few of the other ones you mentioned don’t look familiar, but when I hear them I might know them- I’ll check it out! Thank you!
Well, this is quite a conundrum! Hopefully you’ll have enough tangents along the way to get your race finish closer to 60 miles. Maybe if the trail isn’t too crowded on the last loop you could do some reverses to make the last lap longer? Or maybe when you get to the race site there will be a “nice” parking lot or longer running area to get the final mile?
I have no doubt that you’ll find a fun way to get the total up to 60.0. The race should have a “birthday” option for partial loops!
Yes, I did think of that- I might end up with close to 60 miles just because of little tangents. I’ll figure it out, I’m sure. And yes- they should give me some sort of special “birthday” option!
Yikes, both on the alligators and the extra 2.8 miles. I mean…I guess you can just run around the parking lot? or…this will sound weird…could you double back on one of the loops to make it longer? You could run back 0.7 miles (0.35 each way) on each loop, that might be an easy and painless way to add the miles to your watch at least. Yes the official race won’t show it but it will show on your Garmin.
I could definitely do that as long as there won’t be other people around, yelling at me that I’m going the wrong way, lol. I’m sure something will suggest itself on race day.
Maybe the loops will be slightly longer than advertised (almost every ultra I’ve done has had bonus distance) so it’ll add up to an extra 3 miles?
The alligator photo would freak me out! I’m used to dealing with rattlesnakes and during one race, there was apparently a mountain lion (!) nearby but it was dark and I never saw it, but an alligator is probably scarier. I’m sure with all the runners out you’ll be fine though!
Actually, rattlesnakes seem scarier to me than alligators! This would make a good “would you rather” question- encounter a rattlesnake or alligator? Alligators don’t really attack fully grown humans (I mean- usually) but people do get bitten by snakes. I think both of them would prefer to just stay away from people entirely, so we’re both good. A mountain lion is definitely scariest though- eek.
And you’re right- those extra miles might just take care of themselves.
So you have to commit to the amount of loops before you start, I guess?
Here’s my prediction: you’ll hit 60 miles right on that fourth loop. Trail courses are almost never exact, they always come out a bit long, so I wouldn’t be surprised if your watch ticks over before you even finish it!
And if not…well, yes, you will need to add some bonus mileage after the official finish line. No matter how, that 60+ on the watch needs to happen!
No, you just decide how many loops you want as you go along. The only thing you have to commit to is finishing any loop you start- otherwise you get a DNF.
You could be right- my watch will show 60 miles after the fourth loop, regardless of what the official race distance says.
Suggestion! When I turned 40 I made a playlist of my life – songs from various life phases (apparently it’s still on Spotify even though switched to Apple Music -https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1ZodmoOXky8HjNYKPxoK3O –look at Tiffany at track 4. See why I was mad she didn’t show at her concert?!) Anyway! You should totally make one for yourself — obviously don’t include sad or slow songs you know might annoy you at mile 47 or something but I feel like some version of this would be fun!!
Yes, that would be very fun!!! Hmm! I have to figure out if I want to incorporate this into my existing playlist (I started making it today) or have a separate ‘life playlist.” I love it.
I am team jog around the parking lot to reach the 60. 71 miles? That’s crazy. I hope you have a great race and that you feel satisfied with your result.
Thank you Ernie! Yeah, going for 71 miles is probably not going to happen!
i will definitely do 4 loops and finish alone for 60 miles, otherwise the clock won’t registered 60!
so excited!
i do playlist for races too and re-play them in my runs later. 60 miles playlist will be long!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ha, yes this playlist definitely won’t last for the entire race- but I can put it on in the later hours.
Ugh, alligators on the trail???? I do hope they are scared away by runners!
That’s a tricky one about four loops being “only” 57,2 miles. Your potential parking lot strategy sounds clever though.
BEST OF LUCK!!!! And enjoy the day! And obviously, happy birthday!
Thank you so much Susanne!!! Maybe I’ll add on the extra distance while running from the alligators…
Sending you all the thoughts of persistence and joy for Saturday, Jenny! Oof, what a conundrum about that 5th loop. There’s a huge difference between 3 miles and 14+! I’ll be cheering whichever you pick! PS: Hungryland as a name seems to be a great reminder to have a fueling strategy haha!
Persistence and joy!!! That might be my mantra for the day! And- the only problem I WON’T have is hunger- I’m bringing a ridiculous amount of food.
Sending you all the good vibes and keeping my fingers crossed for an amazing race. You got this!
HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY. You’re amazing!
Thank you so much San!!! Keep those fingers crossed for me.
hahaha that alligator pic! What the heck…. That IS a conundrum about the race loops! I feel like they should count as many laps as you officially crossed the “finish line”. So if you did 4, and then stopped part way through #5, your final time should just be when you crossed for #4! But what do I know. I think the idea of running 57 miles and then CONTINUING TO RUN MORE ON YOUR OWN IN A PARKING LOT BY YOURSELF after sounds… hard! Maybe that’s just the “extra” challenge you need though 😉 So excited for you!!
Thank you Kae! Yeah, it should be interesting. Somehow or other it will all work out.
I can’t believe it’s tomorrow.
Thinking of you!
Can you warm up before with a few miles?
Thank you Darlene! Doing a few miles beforehand is my husband’s idea as well. We’ll see… I figure something will suggest itself once I’m there.
I hope you have a great race! I’ll be thinking of you, birthday girl! 🙂 Go get it!
Wow, that’s a tough rule and a huge difference for that last lap.
Whatever you decide, you should be proud!