My first 4 x 4 by 48 hours

A little bit of background.  My good friend Cindy who blogs over at Running with Miles had done this work out before and highly suggested it, even for a 50 miler lead up.  I knew I needed a 50K but couldn't find one this particular weekend and the thought of just doing 3 out and backs didn't sound like fun either, so I decided why not try this work out.  The only issues was Andrew had a race Sunday, so I needed to shift things around so that i wouldn't be running any during his races.  We decided to start Friday night so we could finish Sunday early morning.  That gave us 8 total miles on Friday, 24 total miles on Saturday, and 4 total miles on Sunday for a grand total of 36.  My plan called for a 50 K on Saturday and an hour run on Sunday so close enough.  Here is the play by play :)  Robin added her thoughts as well and are below my own.

Robin: I have a running friend that is training for a 50 miler and needed a 50K this weekend. She couldn’t find one that she wanted to run, so she had an idea, “Let’s run a 4 x 4 x 48. It’ll be fun.”  What’s that? I think it might fit the definition of insanity…”doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Haha! Needless to say, she talked me into it and here I am feeling accomplished and so glad she nudged me.

5:00 pm on Friday.  First 4 miles. feeling good, letting the dogs pull us along at a fast clip.  So weird to only be doing 4.  At some point I know only 4 will be not so fun.  Robin is counting down instead of us counting up, hence the 9 fingers.  1 down, 8 to go or 4 down, 32 to go however you want to look at it.

Robin: We started our program on Friday, October 11 at 5:00 p.m. It was bitterly cold, but with winter gear on, it really didn’t seem so bad. Thankfully, Michelle’s training pace is 4 minute run with one minute walk. We completed the run with our trusty dogs, Ebby and Stella, and Ebby in true form pulled me the entire way.

9:00 pm on Friday.  Ate a normal dinner, got horrible indigestion, took meds.  Couldn't get warm post run, so drank some decaff coffee and piled on blankets.  We refuse to cut on our heat and or our furnace isn't working, so I think it is colder in our house right now than outside.  Tried to stay laying around and doing nothing, but with the family gone out to shop for a birthday present, decided to do some chores that I needed to get done so I can be a sloth on Saturday.  Finally sat down around 8 pm to chill a bit and got super duper tired.    I am use to going to bed at 8:30 pm, so was hoping post our 9:00 run that I would crash.  Run went well, tired but it was cold BUT perfect running weather.  Wind was nonexistent which helped.  I tried running with my new headlamp on just a knit cap to keep some warmth in, and while the light didn't hurt my head, it kept pushing the edge of my cap down into my eyes, which was super annoying.

Robin: 9:00 p.m. and we were out the door again. Cold and dark, but the bitter Kansas winds were non-existent. Ebby pulled and I followed, but all was well with my legs. Or it could be possible that they were just numb from the cold. Back to house and in the recliner to catch some sleep before the next four miles.

1 am on Saturday.  This one was tough to get up for.  Post getting home and in bed after 10, i just couldn't get comfortable.  I was going to keep on my sports bra and socks and then just change into sweat pants and a t shirt and hoodie after every run.  I was sweaty as we had overdressed (no judgments, we haven't had fall yet and to go straight to winter was a bit of a shock).  The house was super cold and even though I had multiple blankets and quilts plus pants and a hoodie, I just couldn't get my temp regulated. I would go through super cold moments and then be sweating buckets (hello menopause maybe?). I think I finally went to sleep around 11 something and was back up at 12:40 to get dressed.  It was even colder, but again no wind. We switched up our route so as not to run by the two houses that had dogs and kids.  I am sure those dogs bark all night anyway, but we didn't want them to wake up the kiddos barking at us.  Robin said she kind of liked the different route because it felt shorter, even though it was the same distance.  I like mental games too when I am tired.  I also got head butted by Boom at this point.  As i was picking up my shoes in the dark to move them to the side of the bed, he jumped forward and his head collided with my left eye. Y'all I saw major stars and my eye wept for probably an hour afterwards.  I honestly thought it would be swollen when I got up.  All i could think of was dang, people punch each other in the eyes on purpose and if it hurts a fraction of that much, how in the heck do they do it?

Robin: Alarm goes off at 12:40. Up and ready to go with warm clothes, however, Ebby decided that she would rather sleep and stayed home. Nice run in the dark. We changed our route a bit so that we didn’t wake the families with the barky dogs on our usual route. Got done, snapped a picture, and back to the recliner to catch a couple of hours of sleep.

5 am on Saturday.  Surprisingly even with little sleep (same thing as above) I was wide awake at 4:40 am.  I decided that even though I wanted to be out of my sweaty running clothes, that i didn't want to yet take a shower and wake up too much. so new clothes on not showered body. Oh well, that is what laundry is for right?  Again we overdressed, but I would rather have too much on and take it off than to not have enough on.  We decided to sleep a little more and shower post the next run.

Robin: It is amazing that I didn't require an alarm for the 5:00 am run. It is our usual run time, but with little sleep, I thought I would be dragging.  Bundled up, strapped on Ebby, and out we went.  I am really starting to have some pain in my calves and down the outside of my lower left leg.  "Make sure your toes are pointing forward" is the message running through my head as we completed this run.  Going to try and get a couple more hours of sleep to get 6 total hours...my average.  

9 am on Saturday.  Subbed out Boom for Stella and gave her a break.  Over dressed again, but new clothes, YES.  Boom had never run loose with Ebby on leash before and he kept trying to smell her butt mid run and or would dive in front of robin or run on her heels.  He got several lessons in why you don't do that.  He also went chest first into a huge cuckleburr bush.  I ended up having to cut them out because he wouldn't let Stella pick them out.  Hopefully he will learn not to go off road, but I am betting he didn't.  I loved seeing the sun after being in the dark for so long.  Finally got a hot shower, some caffeine, and some lunch.

Robin: The sun is shining and the temps are cool, so bundled up, put on my calf sleeves and headed down the road at 9:00 a.m. Ebby really isn’t missing a beat and I swear this dog never tires. Thankfully, the calf-sleeves do the trick and the pain is gone. Still feeling really good after the run. I keep wondering when will my legs say no more, but for now I’ll take it.

1 pm on Saturday: I really should know better than to eat a biggish meal and then try to run. I had a side stitch pretty much the entire run that finally went away after a few burps, but made me run most of the miles in pain.  It was in the 50s and pleasant, but i can feel the tiredness creeping in.  Deuce wanted to sub in, so since it was a short run, I let the old man come. He ran probably twice as much as we did and seemed to have so much fun. I do miss bringing him on my runs.

Robin: Grabbed a quick omelet for lunch with Michelle. Over lunch, I signed up to do a 4 hour ultra with Michelle...say WHAT?!?  This woman is a bad influence on me when it comes to running. Hahaha! Back home and did some cleaning before heading out the door for 4 mile lap number 5. Over-dressed and stripping off layers, but it was another good run. The calf-sleeves are still keeping my legs feeling good and I am actually looking forward to the next 4 miles. I feel such a sense of accomplishment that grows stronger with each run.

5 pm on Saturday. Again amazing weather.  Legs were feeling it, but again we just told our minds that it was only 4.

Robin: 5:00 p.m. and we have been at this for 24 hours...wow! I can’t believe I will get 20 miles in
a single day. I look at my watch and see that I already have 45,000+ steps for the day. As we
are running, again we are over-dressed, little thoughts of running a marathon jump in my head,
but I quickly squelch the idea. Michelle suggests another 25K and I can absolutely do that.
I am amazed that my legs are still feeling strong after all the running. It is funny, I really figured I
would be cursing myself and Michelle for doing this, but I am actually having fun. I can’t believe I am
actually kind of sad that we are done after the 1:00 a.m. run.

9 pm on Saturday.  While it was nice to have a band serenading us on our journey, it was kind of annoying too as it was SUPER loud and we were at least 2 miles away from the bar.  I guess I am getting old.  Still tired but amazingly we still talked and sang and made it through.  Boomy got a turn again which puts his mileage up to 8 miles for the day.  I swear this dog could do an ultra already.

Robin: The band at the local bar is on the patio and LOUD tonight. I decide to let Ebby have a break,
she has been pulling me for 24 miles and I don’t want to overdo it with her. She stands in the yard and
barks loudly as we head out at 9:00.  It is a beautiful clear night. The moon is shining brightly, the air
is calm and the temperature is comfortable. The good thing is we could hear the band on our entire
run. We even sang along to their cover of Cheap Trick’s Surrender. Isn’t that ironic. My legs are tired
at first, but as I keep running, the feel good. I can’t believe I have completed 20 miles in a day! This
is huge for me and to think, I’ll have run 36 miles by 2:00 a.m.

1 am on Sunday.  Again I was awake pretty quickly.  I know I had gotten a little bit of sleep, but still having weird internal thermostat issues.  We were both SO glad to be done and to be out of running clothes. I had kept a sports bra on the entire time and I honestly don't know how people sleep in those!  We talked about continuing and doing more but we both needed sleep and that though won out.  Maybe next time we can do the entire 48 hours?????

Robin: Awake at 12:30 (no alarm), grab a quick protein bar, dress and wait. This is it! Last 4 miles and we couldn’t have asked for better weather at 1:00 in the morning. My legs are tired and Ebby pulls. I swear she is the most stubborn dog, EVER! I am feeling the tiredness, but am also pumped up because I DID IT! I ran the entire program with Michelle and didn’t give up on myself. I actually pondered running at 5...who am I? I decided I needed to get some sleep more than another 4 miles.

me trying to sleep in between runs with a messed up internal thermostat

Things we learned:  You can do anything with a friend by your side.  Always talk your friends into doing wild and crazy things.   Robin and Mel have both said yes to lots of crazy ideas I have had and I am blessed to have them.   Plus, it helps when you are running in the middle of the night  to have someone else, because honestly if she wasn't meeting me, I would have totally backed out and either run on the mill or gone back to sleep.  Don't eat big high calorie high protein meals and run (ehem omelet that I craved so badly) or you will get side stitches.  This shouldn't be a huge problem during the race since I have my fuel, but some aid stations can and will make you big meals if you want them.  Roll out the sore spots so they don't get worse.  Chaffing is still real even running 4 mile blocks.  Keep that in check or you will regret it.  Running at night is interesting, stay safe. I probably would have stuck to the mill if I didn't have a friend for the night runs.  I would do this again and will training for my next 50, and I can see great value to those running overnight races or 100 milers.

Robin: To be honest, when I first agreed, I was secretly hoping that something would come up
and I would have to back out. I was unsure I could do this many miles. I am such an “In your head”
runner, I figured I would give up on myself and I didn’t want to disappoint my dear friend. But here
I am, 33 hours from start to finish and I survived. No horrible pain, no blisters, no regrets, just pride.
Proud of myself for even agreeing to this, but even more so for completing it entirely! What have I
learned? 

• I am stronger than I ever believed. 
• Running doesn’t mean going as fast as you can. It is moving forward without judgement. 
• I like the idea of run/walk intervals, so I may even sign up for a 50K someday.
• I have the mental fortitude to keep going if I just focus on the big picture, not the current discomfort.
• Good friends see the strength in you and push you beyond what you think are your limits. 

Michelle is that friend and thank you for “encouraging” me to do this with you.
Let’s do it again sometime soon.  Lots of love, Your Hesitant Running Buddy!