Friday, October 7, 2022

2022 Bourbon Chase Relay Race Report

This past weekend (Sept 30- Oct 1, 2022) I took part in the Ragnar Bourbon Chase Relay.  This relay, which is like the Hood to Coast Relay I did a few years ago, was 214 miles long and is run by a 12 person team separated into two vans - I was runner #9 in Van #2.  Our team, Southern Express, was entered in the Men's Masters (40+) category.  While some teams may work to have a team as young as possible we for sure cover the full age range in that we have runners in their 40’s, 50's & 60's - in our van, Van #2, we had three runners - including myself - that were 63 and over.  

Here is our full team with ages:
  • Adam Bourne 45
  • Joe Bell 41
  • George Corder 57
  • Arnold Tempel 40
  • Kevin Hetrick 43
  • Nathan Frey 46
  • DR Swanner 65
  • Willie Dick 58
  • Jeff Golden 53
  • Tony Duncan 52
  • George Gill 65
  • Tony Konvalin 63
Basically, each person is to run 3 legs, of varying distance from around 3 miles up to the longest which was 12+ miles,  and they alternate non-stop over the course of quite a few hours - our time was at 27:45.  There is some time to sleep but very little as I think I may have at best gotten 2 hours sleep during the race.  Our team finished 3rd in the Men’s Masters race and 11th overall so that was great and more than that it was a great deal of fun running with a great group of guys.

I had been ready for this race but after getting back from So Cal where it was at a 100F+ it was 80F here in KY and a day or so later it was in the 40’s for a low and I got a pretty good head cold.  This is a pretty usual occurrence when the wether changes due to my sinuses but how bad or quick it comes on depends on the degree of the weather change.  Mostly dealing with post nasal drip and a slight cough I figured I would do my best as the alternative was being a man short and that was not acceptable.  Thankfully while tired from the head cold it was not too bad except for some coughing after the leg but other than that better than expected.

Here is a run down of the legs I ran, and on map, with the first two in the dark - with Strava links:
Looking back over the splits I was very happy with the first two legs and the 3rd one, when looking at the climbing and that there was a strong headwind for much of it, was not too bad.  As far as the last leg while I wanted it to be faster in truth as I had been feeling some cramping in my hamstring on the 3rd leg I just ran so as to not cramp and have to walk - so finished strong.  I ran a Toal of 25.8 of racing miles and about 1.2 of some warmup miles.

The last time I ran a relay like this I ended up with Plantar Fasciitis for two years due to the issues created by hoping in a van after running hard.  But this time round I had no such issues and am sure it is a combination of my change in diet as well as riding more which helped to balance some muscle issues and also changing shoes I have been using since - Topos.  So while I ended still with my head cold and a cough and some soreness - to be expected with the miles and effort - I came out in great shape.  Even got in a couple good paced rides on Zwift the Monday and Tuesday after the race and a couple 4 mile runs.

As far as fueling I would say this was sort of a take in what I could as a little hard to control everything.  Where OFM comes in is that I did not really need all that much and never felt all that hungry.  I did take a Vespa a couple times during the race - before Leg 2 and Leg 3.  As for the rest here is what I can remember that I took in and you will see that it was more carb heavy than normal but did not create any issues:
  • Lunch on the way to first leg (3:00PM Friday) - Hamburger, yes ate the bun, and a backed potato with butter.
  • Just took the Vespa before my first leg which was leg 9 and had a little bit of Tailwind
  • After, we fished leg 12 our van went back to a hotel and had the following - 6: meat subway sandwich, again ate the bun, some chips and a couple cups of coffee.  Also had a Vespa before second leg. - leg 21.
  • After my second leg - leg 21 - and getting done with leg 24 we went back to the hotel for breakfast at about 7AM and had some eggs, sausage, ham and a few mini chocolate donuts and some coffee.  Did have a few potatoes but they were sort of spicy so decided to not finish them.
  • Before my third leg, legs 33, I had an SIS Isotonic Gel and a swig of coke.  Afterwards I had a 16oz Gatorade as we were out of water and needed something
  • Then before my last leg I again had an SIS Isotonic Gel and a swig of coke.
  • During all this I was taking in water and some tailwind but in this I am pretty sure I did not take in enough electrolytes as while to me not hot was sweating quite a bit but just lost track of keeping up with the electrolytes.
Once again I am seeing that my OFM diet and fueling is working great and my use of riding to help my running is also working great.

Lessons Learned:
  • I still need to dial in my hydration and electrolytes - especially when not too hot as tend to drink less
  • Make sure I bring enough water as like to avoid the sugary drinks but take them if all I can get.
  • Loosen up a little more at each stop - tend to just veg to rest but then tighten up

Looking forward to doing this again as the whole thing is a great time with some great people.

Thanks to our sponsors:
Also, thanks to Nathan Frey who arranged the whole thing and it takes a lot of organizing
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