Latest from RayK:
I sent early information and a picture last night as the Geezer Team #2 began their observations. At 6:20 Rob started precisely where he left off. He walked briefly then took off. He was running 8’s. He covered the first 4 miles in 33:50, just under 8:30s, but had started out walking. As we waited we saw Jim Barnes. Jim and his wife, Debbie, had showed up to help Rob. (Jim, a 30+ year veteran of running ultras, had run with Rob across Alabama last year during the marathon a day race.)
Debbie had worked on Rob’s feet and they were feeling better. Rob and I had talked about cutting some of his shoes to relieve pressure on his feet. He gave me a pair of Brooks Ravenna and I cut them to multi-day standards. He put them on and was greatly impressed. After a couple of miles in these “worn out†shoes he asked me to do the same with a pair with good cushioning. I said I would and he gave me an almost new pair of a later model Brooks Ravenna. I made the modification and he took off again.
With feet fixed and in comfortable shoes he continued to run steady, gradually slowing. As mentioned his first 4.0 was 33:50. He ran his next 3.3 in 31 minutes and followed that with 47 minute 2.5 that included a break. We recorded an 8:24 mile. He then settled in with the second pair of modified shoes.
For a while then he ran and walked making steady progress until….. he was not coming. I walked back to find him and found him tired. He said he had also stopped for a massage. That 2.5 mile section took 1:14, 10 minutes better than his 1:24 2.5 from the previous night, but still slow. By then it was after midnight and time to change shifts. He had run 26.6 miles right at 6 hours under close observation. He went down for an hour break…. and the next miles are for another to report.
A few observations. Yes I modified some shoes for Robert. Regardless of what happened early in the run, I can speculate, but not know for sure, I want him to do his best. I want to observe his best. I believe I have watched him become a multi-day runner this week. The daily mileages, dipping into the 40s, back to the 50s, a 40, followed by a 50… he is, even if he wasn’t already, becoming a multi-day runner. He has expressed interest in running multi-day runs, six days, 10 days, whatever. He feels he can be good at these. I believe that as he learns more he can be. If modifying shoes can help ease some of the discomfort associated with this run so be it. As he ran longer periods at his faster paces I wondered if by giving him his feet it might cost him his legs. I was pleased when he settled into more of a multi-day pacing strategy.
There is a lot going on, and I’m sure the conversations in the RV are interesting. The crew, and Rob have been very open with their plans, as much as they have determined them. They all remain friendly and dedicated to the task at hand.
They still do things where I worry about safety. Rob spends a lot of time at the window of the RV, sometimes the passenger side, sometimes the driver’s side on the yellow line. Some of this is to keep him out of the sun. Some I feel is for the human contact, especially when tired. He also ran some of his fast running directly in front of the RV, with a camera mounted to the hood of the RV.
I will observe another session tonight before having to leave for my 100 mile in NYC at The Great New York Running Exposition Saturday. I hope to repeat my sub 24 hour performance from Dawn to Dusk to Dawn from four weeks ago…. Time will tell…. But then that is the purpose of running….. to see what the time does tell……