Howl at the Moon Race Recap: It Sucked!

I ran the Howl at the Moon 8-Hour ultra this past weekend. Well, maybe "running" is not the right word. Jog/walk is more accurate. And I dropped out after 7 loops (24.5 miles) and only 4.5 hours. So another DNF for me. I was severely dehydrated and peeing brown/red urine. Not good. Sad that I dropped out, but it was the right decision. After about 3 hours of resting, and 2+ liters of sports drink, I finally peed "regular dehydrated" urine (dark yellow). By dinner time, I was doing fine.

For me, the day sucked. I was not trained well for an ultra. Plus, I'm not a good heat runner. It was not that hot, but it was deceptively warm and sunny. Many people dropped out with heat exhaustion or dehydration. If it was hot and humid from the start, we'd all have run more cautiously. Oh well. Live and learn. I've learned that as I've gotten older, I do not tolerate the heat. And I simply do not enjoy the suffering. Ten years ago I would have continued to push and rack up the miles. I'd embrace the pain and enjoy others stopping early. Now I'm the one dropping before the full 8 hours!

I'm not sure I'll ever run Howl again. I've disappointed myself the last 4 attempts. A good policy would be "no summer races." But...I hate leaving on a low point. I want my last Howl at the Moon race to be a good one. Next year they plan to add a 24-hour event to the traditional 8-hour race. That would be a good last Howl run! Or maybe not? I could just volunteer.

PS: Special thanks to Gregg Rose in his first year as Howl race director. It was a well-organized event with fantastic support. KRR is a great running club! I now have 654.77 "Howl at the Moon miles."