Moab 240 2024: Fighting the Ultrarunner's Lean

I love 200+ mile races: the multi-day adventure, the people, the scenery, the long nights, the hallucinations, too. I felt I ran my perfect Moab 240 2019, in 84:11 finishing 17th overall with a total 1.5 hours of sleep. I discovered so much about myself, how I could sustain effort for a long time yet naturally pace myself to run the last 40 miles faster with a "burst of energy", and felt I was still able to run at the end. When talking to Candice (the RD) at the end of my second Tahoe 200 about her plan to organize a race in Moab, I was strongly suggesting to make it a 300-miler! I ran Moab again in 2020, and had a strong finish at 88:17. Meanwhile, I was approaching my 60s. The increasing level of training was likely compensating for age, yet sometimes I felt I was not as fast as before. Before Moab 2020 another runner told me that in 2019 I had passed him while leaning around 30 miles to the end, hence after the third night of running. It had never taken me more than three nights to finish a 200+, and I felt that a fourth night would have required me to sleep at least 2 more hours. That changed at Cocodona 250 in 2022, when I had back pain likely caused by dehydration and then I developed a painful lean, but not debilitating, close to the end. The lean was creeping up, and this year, on June 30, 2024, stopped me at mile 91 of Western States 100! Thanks to my volunteering over the year for the Coastside Running Club, I had gained one entry for Moab 240, and I definitely felt I couldn't let them down! The fight against the ultrarunner's lean is on! After Western States I worked on my core but definitely not enough. I knew from Cocodona and WSER that hydration was key, not only drinking water but getting the right amount of salt, potassium and magnesium. Most importantly, rest. Contrary to WSER, I will have time to slow down, lay down, and sleep during Moab 240. Taking my Moab 2020 time, slowing the pace a bit, and adding more rest and sleep time will (barring disaster, always an option in a 240-mile race!) keep me under the cutoff for the 2024 race, which while slightly longer and with more elevation, was 117 hours. Taking time to recharge at aid stations before undertaking each long section is likely the only way of avoiding the total meltdown I had at WSER. My approach is definitely different from the past, where each time I'm trying to improve myself and perfect my race execution. This time is only about getting to the finish line, getting it done! After all, this is not a "Race" but an "Endurance Run"! So here we are, the race starts at noon on Friday October 11, in near record high temperatures of 89° high. It will be hot the whole period, which is ok since we get twice above 10,000ft, especially cold towards the third quarter of the race on the La Sal Mountains. The race starts, and I feel great! I meet along the way the other Italian in the race. He came all the way from Venice here to celebrate his big birthday. The miles go by, and at mile 22 I'm 23rd, at Mile 41, 31st and I reach The Island Aid Station at mile 81.6 in 36th position. I'm not paying attention to my position, with my target only being to finish, but the more I advance, the better chances I have to finish! I'm taking my time at aid stations, which is not good: 10 minutes extra at each of the 15 aid stations adds up to 2.5 hours! While I usually skip the first night, I sleep 1 hour at the Indian Creek AS, mile 68, and take a long nap at Bridger Jack before the toughest climb of the race up to Shay Mountain AS. I know the course in that section is difficult to follow, and with my Suunto I lead a group of 5-6 runners around and then up the mountain. It's a horrible section, rocky, where you go up and then up again, relentless. Starting at noon instead of 7am meant I cover this section in the dark, yet with cooler temperatures than in the past 4 times I've run this race. Kevin decides to stick with me up until Shay Mountain, which motivates me to never stop, except a bit ... 50 feet from the top! I then stay over 3 hours in the Shay Mountain aid station, sleeping and getting ready for the first climb above 10,000ft to gen run down to the Monticello Lake AS. This is a new section of the course, and among the most beautiful. The uphill is not as ridiculous as Shay Mountain and the downhill runnable. I meet Veronica at Monticello Lake AS, mile 126. I'm happy with how things were going and definitely happy to see her! This is the first AS I had asked her to crew.me given the weird times I was going to go through in crew-accessible AS before. I see her also at the next AS, Dry Valley. I put music on for the first time and I shred that 17.4 mile section. I feel like in the good old times when on some sections I'm faster than anyone around me. Yet, at the end of that section, mile 144, Veronica tells me that I'm leaning. The Ultrarunner's lean is back … the rest is history!