24 Hours of Motion on Washington Island
My aunt lives on a remote island in northern Wisconsin that’s only accessible via ferry. I grew up spending time there in the summers. It’s one of my favorite places on earth—calm and quiet with little access to the outside world. Rising out of refreshingly brisk, clear water with an amazing stone beach, sunsets whose reflection sets the lake on fire and a field of stars that you can drink in for hours, it is a place I always look forward to visiting.
About three or four years ago I was visiting the island, having heard I was getting into the sport, a family friend Anna mentioned this race to me. Nobody knew the distance or the format or had any further details other than it happened sometime during the summer. But it was a triathlon that took place at my favorite place. There was no doubt in my mind, I knew I had to do it some day no matter what it was.
When I got home I was able to find the race and quickly discovered that it wasn't your typical triathlon. You could do whatever combination of sports you wanted—swim + run or bike + run or swim + bike + run or anything on its own—for 12 or 24 or 36 hours either on your own or as a team. I began hatching a plan with my cousin’s husband—an avid trail runner out in San Diego—to get back here for this race. I wanted someone along for the adventure and he loves the island as much as I do and was equally excited when he found out there was a race there. I’d never done anything longer than an olympic up to that point but we decided to go for it, signing up to do the race 24 hours solo. We signed up in 2020, crossing our fingers that Covid would be behind us by the time it came around.
With the easy part done—paying for it—now was time for the hard part: training. I had moved to Hudson, NY in January and with this coming up at the end of July I wasn't wasting any time. I started exploring my new home, running all around the area. Everything was going smooth and I was feeling strong. Then disaster struck. One day in February, at the end of a long run as I was crossing a street, suddenly my ankle was sideways and I just missed hitting the deck right there in the intersection. Looking back as I limped forward I saw I stepped right on a sizable chunk of asphalt, rolling it as badly as you could.
It was pretty painful so I took a week off, hoping everything would be okay. It wasn't. I've spent years battling my achilles tendon. Every time I've been active in the past, when I've really been on a roll riding my bike, it would invariably get derailed by a bout of tendonitis in my achilles. Well, this time it looked like there was a golf ball sitting in the middle of it. It was not good. I was not running on that and I was not biking on that. All I could do was rest it and hope it got better in time to get a month or two of training in. I was keeping my fingers crossed I could do the 70.3 I had scheduled in June to warm up but was not feeling optimistic.
With the bike and run out of the question I got to spend a LOT of time in the water. My friend Ed and I, often joined by another friend Trey and sometimes Kevin would be in the water at Twin Lakes 5-6 days a week. By the summer we were regularly swimming 10-12+ miles a week. I always loved swimming but this year I got strong in the water. It felt great. Now I'd feel comfortable swimming anywhere in any situation. With this much training going on we've got a 10k planned for later in the year. I can't wait to check that off the list. The mornings in that lake have also made me fall in love with my new home. There's no better way to start the day than with a swim and out in a lake with friends makes it all the better.
June rolled around and I figured it was now or never to give it a test. My achilles was still swollen but the golf ball now looked like there was a cherry tomato in there. Not great but not horrible. I started with some easy rides and some easy runs. I started biking to the lake in the morning to keep the swimming up and be able to get a little rest on the tendon during a 30 mile ride. None of it felt good but none of it felt like I'd do permanent damage so I kept going, trying to be ready for the 70.3 in June.
The Alpha Win 70.3 in Kingston, one month before my big day, would be the test to see if it was possible. I just wanted to get through it without a major injury. In classic race week fashion, I decided to "race" my 4 year old nephew and tweaked my groin as well. I was not feeling great about things. I took it easy for a few days, got all my stuff together and showed up at the starting line to see what I could do.
This was my first time with an in water start so I hovered in the back not knowing what it would be like in there with everyone. I started nice and easy, feeling for gaps and shooting between people. I was shocked how slow everyone was in the water and wondered if I was swimming too fast. I kept taking long, smooth strokes though, gliding through the water past people. It felt easy so I stopped worrying. Before I knew it the swim was over. I got out and started running to my bike, feeling pretty good, like I just had a great warmup. All those mornings with Ed had really paid off. On my way to my bike I found out I was in the top 10 out of the water which was amazing to hear.
Now was going to be the real test. 56 miles on my bike, the thing that aggravates my achilles the most. I felt so good out of the water that I made my first mistake of the day. I had planned on drinking a good amount of water before I jumped on my bike and completely forgot about it. This would come back to bite me later. It was a hot and humid day and only getting hotter. But I started riding.
This was not an easy route. There were a lot more hills than I had been pushing myself on the last two weeks so I struggled. Top 10 out of the water leaves a lot of people to watch fly past you on the bike. I was in terrible shape for a good reason. Instead of being okay with that I was getting demoralized as person after person flew past me. I started pushing harder than I should have and drank a lot less than I should have. I had never put much thought into nutrition and I had never dealt with the effects of doing it poorly. Today would be a good lesson.
Mile after mile of struggling on my weak legs, doing what I could to avoid aggravating my ankle, I'd made it 10 miles from the end. That was when a kid who was riding what looked like the cheapest road bike you'd find at your average Walmart came up next to me. I felt a bit ashamed on my much nicer bike but he was nice and we chatted for a bit as we worked our way to the end. He was feeling it too but not as bad as me. As we came up to the last aid station I still had some water (again, not drinking enough) so I kept going while he stopped. I couldn't stop and get water! I was racing! I was certain he'd start his run at least 5 minutes behind me. Then, about five minutes later, he passed me looking fresh as a daisy. That was a major nutrition lesson learned right there. Stopping for a minute to get water can actually make you faster.
Eventually I got to the end of that and my achilles was still in tact but it was not feeling great. Now it was time to run. Again, the bottle of water I had sitting there to drink before my run sat undrunk as I put my shoes on and ran out. So did the water at the first aid station as I ran past. At this point it was 100% adrenaline as I was dead tired from that bike ride. I wasn't thinking though and I just kept moving. This lasted a grand total of about 2 miles. Then I realized the mistake I'd made. I was extremely dehydrated. My pace dropped about 2 minutes per mile and all I could do was dream about the next aid station where I'd find something to drink. It hit me like a ton of bricks. If I had any chance at making it to the end I had to suck it up and walk. I was weak coming in, my achilles wasn't feeling great by this point and now I was dehydrated.
Now that I had been humbled I started enjoying my day. A discovery I made that day was it's actually a heck of a lot of fun cheering on the other people out there with you. A nice "looking good" or "keep it up" or "you're doing great" always makes me feel a little better. Saying it to someone else when you feel awful gives you a boost as well. I also started drinking two or three cups of water and chatting with the aid station workers every chance I got. I started feeling better and eventually got to the end. My brother and nephew were there to cheer me on. My nephew and I ran the finish together (he's going to be pretty quick soon enough) and the lady gave him his own medal! He was so excited. That small gesture will keep Alpha Win up there in my books for a long time.
Now to the main event, the Washington Island Ultra! I wasn't in the best shape but I proved to myself that it was worth a shot. But the real story of my race is my support team. I had my cousins and brother there keep my bottles filled and have whatever food I needed ready for me every time I came back around. Someone was there for me for 24 hours straight. I also had a handful of family/friends come out and keep me company (sane) on those last running miles (aka walking) at the end. Without them I would’ve been dead in the water.
My favorite part of this race was the logistics. Figuring out how to organize things. Having the option to do things in whatever order you'd like made it a really interesting challenge. I planned to start with 16 swims, 4 bikes, 2 runs, 4 bikes, 3 runs, 4 bikes, 3 runs, 4 bikes and 8 runs in that order for a total of 16. Then I’d see where I was at and reassess, see if I could squeeze in a couple more. With all the lessons from my nutrition disaster I came in with a real plan. Every transition I'd eat. Every loop of the bike I'd get fresh bottles. I planned to drink one 24oz bottle of water with 3 scoops of Tailwind every hour—I wasn’t going to get dehydrated this time. I brought oat bars, nut bars, avocado sandwiches and pretzels I could fill my pockets with. Some bananas, watermelon, pickles and twizzlers that my cousin brought came in very handy as well.
My race started exactly as planned, I swam smooth and easy and was cruising right along. Then after my 7th loop, when I was getting out of the water to check in, I stepped on a mussle and got a cut that went the entire width of my big toe. I knew this was really going to suck by the end of this long day but I kept it out of my mind and finished my 16 swim loops in about 1 hour and 55 minutes, feeling great.
I taped up my toe and got to biking. I had always thought of this island as being extremely flat. That image changes quickly when you have to ride up the same hills 16 times. They start to feel like mountains. I just kept the idea from Deena Kastor’s Let Your Mind Run in my head that the hills are the best part of every workout and attacked every one I came across.
Biking and running and drinking and eating and biking and running and drinking and eating for what felt like forever. I don’t remember much of the day, I just know I had to pee a lot so I knew I was on track.
Then it got dark. On an island with 3 total street lights, none on the course, it gets pretty dark. Especially when you’re in the woods and can’t see the sky. There were a few close calls with deer flying across the road. Many loops on the bike where I didn’t see a soul. Everyone was silent in the dark on the run course throughout the night. Those stretches seemed to last forever.
Going into my last set of bike loops I was feeling good, thinking I could get to 18 at least given where I was on time. Then I started riding and my other achilles was done. I’d been overcompensating for the injured one so much all day that I barely made it around that loop. Somehow I made it through the next three but any idea that I was going to do more was gone. My sliced open toe was throbbing and both achilles were screaming with every push of the pedal and step of the run. All that could happen by pushing myself further is permanent damage.
That’s when everyone showed up. I walked a couple laps with my Dad. Some friends joined me for nice easy laps. My cousin’s husband and I were finally on the course together and able to talk about how we were feeling. We joked and laughed, sang songs and watched the sun rise. I finished my 16th run loop with about 1 hour to spare. I got to know a lot of other people who were racing and I’m really happy it ended that way.
I finished with 16 total of everything. 196 miles: 4mi swim, 160mi bike, 32mi run. That was good enough for 1st place in the triathlon, I beat 5 teams and a handful of 36 hour people. In the end I felt in control the whole time, never felt behind or mentally tired. My cousin's husband ended up in 1st place in the 24 hour duathlon as well. There were times when I never wanted to taste Tailwind again but I kept sucking it down, forced food I didn’t want into my mouth and kept on schedule—kept to my plan and finished exactly what I knew I could. I can’t wait to see what I can do if I can get my achilles back to full strength!
Thinking about the race, it is pretty well put together all things considered. There are a handful of things I’d change but overall, given everything going on, it was very smooth. There are two intersections on the bike that you need to stop for sometimes. It would be nice to have someone there to control. Other than that there are small tweaks but nothing more than any other race I’ve done.
Talking to people who live on the island, there isn’t much outreach to the residents by the race directors. Most don’t know it’s happening and get very frustrated/annoyed when suddenly all these people on bikes are flying around and one road is suddenly inundated with people running. The few residents who I know that came out to cheer us on started hearing the stories of all the people racing and wish they’d known before. They said would’ve been out supporting had they known what these people were doing. I hope they do more outreach in the future because this community would line the roads with signs if they had a reason to.
There was one woman who did a 36 hour run alone. Another who did the triathlon for 36 hours entirely on her own with no support (we and our crew took her under our wing those last few hours when it was clear she was running on fumes). One did 24 hours swim only. One woman did a triathlon with her adult handicapped sister, pulling her in a raft, then pulling her on the bike and finally pushing her on the run. I don’t know where she ended up but she was absolutely amazing. Getting to know some of the people and hear their stories throughout the day was by far my favorite part of the race. I would definitely do this again.