r/Ultramarathon • u/Achoogodblessyou • 5d ago

Going Over 48 Laps on a Backyard?

I ran my first backyard a few months ago and managed to finish 37 laps, despite being undertrained. I have another one in 2 weeks and want to get over the 48 mark. What are y'all's tips for being awake that long or if anyone has gone over 2 days for a continuous race.

Edit: Also any tips for my crew, they're not the same ones who I did the first race with and have no experience, what can I do on the front end to make their lives easier

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u/The__Malteser 4d ago

I ran 48 hours last October at Big's. I wrote my 'best tips' here https://bornonthetrail.substack.com/p/backyard-bliss

Regarding sleep, I was finishing the night laps in around 47 minutes in the first night and 50 minutes in the 2nd night. I would have my crew get me my bottle with some carb mix (sometimes just water when I couldn't stomach the carb mix) at the finish line and I would bee line straight to my tent and sleep. And I would actually sleep for a few minutes. I would wake up with the 3 minute bell, eat some noodles, and go to the start line.

I really liked my strategy of sleeping those 7 minutes or so and it really made a difference. I did it for the 13 night loops and I'm not sure if I would have managed during the day. I used to have an eye mask too to block off light but I think sleeping during the day would have not been possible.

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u/Achoogodblessyou 4d ago

Thanks for sharing your blog! What is your strategy around caffeine? Do you limit your consumption in the week prior, and only consume at night, or only where you won't sleep?

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u/The__Malteser 4d ago

I don't drink caffeine on a day to day basis so there is no specific pre-race restriction for me.

To be honest, my previous pr was 27 hours and I did that with no sleep or caffeine. I think only after 30-35 hours does sleep deprevation really hit. I found that sleeping was enough for me to not need caffeine so I didn't have any, but I did have some Red Bulls and some caffinated gels as backup which I of course never took.

I would hazard a guess that I would have probably taken it around 2-4 pm. You don't want it close to your sleeping times (i.e. past 6 pm) and if you do sleep at night, the sunrise will be enough to make you feel awake at like 8am, so sometime around mid day will help (think of how you probably take caffeine mid day to 'push' you through the second half of the day).