All right, some thoughts from my 50 miles yesterday. Not an official report.
Location: You guys smartly recommended I have a little elevation gain since I am more used to that. I intended to take that advice, but the locale I had scouted for that would have involved a drive, and once I was into this, I didn't want to take the time off to drive anywhere.
Let me back up... I started just before 2 a.m., so I decided to start in my backyard so as not to have the cops called on me somewhere else. I stayed there until the sun came up ~four hours later. Then I moved to a big field about a block away. It's next to a soccer field, so the same length as that, but wider. I had scouted this out as a terrific location except for two things: (1) in the afternoon, it would get full sun, and (2) almost every time I'd gone by, there were 1-4 dozen Canadian geese milling about. Why are Canadians so nice but their geese such jerkfaces?
So I started in the backyard, moved to the big soccer-ish field, and then when the sun came over the trees there, moved to a spot a mile or so away (if I knew how far I wouldn't have ended up with 50.2 instead of 50 miles) in...a cemetery. Wait, before I look like more of a jerkface than a Canadian goose, I wasn't using the part where the graves and such are. Feels disrespectful to be running (OK, walking) around in a place where people are mourning their loved ones. But there's an unused area of the cemetery that was another nice big flat field, but with lots of shade-bearing trees. I'd noticed it a few weeks ago, and my only concern was that it was so unused it was a bit overgrown, so I'd tested it to make sure that wouldn't be too much of a pain, and it worked fine. Anyway, those were my three utterly unremarkable locales, all very flat.
Gear: I had essentially no problems with any clothing or gear. I'd forgotten about morning dew on the grass, so I did have to change from my trail runners to some waterproof hiking boots for the first few hours in my backyard, but then I changed back when it had dried out. I didn't experience chafing until I went to change clothes and notice a small amount on the inner thigh where underwear had rubbed. Nothing painful at all. No blisters. With about six miles left, I could feel that my socks were wearing thin in the heels. Actually I thought it was that they were wet (sweat?), but when I later took my shoes off the heels were almost bald. I did have extra socks with me and considered changing, but it would have involved sitting down, which I didn't want to do, and I was also afraid my shoes wouldn't go back on afterward! Speaking of shoes, I could feel my toes moving around a little too much, especially on the left, so I wouldn't be surprised to lose a couple of toenails eventually. It's ok; has happened before.
Nutrition/hydration: Well, it turns out that I am not much different in long "walks" than I am in hiking - my body just doesn't want to eat on either one. About 17-18 miles in, I had my first food - a banana. It tasted so good that I ate a second one. Bad idea. Started feeling nauseated about a mile later. That passed after a few miles, but was yucky for a bit. From then on, I stuck only with water and juices. Some of the "listen to your body" and nutrition discussion in here had made me contemplate beforehand what I really needed to have on hand, and one thing I'd realized always perked me up during hikes was juice. I never buy it otherwise, but stocked up with some orange and mango juices, and those were the entirety of my nutrition other than the two ill-fated bananas. I had other stuff on hand but never felt like eating any of it.
Weather: I was lucky in that the sky stayed overcast until about 11 a.m., and I think the high temp for the day was 71. No complaints here! I did manage to get a little bit of a sunburn despite thinking I'd been careful. I'm really pasty, though.
Entertainment/Breaks: My biggest concern with doing this was the tedium. Especially given that I ended up circling around the same locales over and over, I was more worried about being bored than about any physical aspect of this. Having known for a little while that I'd be trying this, I'd been stocking up on episodes of This American Life, and I guess I listened to 14 or 15 of them! (Side note: highly recommend the episodes "Here Again" from Jun 12 and "The Show of Delights" from January 31.) Thought I might get bored even listening to those, but it didn't happen. My strategy was that I would put an episode on, and at the end of each one (an hour to an hour fifteen), then I'd take a short break for water/juice and to pee if necessary. Those were the only breaks I took all day - 2-5 minutes each time. For the last hour, I switched to a Beatles mix for inspiration.
Body aches, pains, and surprises: As I mentioned last night, one surprise was the swelling in my fingers. I never have that while hiking. I know if I'd raised my hands up or used my arms more, it wouldn't have been as bad, but I was tired and didn't want to do that! No big deal, but just looked and felt slightly weird. I also figured out why my nose started running like crazy late in day - allergies! Usually I don't have allergies this late in the year, but it's been a strange year. That also led to a sore throat that continues today. My biggest issue today is very chapped lips. I was applying lip balm, but apparently not enough.
At some point midway(?) I started to have lower back pain. That was surprising as I figured my feet would be the biggest issue. Did I mention I have arthritis in my feet? Is there anything one could possibly have that makes them sound older than arthritis in the feet? Gah. Eventually the back pain subsided or it was just replaced by so much pain in my knees, ankles, feet, and hips that I didn't notice anymore. I'd say with about five miles left I kinda wanted to die in a quiet and peaceful way. With 2.6 miles left I wanted to die in any way possible. I'd been motoring along pretty well before then, but when the pain came it came fast and furious. By the end I was literally talking out loud to myself, giving myself "you can do it" encouragement. In addition to the pain, I was feeling pretty woozy and definitely not walking in straight lines.
Thank you again to the denizens of this thread for all the help and encouragement!