Triathlon/Marathon/Endurance Sports Thread

[chasewild]

My weird and totally meaningless goal is to be a person who has snatched 100k(g) in competition and run 100k(m) in the mountains. I'm halfway there.

I think this is a cool goal. Running a 100 miles "at a clip" in the mountains has been a distal goal of mine as well. There is something almost tangible when uttering the words "I can cover 100 miles in a day."

I was training for the San Juan Solstice 50 M but we moved north that summer. So now I'm looking at some self supported stuff up here.

 

[thedutchtouch]

I ran some back in the day (15+) years ago, have been active but not regularly exercising in the last decade, signed up for a half in September/full marathon in October this year and have been enjoying getting back into shape. No time goals yet, I'm just seeing how the year develops so far, only running around 25 miles a week at this point with longest run 10 miles. Following the 80/20 rule somewhat, though I realistically need to slow down even more and ramp up volume

 

[OregonSteeler]

I need to step up my game..LOL. Some of you guys are making me feel like a slack ass.

Also, reading about these events/adventures is torture while at work sitting behind a desk!

 

[MountainFeral]

There's a lot of talk on here about health & fitness, weight loss, and being a better you. Though, I haven't seen many posts about races or events they plan on doing. Not sure if this thread will be interesting to the masses but would love to hear if anyone is doing tris, half/whole marathons, bike races, things like that to help stay in shape for the upcoming hunting season.

Here's the quick and dirty of my story:

My wife is in the healthcare business, and I hear horror stories about her patients almost daily. Most of her patients are between 65-80 and ALL are an absolute mess, some self-inflicted, some natural. They can't walk up the stairs, can't bathe themselves, can't hardly take care of themselves. I want to be hunting into my 70s if I can help it in any way possible, so about a year ago I started to really concentrate on my health. It's been an amazing journey seeing what I can accomplish, and I can honestly say I'm in 10x in better shape and healthier than I was in my 20s, 30s, and early 40s.

Looking to my first full triathlon this summer. I live in the Portland area so thinking Hagg Lake and/or Xterra Portland. I'm scared as $hit of doing something competitive again, but it's really pushed me to go to that next level.

This has NOT been an easy journey thus far. I've had injuries, plenty of time constraints, and LOTS of times where I wanted to say hell no, I'm not doing that workout today. Overall though, I have seen a huge difference in my stamina and really feel it's going to help with my hunting seasons this year. I've always been able to push myself in the mountains, but I want to go way beyond what I've done and not look back to say, I wish I'd hunted a little bit harder.

Does anyone else use the offseason to train for endurance events? Have you seen a difference in your ability with a pack on in the woods?

I am a “retired” mountain bike racer. I used to do pro-level ultra endurance (50-125 miles) and multi day races until back and neck problems told me to either quit or start looking at the surgical route.
Even though I only ride a bike 2-3 hours a week at the most now, I can still put in huge days in the mountains to hunt, which is freakin’ awesome. I think that it’s a little bit of leftover endurance and a lot of mental toughness.
Last year I did an absolutely insane multi-day elk packout, and while it definitely made me realize that I needed to add a little strength training into my routine, I think my past years of endurance training definitely played a big role in my ability to pull it off.
That, along with being tough and stubborn as f**k.

 

[Z Barebow]

I think my past years of endurance training definitely played a big role in my ability to pull it off.
That, along with being tough and stubborn as f**k.

+2. My years of running/training/pack outs have taught me I am pretty tough to kill! LOL!

 

[OregonSteeler]

Well what goes up, must come down. My training and progress has been going so well. Until I did some sprint work and I'm pretty positive I re-tore the meniscus in my right knee. Had surgery on it last March and took many months to feel strong enough to get back into running. Now I cannot walk down stairs, down hillsides, down anything with a decline without having pretty intense pain.

All of my planned races/events this summer are now just a dream. I'm now just hoping I can get healed fast enough for archery elk and rifle deer season.

Getting old freaking SUCKS!!!

 

[pattimusprime22]

Sorry to hear that @OregonSteeler . I've gotten pretty down when I've had major injuries/setbacks in the past. I know this won't exactly help, but injuries happen to everyone, and just as you recovered from your last meniscus tear, you'll recover from this injury. I hope the diagnosis isn't too bad and you're back to training and ready for season.

 

[mtwarden]

If you happen to be looking for a really tough mountain 50k, I'd highly recommend looking into the Rut Run 50k in Big Sky. Tons of elevation gain/loss, but what makes it unique amongst the races I've done is you actually have to scramble and bag Lone Peak (and then descend it w/o a trail).

The toughest 50k I've found.

 

[DakotaBPNW]

I’m planning on doing an ultra this summer, still haven’t decided which one yet.

 

[Blackbird]

Training for the Utah valley marathon in June 1st and am debating the bear ears 50 mile ultra this summer.

 

[OregonSteeler]

If you happen to be looking for a really tough mountain 50k, I'd highly recommend looking into the Rut Run 50k in Big Sky. Tons of elevation gain/loss, but what makes it unique amongst the races I've done is you actually have to scramble and bag Lone Peak (and then descend it w/o a trail).

The toughest 50k I've found.

This looks awful and awesome at the same time!! Thanks for sharing.

 

[OregonSteeler]

Sorry to hear that @OregonSteeler . I've gotten pretty down when I've had major injuries/setbacks in the past. I know this won't exactly help, but injuries happen to everyone, and just as you recovered from your last meniscus tear, you'll recover from this injury. I hope the diagnosis isn't too bad and you're back to training and ready for season.

Injuries are really, really hard for me to overcome and sends me into a depression of sorts. I can handle when my mind and exhaustion says you're done. But when my body quits on me before I'm ready to quit, throws me into a downward spiral.

I do realize injuries are part of most any sport. I am extremely careful not to ramp up mileage too quickly, stretch religiously, take Epsom salt baths, rollers, flexibility exercises, eat right, yet I still get injured too often in my opinion.

 

[prm]

Well what goes up, must come down. My training and progress has been going so well. Until I did some sprint work and I'm pretty positive I re-tore the meniscus in my right knee. Had surgery on it last March and took many months to feel strong enough to get back into running. Now I cannot walk down stairs, down hillsides, down anything with a decline without having pretty intense pain.

All of my planned races/events this summer are now just a dream. I'm now just hoping I can get healed fast enough for archery elk and rifle deer season.

Getting old freaking SUCKS!!!

Sorry to hear. I cannot compare to what you are dealing with, I ran two Marine Corps Marathons and right around a month prior I had issues with my hamstrings. I was able to run each, but without running for a month and having the small sharp pains, neither went very well. Both hammies had been torn in the past but they chose an inopportune time to get bad. I did get in one healthy half-marathon and that was a great experience. Good luck with recovery!

 

[Throwin Darts]

Injuries are really, really hard for me to overcome and sends me into a depression of sorts. I can handle when my mind and exhaustion says you're done. But when my body quits on me before I'm ready to quit, throws me into a downward spiral.

I do realize injuries are part of most any sport. I am extremely careful not to ramp up mileage too quickly, stretch religiously, take Epsom salt baths, rollers, flexibility exercises, eat right, yet I still get injured too often in my opinion.

I’m in the same boat with frequent injuries. I’ll have a race derailed by some injury. It’s pretty devastating to train for months and months and not be able to give the effort you know you’re capable of. But I find that the chase of that race where my body is there keeps me signing up for more races. As an older endurance athlete I figure it’s part of the process

 

[mtwarden]

I was pretty injury free (thankfully) during my 10-12 year run of mountain races except one year. One year I had signed up for several races that were relatively close to each other (~ every two weeks) in time. The first race I did pretty well. The second race I did fair. The third race I did poorly, the fourth I DNF'd- developed severe hamstring cramps about 10 miles into the race.

I complained to buddy of my woes and he asked what races I did and when—he rolled his eyes and said well what would did you expect. Lesson learned

 

[OregonSteeler]

I was pretty injury free (thankfully) during my 10-12 year run of mountain races except one year. One year I had signed up for several races that were relatively close to each other (~ every two weeks) in time. The first race I did pretty well. The second race I did fair. The third race I did poorly, the fourth I DNF'd- developed severe hamstring cramps about 10 miles into the race.

I complained to buddy of my woes and he asked what races I did and when—he rolled his eyes and said well what would did you expect. Lesson learned

I'd imagine all those years working in the woods helped keep your body in shape. Having a desk job for my entire career does not help my endurance appetite.

 

[OregonSteeler]

I’m in the same boat with frequent injuries. I’ll have a race derailed by some injury. It’s pretty devastating to train for months and months and not be able to give the effort you know you’re capable of. But I find that the chase of that race where my body is there keeps me signing up for more races. As an older endurance athlete I figure it’s part of the process

I'm coping by focusing on my swimming (which sucks) and cycling. I think I'd be more acceptable to a strains or pulled muscles rather than torn ligaments and long-term debilitating injuries. Just got to focus on the positives I guess and find other ways to get my workouts in.

 

[mtwarden]

^ I got into the endurance stuff pretty late in life- early 50's. Started as an "exercise" just not to embarrass myself too bad when we formulated a quarterly run/exercise "test" for work. WhenI started running I hated it, then eventually hated it less, then it wasn't too bad and finally really started to like running and just kept increasing the distances.

There may have been some small advantage starting later, I know a lot of guys who have run almost their entire lives and a lot have knee issues and the like. Might be I just haven't put the miles on to wear mine out like they have, propensity for good knees or both????

 

[pattimusprime22]

I'm coping by focusing on my swimming (which sucks) and cycling. I think I'd be more acceptable to a strains or pulled muscles rather than torn ligaments and long-term debilitating injuries. Just got to focus on the positives I guess and find other ways to get my workouts in.

It's easy to focus on what you can't do, but I've found it helpful to view it as an opportunity to grow a lot in what you can do. Set some goals for paces in the pool/on the bike and hopefully you enjoy the process of getting better there.

 

[1jeds]

If you happen to be looking for a really tough mountain 50k, I'd highly recommend looking into the Rut Run 50k in Big Sky. Tons of elevation gain/loss, but what makes it unique amongst the races I've done is you actually have to scramble and bag Lone Peak (and then descend it w/o a trail).

The toughest 50k I've found.

I'm signed up for the 50k this year, looking forward to it. Another tough one is Speedgoat 50K here in UT at Snowbird - it has ~1k more vert than the Rut, but not sure how the terrain compares.