Ultras marothons

[Kebler]

Man I got the itch to try the 100 again, but time commitments are to much this year.

 

[justinspicher]

I am just starting my trail run gig this weekend with a five miler in Snohomish Washington. I'd like to work up to longer distance as I usually do workouts but it mostly because I don't want to get fat. I feel this will give a purpose and a goal to accomplish, besides getting me into better shape for hunting.

 

[fire arrow]

Remember that guy from She Rocks that you talk to about hunting the past two years? No Hands aid station, that's me.

I was thinking that. Thought I recognized that picture for your icon.

Was out running the back side of ALT, above Dead Truck and I finally saw a bear. I remember you said there was some yogies in that area. Funny thing was, made my wife pick up the pace. You going to run Cool this year? My wife got in and said I would run with her. It's her first Ultra. Plus this gets me off my butt.

 

[2ski]

You guys should try the Rut 50k in Big Sky in Sept. 50k and 10,000 feet in elevation gained and lost. I don't know what the other races you guys are talking about go for with elevation gain. I was contemplating doing the 10k they have that weekend as an introduction to this racing thing for myself. Its only 2100 feet in elevation gain and lost. Now I guess there's a wedding in San Diego I should go to that weekend. Maybe next year.
http://runtherut.com/

 

[dreamingbig]

Running during archery season? Are you crazy?

 

[Jason Snyder]

Running during archery season? Are you crazy?

Agreed. I was all set to enter it until I saw the date.

 

[Jason Snyder]

You guys should try the Rut 50k in Big Sky in Sept. 50k and 10,000 feet in elevation gained and lost. I don't know what the other races you guys are talking about go for with elevation gain. I was contemplating doing the 10k they have that weekend as an introduction to this racing thing for myself. Its only 2100 feet in elevation gain and lost. Now I guess there's a wedding in San Diego I should go to that weekend. Maybe next year.
http://runtherut.com/

You have the Devil's Backbone in July and the Bridger Ridge in August.

 

[Jason Snyder]

I just submitted my entry for the Siskyou Outback 50 miler. Wish me luck.....

 

[CHAD PEZZLE]

Well things went a little better than I expected considering I hadn't run as much as should've, but I finished the Miwok 100K this past Saturday with a time of 13:55. Looks like I'll get another shot at the Western States Lottery.

Good luck to everyone else out there with there next race.

Chad

 

[Z Barebow]

Signed up for Bighorn 50M in June. First 50M. I 'll take luck, magic, prayers, voodoo, etc. Anything.

Congrats on the 100K Chad!

 

[CHAD PEZZLE]

Signed up for Bighorn 50M in June. First 50M. I 'll take luck, magic, prayers, voodoo, etc. Anything.

Congrats on the 100K Chad!

Right on, and good luck. Look forward to reading about how it goes.

All though my race this year was longer, I felt a bit better just because I sort of knew what to expect both mentally and physically.

Stay hydrated and eat consistently to keep your blood sugar up. For me the GU's and Gel's aren't enough, I need something solid to eat every couple hours. Chicken thighs and oatmeal raisin cookies are two things I packed myself and ate a lot of.

 

[Z Barebow]

Right on, and good luck. Look forward to reading about how it goes.

All though my race this year was longer, I felt a bit better just because I sort of knew what to expect both mentally and physically.

Stay hydrated and eat consistently to keep your blood sugar up. For me the GU's and Gel's aren't enough, I need something solid to eat every couple hours. Chicken thighs and oatmeal raisin cookies are two things I packed myself and ate a lot of.

You hit upon one of my biggest concerns/fears. In all of my other races (50K and shorter), I have never eaten anything solid. I have done Bighorn 50K 3 times and at the end of each race, I couldn't imagine running another 19 miles. The aid stations are well stocked with everything from shrimp, boiled potatoes w/salt, and one even has bacon! (I am thinking bacon might taste like angel tears at mile 30!) Obviously I don't train with bacon, but I have some fuels which I have used in the past. Gels, Perpeteum and I am working on a home brew gel nicknamed "Rocket Fuel". In my research, taking into account the elevation change, my race will be ~= to a 70M effort. (Calorie intake wise). That is a lot of food/calories to take in and hold down.

What other foods do you like? Dislike? I had a bad experience with HEED 5 years ago and I still cannot stomach it to this day.

 

[CHAD PEZZLE]

You hit upon one of my biggest concerns/fears. In all of my other races (50K and shorter), I have never eaten anything solid. I have done Bighorn 50K 3 times and at the end of each race, I couldn't imagine running another 19 miles. The aid stations are well stocked with everything from shrimp, boiled potatoes w/salt, and one even has bacon! (I am thinking bacon might taste like angel tears at mile 30!) Obviously I don't train with bacon, but I have some fuels which I have used in the past. Gels, Perpeteum and I am working on a home brew gel nicknamed "Rocket Fuel". In my research, taking into account the elevation change, my race will be ~= to a 70M effort. (Calorie intake wise). That is a lot of food/calories to take in and hold down.

What other foods do you like? Dislike? I had a bad experience with HEED 5 years ago and I still cannot stomach it to this day.

I'm not an expert by any stretch, I've only run a few ultra distance races. Basically I would just take things that I like to normally eat along with me on training runs and see how I felt after eating, obviously I'd pick things that were easy to eat on the go. But I don't get all crazy scientific about it like some people do. I love sweets more than salty stuff so I usually gravitate towards those foods at aid stations, but in order to keep electrolytes up I usually pop a couple salt pills too. I constantly drink water from my camelbak or bottle, and then usually drink a cup or two of soda at each aid station. PB&J and Pizza were a couple things I ate during last weeks race.

For me I found that about every hour I need something to boost my blood sugar so I'll eat a gu or some of the chewable blocks, and about every two hours I need to eat something more substantial, like some cookies or a chicken thigh or maybe both. And I usually try and eat either at an aid station while I'm refilling water etc. or at the bottom of a long climb I know I'll have to walk.

Obviously for some their results are different, but for me, as long as I keep a habit of keeping my blood sugar up I eat whatever looks good. I try not to venture away and eat things I'm not sure of, and thus I've felt pretty good considering what my body just went through. At last weeks race they had humus and tortillas, you could've told me that stuff would cure cancer, and I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole, I don't like humus on a good day, I sure as heck wasn't going to eat while on deaths door step while running 60 miles.

 

[fire arrow]

You hit upon one of my biggest concerns/fears. In all of my other races (50K and shorter), I have never eaten anything solid. I have done Bighorn 50K 3 times and at the end of each race, I couldn't imagine running another 19 miles. The aid stations are well stocked with everything from shrimp, boiled potatoes w/salt, and one even has bacon! (I am thinking bacon might taste like angel tears at mile 30!) Obviously I don't train with bacon, but I have some fuels which I have used in the past. Gels, Perpeteum and I am working on a home brew gel nicknamed "Rocket Fuel". In my research, taking into account the elevation change, my race will be ~= to a 70M effort. (Calorie intake wise). That is a lot of food/calories to take in and hold down.

What other foods do you like? Dislike? I had a bad experience with HEED 5 years ago and I still cannot stomach it to this day.

Might like this, might not. Try Boboli pizza made to the way you like. Lots of salt in the sauce and sugar. Carbs from the bread. When I go from running 50k's to a 50 miler I need to step up my food. Other things like chilled grapes, slurpies, cup O noodles with red potatoes in it or potato chips. I'll be able to stomach turkey burgers early on but not on the back end. 7-up helps settle my stomach which brings back the appetite too. I only use gels if my sugar drops out on me. Can't stand them suckers any more. My new favorite is. Pancake wrapped around a strip of bacon.

This might not work for everyone, but it helps me get to the finish line so that I can get into the ice bath and then the bathtub.

 

[Owens]

I'm attempting my first ultra at the North Fork 50 here in CO at the end of June. Like others, I'm a little concerned about the food aspect. I've tried gel in marathons, but end up feeling pretty crappy. I just ran The Big Sur marathon and they had bananas and oranges at the aid stations, I went with those and felt pretty good.

I like the sound of that pancake and bacon idea. Any other tips for first timers?

 

[AndyJ]

Owens-for me the trick has been to eat A LOT of real food at aid stations. I try to keep my aid station stops under two minutes but my arms are usually full of food when I leave. I am typically still eating real food for fifteen minutes after leaving an aid station. Fruit tastes great, but you don't get much in the way of calories. Do a half to quarter dose of sports drink and usually it won't be strong enough to make you sick but you will still get calories. I like foods like really greasy pizza for races more than 50mi. Some guys think it will make them sick and some are right, but I have practically been resurrected from the dead by really calorie rich foods. My best advice for a 50 miler would be to try a lot of different gels and honey stinger waffles. I worked at a running specialty store for a couple years and can tell you that nutrition is one of the hardest aspects of running ultras. EFS seems to create fewer problems than any gel on the market. Try the vanilla flavor. One head's up, once you find something that works well for you DON'T use it all the time or you will probably be sick of it by the time the race rolls around.

 

[Z Barebow]

Thanks guys. I have tried the Honey Stinger Waffles and I would eat them every day they are so good. But you are right on getting sick of certain things. I am thinking about throwing some tortillas in my drop bag and rolling up some bacon when I get to that aid station!

Fitness is coming together for me. I will see if I can translate my flatland performance into mountain success in June.

Last week was an 80 mile+ week for me. It was capped by a marathon on Saturday.

As many of you know, the B2B long runs are a staple for ultra training. On Friday, I woke up at 3:30 AM and cranked out 20 miles before work. Saturday, I ran the marathon. Went out at 3:35 pace through 20 miles. At 20, I thanked the pacer and told the group I would see them at the finish line. Cranked out the next 6.2 miles at 6:43 pace. Sprinted final .2 miles at ~ 6:14 pace. Shaved off almost 10 minutes from mile 20 pace and finished at 3:25:10. Couldn't feel better. No soreness. I was stoked!

Took Sunday off and ran 12 miles this morning! Training mode continues!

 

[Jason Snyder]

Holy shit Z! Nice job. I'm heading out for 20 here in a few minutes. You are correct, the ultra training is counter intuitive to everything you learn in marathon training. It's all about hammering your legs for several days straight, then recovering.

Stay healthy man.

 

[CHAD PEZZLE]

Thanks guys. I have tried the Honey Stinger Waffles and I would eat them every day they are so good. But you are right on getting sick of certain things. I am thinking about throwing some tortillas in my drop bag and rolling up some bacon when I get to that aid station!

Fitness is coming together for me. I will see if I can translate my flatland performance into mountain success in June.

Last week was an 80 mile+ week for me. It was capped by a marathon on Saturday.

As many of you know, the B2B long runs are a staple for ultra training. On Friday, I woke up at 3:30 AM and cranked out 20 miles before work. Saturday, I ran the marathon. Went out at 3:35 pace through 20 miles. At 20, I thanked the pacer and told the group I would see them at the finish line. Cranked out the next 6.2 miles at 6:43 pace. Sprinted final .2 miles at ~ 6:14 pace. Shaved off almost 10 minutes from mile 20 pace and finished at 3:25:10. Couldn't feel better. No soreness. I was stoked!

Took Sunday off and ran 12 miles this morning! Training mode continues!

Nice work, with back to back long runs and a marathon finish like that you won't have a problem finishing. Keep up the hard work.

 

[AndyJ]

Z Barebow-You are there. Run some hills, do tempo runs on flats but at this point just don't get injured. Actually, work on nutrition. My guess is you will do pretty well at Bighorn. Actually, I will see you there. Figure out nutrition and if you don't use them already, pick up some S-caps. I take two on the hour and one every half hour and they keep me solid. Remember, if you want to do well, you need to be near the front at the start but then settle on your own race. Go just slightly easier than you would for a 50k. Your mind is really good at adapting to the distance. If you are running a 50 miler you will be tired at 50 miles; if you are running a 5k you will be tired at 5k. Don't just try to finish, that should be a given, you sound like you have the fitness and training to do well so shoot for top 10. I bet you'll get it.