ultramarathons
Preparation and Strategy for the Bighorn 100
Tomorrow at 11:00 am I’ll start the Bighorn 100 miler in Dayton, Wyoming. The preparation and strategy for this race is the culmination of my experiences in the previous five 100 milers I’ve attempted. The race is a fairly difficult ultra. Ultrarunning Magazine rates it as a “4-4″ for terrain and surface (Western States is a “4-3″) and realendurance.com gives it a score of 112% based on normalized finish times (Western States is the baseline at Read More...
When Running Hurts: Discriminating Between Good Pain and Bad Pain
Barefoot runners are repeatedly told to avoid pain at all costs. PAIN IS BAD! It’s a signal we’re doing something wrong or we’re doing too much too soon.
Ultrarunners live with pain. Any seriously long run hurts. If we’re going really fast, really long, or traversing really gnarly terrain, it hurts even more. [Edit- Rob Youngren commented below and suggested this is more like "discomfort" than "pain." I like this distinction,]
What happens when these worlds Read More...
Ambitious Race Schedules: Pushing Your Limits
In light of this recent post on the Scientific American blog, I decided to fill the rest of the year with interesting challenges. My heart is fine, damn it!
June- Bighorn 100 miler, Dayton, Wyoming
July- Grand Mesa 100 miler, Grand mesa national Forest, Colorado
August- Trans-Rockies six day stage race, Rocky Mountains, Colorado
September- Hallucination 100 miler, Hell, Michigan (planning on running barefoot)
October- Grindstone 100 Read More...
How to Act Like a Trail Runner: A Primer on Trail Etiquette
Lots of road runners seem to be making the jump to trail running. This is a great thing! Unfortunately many of these runners carry some bad road running habits over to the trails. Here’s a quick and dirty (pun intended) guide for new trail runners to help fit in:
1. Don’t be afraid of dirt. I’ve watched runners in squeaky-white sneakers tiptoe around a tiny mud puddle. I’ve seen new trail runners on the verge of vomiting Read More...
Barefoot Ultramarathon Or Not?
This upcoming Sunday, I’ll be running the Pineland Farms Trail Running Festival 50 miler. The big decision: Wear shoes or go barefoot?
The case for barefoot:
I’m familiar with the course, and it’s pretty barefoot-friendly.
I’ve covered the distance barefoot before.
The race was voted as the best barefoot event in the US… so I feel compelled to tackle it barefoot.
I have two sizable cuts on my heels from my recent road 25k, and going barefoot would assure the Read More...
2012 Pineland Farms Trail Running Festival/ Barefoot Runners Society Meetup
The 2012 Pineland Farms Trail Running Festival is shaping up to be the biggest spring barefoot party in the country! Last year’s event was awesome- two days of running, meeting other barefoot runners, eating great food, listening to great music, and drinking awesome beer! It’s one of the few events we attended that immediately became a “must-do” event.
As such, Shelly and I will be there this year. I talked to Erik Boucher, Read More...
San Juan Trail 50k and the The Dirtiest Party Ever!
Shelly and I had an eventful weekend. We ran the San Juan Trail 50k with Shacky and Vanessa, then attended the Los Angeles Down and Dirty mud run. The travel was tough, but both events were awesome!
The 50k was run in the mountains southeast of Los Angeles. The run was directed by Baz Hawley. If you ever have the opportunity to run one of his races, do it! It was a typical low-key Read More...
Why a Barefoot Runner Will Never Win a Trail Ultra
A barefoot runner will never win a trail ultra*. Ever.
How could I make such a bold proclamation?
Experience.
Since Shelly and I began traveling, we’ve had the opportunity to run a lot of trails around the country. During that time, I’ve done a lot of experimentation using heart rate as a measure of effort. The goal was to make my running form as efficient as possible. An unintended benefit has been a glimpse at Read More...
