Ultra / trail runners?
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davemunger
Posts: 1,139 Member
I'm training for my first ultra on March 29 -- the Leatherwood 50-miler. Any ultra / trail runners out there who aren't already my friends? Feel free to add me.
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You're kidding. I woke up this morning about to start the same thread!
Good luck at Leatherwood!
I've been running ultras for the past 3 years, and I just joined MyFitnessPal because in the duration, my weight has been creeping up, up, up. I've gained about 12 lbs. Which is sort of okay.... but I can't keep gaining weight every year. I'm trying to fix my nutrition mistakes.
I'm running the Beast of Burden 50 mile on Saturday! It will be my 3rd 50m. I'm a little disappointed because I was planning on running through snow, and now it looks like the trail is going to be completely clear.0 -
I'm running the Beast of Burden 50 mile on Saturday! It will be my 3rd 50m. I'm a little disappointed because I was planning on running through snow, and now it looks like the trail is going to be completely clear.
Awesome! Sorry about the snow, but I'm sure you will have a blast running through the frozen mud!
Ultra nutrition is tricky -- I'm trying to work that out myself. I feel like I'm not really burning that many calories on my runs due to the slower pace, so I definitely have to watch what I eat.0 -
I'm running the Beast of Burden 50 mile on Saturday! It will be my 3rd 50m. I'm a little disappointed because I was planning on running through snow, and now it looks like the trail is going to be completely clear.
Awesome! Sorry about the snow, but I'm sure you will have a blast running through the frozen mud!
Ultra nutrition is tricky -- I'm trying to work that out myself. I feel like I'm not really burning that many calories on my runs due to the slower pace, so I definitely have to watch what I eat.
I think you're supposed to burn roughly the same amount of calories even if you're walking? And yes, ultra nutrition is tricky. I think you might burn MORE than road running. If you think about it, every time you stop, your heart rate does NOT return to resting like sitting at a desk.
Whatever mistakes I'm making, they are certainly not huge. If you think about it, I've gained about 4lb a year, which works out to "only" 33 excess calories a day. I think the answer for me might be to just gain the damn weight and then diet it off over the course of a couple of months, over and over again. I'm not really sure.0 -
I think the tricky part of the nutrition isn't the number of calories it's that you need to move toward real food; gels are not going to be enough for 50 miles. The biggest problem I had with the training was I couldn't bring myself to run the slow pace required to complete a race of that distance. Good luck with your training.0
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Sent friend requests! David and I are buddies already...and he's WAY faster than me! :laugh:
For me, the fueling matters because I have a hard time with "real" food in a race situation and then I bonk. That said, I'm working on speed and better, smarter fueling. I ran my first 50k this last December and am toying with a 50 miler in April...I'm fairly committed to it and have started the training but I'm waiting a couple weeks before plunking down the money and making it "real", LOL!
I was shocked about gaining weight too. I'm working on losing 5 pounds by logging food, again, etc. I also cut out alcohol in all but the rarest occasions. Too many empty calories.0 -
I would love more ultra- and trail-running friends!
I ran my first ultra in October (40 miles, single track trail). I'm going to decide this summer whether I have the time to train for a 50-miler in December.0 -
I think the tricky part of the nutrition isn't the number of calories it's that you need to move toward real food; gels are not going to be enough for 50 miles. The biggest problem I had with the training was I couldn't bring myself to run the slow pace required to complete a race of that distance. Good luck with your training.
I've done some pacing for ultras -- the farthest I've gone is 37 miles -- and I've had no problems with solid food when I'm going that slow, so I don't think that will be a problem. So far I haven't done a really good job of slowing down my training runs: The only people I can find to run with me are training for shorter events. I'm meeting up with a true ultrarunner this weekend for a trail run so hopefully that will give me some slower miles!0 -
What some of my friends have done for that is meet up with someone at 7 for 10 miles, then meet someone else at 9 for 15 miles, etc. Another thing you can do is run to/from a meetup to get bonus miles prior to a group run.The only people I can find to run with me are training for shorter events.0 -
Yeah, that's pretty much what I am doing -- but it means those folks are going faster than my ideal pace. For example, on Saturday I ran 18, then I did 12 on Sunday. Met up with some folks halfway through my 12-miler; they were fresh and I had already run 24 miles that weekend. Tough workout!
What some of my friends have done for that is meet up with someone at 7 for 10 miles, then meet someone else at 9 for 15 miles, etc. Another thing you can do is run to/from a meetup to get bonus miles prior to a group run.The only people I can find to run with me are training for shorter events.0 -
The "slow" and "eating" thing are no problem for me, because I came at ultrarunning from a hiking background.
I did a lot of backpacking before I had kids, and I took up running more or less to stay in shape for hiking. I ran a few days a week and ran 5Ks.
I'm pretty much the traditional hiker crossover - I'm weakest on the fast/flat sections and have a tendency to waste time taking pictures, petting horses, or picking berries. Blueberry season my long runs are doomed. But I'm an animal at technical downhills (Excuse me, pardon me, coming through!), able to eat anything, and not easily thrown by bad weather.
The back-to-back long runs are killers when your friends come to your second run and you're on very tired legs!0 -
Another ultra runner here. I have a marathon coming up, 50k in March, 56k in April and then Comrades in June.
I am lucky in the sense that I have running friends that are even crazier than I am, so there is never a shortage of running buddies to train with, especially for the long runs.0 -
Yeah, that's pretty much what I am doing -- but it means those folks are going faster than my ideal pace. For example, on Saturday I ran 18, then I did 12 on Sunday. Met up with some folks halfway through my 12-miler; they were fresh and I had already run 24 miles that weekend. Tough workout!
What some of my friends have done for that is meet up with someone at 7 for 10 miles, then meet someone else at 9 for 15 miles, etc. Another thing you can do is run to/from a meetup to get bonus miles prior to a group run.The only people I can find to run with me are training for shorter events.
Samesies, here. It really is a double edged sword: I love to have these awesome friends who will do this for me, however, I get stressed later in the run when they join me on fresh legs and instead of asking them to go at my pace, I want to keep up with them.0 -
Ok, I am not an ultra runner (only one HM under my belt), but I have to ask what sort of pace do you maintain for 50 miles?0
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Ok, I am not an ultra runner (only one HM under my belt), but I have to ask what sort of pace do you maintain for 50 miles?
Depends on the individual and the particular race. The race I will be doing is extremely technical, steep trails, and I will be happy if I finish in under 11 hours -- e.g. slower than a 12-minute pace. But for a flatter 50 miler on roads a good runner can finish under 8 hours, more like a 9-minute pace. For comparison, my marathon PR is 3:22, a 7:42 pace.0 -
Ok, I am not an ultra runner (only one HM under my belt), but I have to ask what sort of pace do you maintain for 50 miles?
Depends on the individual and the particular race. The race I will be doing is extremely technical, steep trails, and I will be happy if I finish in under 11 hours -- e.g. slower than a 12-minute pace. But for a flatter 50 miler on roads a good runner can finish under 8 hours, more like a 9-minute pace. For comparison, my marathon PR is 3:22, a 7:42 pace.
As Dave said, it really depends on the terrain. If it's some sort of flat thing on a bike path or pavement, maybe a minute per mile slower than marathon pace?
But with the trail ultras, it's not the same AT ALL. Last spring, I ran the North Face Bear Mountain 50 miler. This is one of the harder races in the Northeast, and with a 14 hour cutoff, that makes a 16 minute per mile pace. Sounds easy, right? HOWEVER, if you start cross referencing the athletes that just squeak in under the cutoff.... you find out that most of them typically run a road marathon in about 3:30. So that's HALF the speed of a marathon. A lot of that course isn't "runnable". There's a lot of climbing with your hands, and tripping over rock gardens. When I COULD run, and again, it's still nothing you'd be able to push a jogging stroller over, I aimed for a 10:30 pace. And still averaged almost 16 minutes per mile overall.0 -
Two weekends ago I ran the Phunt 50K in Elkton, MD. Starting temp was 3 degrees, we ran in snow ranging from 3 inches to about a foot in some areas. I think the temperatures got up to a balmy 21 degrees during the day before the sun started to drop and it grew colder again. It was not only my first ultra, but only my second trail run. I had done a 7 mile trail run in the summer last year. What a great experience and I'm so glad I did it. Within the first 2 miles, I went in up to my ankles in a creek we were crossing. Luckily my feet didn't get frost bite from the cold, wet and snow all day. I finished in 7:25:24.0
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Two weekends ago I ran the Phunt 50K in Elkton, MD. Starting temp was 3 degrees, we ran in snow ranging from 3 inches to about a foot in some areas. I think the temperatures got up to a balmy 21 degrees during the day before the sun started to drop and it grew colder again. It was not only my first ultra, but only my second trail run. I had done a 7 mile trail run in the summer last year. What a great experience and I'm so glad I did it. Within the first 2 miles, I went in up to my ankles in a creek we were crossing. Luckily my feet didn't get frost bite from the cold, wet and snow all day. I finished in 7:25:24.
Congratulations! Well done!0 -
Two weekends ago I ran the Phunt 50K in Elkton, MD. Starting temp was 3 degrees, we ran in snow ranging from 3 inches to about a foot in some areas. I think the temperatures got up to a balmy 21 degrees during the day before the sun started to drop and it grew colder again. It was not only my first ultra, but only my second trail run. I had done a 7 mile trail run in the summer last year. What a great experience and I'm so glad I did it. Within the first 2 miles, I went in up to my ankles in a creek we were crossing. Luckily my feet didn't get frost bite from the cold, wet and snow all day. I finished in 7:25:24.
Great result for those conditions!0 -
Those of you who have not already done some, please add me as well.
I have not done so yet, but intend to run my first trail ultra this year!0 -
As for timing in general, they say to take your road marathon time and triple it for a trail 50. I found this was spot on- my first (and only) road marathon was 4:04; my first trail 50 was 12:04. Training for a 100k in March and my first 100mi in August.
I'm lucky enough to have a great trail running group with several "veterans" who have the 100mi distance under their belt. And they are incredibly fast- low sub 9h 50's. One made it into Western States and is planning to do the Grand Slam this year. Needless to say, they finish their Saturday runs well before I do
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