jturnerx Member

Wow, talk about something that seems so blatantly obvious but isn't. That's a great way of turning it around. The mental game is a huge part of long endurance races. Having gone through my own mental free-falling death spirals, I know that will take me out more than any physical discomfort I might be feeling.

This is always a dilemma for me. I've been in races where they have run out of water, run out of sports drink, run out of cups or an entire aid station went missing. I usually finish in the top third of most races so if the aid stations are having issues that's going to be a big problem for the majority of the field. I've…

I get nauseous post-race too. For me it's directly related to how hard an effort I put into it. I feel good during the race but afterwards not so much. I haven't figured out how to prevent it from happening in the first place but I've found that if I can eat it solves the problem. That doesn't seem like such a big deal.…

^^This. The more experienced I've become the more I've relied on perceived effort rather than tied to a particular pace when it comes to the easy runs.

Personally I'd do the two legs back to back. I don't do well with sitting around waiting to be up and going again. Also, waiting around or driving around as a crew for your other relay members is tiring in a different way. If you'll be used to doing a long run of that length by that time I see no reason why not just do it.…

I'm partial to Peter Pfitzinger's Advanced Marathoning. I recently started using his plans to give structure to my mid-week training. I deviate and do my own thing for the weekend training.

I've been in everything from less than 30 people to upwards of 70,000. Trail races I definitely have a preference for small or even teeny tiny. There's a couple of very popular trail races here that can have almost 1000 people. I've done them a couple of times but I won't do them anymore; just too crowded. Road races I…

I remember that December 2012 weekend well because I was slogging through miles and miles of mud at the North Face 50 Mile. CIM was the next day and the storm that walloped us on Saturday kept going through Sunday morning. My marathon PR is at CIM. It's hit or miss with Northern California weather in December. At mine it…

*crickets*

Really? For instance: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/canted Adjective canted 1. Having angles. a-six canted bolt head a canted window 2. Inclined at an angle to something else; sloping.

You might want to consider doing a timed event. The usual flavors are 6 hour, 12 hour and 24 hour. I just did a 6 hour (1st AG) this past weekend and a 24 hour (2nd AG) 3 weeks ago. Timed events that I know of in my area are typically on short, flat (or rolling) courses since the emphasis for most tends to be to run as…

Happy to have done it once a few years ago. Never want to do it again. You spend very little time in the actual parks and way too much time on access roads next to freeways, often very canted roads at that. Maybe the course has changed since but that was my experience. How hard you want to run it depends on how quickly you…

Not a success or victory necessarily but I crewed my first 100 miler at Western States a week ago. Extra special bonus because the entire crew ran with our runner on the Placer High School track with his pacer and coach, 14 time Western States winner Ann Trason.

I say "on your left". If they are too zoned out due to headphone use or whatever then they deserve to have the hell scared out of them or be eaten by a mountain lion.

I've been the aid station captain. The aid station stays open until the cut off. After that we shut things down and if you come in afterwards I'm pulling you. End of story. What I don't do is close up shop early and leave. That sucks.

I've been on the other side of that table too and it's mind boggling how some people will barely acknowledge your existence. I've been at races where the aid stations are so remote the volunteers have been camping out there overnight. I always, always thank them for being out there. Back on topic, I think how one receives…

I never rely on technology when I hit the trail either on a training run or a race. I've seen first hand people wandering around lost while looking at their phone because they have no signal or breaking their precious electronics by dropping them on the ground. Bring a map and know how to read it. If you need more hand…

Not being able to finish is more of a concern than finishing last. I'd rather get DFL any day of the week than a DNF.

I use them to mitigate my poison oak exposure.

I paced a friend last weekend to her first 100k finish. This is a really tough race with over 12,000 feet of gain and descent. I came in during the last 12 miles and she had been fighting cut offs all day. She had a 5 minute cushion at the first cut-off then was right at the cut off when I picked her up. The aid station…

I was on a 6 week no running, no extensive walking ban due to a hip stress fracture I sustain 3 years ago. My first and so far only major injury. My first "run" after I got the green light from my doctor (I had to have no pain while walking and pass her various tests without pain) was 1 minute run / 4 minute walk times 6.…

I have a friend who pops one of those small cans of Starbucks doubleshot espresso drinks (140 cals) during ultras. I've thought about it but I'd want it cold and it would get warm in a drop bag. Plus I'm not sure how my body would handle the dairy mid-race. I guess there's only one way to find out. lol I love coffee.…

I'm with you. You'd have to pay me to do one of their races.

I don't like Tailwind but I know people who swear by the stuff. It tastes like battery acid to me and is revolting. My biggest problem is that I stop taking in calories because after a while nothing is appealing at all which leads to a whole different set of problems. And this continues post race too. I could hardly eat…

No, you don't have to eat that stuff if you don't want to. If you can tolerate gels for 8+ hours then have at it. I wish I could because gels are an easy, consistent way to get in calories but my stomach starts to rebel after awhile. I can't drink soda early usually but later in the race it's awesome. I call it jet fuel.…

Yes, but he's talking about the 50k not the 100 mile as one's first ultra which I think is perfectly reasonable. This is all just semantics anyway. Training for a hundred will typically take you to training runs/races beyond the marathon distance unless you insist that no run ever before your 100 mile race be longer than…

I had never been interested in timed races either and am definitely drawn to the more adventurous aspects of ultras. That doesn't exactly exist when you are running around in circles like a hamster. That being said they also held a strange fascination for me in that "can't take my eyes off the train wreck" sort of way so I…

The beauty of any timed race is that you set the goal. You can enter a 24 hour race and just do a 5k and be done with it or try to squeeze in as many miles as possible in the allotted time. Or you can do a marathon, take a nap, then do another marathon. Any way you want to slice and dice it is legit as long as you complete…

Yes, these are called timed races. If you can tolerate the repetitive nature of them they are a great way to test equipment, nutrition strategy, etc within the confines of a safe environment vs. for example 2am on a mountain pass when you don't know if you are lost or not.

I have no idea what a runner's high is either. I've certainly had moments when everything seems to be clicking and the running is easy but I wouldn't call that a runner's high.