Anybody ever done one? I much prefer running on trails and have done some trail races, but interested in building out the distance a bit, trying a 50k to start, perhaps. Any good races to get into over the next 5 or 6 months? Any training tips? Mental training tips?
I ran some 50 milers awhile back and did some other endurance stuff (trail triathalons, adventure racing). You just run a lot, the 50k isn’t really a big deal, it’s just a few more miles on a marathon. I recommend trail ultras because they put a lot less abuse on your joints. There’s a ton of good races going on all the time, trail racing pretty much goes year round you just have to search around your area. Once you do a few you tend to get into pipeline of races and they just tend to book themselves as you find out about more from other racers. I’d just do a bunch of trail marathons and in doing that you’ll gain the experience and eventually get a good handle on what events are happening in your area. You’ll get to see a lot of awesome inaccessible terrain in that sport.
I quite because it just consumes your life. You go to work then get ready to run, then run, then cool down from your run and then sleep then go to work again (or a different order if you’re a morning runner). I was logging like minimum 15 miles a day, usually closer to 20 and then each weekend I’d do one 20-35 miler. A lot of it is about learning pacing and mental fortitude as well as internalizing physical changes and just giving your body time to strengthen. Rushing isn’t really helpful and while pushing yourself stubbornly is good in many cases, by the time you’re running those distances it often takes more mental discipline knowing when to stop or take a break to recover because by that point running has become something of a compulsion (at least it was to me). You really have to learn to properly diagnose your current state and listen to your body, that can take awhile to learn depending on your temperament. You learn things like not altering your stride and continuing to maintain form when running on blisters because shifting your stride can cause joint damage in place of short term pain. You go through a ton of highs and lows in long races and as the race goes on those get more frequent and more severe. Sometimes I’d be in a deep funk then carefully look at the trail to realize there was an imperceptible uphill gradient or the reverse on a slight downhill. After awhile you’re just always aware of these things. A lot of the mental game is learning to tune out the euphoria as well as the negatives and keep your perspective, which is probably one of the most important things you learn about yourself. Also, prepare to get more comfortable running in the elements. I’ve trained year round without missing training days and that includes running in single digit Fahrenheit temperatures in snow storms without cutting back mileage. I’ve run races in shin deep snow on the way out and ankle deep mud on the way back as the sun came out.
It’s a lot about water and eating, I’ve heard it called an eating contest with running in between. By the time you get experienced it becomes a very particular science. There’s a lot of ensuring you get enough glucose to stave off hitting the wall.
Sounds sick BS. Your test levels must be almost nonexistent when you train like that
I didn’t notice a big difference but I was so single mindedly training at that point I may have been blind to it. It was a lot of fun though when I wasn’t hating it.
BS is your guy on this topic. He hits on the main points and it comes from experience. I can add a few points as well. I have a ton of experience in endurance racing ( full Ironman triathlons, 10k open water swim), but my longest run was “only” 35 miles (about 50k). All of these events are pretty much the same in that they challenge the mind, metabolic efficiency, fitness, and biomechanics. Those are the 4 aspects of your training right there. I was able to be successful in multisport ultra long endeavors, but I struggled with going as far as I wanted with ultra running because it holds particular challenges in the 4th aspect.
Since ultra running is so repetitive and unrelenting, it is hard on any slight biomechanical imbalance or weakness. This has been the reason, for me, that I was unable to get past running 35 miles. My knees would just start feeling like rusty hinges! I think if was to be more proactive on combating my particular structural issues, I would have been able to overcome that. I recommend visiting a physical therapist. They can screen you for small issues like specific poor flexibility and/ or strength imbalance. Also, things like having high or low arches in the foot can be a HUGE deal. For example, the PT discovered I have relative weakness in my hip abductors and adductors. Then he gave me specific exercises to fix the problem.
Metabolic efficiently is also up there with the biggest challenges of endurance racing. How much do you know about exercise physiology. It helps to have a basic understanding of carbohydrate vs. fat metabolism (the science behind “bonking”). It is key to understand that your body can only store about 1500 calories worth of carbohydrate (glycogen) in the body. That supply is your limiting factor and how you are going to keep an even flow of more carbohydrate (and have your body tolerate it) is a challenge and takes practice. In my situation, I used “gels” that is all that works for me. I get sick otherwise. There there is hydration, which seems easy to understand, but electrolyte concentration can be a puzzle to solve.
I, along with BS, can we a wealth of info on the rest of training and racing for these things. Just ask us anything.
Post what race you do and tell us how it goes. I want to live vicariously through it. 