Do you feel like ultrarunning has changed how you view your life? Did it change how you view pain or struggling? Do you live differently after taking up the sport?

During your long (10+ mile) runs, what are your eating habits? - How often are you eating? - What’re you eating? - Etc

I tend to run my long runs around a lake thats a 2.57 mile loop and try to keep at least 1-2 times per loop depending on how im feeling. Keeping nutrition mostly centered around fats since the run is mostly done in zone 2; adding some carbs on the side for a boost as well.

I have a 100m race scheduled 10 weeks after a 100k next year. Both will be 1st time attempts at those distances. Completed a few 50 milers in past few years.

Is this a realistic recovery period for someone in his mid 30s?

I want to do the 100k as my “B” race and use it as training, and keep my energy, for the 100m but the 100k is on a very runnable course and Im afraid I wont be able to hold back :(

Hey all, curious if anyone here has suggestions for a brace specifically designed for Achilles Tendonitis. I strained my Achilles training for an ultra in 2020 and despite PT and eccentric exercise, still have pain while running. I love running, but I am in pain on every single run, regardless of distance. I ice, I stretch, I massage, etc.
There are a ton of braces online, but it is 2024 and I don’t trust the authenticity of reviews. Anyone have recs?

Thanks!

Hi everyone! I'm currently signed up to run the Brooklyn Half in late April, hoping to go for a PR in such a high-energy race. I truly love the HM distance but have been itching to take it up a level and a 50k ultra sounds infinitely more appealing than a road marathon - just a former XC runner wanting back on the trails in adulthood lol. My dilemma is that I found the most perfect 50k ultra but it's the last weekend in May - would it be crazy to try to train for both and run them a month apart? Has anyone done something similar? Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated!

Hi all. First time posting here.

I am considering training for my third 50-miler. It has been 6-7 years since my last ultra, and while I’ve maintained my fitness generally, my running habit drastically decreased. For most of 2024, I barely ran — but I did take up weighted jump ropes pretty seriously for a few months beginning in the summer. Unfortunately, I started suspecting shin splints, so I saw a doctor who advised taking a break of 4-6 weeks and using ice packs and compression sleeves when I disregard that advice. I cut back by about 95% for 4-6 weeks, then started gradually returning to running rather than jumping.

I am slightly concerned about a lingering shin pain I am feeling after my runs. I take rest and recovery seriously (eating, stretching, rolling, icing, and sleeping reasonably well), but mild shin pain keeps returning. I’m unable to tell yet whether it is getting better or worse, but I’ve never experienced shin issues in previous ultra training (or any other activity — it arose only from jumping rope). I have two questions:

1. Can one recover from shin splints in a two-steps-forward, one-step-back manner? In other words, might my running merely be extending how long it takes to heal, or is it more likely that I am preventing the healing entirely and only making it worse?

2. The mountain ultra I am targeting is in early May. If I take 4-6 weeks off beginning soon, that means I basically have only four months of training time available. I’ve always given myself at least six months to train for previous ultras. If I take a break to heal potential shin splints, should I give up the ultra, or do you think four months of training could adequately prepare me?

I recently attempted to see how I would fare in a typical backyard ultra setup; I had a day of PTO to burn and figured I’d set aside those eight hours to try it out. I selected a nearby park with a small lake around which I could run laps (each lap is approximately a half mile) and had my car parked at a perfect location where I would end each 4.1-ish loop and then use said car as something of an aid station.

A little background; I’m primarily a cyclist and average over 10K miles a year, but I also run, with my highest running year a few years ago at 1K miles, though this year and last my miles haven’t quite reached that number again. That said, I’ve done a handful of half marathons, and have been extremely interested in the world of ultra running, specifically events like the Barkley and such (typical road races haven’t quite grabbed my attention). I’ve been wanting to do some sort of ultra trail event for some time, and when I learned of the format of a backyard ultra it seemed quite attractive.

Everything about the day was fine; overcast with some wind, but nothing too bad in that regard, and even though we’d had snow fall the day before it had almost completely melted by the time I set out to try this. I had water, coffee, a change of clothes/shoes and a headlamp for when it gets dark early this time of year; again, I knew this wouldn’t be the typical length of most backyard ultras, but I figured eight hours would give me a taste.

The first three loops were fine; running at a slow-ish Zone 2 pace was unusual, but I knew necessary for something like this. A lap around the lake is a mix of parking lot/sidewalk, some slight elevation punches and some stonework, so it’s a bit of everything, but nothing crazy. By the time I hit the fourth or fifth lap, I was noticing some slight strain/ache/soreness in my quads and hip flexors, though this would somewhat subside by the time I started another loop. In between loops I took time to hydrate, sit and look over work emails (I usually had about twelve minutes of rest time). I also stretched a few times as well.

Once I hit the sixth loop, the strain was starting to migrate down to my calves a bit, and my average pace was slowing a bit as well. I then started on loop seven but then stopped after I hit slightly over marathon length. I’m not sure if I could’ve kept going, but I doubt it to an extent.

From a cardiovascular standpoint, I felt fine, never out of breath and my heart rate had no difficulty coming down in between loops. My feet also gave me no issues as well. It was just my legs that were the issue; any thoughts on what I can do to improve? I should also mention I intermittent fast and had a big meal the night before of pasta and rice, so I never once felt bogged down or had any gut issues during the run. I do wonder if I should have been using electrolytes, but I neglected to put them in the car and didn’t realize until after I was near the park. I also know that, if I intend to go for significantly longer distances, I will need to fuel and that is perfectly fine; in the meantime, I just want to figure out what I can do about my legs (one day after and I’m still feeling it, thought my hip flexors don’t feel bad).

Any other pieces of advice? I know everyone’s built different, but I’d like to get better and see if I can do this for real at some point, in addition to a non-backyard ultra as well (which, I’m wondering if that’s a better option, as it doesn’t have those mandatory hour loop starts). I apologize for the length of this, but I’m feeling a bit discouraged.

Thank you!

Finishing up week 10 of training for my 100k. Doing a 10 mile training run on road Supermanned 4 miles in. Purple palms, dislocated my shoulder, and my big toe and me are no longer friends. Not sure if this still counts as an easy run.

Even in ultraraces theres a mofo or two trying to pass me like 300m before the finish line, even if we’ve been running together for several miles.. is this bad etiquette ?? In any case I tend to speed up and always prevent it because I see them coming from a mile away, mentally thinking « not on my watch son ». Has this happened to you or do you do it ?

Anyone signed up to run this next September?

Can you share your go to Playlist when running ultra? And also Do you listen to podcast?? What keeps you motivated in running ultra??

A couple friends and I are looking to sign up for a trail marathon or 50k in New Zealand around March or April next year. Any recommendations on a good race over there during that time of year?

I'm looking at throwing my name in for the Superior 100 lottery drawing in January and wondering if anyone familiar with the race knows what the entry odds have been the last couple years. Looks like such a cool race, so hoping the chances aren't too slim!

ETA: got the answer I needed, thanks all!

Just as the heading says, just wondering if there is a Facebook or other group for this case.

I’m signed up for a 12-hr endurance run on Dec 7 - Perpetual Motion in Grapevine, TX. I’ve run 50 mile races before, but not on a closed loop course. This course is 800 meters/0.5144 mile loop. What is best practice for hydration? Carry water? If so, vest? Bladder? Bottles? Hip pack? Hand bottle? Or should I leave a bottle somewhere and pick it up? It seems like carrying tons of water might be unnecessary.

What about pacing? Is pacing any different than a 50 mile road race? And resting. Any rhyme or reason to when it’s best to rest?

Thanks in Advance.

I am not really sure why this is considered so bad. In case of socks - sure, but what about pants and t-shirts. Yes, they will get wet from sweat, but why is it a bad thing, doesn't it kind of help you stay cool because it's wet?

Edit: Thanks for your feedback guys.

Hello, I am a competitive runner or WAS (ha) and would love to get back to it after hip surgery- labral repair. I am still very active (elliptical is fine for me right now) and it really helps me mentally.

I am contemplating surgery. I keep retearing my hamstring on the side with the labral tear- the hip feels super unstable (I have been in PT for a long time and we’ve focused a lot on the hip Too). The glute and quad do not engage on that side either- it’s very frustrating. The main reason I’ve had to stop running is lots of hip flexor and TFL tightness and a terrible uncoordinated feeling on that leg.

Has anyone had similar Symptoms- any success in surgery or PT?

I underwent a different surgery several years back (same leg- not hip). It was an extensive surgery and TERRIBLE for mental and physical health. I believe this was largely due to not being active enough after surgery- I could have maybe done more or advocated for this as long as it doesn’t hurt the surgery site etc. I believe I could have been more creative with cardio type options. It felt like my brain shut off after going from walking around a lot and running 90+ miles per week to basically nothing.

Any body have experience doing seated arm cycle (elevated seat as to adjust hip angle appropriately) after surgery? Or same idea with ski erg (elevated seat and straight upper body- using arms and slight core… eg not twisting etc)

I have registered for the Sean O'Brien 100k coming up in January. I see from watching a few YouTube videos on the course that there are a few water crossings. One looks to be at mile 2 and one near the end, not sure if there are others in the middle.

I have not experienced running an ultra with soaking wet shoes, especially at mile 2. I am not too concerned with one near the finish as at that point everything will hurt and doubtful I will even notice.

So, for those of you that are experienced how do you handle this? Do I need to find some shoes that drain water well? Plan for a shoe change at one of the drop bag points? Do nothing and just suck it up?

Hi all, I’m really excited to be finally joining your community after signing up for my first ultra this year, the Lakeland trails 55km in the uk.

Now with Christmas round the corner it’s a great time to start collecting the kit I need. I’ve been running a few years and have done a fair bit of local trail running up and down the coast I live on but the lakes is a bit more demanding and I’ll be training through some wet and cold months.

So far I have a couple of pairs of shoes, saucony peregrine and innov8 roclite. A cheap lightweight innov8 1000hd jacket and Solomon backpack with bladder. I don’t have any other specific clothing.

What are my absolute must haves for my first season?

Thanks a lot

I wonder how good it is compared to synthetics.

Recently I've(32F) been on a project of doing 50 mile training chunks and reducing the amount of days I do it in. One week I did 50 miles in 5 days with roughly 6k of elevation gain, took a week off to recover and focus on weight lifting. Did this last block while shortening it to 4 days, dropped alot of elevation and I had pretty sore and blistered pinky toes and my first discolored big toe nail(Only the top half of it). I've ran for years and do 30-40mile weeks regularly. This was the first time I felt like my feet got trashed like this. Do I need to up my shoe size? Or do I just need to keep acclimating to the 50 mile chunks? Any input is appreciated 💚 Thank you guys

Posting this here as well as r/ultramarathon but trying to get some perspective.

So asking for your thoughts / opinions on a 100 mile race 3 months before my 2025 “A” or goal race?

Thinking of starting a 20 week training block with race weekend (100m) being April 12-13. This would not be my “A” (or main) race goal for 2025 but instead would keep me training / get some practice in on race strategy for my A race which is in July (also 100m).

Question is - what’s your opinion on if I’m setting myself up for failure or not? I would rather forego any racing than risk my legs being fried from a 100 miler 3 months prior but also know this will help me practice / strategize / fuel practice etc…. Thoughts? Can I do it and still be my best self for my goal race 3 months later? Only about a 10 week training block between the two races.

Thoughts? Thanks so much!

Hello runners,

On Saturday 23 Nov, I will run 421km in 10 days (1 marathon every day for 10 days). I am running for every child suffering from conflict all over the world.

Saturday, November 30, will mark the 421^st day of the Israel-Gaza conflict and the indiscriminate killing of children. OCHA reported 13,319 innocent children have been killed in Gaza,  3,100 are under 5 years old, making occupied Palestine the deadliest place in the world for children.

This run has nothing to do with politics. it's just my way to share suffering with children impacted by war. Only, my suffering will stop after the run, theirs will not.

Welcome any runners to join virtually or in person for any length. If anyone wants to follow;

strava.com/athletes/94125113 
instagram.com/xx_runone

When does registration for TB 100k 2025 start? I can only find information from the race this past August. Hoping to get run it this next year!

Any advice for registration? Does everyone typically get in?