Ultrarunning is a sport built on adversity. Extreme distances, fickle weather and countless other hurdles will seemingly coordinate and conspire in the universe’s cruel attempt to throw you off of your game. Yet, we are a triumphant lot. Whether it is Killian Jornet winning the Hardrock 100 in an arm sling after dislocating his …
With Western States about six weeks away, athletes are finalizing their preparation and should be making their training more and more race-specific. If necessary, there is still time to make changes and corrections to training and nutrition strategies and see results in time for Western States. Some of the 9 steps to success in this …
We’ve all been there before. You are in the last two weeks leading up to a race and just thinking about the race makes your palms sweat. Suddenly, all the weeks and months of training – countless hours on the trail – are all but forgotten. All you can see are the remaining 14 days …
Many ultrarunning events and races are held on courses that feature lots of elevation change. However, plenty of runners live where there is little or no access to hilly terrain. Although developing superior aerobic fitness is the highest training priority before any trail race or ultramarathon, preparing for a mountainous event without access to hills …
My alma matter’s Code of Conduct was “Aggies do not lie, steal or cheat, nor do they tolerate those that do”. As we A&M Aggies are a cheeky lot, we would routinely add an addendum to the Code that stated: “They just exaggerate, collaborate and borrow”. Little did I know in my late teens and …
In the ultrarunning world, there are innumerable stories of athletes fitting training in around work. Run commuting, lunch runs, and standing desks seem to dominate the conversation. For many people, balancing ultramarathon training with physically demanding jobs, including construction, plumbing, and powerline work may seem infeasible. That’s not true. The sport is full of successful …
Increasing ultramarathon training volume or intensity is often a contributing factor for injuries. Your body has adapted to a certain workload, and increasing that workload is necessary in order to improve fitness. However, if you ramp up training too quickly or too much you are at increased risk of injury. Finding the right balance can …
Running in the dark is a big part of being an ultramarathon runner. Either during events or during training runs that begin before sunrise and/or end after sunset, you’re going to find yourself on a trail in the dark. Carrying a light with the right combination of style, brightness, battery life, and other features is …
If you’re an aspiring ultramarathon runner who is stepping up from training for marathons, you’re not alone. The most important thing to understand is that an ultramarathon is not simply a longer marathon. As distance and duration increase, the challenges and demands shift so significantly that ultrarunning can only be described as its own, separate …
As the sport of ultrarunning continues to grow, we’re welcoming quite a few new runners to ultradistance events each year. If that’s you, glad you’re here! Establishing reasonable objectives for your first ultramarathon season is a challenge we hear from many runners making the transition from marathon distance or from sports like triathlon or cycling. …