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wannabe ultra runner?
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Hi folks,
Mind if I join in?
I'm just about recovered from my first ultra. Did the Brecon Beacons one last weekend. Wow! what a day! I'm absolutely delighted by my time and position and am definitely hooked.
Up until last Saturday I'd never run further than 26.2 so was very nervous about what would happen in a 46 mile one. In the end I was distracted from the tiredness by the atrocious weather.
seren nos, if you were to pick a race to just do the first half of, this was it! gale force winds and flooded paths made the 2nd half of the race very.... erm.... interesting!!! If you missed it, the chap doing the prize giving said he normally makes a few sarky remarks about the one lappers, but in this instance everyone doing two laps was a bloody idiot
and just to rub it in even more the beacons are covered in snow and bathed in sunshine this weekend!
So what do you guys do the weeks after a race? I'm massively keen to get back to training hard, but assume there's a sensible amount of time to leave after a tough race!
In summery then, I'm still buzzing from the whole thing a week later and anyone reading this thread, thinking about taking the plunge and doing their first ultra should definitely go for it
If you use a HRM that's a useful way of working out if you have recovered, if your heart rate is high for a run it pronbably shows you aren't fully recovered.
sometiimes recovery is really quick as you are not going at marathon pace, but if your really drained it could take a month to get fully back into it
you just need to see how it goes, but be prepared to back off and take a few easy weeks, as you really don't want to get injured or burnt out.
Richard you are welcome if you are bringing discussion but not to dump spam links please . This thread has been going a long while & I like it tidy with no messy junk laying around
How is winter training progressing for all ?
I see an entry for RTTK .. Looks to be a popular one. Anyone got events for right at the beginning of 2016?
My list is starting to look like this :
March - Oakley 20
April - SDW50
May-NDW50
July -RTTS 100k
Sept- Chilterns way50
Nov- WW50
Fingers crossed for the grand slam
Loulabell
I'll join the game
Hardmoors 55
London Marathon
Milton Keynes Marathon
Hardcastle 24
Lakeland 100
LLC130 (maybe)
Mine is as follow.
Belvoir challenge - February
Hardmoors 55 - March
Manchester marathon - April
SDW100 - June (gulp)
No races but going to Chamonix for a few days in August (the day after UTMB actually) so will get some runs in there.
RRR50 - October (unfinished business)
After losing two years to two non-running accidents and related injuries (PTT tear end September 2013 then broken ankle this June) I'm hopefully heading for Comrades. Longest run so far 22 miles last Sunday, followed by 5.5 miles morning and evening on Monday up and over Crystal Palace hill (run-commuting).
Schedule presently:
Dymchurch Marathon 24th Jan (to qualify for Comrades)
London marathon April
Comrades end May (my 'A' race)
After that... Assuming no more accidents and legs not too trashed by the downhill run to Durban, Croydon Ultra early July, assuming it's on.
Starting to look for something between 50K and 40 miles for some time in March to do as a training run... Suggestions?
Have a look on here, not an exhaustive list, but a pretty good one
http://runfurther.com/ultra-calendar/
Hi booktrunk - yes, I was looking there earlier today.
loulabell, that's one of the possibilities I was looking at, yes. I've run six 50-milers, but it's now more than two years since the last of those, so I think it would be very worthwhile getting a 30-40 mile race completed before Comrades.
Your schedule looks good. If I hadn't broken the ankle and wasn't going for Comrades I'd be eyeing that grand slam myself! Definitely do-able.
Grand slam I'm looking forward to , the last one is going to be a grind towards the end I think in darkness & possibly a lot of mud but a year to prep for that so fingers crossed !
The only other 40m I know of at March / April is Compton 40 but I heard possibly this year was the last one
Apparently they don't include any lapped courses that are less than 15m a lap, and don't include races that have tarmac, well that's what they say.... But lots of races have small sections of tarmac in them.
So it's not exhaustive, but it's a guide along with sientries etc...
Booktrunk,
after looking at the list a few runs interested me, will start with the Dartmoor trail 31st Jan, see how it goes and maybe BB,s ultra and then Penarth to Porthcawl
loulabell: it's a "down" run this year. Still not decided on an early-spring event, but I ran 26.2 miles yesterday and 55.5 for the week, so pleased with that.
Debra - that's a very impressive long run and weekly total for this time of the year. Fingers crosses all your woes are behind you now.
Booktrunk - only 14 weeks until Hardmoors !!
Loulabell - which races form the grand slam ?
I'm starting to increase my mileage now as training for Hardmoors 55 steps up. I'm looking to do a 20 miler in the peak district on Saturday, a couple of long runs in-between the eating and drinking that will be taking place soon and then introduce some back to back long runs early in the new year. The ITB seems to be ok but I can 'sense' that it's still there and sometimes have a feeling that it's going to go again, even though there isn't any pain. I will continue with the S&C and hopefully that will be enough for it to stay away
eeps!!
I'm still nursing my knee from the Spine in Jan.... hah! But i'm slowly stepping it up, hoping that this month will be my busiest month this year. Also trying to run daily for the month just as one of those silly challenges, but i think it's doing the knee good, it's sore after a 13m plus run, but fine after short runs.
Thoughts on using the Apple Watch for trail and ultra running. Not up their with other running watches, but still a cool gadet.
http://www.ultrajunkies.com/apple-watch-for-trail-and-ultra-running/
My garmin only needs charging once a week even when i run every day... And get notifications from emails / texts / can say yes to answering calls on it. Has it's own quirky apps..... Can store notes on it. So pick up tea, or this race has a tricky bend at x ....
AND I have to charge once a week not everynight
I love my Fenix 3
EDIT: If i'm having a very lazy time, can get about 2 weeks out of it.
Similar for me with my Suunto Ambit 3. Plus I can download routes to the watch which helps with navigation and saves me getting my map out every 5 minutes and still taking wrong turnings !
Do the Ambit have a guide to say which direction to go, when I can be bothered to put on a course to follow on my fenix 3 i get 2 lines next to each other around the edge of the watch so if they are at 12'o clock i'm doing ok.
I don't think so (I haven't had it long). There is one line on it with an arrow pointing in the direction you are travelling. But it doesn't say if you are following the line in the right direction or not ! It just means looking at the watch fairly regularly unless you are completely sure you're on the right path. Some of my training runs with it have meant coming off one trail onto another but if you go along a long trail e.g. the Pennine Way, you can just get your head down and go and check your watch not and again
Happy New Year everyone. Not been on here for a while with all the chaos of Christmas and 2 small children!
Hope everyone's training is going well and you are all geared up for a good start to 2016. I've had a good consistent end to 2015 with plenty of mileage, so now hoping to avoid too many bugs over the next couple of months and keep the consistency going. Did a trail marathon as a training run last week and had a super run. Winter Tanners 30m on Sunday, so that will be a good gauge of where my fitness is.
LNandB Happy New Year to you as well. Enjoy Winter Tanners (the year I was going to do that it was cancelled due to the snow. Must run it sometime).
Thanks Debra. I had a great run at the Winter Tanners and finished about 35 minutes faster than my target, while sticking to my aim of treating it as training and feeling I had plenty in the tank at the end. I'm very pleased with where my fitness is at this stage of the year. Winter Tanners is a really fun day out. Very basic, relaxed and friendly, but with good checkpoints and supportive marshalls. The route changes every year so keeps it interesting! A real LDWA classic!
Happy New Year.
LNandB - I have got a LDWA event coming up in a couple of weeks, the Wilmot Wander. 31 miles around Derbys. I'm using it as a training run for the Hardmoors 55 in March. Training is tough at the moment as I have changed over to a low carb diet and running, particularly up any sort of incline, is bloomin hard going. I was in Edale at the weekend but had to change my planned route as I just couldn't move fast enough to keep warm, despite putting on all my layers. I decided to turn round and headed to Edale to watch the start of the Spine race, now that looks a race and a half.
Running outside I'm just getting a cold chest and coughing up crap, but it's warm enough indoors that I can still run on a treadmill. So I'm being lazy but managing 30 odd miles a week on the tm as opposed to the odd two or three miles outside. Cold is slowly going
I'll be interested to hear how you find the Wilmot Wander carterusm - I was considering doing it, but it didn't quite fit in with my plans this year. Can't help on the low carbs I'm afraid - although I do anything up to 10 miles fasted before breakfast, I'm a firm believer in taking carbs on board for all my longer runs. I like the confidence of the training feeling good! I hope you start to see some progress with it soon.
That's rubbish booktrunk. I have had 2 colds so far this winter, but both times have managed to only lose a few days running. Really hoping to avoid any more bugs this winter, but with 2 young children I fear that is unlikely!
LNandB, glad you had a good time at Winter Tanners - I -will- do it one of these years.
cartereusm. I can't help either. I have a vegetarian/near-vegan diet with lots and lots of plant foods (I eat at least 15 different plants a day, often 20 or more - that doesn't mean that number of 'portions' of veg). I do occasional long fasted runs (I think my longest so far has been 24 miles) but I can't see moving to a low-carb diet given that e.g. lentils are a major part of my food intake. I'll be interested to hear how it works for you.
booktrunk: sympathies for the cold. I seen to have been luck - got one last week but only mild and was still able to run.
BT - things must be bad if you have to resort to running a treadmill. Urgh !
LNandB - I think there is a lot to be said for how you feel mentally so, if taking carbs for you works, then that's the way to do it. It's only a matter of time before you catch a cold though ! I'm doing a recce of the first 15 of the WW this weekend, apparently there is plenty of mud on the course
Debra - I don't think I could name you 20 different plant based foods ! I don't miss the carbs to be honest; I was always a lover of bread and potatoes but I've been able to give them up with no issues. Cauliflower is a fine substitute for making rice and mash though. I've even given up alcohol and am not really missing it yet, admittedly it has only been 10 days so far. The one area I am struggling with though is coffee, or to be more precise a latte or milky coffee. I even tried making one with soya milk but that's not for me. As long as I include the carbs in the milk in my daily allowance it works ok but it would be nice to be able to cut down on the coffee.
carterusm: let's see: lentils, soya beans, chickpeas, kidney beans, haricot beans (e.g. baked beans), butter beans, black bean, black-eyed beans, wheat, rice, barley, oats, buckwheat, rye, maize/sweetcorn, millet, quinoa, wild rice, chia, hemp, linseed, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, Brazil nuts, peanuts, hazel nuts, cashews, walnuts, pecans, almonds, chestnuts, coconut, potato, sweet potato, swede, turnip, carrot, parsnip, mushroom, oyster mushroom, shitake, chanterelle, onion, tomato, leek, garlic, ginger, parsley, basil, mint, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, beetroot, artichoke, Jerusalem artichoke, sweet pepper, butternut squash, celeriac, celery, courgette/marrow, avocado, fennel, okra, lettuce, spinach, watercress, rocket, cress, peas, broad beans, green beans, aubergine, beansprouts (mung beans), alfalfa, black salsify, samphire, pumpkin, asparagus, chard, pak choi, water chestnut, bamboo shoots, cucumber, chicory, lamb's lettuce, radish, olive, apple, orange, satsuma (mandarin, clementine, tangerine) banana, pear, kiwi, grape, pineapple, grapefruit, lemon, lime, peach, apricot, plum, date, fig, cranberry, redcurrant, blackcurrant, blackberry, blueberry, cranberry, raspberry, strawberry, gooseberry, cherry, rhubarb, mango, pomegranate, Sharon fruit, papaya, passion fruit, physalis...
That's 100+ to start you off!