u/angryredditatheist

Hi all, trail runner here and I’ve been eyeing up katahdin for about a year now. And am in the preliminary stages of plan planning an eventual trip possibly this fall or next summer. I live in the Adirondacks so it’s a long trip for me. Given the long drive, I want to make an epic route of it and hit as many major peaks as possible. As opposed to just getting a 5 hour hike that wouldn’t really justify the drive for me. I’m very comfortable running 20+ mile days in the mountains, I’ve covered the presidential traverse in New Hampshire in just under 7 hours. But I know next to nothing about katahdin other than some stunning photos and that there are several peaks listed in the northeast 115 4000 footers list. I’d like to grab em all if possible but don’t know what the ideal route is. Anybody done a big day up there have advice for how to approach it? Or a good route to take that efficiently hits all the peaks?

My plan is to get up there on a Thursday or Friday night when I have a 3 day weekend ahead of me and attempt on the day with the best weather forecast. I’d like to get at least 15 miles and make an epic day of it. But I need a route, an understanding of bailout points (if any exist) ect ect. Any trail runners got advice for this?

Thanks :)

The 225 is kinda the standard line where you can kinda officially call yourself strong in the gym. It’s pretty attainable for almost anyone but might take a year of consistent effort to reach. It’s nowhere near the top end of strength but it’s solidly above average. It’s also pretty rare for anyone to make it there just off of talent although it does happen occasionally.
So my question for the cross country runners here is this: what the 5k time equivalent to the 225 bench? A 5k time that’s attainable for the average person where you can solidly call yourself a fast runner and can probably beat anyone running off of talent without training. Not elite by any means but solidly above average.

Ima say sub 19 minutes but I’m curious to hear everyone’s thoughts.

Super high carb training is all the rage these days and seems to be making huge gains in cycling, marathon running and especially in ultra endurance sports. I’m curious if it’s worth jumping on the high carb train as someone who at max races no more than 45 minutes on the trails. Obviously not gonna be taking in fuel when racing such short distances but would there be a benefit to taking in that much fuel during easy mileage? I already take in fuel during long runs but I’m specifically talking about training the gut and pushing past 60grams of carbs per hour. Do high level mid distance racers use this strategy?
Thanks 🙏

Super high carb training is all the rage these days and seems to be making huge gains in cycling and marathon running. as a skier who’s hoping to bump up to 700 hours this year I’m curious if it’s worth jumping on the high carb train? Specifically because most all of my races are between 2 and 45 minutes. There maybe one or two races a year where I’ll take a feed because they are so short and high intensity. I won’t be taking in huge amounts of fuel during a race so should I for a 4 hour OD? To be clear I already take in food water and eltrolytes in all my long training sessions over an hour. But I’m specifically talking about pushing the limits, training the gut, and going over 60grams of carbs per hour. Do. High level cross country skiers do this? I listened to an interview with Ben Ogden on the Devon kershaw show and he’s only been taking in fuel on long sessions since college and hasn’t yet hopped on the high carb train. But I haven’t heard anything from other skiers. Do any distance track athletes use this during training? I’d imagine there would be recovery benefits in training even if you aren’t eating a ton in a 20 minute race effort.