r/Ultramarathon

I ran 250 laps around a track starting at midnight on 4th of July in honor of 250 years of American Independence. Glad I finished with plenty of time to enjoy festivities.

I’ve got a 24 hour mountain race next weekend and currently on my 6th week of 50mg elvanse. I’ve been training on it and doing fine (other than 10bpm higher average than pre medication). I’ve been ultra running for years and have a few 100 mile + finishes so my hydration and calorie intake etc are pretty well dialled in… The only variable that’s worrying me on this race is whether to take my medication on the morning of the race as I usually would? I guess options are 1. skip medication altogether 2. Take at the same time I usually would and just keep a close eye on hydration and food intake 3. Take my dose in the evening of the first day to carry me through the night so I don’t have a huge crash when the dark sets in 4. Push my dose earlier so more of the race is covered eg dose at 5am and again at 3am..

Main concerns are having a big crash once it wears off at night and/or over loading my cardiovascular system with the effects of the elvanse plus physical exertion.

Any advice much appreciated

The remote locations of trail races is both a blessing and a curse. As someone who doesn't drive, access to and from the start line and accommodations is always a consideration in selecting a race. I'm wondering if there are folks who have used Nirvana to book for that reason and can speak about their experience.
I'm looking at running the Grindstone 50k in Virginia. Megabus or Amtrak can get me to the area. After that I'll probably need several local trips: to hotel, to and from packet pickup, to and from race, and back to train station/bus stop. Nirvana supposedly can provide those trips though they don't exactly offer details. Are there runners here who have used Nirvana for those trips? Are they more or less dependable than getting a rideshare? Is the price better or worse than a rideshare? Can you depend on rideshare early mornings in rural places?

trying to figure out if what I'm experiencing is normal with coaches. If you have a virtual running coach, do they send you a weekly questionnaire? Or is it up to you to communicate with them weekly?

And does your coach ever comment or review workouts/send feedback?

Let me start by saying that I am not looking for medical advice necessarily, however, to see if anyone has some insight as to what happened/is going on with my knee.

I trained for and ran a 12 hour ultra on the treadmill spanning 53 miles for my own personal goals. No pain really at all until the last hour or so which I summed up to be fatigue. This was months ago at this point and since then I have been out of commission.

I have been to the doctor 3 times with no MRI. He admittedly misdiagnosed me with ITBS because I was going to go for a shot in my knee and when describing where the pain was for the 3rd time he said, "oh that's not ITBS and it shouldn't hurt there. No shot. Sorry."

I am having pain on my lateral side of my left knee basically around the fibular head. No swelling, no redness, no burning sensation. I seem to really only have pain when I run. I can walk, ride the bike, stretch, weight lift with basically no pain at all.

I'm in a bad place mentally because of this because running has been my life for a number of years. Please any advice or insight helps.

TLDR: lateral knee pain around fibular head after ultra marathon on treadmill.

I posted last week about my son doing his first ultra and asked advice regarding what food to bring etc. He completed the Ultra today and did really well for his first one. He was 6.38hrs and really appreciated the hyping at the aid stations, we had signs and although he had a bit of a wobble at 35km mark, he pushed through. Thanks for all your advice it really helped and I realise that if I’d have done what I was originally planning it wouldn’t have been a great idea, so I took all the advice on board and it was a fab day. He’s now walking like he’s shit his pants but not a blister in sight, so that’s a win too I think! Thanks again.
I’m bloody exhausted hahaha 😉😉

I’m looking to do my first 100k in the first half of 2027. I do want to make sure it is a Western States Qualifier. I have experience with marathons and will be completing a 50k later this year. Both events seem great but very different. Interested in everyone’s thoughts.

Btw, I am familiar with the climates and terrain with both having lived both in Arizona and in the Appalachian mountains.

After running marathons for a few years I finally signed up for a 50k trail race this fall and honestly have no idea how different the training should look compared to marathon prep.

I have a decent aerobic base, usually running around 45 to 50 miles per week during marathon builds, and I can comfortably run back to back long runs on weekends. The race I signed up for has around 4500 feet of elevation gain, which is more than anything I have trained on before.

What I am trying to figure out is whether I should focus more on time on feet rather than pace and mileage, how much vertical gain to work into my weekly runs, and whether back to back long runs should be the cornerstone of the whole build.

I have been looking at a few plans including David Roche's approach but would love to hear from people who actually went through this transition. Did your marathon fitness transfer well or did the trails and elevation feel like starting from scratch?

Also curious whether people think a 50k needs a full taper or whether it is better to treat it more like a hard training day and not overthink race week prep.

Any advice from people who have made this jump would be really helpful.

I'm over here on the injured train sadly, but using my *downtime* to think about next year and what races could be fun!

I love races that are historic..... I've done Vermont and Umstead (and loved both), so I kind of want to run Old Dominion. The HURT 100 looks so hard and spectacular too, but it is so far away!

What are some races you've eyed for a long time but have not yet entered (or entered the lottery for)?

Bonus point if they are pretty accessible for East Coasters....

I'm running my first 50k ultramarathon next weekend, and I am wondering when you guys would recommend to start the run (from personal experience).

Its not an official race, but I am simply running around my town until I finish, so I can pick my own time. Either I can start in the daytime and finish in peak afternoon heat, or I can start in the evening heat and finish in the cool night.

Thoughts? Thanks!

EDIT: I am running in the early morning now. Thanks for the helpful advice!

Hi folks!

I have just run Lavaredo and I experienced for the third time in a row in an ultra severe pain in my lower stomach and also in my ribs.

its weird, at first it starts with my upper body getting somehow rigid and then the pain moves to the lower part of my stomach/intestines and it makes me slow downa lot when going uphill. When going downhill or running flat, no issues.

i have tried paying attention to my posture, trying not to go close my chest so much when going uphill and also balancing better the weight of my vest, and not just placing everything in the front. I have also started doing more core and back work this year to improve resistance but it’s still happening.

Anyone has experienced the same?? any suggestions or ideas to experiment? many thanks in advance 🙂

Blackbeards revenge really piqued my interest. I have never run 100 miles but have done the MCM Ultra and a couple of races that were several days (running/biking/ kayaking). Is it too ambitious to undertake 100mile ultra next March? If not who has any training/ gear recommendations for me!?

I've signed up to crew my first backyard ultra this weekend. I've run ultras before, but this will be my first time on the other side of the aid station, and I want to do the best I can for my runner. For those who've crewed or run one, what tips or lessons made the biggest difference? What do first-time crews often forget? I'd appreciate any advice or things you wish you'd known. Thanks in advance!

In three weeks I'll be running a 90 km race with 6000m of elev.gain that starts at 10 p.m. It will be my first overnight race.

To avoid being unprepared, this weekend I'll be doing my final long run on the race course, and I've decided to do it at night.

Do you change your nutrition strategy during the night, or do you stick to the same plan?

When are the best times to take caffeine?

Is it realistic to complete a race of around 16 hours using only gels?

So far, my longest race has been 10 hours, and I was able to consume 70 g of carbohydrates per hour without any issues. Do you have any advice or anything you'd recommend I experiment with during this weekend's long run?

Thanks!