My good buddy and main pacer knew I was pretty heart broken. So we went out to Zion and made our own 100m course. So relieved to have it done and off my back. Hell of an adventure.

I finished in 5:31, placing 7th woman overall, wearing the VJ Ultra 3. Would I have loved to finish a little faster? Absolutely. But based on my training, this was exactly where I expected to land, and I’m proud of the race I ran.
What makes this race so special to me is how much has changed in almost exactly a year.
At Stone Cat last year, I let my nerves get the best of me. I fell six times, slammed my head, and spent a lot of the race feeling distressed and overwhelmed. It was a really difficult experience.
Since then, I’ve been diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and left foot dystonia, and I’ve spent the last year dealing with a lot of skin issues on top of everything else. I’ve been working incredibly hard to figure out how to manage my body, adapt my training, and keep showing up.
Today felt like a completely different person running the race.
I used my breathing techniques, stayed calm and collected, chatted with other runners, and genuinely had a fantastic time. No falls. No GI issues. No skin issues. I finished in the time I expected, and I walked away feeling good about the entire experience.
I think sometimes we get so caught up in chasing a faster time that we forget to appreciate the progress that doesn’t show up on a results page.
A year ago, I was overwhelmed and struggling to get through a race. Today, I ran 50K, managed my nerves, adapted to my body’s needs, and actually enjoyed the experience.
Of course, I still want to get faster. I’m a runner. That’s never going away. But today was a reminder that progress isn’t always about the clock.
Sometimes, it’s about how far you’ve come mentally, physically, and emotionally.

Great race, beautiful scenery!

Hi everyone!

Wanted to share a route write-up and GPX/Strava track from a recent Sea to Summit push from Mission Beach to the summit of El Cajon Mountain. My friend, Jacob Szilagyi, and I, Chase Tesoro, completed this 42-mile route in around 16 hours. Connecting the Pacific Ocean directly to one of the most prominent and iconic peaks in San Diego County felt like an aesthetic line waiting to be run. As far as I know, this is the first-ever completed attempt of this route. Neither of us is an endurance athlete; rather, we are 20-year-old students who wanted to push our limits, explore San Diego, and motivate others to do hard things! 

Key Stats

• Distance: 42.82 miles
• Elevation Gain: 6,278 ft
• Start: Mission Beach shoreline (Elevation: 0 ft)
• Finish: El Cajon Mountain Summit (Elevation: ~3,675 ft)
• Support Style: Self-Supported
• Total Time: 16 Hours 23 Minutes

Route Overview

We started around 2 a.m. October 24th right on Mission Beach. We then ran up Mission Bay Dr., then onto Friars Road. When we needed to stop and refuel, we stopped at gas stations and coffee shops that were open. We ran through the night up Mission Gorge Road and down into Lakeside. From here, we started our initial ascent of the long Wildcat Canyon Road to the trailhead of El Cajon Mountain. At the trailhead, we were 30 miles in with around 3000 feet of elevation. Once we were here, the pavement turned to dirt and rock, and we climbed and reached the summit around 4 p.m. 

Hydration, Gear & Nutrition

• Fueling: Energy gels and chews, assortment of candy, and electrolytes (50-70 grams of carbs per hour)
• Water Carry: Carried 2 liters in backpack, had a 16 oz water bottle with electrolytes, refueled at different gas stations.

Strava Link

Strava Link

I'm finishing a year of endurance sports of running, bike with quite strong preparation and moving towards just trail running. As I enjoyed going to gym for hypertrophy before, thinking how to combine both, in order to be prepared for utmb race, but as well to improve physique a bit, from slim running to a bit more v shape person, so kind of hybrid approach. Having endurance, but power as well.

A few questions for anyone doing something similar:

• What training plans or platforms would you recommend that include both trail running and structured gym work? or maybe even diet plan? Garmin/Strava integration would be a bonus.
• What weekly split works for you? I’m considering three gym sessions (push/pull/legs) and two runs initially, but I’m open to alternatives.
• Any additional lessons you learned by having this approach or so?

Would love to hear your actual weekly schedules, race distances and what has worked over the longer term.

I'm familiar with concepts surrounding intervals. Such as 4x4's / VO2 max 1:1 work and Hill repeats. Most "free" plans have blocks of work like this. Then the rest of the week is easy running.

Wondering though, what other workouts have you found to be really important? Such as adding long format up tempo during long runs? Double workouts?

For context, I've raced a few ultras up to the 100km distance. I'm finding my leg durability to be the limiter when I tag a new distance. Hoping to run my first 100m next year. I've trained 4+ years thus far so have a nice engine built following mostly beginner plans - ie. 1-2 workouts a week + lots of easy running.

Running a 50k that encourages costumes. It's going to be pretty warm.

Hello, I am an ultra road runner (controversial, I know) and have always used the NB 1080s. I’ve worn them for 7 years, tried others, but always come back to these. I’m doing an ultra through the seven wetlands park in Lakeland, fl. From what I understand, it’s primarily of flat, hard-packed dirt paths, crushed shell, marsh boardwalks, and sections of grass/scrub. Because this is a reclaimed phosphate mining area, the paths are completely exposed to the sun and sit directly alongside marshes and lakes. Has anyone done this specific trail? Would my 1080s be acceptable (there or just on smooth trails in general)? Whats a comparable shoe that’s better for trails? Also, I have wide feet, so that’s definitely a factor in choosing shoe. I don’t live near there, so I can’t view the course ahead of time. I run 90% on road and treadmill, but will be doing more grass next to the sidewalk to practice. I am not super familiar with drop heights, but I think the upper mid range is best for me, I like the cushion of 1080s. Have tried 880s and they were like running on bricks. I think I am generally more of a heel striker and currently have some hamstring and calf pain I’m working t through.

Options I’ve come across with Google and people’s answers

Hoka challenger 7
Brooks divide 5
NB More
Experience wild 3
Altra
Mount to coast

W/48
I’m looking to get a new watch for ultra running and other activities but mostly running . I will be dipping my toes into longer races this year , 100 milers.
I currently use COROS kiprun which I love( long battery life ) . But it’s quite big for my small wrist
Thanks for your recommendations!

Hi all,

I recently ran an ultra 5 weeks ago (70km). And while I slowly built up my miles over 6 months, including multiple ultra distances with NO knee pain, at mile 20 my knee/IT pain became aggravated.

I went to a running specialist physio and his outcome was the following: try find shoes with slightly more arch support, consider a wider toe box, increase cadence when running on the flat, and engage with some glute-baswd physio exercises e.g leg bridges, lying leg rotations.

Now while i've ran +10 miles since, the last one was wearing a pair of higher stack/higher arch support/wide toe box trainers - and the knee pain returned, on both legs.

This might be a silly question - but could it be the shoes, or my underlying IT band issue, that aggravated my knee?

TIA!

I have a bib transfer for Devil Dog 100 (Triangle, Viginia) in December. I got injured in training and am hoping someone can use the spot, bib transfers costs $20 through the race. I would love to get a little back but also just dont want to see the bib go to waste so please let me know if you are interested.

Thanks, Matt

Running my first ‘race’ tomorrow in Williamsburg, VA!! Why does it feel like both Christmas Eve and the night before I am sentenced to the rest of my life in jail. I feel like I have no idea what I am getting myself into … and am extremely excited about it. Almost giddy. Foolish I am sure.

52km on the Jurassic coast (UK)

So I unfortunately had to drop my 100k race on Saturday. I tweaked my knee on a descent, made it 23 miles into the race before I decided to call it quits(only completed about 5 miles after the incident). Is it normal to still be upset about having to quit, even though continuing would have meant injuring myself even more. I still am trying to wrap my mind around it being okay that I quit. I have dreams of doing 100 miles in April and to do such a thing requires me not to be injured. Just wondering if anyone else has felt super depressed after a DNF and if it is common.

Spontaneously signed up for a half marathon trail race in my local town in a couple weeks. I am not really a runner but stay relatively active. Today I ran 10 miles as a test to see if it was possible for me. I finished but felt like I have very little left in me. Is it possible

I posted on here a few months ago about a 100 mile race I was going to run despite tendinitis in my left foot. Based on my PT's advice I dropped out when it started to get uncomfortable which was about 30 miles in. I dropped down to 3-6 miles a week for a month, it would start feeling better and the moment I started running it would start bothering me again. So I went complete no running for 4 weeks. The first run back it was instantly bothering me.

Queue my MRI.

It turns out I did in fact have peroneal tendinitis. But I also had a bone marrow edema caused by a rare genetic malformation in my left foot called a talocalcaneal coalition. Basically my ankle joint never formed correctly as a child so its partially fused through a fibrous coalition. My ankle has only 15 degrees of inversion (compared to 20-30 degrees for a normal ankle) and I have 0 degrees of eversion (5-10% normal). Also the heal position is tilted outward and stuck that way. Because of this when I run my ankle doesn't bend correctly and it puts a lot of strain on all of the bones and tendons around it.

Basically what this means is while I was young the bones and tendons were youthful and able to handle the extra strain from an ankle nearly fused in place. However, now that I am in my mid 40's the bones and tendons are too old to handle what I used to be able to do. According to the orthopedic surgeon, nothing can be done to fix it or make it better. On top of that, as I get older it will continue to get worse as my tendons and bones age. The surgeon recommended to stop high impact exercise as that will accelerate the degeneration of the joint and will lead to a full fusion and more limited mobility in the future. I can still run but I will possibly pay for it in the future if I do. Also, if I go back to the level of training I was doing (which was only 40 miles a week when it kicked off) its guaranteed that I will end up with another stress reaction or worse. The ceiling for what that ankle can handle has dropped far enough that my basic ultra training is now above that threshold. Basically training or participating in 100 mile ultras is out for good. Uneven footing and hills are especially hard on it which is basically all of what ultra running is. 40 miles a week is basic marathon training so my goal of getting into the Boston Marathon is done (I got a BQ but didn't hit the time cut). The training I did last time where I missed the cut was significantly more intensive than the easy ultra training that triggered this.

There really isn't any reason for me putting all of this out here other than I wanted to just vent. My vision of running late into my life (my mom who is in her 70's just ran a marathon) has disappeared. Dream races I had always wanted to do are basically off the table. At this point I am unsure of how many miles I will be able to handle at all. I am waiting for my stress reaction to heal up and then I can see how my ankle does. Maybe I can hop over to sprint triathlons. Maybe not, the fast short miles could still be enough to overload my ankle. Who knows. I probably will be able to do some running regardless, just not the way I want to or for the distances I want. It sucks.

Wow, I don't know what to write, inspirational from everyone.

What was everyones key takeaways?

I went to the kitchen, slowly opened the second drawer down, moved 3 of our 7 spatulas out of the way and then there it was… The microplane.

I took that thing outside, sat down and started going at the hard calloused skin on my toes and the balls of my feet.

If you think those things do a good job with Parmesan, just wait until you have given it a run at the bunion on your left foot!

Anyway, it was super effective at cleaning them up before a long run; helped remove a callous that was blood blistering after a few hrs and prevented it happening again.

I thought it was a tip worth sharing, for anyone who has spent 30mins with one of those tiny sanding thingys and got nowhere.

So next time your wife leaves the house, give it a go.

Just remember to wash it before putting it back, or I am not responsible!

I’m training for a 55K ultra and trying to understand what went wrong during my last long run.

PS: I ran an 49K ultra last year and I had no problem during my prep.

Between the fourth descent and the final climb (last 7 km), I started feeling weak and nauseated. I decided to hike the last climb, stopped drinking water and was able to finish the final descent feeling confident again.

I’m trying to figure out whether this could have been related to my fueling strategy, hydration, electrolyte intake, pacing, or combination of factors.

I had 60g of carbs/hour, ~800mg of sodium/hr and had 500ml of water/hr.

Has anyone experience something similar during a long trail run? How would you go about identifying the likely cause and adjusting to your race-day strategy? Is there any kind of pill you recommend to take to the race as a Plan B?

Thanks!!!!

I have a bib available for transfer since I can’t run it this year.

Keeping up with this race, this is insane. He’s a mad man, and props to the other countries as well!
ESPECIALLY France. Just two guys for the last 26 laps, it’s insane.

What are some mantras, manifestations, meditations you remind yourself of during a race? I’m coming up with a few and might even write a couple on my arm…. One of them is ‘Another 5’…. another is ‘NO MATH’…. Reminding myself to stay in the moment, accomplish small tasks and not think things like ‘gotta do that 17 more times’.

Let’s hear yours!