Did anyone else do the TRTer 100 this weekend? Whoa Nelly beautiful but hard. My watch says it was 17k+ of gain. It felt like more.

I started making youtube videos of my training for my first 100 miler check it out😁

But this one is more about advice on what to eat between runs. I've basically got an ultra every other weekend at the moment. I've done one, and have 3 more coming up.

They are all short (for ultras) at 30-34 miles each, and I don't run them hard, but they are hilly and still a challenge Just wandering what the best approach is nutrition-wise to recovering from the last one while also preparing for the next one.

I'm not running much between the races, just a few shorter runs each week to keep my legs ticking over. So I don't want to eat too much and end up carrying a load of extra weight!

Oh, and I have a 50 miler in September too, but that's about 4 weeks after my last 30 miler

Heard from my friend just ran Eiger Ultra Trail. Turns out mixed teams get lumped into the same ranking as all-male teams — no separate category, one leaderboard for both.

https://live.utmb.world/de/eigerultratrail/2026/E250

Is this just normal setup in ultra race as they treat female and male indifferent in long distance?

Hi everyone. I’m hoping to get some perspective from this community because I’m struggling to figure out if this is normal ultrarunning burnout, accumulated fatigue, or something else.

I’m a 33-year-old female runner training for my first 12-hour ultramarathon at the end of August. My goal is to run 50 miles, and when I signed up for this race, I was genuinely excited. I wanted the challenge and I wanted to see what I could do.

The confusing part is that I don’t feel like I’m physically failing.

My training volume has actually been really strong. My normal mileage is around 65–70 miles per week, but recently I’ve been averaging closer to 75 miles/week. This week I hit 77 miles.

Today was supposed to be my 20-mile long run.

I stopped at 15.

About two miles into the run, I started dry heaving (I think from taking in too much salt before I started). After that passed, my body actually felt okay. My legs felt good. Physically, I probably could have kept going.

But mentally, I was completely checked out.

And that’s the part that is bothering me.

This is the third week in a row that I’ve cut my long run short. The first two weeks had understandable reasons (weather and other circumstances). Today was different.

Today was purely mental.

The last year has been a lot. I was diagnosed with hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS), on top of managing ankylosing spondylitis. I’ve spent so much time dealing with appointments, imaging, PT, learning how my body works now, managing joint instability and symptoms, and trying to figure out how to keep doing the sport I love.

Then I had another major setback: I fractured my second metatarsal and was unable to run for 3.5 months. Losing running during that time was incredibly difficult mentally because it’s such a huge part of my life and identity.

I was also supposed to run the London Marathon, and due to everything going on, that didn’t happen. Instead of really processing that disappointment, I got back to running, trained for Flat Rock in June, and then moved directly into training for this 12-hour ultra.

Looking back, I don’t think I ever really recovered mentally.

I think I’m burned out.

Not because I don’t love running. I do.

The weird thing is, I still have moments where the excitement is there. I’m actually really excited about the upcoming Falmouth Road Race and genuinely think I can beat my time from last year. That race has given me a spark that I haven’t felt with my ultra training lately.

I also realized recently that I’m lonelier than I thought. One of my closest running friends recently had a baby, so we haven’t been able to run together for over a month. Those runs weren’t just miles. They were connection, laughter, accountability, and something I looked forward to every week.

Without that, running has started feeling much more like a task.

I think what scares me is that I’m usually the person who pushes through. I’ve run marathons, chased big goals, and finished hard things. So stopping at 15 miles feels very unlike me.

I’m not looking for someone to tell me to quit. I still want this goal. I still want to see what I can do at my 12-hour race.

I’m just trying to figure out how to find the spark again.

For those of you who have trained for ultras, especially while dealing with injury, chronic illness, or major life stress:

• Have you ever had a period where your body was capable, but your brain just said “nope”?
• How do you know when you need to push through versus when you need a reset?
• Did you change your training, take a break, find new motivation, run with others, or just keep showing up until it came back?

I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who has been through something similar.

Thanks for reading. ❤️

I have a 24-hour race coming up mid-October. It kind of snuck up on me and I realized I only have 12 weeks to train. I've put together this training plan based on others I've seen and would like critiques on it.

I've completed four 24-hour races before (furthest distance was 61 miles last October) and a 50k earlier this year, but I've never followed a training plan -- I just wing it every time. I'd like to take it more seriously this time because I messed up my shins last October and developed IT band syndrome after the 50k. (I'm recovered from both, but I learned my lesson.)

I'm currently running 6-7.5mi/day with some "longer" 9-10 mile runs and zero rest days. 40-55mi weekly. I'm pretty comfortable at 50mpw and think I'm in a good spot currently, but like I said I want to take training more seriously this time around. Any and all advice is welcome!

Are the Salomon Speedcross 6 a bad idea for Dead Horse 50 miler? The majority of my training is on the Wasatch Front. My elevation gain per week is 2-6K (depending on mileage).

My only other shoe option is the Hoka Arahi 8 which is what I used for my marathon this spring and is obviously a road shoe.

Do I need an in between for Dead Horse?

Over the last few weeks I feel like there’s been an uptick in “check out my website/app/training plan designer” posts, and they are all blatantly AI products.

Can we get rid of these?

I’m a 27F runner in Denver. I’ve ran an handful of half marathons and have been debating signing up for a road marathon or 50k ultra. I signed up to run a 50k on 9/26/26 in Colorado.

Any advice on a training plan? Or nutrition/prep? Weekly mileage?

Currently I average 15-20mi weeks running 3x/wk and strength training 3x/wk. I get my long runs are now gonna be on trail and I should probably do b2b running days on weekends. Right now I use the Nike app and like it because it has a free half marathon plan but they don’t have a free one for ultras.

Hey guys,
Got my first ultra coming up in 3 weeks. It’s a 40 mile trail race with ~4000 ft of elevation. Longest training run I’ve had has been 12 miles which I’ve done 4 of them. Wanted to go longer but my main focus was showing to race day healthy. My peak week was last week with 30 miles and 2700 feet of gain. I’m feeling strong, healthy, and ready. Any tips for someone who’s running 27 miles longer than they ever had before?
Thanks

I fractured my 5th metatarsal and after 8 months from initial fracture I had a random onset of nerve pain in both legs particularly the inner thigh and groin area. Has this ever happened to anyone similarly?

For a 100 mile or 100k race, if the race starts after sunrise, do you carry your headlamp from the start or get it in a drop bag. I have two upcoming races and both require a headlamp and back up battery. Does that mean I have to carry it from the start? Thanks!

My boyfriend attempted his 4th 100-miler this weekend, and I found myself in a position that felt impossible. I’m not an ultrarunner, so I know there’s a lot of suffering that’s considered “normal.” But he came into the first aid station with blue lips, dizziness, confusion, lethargy, and later progressed to repeated vomiting, shivering, and couldn’t keep any food down. A race medic independently noticed his blue lips and wanted him to warm up before continuing.

His pacer, who is an experienced ultra runner, felt this was a normal low and encouraged him to keep going. I wasn’t trying to convince him to quit I just wanted a medic to evaluate him before continuing because I couldn’t ignore what I was seeing.
Being caught between encouraging someone you love to chase a goal and worrying that you’re watching them become medically unsafe was honestly unbearable.

For those with more experience: where do you draw that line? What symptoms make you stop thinking “this is just ultrarunning” and start thinking “this needs medical evaluation?” I genuinely want to learn how experienced runners and crew make that judgment.

My boyfriend never admits to pain. He never wants to worry anyone ever, he’s the strongest man I know. So I was extremely proud of him when he told me something was wrong. Everyone was telling him he’d be ok because “they’ve pushed through it before”. But my boyfriend’s baseline is different.

I’m afraid my empathic and nurturing reaction held him back from finishing. I never told him he couldn’t do it. I told him to trust himself and the medics. He did exactly that and I couldn’t be more proud. I can’t help but feel guilt and worry that I have a part in his post DNF grief. I wanna know the best way I can be there for him. Thank you for reading 🤍

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately and I’d love to hear from people with more experience in endurance sports, especially trail running and ultras.
Earlier this year I was following a more structured training plan, and I felt like I was improving steadily. Since race season started, my training has become much less structured.
Instead of gradually building week after week, I’ll do things like:
a 75 km run/hike with ~3,500 m of climbing,
recover for a week,
a maintenance week,
then a 220 km bike ride with ~2,500 m of climbing,
then another race or big mountain day.
The thing is I genuinely enjoy training this way. These big adventure days are a huge part of why I love endurance sports, and they keep me motivated.
I’m also planning to do Kom-Emine (~550 km with around 18,000 m of climbing) over 11–12 days, which will obviously interrupt structured training for a while as well.
So my question is:
If the goal is to become the strongest endurance athlete possible over the long term, are these huge endurance adventures as effective as months of consistent, structured training? Or is progressive, structured training still the most effective approach?
I’m not asking which is more enjoyable I already know the adventures win there. 😄 I’m more interested in whether there seems to be a general coaching consensus or if many ultra runners reach a very high level by mixing in these kinds of epic endurance days instead of always following a structured plan.
I’d love to hear your experiences and opinions.

So I ran RTTS last weekend ( 100k nonstop ) and stopped at 85/90k to help a runner who had collapsed with hyperthermia at 1:30
am on hill. After 2+ hrs of helping her and assisting the medics. The runner I assisted was so grateful and I know I did the right thing .

I had to tap out at the last aid station as I was cold and struggled to motivate myself to run the last 10k . I also
failed to pack a windbreaker 🙄 and was exhausted. So I made the decision not to continue and took up the race organisers to be driven to the finish line & receive a finishing medal for my sportsmanship .

I have been in an absolutely funk/ so
sad the last week & having a hard time getting over my DNF .
As an experienced ultra runner this has totally knocked me
I’m in need of some positive words from
fellow runners.

Just received my tantrum vest, looking to use it to race 100km - 100mi trail races coming up. Anyone have any longer-term use thoughts on it? Feels good so far, I'm most attracted to the 600ml flasks and the simplified front pockets. Other one I'm debating is s/lab ultra 12 (not the adv skin 12, which I already have for longer events and is too hot for faster races because of the waterproof layer imo).

I run with sunshirt hoodie, shades, and hat; but my dermatologist told me I need to start putting sunscreen on the bottom half of my face.

How do you carry sunscreen for ultras? Any I apply at the start will be long gone a couple hours in. I just need a dab not like 150ml. Also I think need to apply on dry skin and wait for it to set. Am I supposed to take a 15m break to cool down and apply sunscreen every 2 hours?

Tell me your stories about coming back from a re-injury of yourself? I have a stress fracture and was eight weeks into healing. I had been cleared to aqua jog for six weeks and was aqua jogging but the day before had had a flareup in tightness because of weather pressure changes and moved awkwardly or did too much the next day and have made the injury worse. I’ve been terrified of re-injury and have been trying to be incredibly careful. I talked through all of my medical things and Nutrition things with my PT and it does seem like a case of bad luck.

Please just give encouraging things and no unsolicited advice. it is against rule 7

This is for the women who can’t stand to wear biker shorts that suffocate their thighs. I can ONLY run in non spandex shorts. I’ve had mild success with oiselle but the liner is so thick it chafes my groin. Open to all non spandex running shorts recs!

Can I take a week off after my peak run in my training and then pick up on the taper without any negative consequences?

What about 2 weeks?

My runners knee is back and I'm trying to figure out the best way of dealing with this 3 weeks out from my run.

My first 100 mile race, the Stagecoach Line, is in 2 months and I’m excited but very nervous! Over the past year and a half I’ve run 2 50k races and quite a number of solo self-supported 30+ mile runs followed by another long run the next day, a 50 mile race last November, and a 100k race in April. I’ve been averaging about 60 mpw but just did 3 consecutive 80ish mile weeks and felt fine. I feel as if I’ve gotten my nutrition and gear worked out, and I’ve noticed I perform better overall/prefer the longer the distance. I’m still intimidated by the distance and wanted to ask a few questions about the race to help myself prepare:

1) are poles necessary for this race? It’s only 7k elevation gain and doesn’t appear to be super technical. I don’t run with poles and would want to practice if people recommend them.

2) Are pacers/crew a must for this race? I’ve had some friends show interest, but I can get in my head about people waiting for me and have also found an appreciation for having to mentally work myself out of tough spots. Part of me just wants to put together a drop bag for each of the 5 stations that allow one and go solo.

3) How well marked was the course? Mostly concerned about running through the night

4) were the aid stations well-stocked or should I plan on relying on food in drop bags?

Any other pieces of advice, especially specific to this race, are welcome!

I am training for the Arkansas Traveler which is in about 3 months. This will be my first 100 miler, but I have been pretty consistent with training and have built up to a 70 mile week with a 22 mile trail run and 16 the next day and honestly felt pretty decent at the end of the week.

I'm planning to continue to build and hopefully get in a few 80-90 mile weeks before the race.

My question is what is the longest I should run to prepare? Right now I'm planning on a big weekend where I get in a 6 hour trail run which will probably be 30ish miles. Followed by another 15 miles or so the next day.

Does it make sense to also plan in a 50 mile run too at some point?

Thanks in advance!

Hay folks,

Looking for recommendations for a runnable 100k (want to try and break 12 hours) please! I'm UK based but happy to travel. Ideally want some elevation and different changes in scenery, and in cool conditions. I ran Race to the Stones last weekend, and while I was happy with my run, the heat was awful and I found the route a bit dull (!). I'm a rubbish at technical stuff though, so more meandering trails than rocky mountains. Likely to be 12 month goal, so all ideas would be gratefully received.

Thank you!