Ultramarathon Daily News | Friday, Sep 28
Yes, it’s gimmicky, but it’s also a pretty cool test of the human mind: Running on a treadmill in a pitch black shipping container for twenty four hours. Has the ultramarathon world jumped the shark? I’ve tried to close my eyes on the treadmill before and the results have not been graceful. Good luck to these guys.
Gabi writes about the ups and downs of sharing your passion with your love: Relationships on and off the trail.
I’m anxious to see this film about Damian Hall at UTMB. I like this guy a lot…great runner, good self promoter, and seems to have a cracking sense of humor.
What do you do when you see a mountain lion on the trail? Freeze, back away slowly, or run like hell? Science is showing #2 is your best option. (No, not that number two, though that’s what’s likely.)
Did you catch the Daily News yesterday? I flaked on publishing it, so instead made the Patreon-exclusive Daily News Briefing podcast available to everyone. Check it out here.
Reader Cassie sent this my way and I’ll pass it on to you:
I really hate the amount of single-use waste I generate on long runs – bars, gels, gummies, whatever. Turns out there is a company that partnered with Clif and Gu to offer free recycling for (1) foil lined energy bars — of any brand — plus any clif products (like Clif Bloks) and (2) literally “all brands of performance nutrition packaging including energy chews packets; energy gel packets; hydration, recovery, and energy drink mix stick packs and packets.”
You just create an account, sign up for the “Clif Brigade” and “Gu Brigade,” and you can print out a free shipping label whenever your separate recycling bin/bag starts to overflow.
Pretty cool! Here are the websites for Gu and for CLIF
Take everything you know about pacing and ‘running your own race’ and throw it out the damn window. I present to you The Elimination Mile.
Four health reasons to eat more peanut butter.
Boston Marathon was getting too big and too hard to gain entry to, so what’d they do for the 2019 race? Raised the bar for entry by lowering time standards by about 5 minutes in each division. Yo Western States Board…maybe they’re onto something?
Do you work retail in the outdoor space? Recognize any of these customers?
What does it cost to be a pro runner in Africa?
The apex of Ben Hiatt’s career was right around when I started trails and ultramarathons, so I missed out on a lot about this guy. AJW paints a great picture of his return to the sport…and I noticed one thing: This is the first instance I remember where AJW refers to it as Olympic Valley rather than Squaw Valley. Anyone else notice that? #seeyouinolympic doesn’t have the same ring.
Andy’s description of the SoCal trail ultramarathon scene made me think back to this interview with Ruperto Romero. If you haven’t listened to it, it’s worth 60 minutes of your time…No shoe contract, no GPS, no social media, tough childhood growing up poor in Mexico, and no coach, but with some seriously hard work and a supportive family, he’s still winning 100 milers in his 50s.
How do you deal with negative emotions or feelings on the trail? I don’t know, when I get negative emotions–not physical feelings–on the trail, the very last think i want to do is awknowledge them and feed them. I want to click over to my music or another distraction.
Speaking of negative emotions and self doubt, here’s how Kara Goucher deals with it.
He started running at 45, progressed to ultramarathons–including Comrades–then he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Listen: DO NOT take one single day for granted.
I hope you’ve got a run planned later today or this weekend. Yesterday I recorded an interview with a guy who’s got a pretty amazing story to tell. I’ll give you a tease: He does his hill training starting at 1,000 below ground in an Australian coal mine. Stay tuned.