Ultramarathon Daily News | Tue, May 30

Justin/IRF’s Weekend in Ultramarathon Results.

This weekend was also the Booneville Backroads Ultramarathon in Iowa.  Here’s Brad’s interview from last year’s race that, if I remember correctly, had a very large mud component.

Read this: Excellent post about injury and dealing with recovering responsibly while Western States is looming. Should he stay or should he go?

Report from the first pack burro trail race of the season. If you’re new to this sport (wait, did he just say burro racing?), listen to this old URP interview with George Zack for a primer.

You may need to push your effort on the treadmill if you’re looking to replicate running outside.

Did you get a chance to listen to our latest episode? Ethan and I chatted with 72 year old Wally Hesseltine about his 500+ races (and only 4 DNFs!), what he’s learned on the trails, and how he plans on setting a record at the Big Dance next month.

That episode was sponsored by Muir Energy. Hand-made gels with unique flavor combinations and organic, paleo, vegan, and GMO free ingredients that even I can pronounce. Options include slow-burning and fast-burning gels. Use Ultra10 for a discount at checkout.  

Chase disects Hayden Hawks and Chris Mocko‘s training and racing schedules and writes about riding that line between success and overdoing it.  Agree with him?

Gone is the instinct to compare every run with a former fastest self. Instead, I was finally able to see myself getting stronger each day, feeling better each day. I stopped lambasting myself for not being fast enough, doing enough, being skinny enough, etc and started to see that each day I was doing the work, hitting the milestones I needed to and most of all, enjoying and being excited by the process.

-Definitely take a few minutes to read Devon Yanko’s latest post.

Mario’s Morning Shakeout. I took particular interest in the discussion of shoe and apparel companies not being a sustainable sponsorship model. Watch Comrades next weekend and we’ll see runners and teams sponsored by banks, auto manufacturers, and other non-running industries.

I guess kinda like this? Squatty Potty is sponsoring 5k color runs now. That’s certainly a non-traditional partnership, but hey, it’s working!

And be sure to read this excellent piece in Trail Runner Magazine about Kilian’s summits. As Justin mentioned in TWIW, obscure records on the other side of the world can be confusing, and this article does a great job putting Kilian’s efforts in context.

Caffeine and performance in ultramarathons. Seems pretty clear: Caffeine is a PED. Am I advocating for it to be banned? Of course not, but to allow caffeine and ban marijuana makes no sense to me.

Western States training camp looked like a blast. I’ve never been, despite living an hour away from the course. My family has a long-standing picnic in Southern California over Memorial Day that takes precedent. Looked like a blast though!

Wow, the Long Trail in Vermont looks incredible. Read more about it here.  Are there any races that cover this area?

If Kaci’s running career falls through, she can always move to Japan. Her skills are needed there.

You know you’re good when you stop for a few seconds to adjust your spike, but still win the steeple chase and set a national record.

If Banff is too crowded, consider these other incredible parks in Canada.