My girlfriend is totally immersed in the trail running and ultra world and I have been tagging along and enjoying it. The culture is for the most part very friendly, supportive, welcoming and accepting. It reminds me a lot of the 1980's triathlon world. I have crewed and paced Leadville 100, Kodiak 100 and Javelina Jundred (miles) and crewed Angeles Crest 100 and San Diego 100. They are all fantastic events!
I have completed two 50 milers and six 50k's and a bunch of shorter trail races. I am not a good runner but I have really enjoyed the training and racing. I have continued with swimming and biking but reduced the volume of those two sports in order to focus more on running. I think that the cross training is beneficial as I am almost 60 and can not handle huge running volume. If any of you have any interest in giving an ultra a try I say go for it. The North Face Endurance Challenge races are a great place to start if there is one in your area. Very well organized and challenging courses ranging from 50 miles, 50k, marathon, 1/2 marathon, 10k and 5k all in one weekend.
The GF is trying to get in to Western States, UTMB and Hardrock this year but her odds are very low. We will be doing North Face San Francisco next month but we have not planned out next year yet. The big races sell out quickly, some of them a year in advance (sound familiar) but out here in Calif there plenty of great smaller races that are not too hard to get in to.
I believe that training for the race conditions that you will face is very helpful, so for example, if you are going to do Leadville try to get some elevation and hill training in. However, we have friends that live in the flatlands that have done very well in races that they could not train specifically for. Train your hiking muscles, train with your race hydration system, practice running downhill, get a great headlamp (Petzl Nao) forget about pace and enjoy yourself.
I have completed two 50 milers and six 50k's and a bunch of shorter trail races. I am not a good runner but I have really enjoyed the training and racing. I have continued with swimming and biking but reduced the volume of those two sports in order to focus more on running. I think that the cross training is beneficial as I am almost 60 and can not handle huge running volume. If any of you have any interest in giving an ultra a try I say go for it. The North Face Endurance Challenge races are a great place to start if there is one in your area. Very well organized and challenging courses ranging from 50 miles, 50k, marathon, 1/2 marathon, 10k and 5k all in one weekend.
The GF is trying to get in to Western States, UTMB and Hardrock this year but her odds are very low. We will be doing North Face San Francisco next month but we have not planned out next year yet. The big races sell out quickly, some of them a year in advance (sound familiar) but out here in Calif there plenty of great smaller races that are not too hard to get in to.
I believe that training for the race conditions that you will face is very helpful, so for example, if you are going to do Leadville try to get some elevation and hill training in. However, we have friends that live in the flatlands that have done very well in races that they could not train specifically for. Train your hiking muscles, train with your race hydration system, practice running downhill, get a great headlamp (Petzl Nao) forget about pace and enjoy yourself.