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Lessons from a 12-Hour Ultra and a-102 Mile Trek

Written by Matt Frazier

Well, I’ve officially cleared the biggest hurdle on my path toward running a 100-miler (until race day, that is): a 50-mile training run.

Actually, 52.7 miles. Last Saturday I ran the Black Mountain Monster, a 12-hour race around a 5K loop that comprises single-track trails, roads, and a few fields. I had hoped to cover 100K (62 miles) on the day, but when I completed my 17th loop at 11 hours and 15 minutes, I was fairly certain I couldn’t run another in 45 minutes, and called it a day.

Anything over 50 miles was good enough for me and for my preparation for the 100-miler, so the race was by no means a failure. But still, 10 miles short of my distance goal is a lot, and I can mainly blame myself for that — I started out way too fast, clocking 10-minute miles for the first three loops, when a steady 11:30 pace was all I would have needed to reach 100K.

The good news, though? I learned more during this race than in any previous one. I paid careful attention to exactly how many calories and electrolytes I was taking in, my paces, how my body responded to the heat, my shoes, and much more. Nothing like a little fear of running 100 miles to make you get serious, I guess — I even took notes! (You can see them here, if you’re interested. I’d love to hear answers to my questions at the bottom from any experienced ultrarunners; feel free to leave them in the comments on this post.)

I’m not a huge fan of writing race recaps — I honestly can’t imagine someone sitting in front a computer long enough to read thousands of words about my race. But somehow, listening to those words on a podcast seems a bit more reasonable, so all the details are in this episode.

Doug, my co-host on the podcast, did a little ultra-adventure of his own the previous weekend — a 102-mile, mostly self-supported trek over three days on the Appalachian Trail. This style of covering a fairly large amount of ground (compared to traditional hiking) is called “fast packing,” and Doug tells us all about his first experience with it here.

Enjoy the show!

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Here’s what we talk about in this episode:

  • Matt’s 12-hour race report (4:00)
  • How the “eat only dates” strategy worked out (11:00)
  • Going in the opposite direction of the minimalist movement (17:45)
  • Benefits of using a 6- or 12-hour event as your first ultramarathon (25:00)
  • Pacing strategies for a 100-mile ultra (33:45)
  • Doug’s experience on a 3-day, 102-mile adventure (40:00)
  • How the body deals with significant back to back runs (47:00)
  • Taking care of the feet with bigger that usual shoes (1:00)
  • Our favorite ultrarunning books and movies (1:02)

Links from the show:

Movies and books we discussed:

Races we discussed:

Beers we drank:

  • Anderson Valley Brewing Summer Solstice (Doug)
  • Terrapin Hopsecutioner (Matt)

Thanks for listening!

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