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Matt’s Burning River 100-Mile Ultramarathon Race Report

Written by Matt Frazier

By now, if you’re a regular No Meat Athlete reader, it’s likely that you’ve read (fine, skimmed) my 4500-word recap of my first 100-miler last weekend. I’ve loved reading and responding to the comments, and am truly humbled by the nice things you’ve all have had to say.

Well, here’s some more for you! No Meat Athlete Radio has a minor obsession with ultrarunning, so we couldn’t let my first 100 go by without an episode dedicated to it.

But to make sure this didn’t just turn into an audio version of my text recap, we did something a little different — Doug (himself an ultrarunner eyeing his first 100) and I didn’t exchange a word about the race until the tape was rolling.

So these are Doug’s questions, my answers — two budding ultrarunners chatting, unrehearsed, about a first 100. As a result, there’s a good bit different here from my written recap, with a lot of “inside the head” stuff that’s easier to express in a conversation than in writing. I think you’ll take away some valuable nuggets from our conversation.

If nothing else, it’ll help you pass the time on a long run this weekend; listening to podcasts got me through a lot of mundane miles in the training for this race.

Enjoy!

Here’s what we talk about in this episode:

  • The importance (or not) of sleep the night before an ultra
  • Pacing strategies and walk breaks in a 100
  • The single biggest mistake I made
  • The low point, and inside “the moment” where it all turned around
  • What I warned my crew not to listen to me about
  • Why a negative outlook before the race actually helped me
  • Advice for beating wet feet, and a crucial piece of equipment I forgot to bring
  • What it’s like to run through the night on trails
  • My eating strategy for the race
  • Drinking only to thirst instead of to a schedule
  • What’s so great about Hoka One One’s
  • The reason the whole thing wasn’t quite as hard as I expected
  • How a friend helped me decide not to have a time goal
  • What the recovery has been like
  • What’s next? (Hint: RAGNAR!)

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Thanks for listening!

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