Hi all, I recently had umbilical hernia repair surgery (4 weeks ago) and have been recovering since. I’m at a point where I feel I’m ready to get back out running again. I was just wondering if anyone else had a the same or similar surgery and how long they left it before running again?

I know things like this get posted a lot here so sorry in advance but I was wondering how my training plan looked. I made my own training plan after looking at a few others and tailored it to my schedule and plans.

I'll be doing the Antelope Canyon 50 miler in March, it has 55 miles total and 3,700 ft of gain I'm pretty sure.

My current plan is this:

Monday: Hill day. lowest week is 5x60sec hill reps and peak week is 10x120sec. The hill I go to is pretty steep so even 45 seconds is a struggle but it's only .25 of a mile so it's not that long. 7 min warm up and 2 mile cool down. 45 min stair climber

Tuesday: active recovery - 5 mile easy run every week

Wednesday: Long Run ranging from 15 miles to 35 miles, in a place with moderate elevation and more technical trails.

Thursday: rest

Friday: hike day with weighted pack + 4 mile run if it's not a hard hike. Or run on the coast in loose rocks or sand.

Saturday: Speed work. lowest week is 3 x 5 min and peak week is 5 x 10 min. 3 mile warm up and cool down.

Sunday: Moderate length easy run ranging from 7-15 miles. Only on flatter trails.

This is also training for the PCT for me which I will be doing in April so doing something most days is beneficial as that's what I'll be doing then.

Is this too much? Too little? I did a 50k in June and spent all summer and fall backpacking so I'm in decent shape.

Hey everyone!

I am currently training for my first ultra and things have been going well until recently.

I want to add that I do plan to have this issue checked out, but I wanted to check in here first.

I’ve noticed that about 5-10 miles into my run I can hear or it feels like I’m hearing little crystals bounce around my head. It might be more towards to base of the skull but I know I definitely hear it. It’s so weird. I’ve been running for many years now and I’m not sure when this started. I started increasing my mileage about 6 weeks ago so maybe that has something to do with it? It doesn’t hurt but the sound is rather annoying.

I’ve had crystals in my ear and saw a chiropractor who helped with that. Not sure if this issue is that though.

Anyways, has anyone heard of this or felt this? I know it sounds so bizarre.

Hi everyone!

I’m offering free coaching to 2-4 people (through trainingpeaks). I’m looking to work with athletes from beginners to those with moderate experience who want to simplify the complexities of endurance training and build long-term, sustainable progress.

A bit about me:
I hold a master’s degree in biology, specializing in microbial metabolism, but I currently only read literature on human physiology. I’ve been running for 5 years and have studied a variety of coaches training methods, including those from Arthur Lydiard, Jack Daniels, Renanto Canova, Mike Smith, David Roche, Inigo San Millán, Kilian Jornet, and others. Over the past four years, I’ve gone from a 4:24 marathon, 22-minute 5k, and 14:50 mountain 50M to a 2:55 marathon, 9:52 mountain 50M (3rd place), and 17-minute 5k.

While I’m not the most talented athlete around, I’ve had moderate success in coaching, taking one female athlete from barely running to completing multiple 50-mile races, winning a local 50k, running a 1:47 half marathon, and a 22-minute 5k in 3 years.

Coaching Focus
My coaching philosophy centers on sustainable progress, with an emphasis on building a lasting relationship with your body through running. I don’t believe in “hacks”, rather I focus on consistency and year over year development.

Training Approach

• Volume Tracking: I track training volume by time, not miles. I believe that this is a better metric especially for ultrarunners whose speed is heavily dependent on the terrain you are running. This gives us a better understanding of internal load, and a more simple way to track progression.
• Aerobic Threshold: The most important factor in ultramarathon training is your velocity at aerobic threshold. We’ll target this through lactate threshold intervals and moderate long runs.
• Speed Before Distance: I prefer to start training blocks by focusing on speed through short VO2 intervals and strides. This creates room to improve both lactate and aerobic thresholds in the specific phase of training for ultras.
• Efficient Long Runs: I don’t believe in long, slow slogging for hours. We’ll incorporate appropriate distance long runs and possibly back-to-back long efforts, but the aim is always quality work over excessive duration that will potentially leave you depleted.
• Fueling: I’ll guide you through optimizing your fueling strategy — I successfully take in 90g of carbs per hour in my races, and I believe fueling during training is just as important. If you’re seeking a low-carb coach, I’m not your guy.
• Doubles & Cross-Training: I’m a strong advocate for increasing easy aerobic volume through doubles and cross-training, especially when needed for recovery or variety.

What I’m Looking For
I’m offering this coaching for free in exchange for your honest constructive criticism, and hopefully future endorsement.

Reach out on here if you're ready to chat about training, or to see if you think this would be a good fit.

I’m 11 weeks clean and sober. I’m new to sobriety and long distance trail running, but I have been a long distance backpacker for years. Since getting sober, backpacking just doesn’t hit hard enough for me. I had a 42 mile hike/jog last week with a pack on. I intended to backpack it, but I just jogged and hiked it straight through back to the car. Oops lol.

Since then I’ve been running 15+ miles the park regularly. It’s hard to find time for me to do longer runs regularly, but I have the itch to do another long trail run and plan for it this time. I don’t have interest in competitive races or road runs. I just like being in the woods alone with my thoughts. It helps me to heal and process. It hits my brain similarly to hard drug use in some ways, but it’s soooo much better. Plus it doesn’t turn me into an apathetic, manipulative, lying asshole.

I think I need it, and most people who I talk to about it think I’m crazy. Well, I know I’m a freak, but I’m wondering how many of you guys can relate or also had substance abuse problems before turning to long distance running.

I also know that these numbers are fun runs to some of you guys, but I’ve only been at it for a little while. Some of the runs you guys do inspire me to keep pushing and see where my true limit is!

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I spent more time than I should have trying to figure out how to calculate the odds of winning with my 2 tickets in Microsoft Excel. Initially I tried to wing it, but had some probabilities over 100% so I wised up and did some searches for "raffles with multiple winners". So then I had 250 or so columns with the same formulas dragged across to account for of 1 - 'odds of losing 250 times in a row', each draw having less and less tickets in the pot... (if you see the problem already, good for you). Luckily with formulas it was satisfying and easy to do all this and I eventually got a result that "made sense", with a whopping 0.73% chance for 2 tickets all the way up to 85% for the 512 ticket holder; NOTE: DO NOT CITE these #s, they are wrong.

As I'm trying to confirm how many people get in by raffle for the upcoming year, i.e. the 250 was a major input for this result, it finally dawns on me.

The problem with my method is that since no one person can win twice, whenever someone is picked, ALL of their tickets need to be removed. So after draw 1, the number of remaining tickets could go down by anywhere from just 1 ticket to reducing by 512 tickets. (Note: I think there could be a way to do this, but it would probably require a ton of computing power [subset A- a 512 ticket holder got picked, followed by a 256 ticket holder,... ; subset B- a 512 ticket holder, followed by a 128 ticket holder...]).

So to reiterate, my work didn't even consider how many people had 1 ticket vs 2 tickets etc. and just assumed there was one less ticket in the raffle after each draw.

TLDR: I now understand why the only way to calculate your odds based on how many tickets you have is through a monte carlo simulation or whatever.

Also, I probably misused a ton of statistical terms and yes there's an expected value formula (I had to lookup what that "e formula statistics" is called) I could have used to get to my wrong result faster. Anyway, hope y'all learned something from this and may the odds be ever in your favor.

Edit: Thanks for all the replies, someone elses post with actual results should get the attention. Also, I plugged in an expected value of tickets removed each draw into my workbook and my numbers got much closer to other users results, but I've done enough unsanctioned statistics for one day.

I’m thinking about signing up for the RRR100 as my first 100 miler now that the race registration is open. I would love to hear from anyone who has done RRR100 or anyone who generally has advice taking the leap from 50 to 100. What helped you the most in training?

I did the 50 mile course this past September and had a great day out there. Finished in just under 11 1/2 hours with mid race nausea that I managed to get back under control. I loved the course and the people I met.

I’m a little scared to take such a big leap in distance but I’m turning 30 in August so it feels like a “fun” way to enter the new decade and just go for it. Thank you in advance for any advice or thoughts :)

Anyone have any dry needling recommendations around Seattle or the East Side? I’ll be paying out of pocket, so if you could share the cost per session that’d be great too!

I've been building a plan for my first 50 miler with the focus on weekly mileage and one or two long runs on the weekend. The longer runs won't be longer than 35-ish kms but starting to do them back to back later in the plan as I approach 100 - 110kms a week.

My question is: what do your weekday runs look like in terms of distance / time?

In winter here, with a full time job, dog that needs walking, life etc, I try to get to 2 - 3 90 minute slower runs* with somewhere between 300 and 500m of elevation gain per run.

*I have a nagging injury that is preventing too much speedwork at the moment, so I'm working on lower pace volume + elevation

I fairly successfully used a Pfitz marathon plan to run a 4.18 50K (only 2000ft) way back in 2019.

Haven’t run one since but have my eyes on one in June but with 6000ft climb.
Thoughts on the plans from the 80/20 book compared to Pfitz? Marathon or Ultra.

I doubt I specifically need their ultra version as although it doesn’t say, I presume that ultra plan is more geared towards 50M+?

Probably looking at racing for 6hours?? I could do Pfitz again with added vert and couple longer outings but interested in some variety as I’ve used the Pfitz plans for the last few years.

Anyone running Brazos bend 100 this weekend? Wanting to get a thread started of some runners heading out to the race. I signed up after my first DNF at Leadville in August. Need some redemption and a fast and flat one should do it for me.

Weather is looking rainy, but given the fact that it’s the gulf coast, it’s hard to tell what the weather will do up until 3 days out.

I’m shooting for a sub 22 hour, which is a lofty goal for me, but why not go for it.

Looking forward to connecting to some other runners on here.

Hey all! I am looking to sign up for my first 50K. I am wondering if anyone has ran either the Canyonlands or Dead Horse 50K and which one they thought was better in terms of how fun it was, how beginner friendly it is, and which one had the better views. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Hey friends,

I’ve posted here fairly often so many of you know me in some capacity. My names Kyle, I’m a run coach and sports performance specialist out in Washington State (and mediocre ultra runner myself). Writing this not to talk about my coaching, but in hopes of helping people navigate the process of looking for a coach as the new year starts.

I know a lot of folks explore the idea of working with a coach or new plan as the new year gets closer, so I thought it could be helpful to give a little run down of what (IMO) is some helpful perspectives to have in mind as you interview/explore/research potential coaches to work with, from a coaches perspective vs just reading other athletes experiences with certain people.

When looking at coaches, I’d encourage you to take the below into account:

Identify your objectives and find a coach who reflects and specializes in them.

Are you looking to venture into new distances? Improve upon past results in known distances? Qualify for XYZ? Get past nagging chronic injuries? These are all areas that certain coaches will have expertise in and others will not. Make sure who you’re working with has proven results in the area you’re looking to improve. If you’re investing in this, it should be a tight fit for your needs.

Coaching experience/knowledge background.

There’s a lot of very good coaches. Unfortunately there’s also a lot of coaches who are mostly just formerly/currently successful runners in their own right repackaging what worked for them/taking a generic plan and tweaking slightly, and selling it as “the way”. Don’t get caught up in working with someone just because they’ve “done the thing”. There’s obvious value in that, but they also need to “know the thing” very well. If you’re getting strength work prescribed, the coach should have a true understanding of how to program that and should have years of experience doing so. Same goes with run plan prescription, mobility etc. Also ask if a candidate is a coach full time or part time. I think it’s important to know if you’re part of something that someone’s full time career or a side hustle.

Communication.

One of the most shocking issues I hear with athletes who come to me from other coaches is “my last coach would reply in 2-3 days, usually”. While I recognize some coaches aren’t doing it full time, if you’re paying someone to be your resource, 24hrs should be the absolute max it takes to hear back from a coach within normal circumstances. If someone in your vetting process mentions “several days response time”, ask yourself if that’s value or not.

The best programs is the one that fits your life and works for you.

Make sure the plan outlined by a potential coach fits your life and needs. If a coach programs high weekly mileage that you can’t fit into your work/life schedule, you’re going to have issues. If you have ever changing schedules and they can’t adapt it to your needs, you’re going to fall short. Ask what kind of mileage they typically prescribe for an athlete like you, how much strength work, how flexible are they with program structure week to week. This stuff matters and determines how well you can follow a plan.

Price point.

I won’t speak on specific pricing because I think it’s up to individual coaches and athletes to determine what a service is worth. My two cents as someone who’s done this for 18 years, if you’re paying over $200 a month for coaching, you’re probably in the realm of “that’s quite a lot”. But again, that’s just my perspective.

I hope that’s helpful to at least a few people. If you’re reading this, you’re probably considering a coach and for that I give you a big 🤜🤛 because I think it’s truly the best way to get the most out of the hard work you put in. Feel free to ask questions in the comments, happy to answer today when I can to better help you in your search

Ive been doing a 16 week training block for a trail 50k that takes place in mid December. I am just now coming off of losing three weeks due to a particularly nasty respiratory illness that hit me once the season changed. So far, the longest run I've done in my program is only 20 miles. Given that the race is in less than two weeks, would you cut your losses and skip the race, or go ahead and risk a DNF?

So, as title suggests. I did my 1st marathon in september. Went well because is started running/walking halfway due to temps being to high. Came out strong without hitting the wall.

Now someone asked me to do a 100k in august next year. I agreed if i was able to manage to train and prep enough. In 2 weeks i will be doing a 32k trail with low elevation. In march i have planned a second marathon (road) where i will be trying at the same pace as september but hoping it will be colder and be able to get my goal of 3:40-45.

I was planning to do a 50k before the 100, and found that there are practically no road ultras in Belgium. The 100k is road (its a walking challenge but running is alowed). I have found a 50k in may '25 but got a little scared when i saw that on average only 130-140ppl participate on the 50k distance. It also has alot elevation but i do think its boable.

I do however wonder if its a good idea to do a 50k 2months after my second marathon, and adding the elevation aswell. Recent years i did alot trailruns, but due to marathontraining i stuck to road only this year. I dit a 10k trail yesterday and feel sore af. I do like the feeling but it got me wondering.

I also found there are requirements to participate. Like 2l water minimum, rescueblanket and foldable cup. I am in need of some help to manage food and general stuff for these kind of runs. Im guessing gels only wont cut it. Do i need to calculate calories? I am not used to eating solids on runs because i hate chewing while running. It gets me out of breath.

Any advice is welcome!

Sorry if this was asked, but I couldn't find an answer for stability shoes specifically. I recently finished a 50M road ultra in neutral shoes and it was rough. I went to a running store and they said I should be in a stability shoe (pronating) and put me in the asics gt2000. Does anyone have any suggestion for a long distance shoe that offers support. I ran the 50m in Saucony Ride, and I previously used to run in Saucony Kinvara.

I’m going to be traveling in Europe Feb-Apr 2025 and am looking for an ultra that is around 50 mi/80 km. Any recommendations?

Just ordered. Was refreshing for a deal on the 3s then found them. Noted that nothing new regarding the materials however 10 grams heavier.

It was on just in time since I may have just ruined my knee on doing a 30 k trail run in the Fuji lite 4s. Lasted only 26,5, wife called asking where I was, could not start running, could not walk. Took me 40 minutes to do the last 3,5 km.

Let’s see, will update.

https://www.asics.com/gb/en-gb/trabuco-max-4/p/1011B976-400.html

Hello everyone! I’m planning on running a 60k race in April but would like to also race a marathon in January. My question is, how would you all incorporate this into your schedule? I have not run a marathon yet so wanted to get a race in before the ultra but on my plan I am only scheduled to run 31k. Can I just run the marathon and then carry on with my plan as usual? I am scheduled for a de-load week after the 31k anyway so my thinking is that I’ll have time to recover anyway.

Thanks!

Looking to potentially get a coach for Leadville 100. Anyone have a good experience with someone that they'd recommend?

I'll be training in Austin, so someone who is used to training people coming from flat earth would be good. I also have sort of a weird schedule as a single father with 50/50 custody and not being able to do long workouts on certain weekends. Not sure how to time how those crazy long workouts in that scenario.

Any guidance is appreciated!

I was a little late signing up for the Bear this morning so was wondering if anyone had an idea how quickly the waitlist clears.

I’m wondering what people’s experiences are sleeping mid-race. Obviously, this is probably only applicable to 100k+ distances. I’m curious about the benefits of sleeping during a race - I’ve seen a lot of strategies for taking short 1-5 min naps, or even sleeping up to 2-3 hours. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this, what’s your overall goal when sleeping - to simply rest up a bit, to refresh your mind, etc. Also, what strategies might y’all recommend for a multi-day timed race.

Has anyone trained for a hyrox and ultrarunning events simultaneously?

Post aimed at anyone recently injured and who is looking for some kind of insights into what that means for their training plan.

10 weeks ago I got hit by a car, that ran over my right foot, breaking the 2nd and 3rd metatarsals and cracked the cuneiform. All things considered I was very lucky not to get hit in the knee and the fractures had no displacement, no tendon torn. Just multiple cracks and fractures and a nice swelling...

Obviously, I had to immediately stop running, or even walking, which was very depressing for a 45-yr old (i.e. not so much time left to perform well in sports) who runs 5-6 times a week, with multiple trail races scheduled from 5 weeks after the accident (I live in HK and the racing season starts in October). I was really pissed off! But screaming at the walls doesn't achieve much.

The doctor told me "it's going to be a long process" and "forget about running in 2025", so I bit the bullet and dutifully didn't walk for 5 weeks (no weight bearing on the broken foot). The only activity I allowed myself, for cardio and leg muscles, was static bike, as I could put strength through the heel, wearing the Aircast plastic boot. Good food, lots of calcium-rich stuff (milk, green vegetables, etc), work from home and foot kept resting high, to decrease the swelling.

6th week, I started walking, very very slowly, testing the foot. Discomfort is OK (even normal), but any pointed pain means "stop what you're doing". That's a good evaluation method to get back to walking. By then, the swelling was gone, except sometimes in the evening after a busy day. The doctor's visit and checkup x-ray showed very good recovery, to the point that the doctor told me "no rehab needed" and "don't come back unless you are in a lot of pain". He also said better to wait 2025 to start running again... but somehow I forgot that recommendation.

8th week I started testing very slow running, kind of run-walk, adjusting carefully to the sensations. the past two weeks I had been walking, relatively slowly, adapting the pace to the pain and it was the same for running. Again, any sharp pain is a sign to slow down. Dull pain, like a bruise, is just because the foot hasn't worked enough these past weeks. Surprisingly, the pain wasn't located at the place of the fractures, but rather in the toes (lost flexibility and strength) and the ankle. And I couldn't rise on my forefoot. I haven't taken any painkillers since the beginning of this whole process and I think it's important to know the pain well, to avoid making mistakes.

By the 10th week, I am running well, although not fast, no speedwork. The foot is a bit painful at the beginning of each workout, but gets better after 1~2km. Today I could participate to one of my planned races, a 27km trail race with 1900m D+ and it went very well, much better than I thought. Uphills are completely fine (almost no impact on the foot and you can adjust to bear the weight on the full sole, not just the forefoot), flats are the same as normal running, meaning "not too fast" and need to be cautious. Downhills are not nice at all, as it usually requires to land on the forefoot, or else the knee takes the shock, so that's the painful part. I was passing many people on the way up and passed by the same people on the way down!

Anyway, I am feeling much better and motivated about this recovery, especially compared to 9 weeks ago. Every case is different and don't take my experience as a blueprint for your own recovery, but I wanted to show that a progressive, very cautious and personalized approach to recovery is possible, especially if running is very important to you. Of course, if you don't mind the gap in your training plan, by all means, enjoy that sofa! :-D

When I got the first diagnostic it felt like the end of the world and now 10 weeks later it feels like an annoying issue that comes to a conclusion, so keep your spirit up and hold tight until your recovery lets you get back on the road!

Hi all. I have been making steady progress on a web app that makes it easier for you to share your Strava races (activities marked as 'Races') with others and I was hoping to get some feedback? Especially about how it looks, how easy/intuitive it is to use, missing features, bugs etc?Please take a look if you can: https://myraceindex.com. Feel free to leave me feedback here or email me at chris@mepham.uk. Thank you.

I saw a nutritionist earlier this week and have a follow up in a couple of weeks which I will absolutely raise this question in, but thought I’d check in with other experienced runners on their situation.

I’ve been told to focus on my carb intake.

I weigh 75kg, so have been told to get a minimum 500g carbs in daily and as training ramps up to my miler to up that to closer to 750g carbs

The science behind it is to ensure the muscles have adequate glycogen stores and I don’t hit a wall. Obviously on big runs to supplement with more carbs (aiming for 60g per hour) on top of my daily in take

However I’m really struggling to get these carbs in without resorting to sugary snacks, things like chocolate muffins, honey and jam and lollies.

I’ve always been aware of what I eat and have tried to be on top of my sugar intake, but it feels like the only way to hit these macros is with dense carbs and sugar laden foods

This is on top of my white rice, white bread, sweet potato, pumpkin, weetbix, so I’m getting it balanced at least.

I am currently running 100km per week with a mixture of high and low intensity runs…

Is this a normal feeling? Is it fine to resort to sugary snacks? Or should I be limiting sugar aswell?

Hello! I am looking to run a 100 miler in 2025 and it will be my first one! I ran a 50k this summer that had ~9200' of elevation gain and LOVED it. I wanted to reach out and see if anyone knew of good 100 milers that have lots of vert (thats my strong suit, I'm not very fast on flat comparatively but can go uphill for a while) but have easy entry / no qualifications as I've never ran a 100 before. I'm based in Summit County CO but willing to travel. Thanks!

First 50 miler next weekend. I’d like to clean up my diet this week, while also making sure I eat enough of the right things. I know what I like for pre-race dinner and breakfast, but what do you all usually eat like for the week of? Does it even matter much beyond 2-3 days before?