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Welcome to the archive of the
ULTRAU TUESDAY EMAIL |
Photo courtesy of Full Send Media. Race by Go Beyond Racing.
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"Abundance is not something we acquire. It is something we tune into."- author Wayne Dyer
TRAILCON AND WESTERN STATES WRAPPED Last week I attended Trail Con and the Western States 100-mile endurance run. My key takeaway from both is ABUNDANCE. From Trail Con I saw an abundance of caution away from real talk of pushing the sport towards more sustainability, diversity and inclusivity. I saw an abundance of marketing and brand activations and the commerce of trail running. I saw a lot of hat giveaways and less thought to getting more people into the hats. But there is the other side. At Western States, I saw abundance as well, but mostly in the in the best way. This is a race with more spectators in the stands for the final hour of finishers than for the first-place finishers and people were OUT to cheer on perfect strangers finishing up what for most is an impossible task of 100 miles through the mountains and heat. I also saw numerous past Western States champions out on the course as pacers and volunteers. Seven-time champion Scott Jurek volunteers through the night at mile 90. Not many marathon champions out there handing cups to the back of the pack runners in Boston. I met people who drove from Oregon on a family vacation just to spectate the race, no connections to any runner in particular, just fans of the sport. And I saw so much giving of time, heart and spirit from one runner to another. There is just so much joy, hard work and can-do attitude it is hard to come home and not feel the abundance in my own sport bubble. If you want to experience the magic of a trail race and are not ready to sign up, you can volunteer, just ask me how! You won't be sorry. MULLET PROTOCOL During a panel discussion at Trail Con, a race director in gravel racing said that as a race organization, they utilize the "mullet protocol" which got me listening. She described it as a way to celebrate the front and the back of the pack with intention. They include a mullet podium for those nominated by fellow riders for exemplifying the spirit of the sport. LOVE! If you are looking for local race directors who share this same spirit, check out this post from Go Beyond Racing and the organization they started Trail Mix Fund. BREAKING 4 Last week Nike held a moonshot when they went all in on Faith Kipyegon in an attempt for a woman to break the 4-minute mile barrier. Her PR was 4:07 which meant taking off almost 2 seconds per lap. You can watch it here, worth five minutes to see sports going all in and investing in a woman. Then, you can get critical and read an interesting analysis of the attempt. READING ROUNDUP
STRENGTH NEEDS This fake thing cracked me up. "No pain, no popcorn." Or, another idea for motivating your strength training, JOIN ME! See you on Wednesday nights for Strength Training for Runners, live to your screen. Free always.
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This weekend I turned 50, WOOHOO! While my mom is having a hard time since she now needs to lie about my age as well as hers, I am feeling great. I don't know what little me would have thought I would be like at 50, but I am happy to say I am right where I want to be. I spent the weekend with friends in the woods, foot hustling, riding bikes and eating cake, three of my favorite things. One friend asked, what I have learned in my 50 years. Great question and honestly, I suppose the answer to that is every single thing I know, but the thing I JUST learned last weekend was to stop apologizing for myself. I knew I may be slower than others on my birthday bike ride and I decided I wasn't going to say I was sorry for being last up the hill as my birthday present to myself. I was last up some of the hills and I gave zero FLIPS, NONE. It took 50 years, but it was awesome. Best gift ever.
STOP APOLOGIZING You don't need to wait until you are 50. You can stop today. Stop apologizing for things that need no apology and start handing out thanks instead. Please turn your, "sorry I have to stop for a minute" to "thanks for waiting a second while I get out more snacks". Turn your, "sorry I am feeling slow today" into "thanks for the good pace today, impressive". If you are a lifelong apologist, this may take a few years of repetition, so you better start now. Sorry, I know it isn't easy. Thanks for trying! TRAIL CON This week I am in Olympic Valley, CA attending Trail Con. It just started this morning so I can give you my hot take next week, but the first session this morning was a panel discussion including two members of UltraSignup on Five Trail Trends. The trend I will share is diversity. The three panelists discussed how we are not where we want to be with diversity and proceeded to discuss women's participation in trail running (which I love, thank you) but never discussed any parts of a diversity discussion you would expect including no talk of race, inclusivity or trans rights. I am feeling absolutely depressed and gutted about it. This is the state of our sport, the kick off of the trail running conference had a talk about diversity with no talk of diversity. WOMEN RULE Here are the stats the UltraSignup panelists highlighted which are great for women's running.
CREATINE GUMMIES If you are supplementing with Creatine gummies, you may want to try a new delivery system. Report finds little to no creatine in gummies sold through Amazon. This article has a chart with brands that are living up to their labels. Need to get in a little more salt with your sweet snacks during workouts? During a bike ride a friend pulled out a snack she is calling anchovies and it was genius. Swedish fish in a bag with some salt. You are welcome! STRENGTH TRAINING FOR RUNNERS I will NOT be leading Strength Training for Runners this week. I am in Olympic Valley for Trail Con and Western States and will not be available at 5pm- strength training time. Here are a few links from the archives so you don't need to miss a workout.
Happy trails, Our Public Lands are in trouble, not the "haven't had enough gels for their run" kind of trouble, but 'about to DNF their race and maybe get into some kidney trouble' kind of trouble.
On June 11, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, released the Senate Energy and Natural Resources section of the budget reconciliation bill, calling for 2-3 million acres of “mandatory” public land sales within five years. Up to 120 million acres of our public lands could be available for sale. If you look at the what could be up for sale it includes Mt Bachelor, Dog Mountain and Timothy Lake. Potential areas of sale also include many, many acres of land you have been on as a trail runner, mountain biker, camper or while racing. I totally understand feeling overwhelmed by politics, not understanding the full depth of issues and wanting to just get back out into the woods, but if we sell off the places we go to escape, then so many of us will have to face our demons instead of running from them, go to actual therapy or become road runners. NO! You can find out how to take action here. And while you are taking action, you can also mark yourself out of the office and clear the calendar for Wednesday night Strength Training for Runners and join class, live to your screen. There will be zero politics but there will be balance work. When you are at your favorite public lands trail head pit toilet and need to change out of your sweaty clothes, you want to be able to stand on one foot so nothing needs to touch the ground. BEES, THEY'RE JUST LIKE US It turns out there are agricultural bees not getting enough nutritional variety so scientists are making protein bars for bees. In tests the hives with these nutrition bars had twice as many bees. More food means more resilience; bees sound just like us. BOSTON QUALIFYING If you are trying to qualify for the Boston Marathon and are using a downhill course with more than 1,500 feet of descent, like the Tunnel Marathon in WA or a Revel course, the standards have changed. Starting with 2027 registration, there will be 5-10 minutes added to times from courses with 1,500+ feet of net elevation drop while banning courses over 6,000 feet entirely. BROWNIE HOT TIP Right now, the NYT has taken down the paywall to their Mochi Brownies which I will be making this weekend. Hi all,
Last weekend I was at the Go Beyond Racing Bristow 24/12/6 hour races getting loopy with athletes on a one-mile lap. One mile, as many times as you can in the time you have allotted yourself. If it sounds boring, check out these photos and then rethink it. The event is not only a celebration of running, but a great way to see what is possible and so many athletes were out there aiming for time and distance PRs or were supporting friends to their own PR. Women won every time category outright and by more than 10 miles with distances of125, 69 and 43 miles. "Katherine Switzer, the first woman to officially run the Boston Marathon in 1967, recalls in her memoir how her high school’s basketball coach—a woman—told her that women would never play the men’s version of basketball because the “excessive number of jump balls could displace the uterus.” (Outside Magazine, The Myth of The Falling Uterus) Nice job to the women for showing us that an excessive number of jumps can look joyous and for the record, nothing was displaced. The race also had more than one nonbinary racer in each division, the most I have seen at any race thanks to the celebration that is Pride at Bristow. And thanks to Go Beyond Racing, they enjoyed equal podiums. Joy. Joy. Non-binary joy!!! We are in an absolute boom time for running right now. There are shoes for most every foot, races for most every pace and there is no reason you shouldn't be a part of it. And even better, I offer free Strength Training for Runners on Wednesday nights, so you get a strong core, and you get a strong core and everyone gets a strong core! APPLE WATCH ACCURACY The title says your Apple Watch may not be as accurate as you think, but I think for runners the news is good. "Heart rate had a percentage error of 4.43%, while step count had an error of 8.17%. Anything below 10% is considered excellent, so you should feel pretty confident in what your Apple Watch says your heart rate and step count are for the day." On the other hand, the calories burned was off by 27.96% but do people trust that anyway?? Not sure if it is measuring high or low, but either way, ignore that very inaccurate part of your data set. RUNNING BAND There is a good alternative to the running vest for shorter outings. Also, as temps rise, wearing a vest on a shorter run or a run with consistent resupply points can be HOT. If you have been running a long time and tried a waist belt like this or these, you know the load can bounce and be super annoying. If you haven't tried a running band, it may be worth some new gear. Companies like Naked or Ultraspire have created snug fitting bands that use compression to stay on and hold your gear. They hold a soft flask so as you drink there is no sloshing like using a hard sided water bottle. I WILL LEAVE YOU WITH THIS Love this take on should women wear underwear. Happy trails, Dana I have been tracking my workouts for a long time. I don't always look at the data but I like having it and I always name runs and bike rides, usually after the person I am with, the place I went and a hint to if it was fun or not. Looking at my runs from the last two weeks they have names like, "Why does this feel so hard?" "Waddling around with the dog" and "Maston trails until I died". Meanwhile the bike rides are "Good fun with Denise," "Awesome new trail" and "Hurricane Trail pure joy".
I knew the runs were not bringing the joy, but looking at the contrast in how I have been talking about runs vs bikes is prompting me to change up the training mix and clarifies where I want to focus this summer. There is good reason to track training, even if you aren't a data nerd. Sometimes you need a reminder of where you started, the places you have discovered and if you are feeling the joy. ANKLE PAIN I have recommended a modality for ankle pain twice this week so I thought it may be worth sharing since it is basically free and you can do it at home in just a few minutes (not in 30 sec as the linked video promises) You just need a butter knife. Watch this video detailing how to break up adhesions for better ankle movement and pain reduction. It isn't always super comfortable but you can do it yourself and control how much pressure you use. SAUNA AND HYDRATION If you use a sauna as part of your training or plan to use a sauna as part of preparation for a race listen up here. Podcast includes when to use the sauna hydrated and when to hydrate slowly after and best ways of hydrating with the sauna use. FASTEST KNOWN TIME
THINGS THAT SEEM LIKE A JOKE BUT AREN'T
STRONG If you are attempting to be Killian's pacer, climb Everest or take your local trails by storm, you should be strength training. Free Wednesday night class live to your screen. Find out more about Strength Training for Runners here. "Running is staring down the uncertainty of an effort for so long that you can’t tell which is worse, the discomfort of the distance or the weight of your expectation."
-Peter Bromka Hi all, Last night after returning from some fun trail time on the Cape Perpetua Trails near Yachats, OR I experienced some back pain. Upon feeling it closer, I noticed it was super localized and a small bump. Zooming in closer, it was a tick. EWWWW. Who knows how long it was there, but I was NOT HAPPY, nervous, grossed out and annoyed I hadn't felt it crawling on me. Since this is the season for ticks, I thought I would share some info so you are prepared in case you find yourself in a tick situation. There are approximately 65 human cases of Lyme Disease reported annually in Oregon, which is very low to be clear. The primary vector is the western black-legged tick (Ixodes pacificus), which is prevalent in western Oregon and along the Columbia River in lower elevations. Only about 3% to 8% of these ticks carry the Lyme bacterium and transmission typically requires the tick to be attached for 36 to 48 hours or more. Risk of transmission in Oregon is SMALL but still there. As a native Pennsylvanian where 30% of Lyme Disease cases are reported, I was freaked out. I called the nurse line of my insurance and was told to go to Urgent Care. At Urgent Care they expressed how rare Lyme Disease was in Oregon BUT since I found the tick less than 72 hours in, I was a candidate for Doxycycline, an antibiotic that is just a one-day course. Potential GI distress from the antibiotic for me is worth not being freaked out with worry about getting Lyme Disease. So worry level is reduced and anti-biotics on board. GI distress, well, let's see what happens. I will for sure be upping my prevention game going forward including insect repellent and more monitoring post runs. If you live on the east coast or are visiting be sure to be vigilant. We need you strong for trails, mountains and fun. STRONG Strength Training for Runners is ON and LIVE this week, so join me Wednesday night. Always free. Bring your home weights and mini bands. GET OUT THERE WITH CHILDCARE Strava has announced a "Childcare so they can get out there" grant aimed at helping mothers get to more start lines. Strava will be funding 50 grants of $2,000 each to offset the childcare, travel, and support costs that often stand between a mother and the starting line. Apply by June 14. LENTIL PROTEIN I never thought of this one! "I learned something cool recently that might interest you (and your readers). My body can't handle whey, so when I'm looking for protein to put in my smoothies, I generally use cooked soybeans or pea protein powder. Both can be expensive (especially for the non-GMO stuff), but it turns out that you can just dump a 1/4 cup of yellow split peas into the Vitamix and make your own powder before adding the rest of the smoothie makings. 1/4-1/2 cup of cooked red lentils are also a good source of non-dairy protein." GETTING INTO THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS If you are in Oregon looking to get into the Central Cascades, the Cascade Lakes Highway is open and many of the trailheads are cleared of snow for parking, but beyond that much of the area has 3-4 feet of snowpack. Here is a good post from Hike Oregon checking all the trailheads and trails on the Cascade Lakes Highway and beyond. Cal Topo also has snow depth maps so you can check your trail before heading out. RUN FOR MONEY What did it take to earn $1,000 at a road race in 2024, just in case you are feeling speedy and need another income source. Apparently the average marathon time to earn $1000 was 2:39:10 for women and 2:16:37 for men. "Injury management isn't for the easily discouraged. It requires being brutally honest with yourself about what your body is telling you. Some discomforts can be "run through" without making them worse. Sometimes, this strategy can even contribute to the healing process. Other discomforts will worsen with every step until they force you to stop completely. The tricky part? Telling the difference."
If you are in the middle of a niggle, pain or a full-blown injury, this article written by a PT in the midst of doing PT for his own injury is a good read. Amongst the many, good take aways include, all runners struggle with injuries, neglecting strength training when you need it most (in the midst of heavy training) is bad timing and recovery is not linear. I am thinking about this myself as I am doing PT which on some runs feels like a magic spell that is working perfectly and the next run is a full set back to where I started. But I am still getting on the ground to do all the assignments and most importantly, I believe! Now go do some clamshells and stand up tall! STRENGTH TRAINING Strength Training for Runners LIVE CLASS IS BACK this Wednesday. I will not only be teaching, BUT I look just like we left off since I didn't smash my face at mountain bike camp last week. ONE EXERCISE- STEP DOWNS If you don't have 30 minutes to spare, here is ONE exercise you can add to your day. Work up to 3 sets of 10 per side really focus on your glutes, we can all use more coordination, control and strength from our backsides. All you need is a step. FUELING ON A BUDGET Here is a great graphic showing price per carb for some of the most popular gels. My learning from this was that high carb drink mixes are more economical than gels (3-5 cents per carb for drink mixes vs 7-13 cents per carb in gel form). High carb drink mixes include choices like Skratch Super High Carb and Tailwind. If you want to compare gas station snacks to your favorite gel, Swedish Fish are 1.6 cents per carb, Nerds Gummy Clusters are 2 cents per carb and Oreos (Double Stuff because the other kind is trash), are 1.1 cents per carb. After doing that research on candy, my social media sent me a post about how to make nachos with green beans and now I don't believe in the internet anymore and to anyone making nachos without chips subbing in green beans I am sorry for whatever has led to this and there is a better way, I am here to talk. Happy trails! Hi all!
For those of you following along, last week I was crewing at the Sedona Canyons 125, one of 4 races held during the week of Cocodona. For me, the story of the week was Rachel Entrekin winning the women's race, coming in 4th overall, 5 hours after the first male finisher and 14 hours before women's second place. In videos she seems like both a normal person but also the happiest person out there. Being out on different parts of the course I will tell you, it is much more technical than the times of those front runners let on! For most of the runners there is a lot of walking, not easy when you have trained for a run. (and a reminder for everyone expecting hiking in your next race, it isn't the same as running, start hiking as part of training!) The cooler temperatures certainly messed with people's strategies and packing lists. Specifically, when you are counting on a race that is very hot and those temperatures don't play out, too many electrolytes can be a real risk. Then GI issues ensue making fueling difficult. Then every step takes you a little higher in altitude not making your gut any happier (or your pace!) Since fueling is the thing that takes so many people out, I have some snacking take aways for you:
STRENGTH No live class this week, I am taking a mountain bike clinic in hopes I can have an awesome season of riding without smashing myself. No skipping your squats, join HERE for a class from the archives. LOW IRON OR MENOPAUSE? Did you know the symptoms of iron deficiency and menopause are frustratingly similar? Here’s a list of symptoms associated with iron deficiency: Absent mindedness. Decreased cognitive function. Decreased exercise tolerance. YIKES! Depression. Dry skin. Fatigue. Joint pain. Sleep disturbances. Weight gain. Sounds a LOT like menopause. Full article here. Be sure to talk to your doctor about symptoms and advocate for testing so you can be your best self out on the trails! RUNNING ON MOUNTAIN BIKE TRAILS A question from an athlete was, which way should I run on a one-way mountain bike trail? Against the one way or with the flow of bikes? My answer is NEITHER! If you are running on trails with mountain bikes, that is fine, BUT when it comes to mountain bike specific trails with features for bikes like banked corners, jumps and trails designed for one way travel, please run somewhere else. Mountain bikers go really fast compared to a runner and fly around corners. Stay safe (leave ear buds at home)and run elsewhere. WHAT ARE WE THINKING? If you haven't seen this illustration from Semi-Rad, I just love how it captures the humanity of a race starting line. And the one that says, "I am going to place 158th," I feel seen!!! Hi all,
The Cocodona 250 and associated races are on this week, WHY SHOULD YOU CARE about a bunch of people shuffling for 250 miles across Arizona? You don't have to, and if you don't want to be convinced, move along to the next topic. But, if you are curious about people foot hustling for a very long time, I have some reasons to care as someone who thought it was the DUMBEST the first year it started.
I will have more reflections next week after I have crewed and paced at the Sedona Canyons 125, one of 4 races held this Cocodona week. Also, if you are thinking, MAYBE I could run farther than 100 miles, but 200+ sounds looney tunes, the Sedona Canyons 125 has a 75-hour cut off! STRENGTH TRAINING FOR RUNNERS But first, don't skip strength training. I will be somewhere between Sedona and Flagstaff on Wednesday night, so no live class this week, but no reason to skip when you can do this one from the archives. A PERFECT MARATHON TEMPERATURE Do you have a perfect running and racing temperature? Researchers studied this and came up with 48 degrees F and low humidity as the perfect marathon temperature. Full article here summarizing the data, but in general, you are better to be racing a marathon in cold than heat, humidity isn't a real problem for most runners until it is over 65 degrees and there is a lot of individual variation so don't freak out if your next marathon is 70 degrees and 80% humidity. ALTITUDE NONRESPONDER Research shows that when it comes to altitude "some athletes struggle to acclimate or adapt and see no positive impacts of altitude training. These athletes might be seen as nonresponders to altitude." If you feel like you have friends who tackle summits with no problem but you always struggle, it may not be your work ethic or training. Read on. And a podcast with the How To of training at altitude. A LONG WALK Can I walk there? The answer is, how much time do you have! This guy is on a 27 year walk around the world. When I saw the headline, I had so many questions. For some quick answers, the start was southern tip of Chile, through to Alaska where he crossed the Beiring Straight ON FOOT. He has been jailed, laid up for the pandemic and has had some serious visa red tape. In total it has been 13 years of active walking, 27 days of swimming and it looks like there is another year to go to finish this thing. He has two self-imposed rules: he cannot use any form of transportation on his route, and is not allowed to go home until he is finished. At this point, what is home? I am about to barrel down the highway into the middle of no where Oregon, then onto the middle of nowhere Nevada, Utah and Arizona. There are Ruby Mountains to see, a rarely visited National Park to discover and the sounds of my feet and bike tires. I am headed into a week with more trees than WIFI so this email is coming to you a day early.
NO WEIGHTS NEEDED No live Strength Training for Runners on Wednesday BUT, don't skip strength training because I am out of service! Here is a video from the deep archives of 2022 when we lived in Portland, had a different dog and did strength training without weights. So, no equipment needed, but you do need 45 minutes. Mark the calendar, protect your time and get this done. If having no home weights was a barrier, now there are no excuses. SMOOTHIES I saw this article on How to Make a Smoothie and I nearly went blind rolling my eyes. Well, I read it anyway, because I like those "Four mistakes you are making" articles and then feeling smug when I am not making the mistakes. Turns out this article is actually quite good and if you have a post run smoothie or aren't having recovery fuel for workouts over 90 minutes but a smoothie sounds good, READ UP HERE. I promise you will learn something (or you can feel extra smug because you knew it all already!) The same person also has a podcast you may need to hear right now, Why slower runners still need carbs. CAN'T SLEEP POST RACE I got a great question from one of my athletes, basically saying, why can't I sleep after a big effort? My answer: After a long run or race you have elevated cortisol from the effort, that effects sleep and ability to stay asleep. Post long run athletes often have more caffeine in their system disrupting sleep as well as elevated core body temps which impede sleep and core temps can stay elevated with dehydration, also not helping you sleep. If you didn't fuel well post-race you can still be hungry and low blood sugar crashes at night cause you to wake up. AND of course there are sore legs making a good body position hard and killing sleep even more. You can read more here. RUNNING VESTS If you are looking to add a new running vest to your running gear, a bigger or smaller size or one that bounces less IRunFar has a review of some popular running vests so you can get an idea of where to start your search. |
All images and posts © UltraU, 2022. Photos by Runnerteri Photography.