Wow, ultra running sounds like my kind of sport! Have to come back for another lifetime. May your illness pass quickly and completely. I really enjoyed participating in your group chat yesterday.
Thank you! Sadly PayDay bars don’t seem to be a thing at aid stations anymore but yes, they’re delicious. I hope you are recovering well and still on a high from your VT100 finish!
First, I hope you feel better very soon! And second, I love this story of your origin with trail running and mountain running. How lucky that you discovered this when you did!
Fantastic story, not at the same level of race but I can definitely relate to the more relaxed and fun - as well as often more brutal! - way an ultra marathon feels compared to a road race. Got to love it!
Ha, yeah I was a relative newbie too! I wish the Diablo 50 were still around. I tried to revive it a few years back, but the parks wouldn’t permit an event that had people on the trails after dark. And back of the packers need 15 hours to complete an event like that.
I remember that race, well. Or the starting line, anyway!😅 I was in Western States that year and was also doing the marathon. When someone in the starting group said, “oh you’re in States, you must be doing the 50?” I replied, “oh no, I’m scared of the 50!” And I meant it too! Didn’t even occur to me that if I was scared of 50 on Diablo (admittedly a tough 50), maybe I wasn’t quite ready to tackle Western States. 😂 And it turned out that I wasn’t. Two years later I came back for the 50 and DID manage to finish WS. Seems like ages ago and yesterday all at the same time.
Really enjoyed this story, Sarah! Sorry to hear about Covid. Hope you get through it quickly! My first trail race was 2012. A friend invited me to run the Black Mountain Marathon in North Carolina. I said, “Sure, sounds fun!” I’d thru-hiked the AT in 2005, and willed my way through an olympic-distance triathlon, so I figured it’d be a fun challenge. I was in my early 20s and regretfully didn’t prioritize the time to train for it. I went into it having run maybe 10 miles per week for the months leading up to it, only doing short runs, and had absolutely zero idea what proper training even looked like. The race offered two distances, 40 miles, or a marathon, and since my friend was doing the 40, I figured I would too! I went out fast, and when the race turned uphill, I started hiking like you. By the time I made it to where the marathoners were turning around, I was barely within the 40 mile cutoff and felt my legs struggling, so opted to just run the marathon. I was not at all prepared for the way down. It’d been 7 years since my AT thru-hike, and though my mind still had thru-hiker legs, my legs most certainly were anything but. They shook and trembled under every step, as I fumbled my way along the rocky two-track back down toward town. I eventually made it to the finish, finishing after my friend who’d run the 40 (and who was 30 years my senior). Though I loved it, unlike you I didn’t keep running trails. I let myself get sucked into my life in tech startups, didn’t prioritize my running, and let that passion languish for years. In 2018 I started to turn that around. I was invited to hike the R2R2R with some friends, had a blast, and subsequently two of us signed up for The North Face Challenge 50 miler. I actually trained this time, though not as much as I really should have, but much much more than I did for that first ultra so many years ago. This time I found myself leading through the marathon, only to have my legs start to catch up to the effort, and I slowed to what can hardly be described as jog in the final miles. But, at least this time I finished what I signed up for! I thought I’d get into the sport, so I kept training, but didn’t register for any events. Then I married my wife, we had our two boys, and moved across the country. Now, at 38, I’m feeling super geared up to get back to it and finally give the sport a real go. Reading that your first trail race was in your mid 30s and you’ve since done so many races has me feeling extra inspired. Thanks again for sharing with us and I hope you feel better soon :)
Fun to review your ultra list and see where we've overlapped at races over the years! (I'm a spreadsheet guy with similar recordkeeping). Hope you kick the crud quickly!
Looks like we also both ran Miwok 100k in 2014, but I don't think we met there. Yep, still in Durango! I also organize the Kennebec Mountain Run every August down here in the La Plata Mts. Big fundraiser for La Plata County Search & Rescue. Appreciate your writing!
Your experience of road vs trail is spot on! I love the trail community here in east Tn and it sounds like it’s similar most places. I loved your retelling of your first trail marathon! Made me want to sign up for another race soon! Hope you get through this illness soon!
Well I'm glad we had that chat yesterday because that was a fun read! Thanks for sharing. Wild to think how many starting lines you've been on since Mt. Diablo...your first. Feel better soon.
Ugh, sorry to hear about Covid. Does that mean you’re out for Never Summer? I sprained my ankle this weekend on my last long run before the race and am questionable myself. If I can’t run I’ll be volunteering. Hope you feel better soon!
Oh SLS, really sorry you are experiencing another bout w/COVID. Not fair! Especially after such a great HR100 and the things that occurred there. Rest up and hoping you have a speedy rebound.
Wow, ultra running sounds like my kind of sport! Have to come back for another lifetime. May your illness pass quickly and completely. I really enjoyed participating in your group chat yesterday.
Polly
Thank you, Polly, I’m so glad you were on the call and shared your big summit goal. I know you can do it!
What a great story! I had a similar love affair with the trail community after road running for a few years. Wondering if you still like paydays????
Thank you! Sadly PayDay bars don’t seem to be a thing at aid stations anymore but yes, they’re delicious. I hope you are recovering well and still on a high from your VT100 finish!
First, I hope you feel better very soon! And second, I love this story of your origin with trail running and mountain running. How lucky that you discovered this when you did!
Thank you, and thanks for reading!
Fantastic story, not at the same level of race but I can definitely relate to the more relaxed and fun - as well as often more brutal! - way an ultra marathon feels compared to a road race. Got to love it!
Ha, yeah I was a relative newbie too! I wish the Diablo 50 were still around. I tried to revive it a few years back, but the parks wouldn’t permit an event that had people on the trails after dark. And back of the packers need 15 hours to complete an event like that.
I remember that race, well. Or the starting line, anyway!😅 I was in Western States that year and was also doing the marathon. When someone in the starting group said, “oh you’re in States, you must be doing the 50?” I replied, “oh no, I’m scared of the 50!” And I meant it too! Didn’t even occur to me that if I was scared of 50 on Diablo (admittedly a tough 50), maybe I wasn’t quite ready to tackle Western States. 😂 And it turned out that I wasn’t. Two years later I came back for the 50 and DID manage to finish WS. Seems like ages ago and yesterday all at the same time.
I remember being with you & Christine at the start, but I forgot that was the first year you ran States!
Really enjoyed this story, Sarah! Sorry to hear about Covid. Hope you get through it quickly! My first trail race was 2012. A friend invited me to run the Black Mountain Marathon in North Carolina. I said, “Sure, sounds fun!” I’d thru-hiked the AT in 2005, and willed my way through an olympic-distance triathlon, so I figured it’d be a fun challenge. I was in my early 20s and regretfully didn’t prioritize the time to train for it. I went into it having run maybe 10 miles per week for the months leading up to it, only doing short runs, and had absolutely zero idea what proper training even looked like. The race offered two distances, 40 miles, or a marathon, and since my friend was doing the 40, I figured I would too! I went out fast, and when the race turned uphill, I started hiking like you. By the time I made it to where the marathoners were turning around, I was barely within the 40 mile cutoff and felt my legs struggling, so opted to just run the marathon. I was not at all prepared for the way down. It’d been 7 years since my AT thru-hike, and though my mind still had thru-hiker legs, my legs most certainly were anything but. They shook and trembled under every step, as I fumbled my way along the rocky two-track back down toward town. I eventually made it to the finish, finishing after my friend who’d run the 40 (and who was 30 years my senior). Though I loved it, unlike you I didn’t keep running trails. I let myself get sucked into my life in tech startups, didn’t prioritize my running, and let that passion languish for years. In 2018 I started to turn that around. I was invited to hike the R2R2R with some friends, had a blast, and subsequently two of us signed up for The North Face Challenge 50 miler. I actually trained this time, though not as much as I really should have, but much much more than I did for that first ultra so many years ago. This time I found myself leading through the marathon, only to have my legs start to catch up to the effort, and I slowed to what can hardly be described as jog in the final miles. But, at least this time I finished what I signed up for! I thought I’d get into the sport, so I kept training, but didn’t register for any events. Then I married my wife, we had our two boys, and moved across the country. Now, at 38, I’m feeling super geared up to get back to it and finally give the sport a real go. Reading that your first trail race was in your mid 30s and you’ve since done so many races has me feeling extra inspired. Thanks again for sharing with us and I hope you feel better soon :)
Thanks for sharing that and I hope you get back to it with consistency! Don't get sucked into tech startups again :-) And 38 is still young.
I hope you feel better soon!
Fun to review your ultra list and see where we've overlapped at races over the years! (I'm a spreadsheet guy with similar recordkeeping). Hope you kick the crud quickly!
Thanks for reading! I recall you're in Durango, and I met you back at my first Telluride Mtn Run, when Dakota was RD, and you won it, 2016 I think.
Looks like we also both ran Miwok 100k in 2014, but I don't think we met there. Yep, still in Durango! I also organize the Kennebec Mountain Run every August down here in the La Plata Mts. Big fundraiser for La Plata County Search & Rescue. Appreciate your writing!
Kennebec Mtn Run has not been on my radar; I’ll check it out.
Your experience of road vs trail is spot on! I love the trail community here in east Tn and it sounds like it’s similar most places. I loved your retelling of your first trail marathon! Made me want to sign up for another race soon! Hope you get through this illness soon!
Sorry to hear you’re sick, Sarah, feel better soon!
Thanks for sharing the story about your first race, what a story!
Well I'm glad we had that chat yesterday because that was a fun read! Thanks for sharing. Wild to think how many starting lines you've been on since Mt. Diablo...your first. Feel better soon.
Thank you, Leslie! You made me nostalgic about Diablo.
Ugh, sorry to hear about Covid. Does that mean you’re out for Never Summer? I sprained my ankle this weekend on my last long run before the race and am questionable myself. If I can’t run I’ll be volunteering. Hope you feel better soon!
I'm taking it day by day and will decide by Wednesday but I'm at best 50-50 for it. Sorry to hear about your ankle!
Oh SLS, really sorry you are experiencing another bout w/COVID. Not fair! Especially after such a great HR100 and the things that occurred there. Rest up and hoping you have a speedy rebound.
Thank you, I appreciate that.
Get well soon! So glad Diablo converted you. 😇