Easier doesn’t mean easy. The cooler temperatures just about doubled the finisher rate (59% vs. 34%), however it didn’t feel that much easier that last year. The website has an overly detailed course description, however it does a poor job of adequately explaining how difficult the trails are (i.e. there are exactly 3 runnable sections…
Eastern States Buckle(s)
Added a second ES100 buckle to my collection last weekend – total time 33:29:31.
2017 Eastern States 100 Preview
I’m in the front row of a roller coaster heading up the first climb. This isn’t one of those newfangled metal constructions though, but an old school one. I can hear the wood creaking as we gain altitude and . . . yes, I think the track is even swaying a bit in the breeze. …
2017 ES100 Participant Demographics
So who’s running Eastern States this year? I was curious what type of person would sign up for the race so pulled together the below numbers. Huge honkin’ disclaimer: these numbers were pulled from Ultrasignup and while they are very accurate for US races, they don’t have a lot on international races. Also, some runners…
My 100-Miler Ranks
I’ve done six different 100s over the past couple years. No race is exactly the same and since everyone looks for something different when choosing races, I thought I would give you my ranks in various categories. Disclaimer: These are my own personal opinions based on how I remember them over the past 2 years. …
One Step Forward, One Step Back?
Life’s a rollercoaster. Just when things are looking up, well, down you plunge into the next ravine. I was feeling pretty good about my fitness after last weekend’s long run. It wasn’t a lights out performance by any stretch of the imagination, but it was a solid effort and a step up from my first…
Dear Me of Five Years Ago
Congrats on busting out that six mile run! Doesn’t it feel nice to hit a PR? It doesn’t matter whether it’s during a race or not, that’s an awesome accomplishment. It was only a couple months ago that you couldn’t even do a 5k without walking half of it. And guess what? You get to…
Eastern States Maintaining Update
I’ve called my last two training cycles “maintaining” cycles for the reason that I didn’t feel what I was doing was actually training. In training, you steadily add stress and training load to your body in the hopes that you get stronger before you reach the point of injuring yourself. Each of my last two cycles…
Practice Makes Perfect
Let’s say you want to get better at something (i.e. ultras). What’s the best way to accomplish this? Well, you could gather as many materials as you can lay your hands on (books, magazines, blogs) and read till your eyes bleed. There’s a lot of great information out there and by studying it all you…
2017 Old Dominion 100 Mile Splits
The RD for the OD100 mailed out the detailed splits a week ago for this year’s race. I don’t think pace charts work too well for 100-mile races due to the variability of terrain and the inevitable lows that you go through. Hopefully, these can provide a guideline as to times you can expect to…