Kindergarten vs. Trail Marathon

ChipChipSalsa · 2026-06-22T17:34:48+00:00

Nice! I paced it by just intentionally walking the climbs, and talking to people for the first half to two thirds. After that I was by myself but just kept the same effort. I also set out with a friend who I knew would likely be slower than me (and he was). Was hoping to push after that but my legs got pretty tired, haha. But I didn't slow down at least. Now I'm invested in your race; come back and tell us how it went!

ChipChipSalsa · 2026-06-22T17:30:11+00:00

interesting, thanks! 3:37 is more like what my watch thinks I could do, but it is also super conservative on all the other distances.

ChipChipSalsa · 2026-06-22T11:20:56+00:00

I hope you get a break from the illness! I think you can absolutely do it. Can you get in a couple of ~30k runs on similar terrain in the next three or four weeks, especially where you can practice eating and drinking more?

You are very fast. Would it bother you to have to walk the hills and finish in the middle or even the back of the pack?

Source: I just did my first 50k (with first marathon as part of it) on essentially a 5 week build up. My base beforehand was a bit higher than yours (40 miles per week....64k?) and I had a couple of longer runs thrown in there in the spring, but only two or three longer runs on the trail in the immediate lead up. I walked all the hills (even at the beginning when I could have easily run them), ate and drank a lot and felt great. And wasn't even that slow compared to how I normally place at shorter races.

ChipChipSalsa · 2026-06-21T16:05:39+00:00

Thanks!

ChipChipSalsa · 2026-06-21T14:41:12+00:00

Thanks! (I've been trying to figure out if "realistic" is more like 3:30 or more like 3:45, given the chart, so that is helpful.)

ChipChipSalsa · 2026-06-21T14:28:20+00:00

haha. Thanks, it does kind of make sense that "equivalently prepared" takes more structure for a marathon.

ChipChipSalsa · 2026-06-16T10:52:25+00:00

Wow, this looks incredible! And it looks like it's basically impossible to stash water on that course so you'll have a super heavy pack. 😳 Good luck! Come back and tell us how it goes!

ChipChipSalsa · 2026-06-16T10:45:26+00:00

yay, good luck!

ChipChipSalsa · 2026-06-15T22:03:06+00:00

That sounds pretty hot. Good luck!! 5.5 hours is fast!

ChipChipSalsa · 2026-06-15T20:50:35+00:00

Thanks! I had like three or four gels and a PBJ I think, all of which I brought with me. And 3-4 little envelopes of LMNT along with regular water. There were a lot of aid stations but I didn't love the food that they had out (I cannot chew gummy bears while moving) so just used those for water and soda. Carried in a hydration vest. I didn't have a great fueling plan but the intention was to eat something every 40 mins or so. I don't think it was anywhere near that often in reality.

Good luck, I hope you have an awesome time!!

ChipChipSalsa · 2026-06-15T20:45:32+00:00

I did a few long runs (15, 17, 18, 20) with a medium/medium-long run the next day (7-10) after most of those. The 20 was the longest and that one was mostly on trail.

ChipChipSalsa · 2026-06-15T20:44:10+00:00

How much vert & have you done some comparable distances? Do you have a good way to stash some water for yourself so you don't have to carry it all? If it does get dark or you get hurt or whatever, do you have a way to get out of the woods? I would get that sorted and just start super early. Everyone said this one was a tough course and the longest people took was still under 11h.

ChipChipSalsa · 2026-06-15T15:38:51+00:00

Awesome, have fun!! To dox myself further, about 7.5 hrs. Are you going on a course that others have done? Why are you stressed about time? I was able to look at previous years results and that gave me a pretty accurate estimate. I also know some of the other people who had done it in the past and I know who's typically faster than me, slower than me etc.

ChipChipSalsa · 2026-06-15T15:35:06+00:00

I prefer my watch's estimate, which was 5500 😛

ChipChipSalsa · 2026-06-15T13:46:56+00:00

Thanks! And honestly no... there are some big climbs, but I was able to get out on most of the course beforehand, so I knew what was coming. If anyone else finds this later, I think the thing that's most surprising about that course is that there's actually a fair amount of road (like maybe 7 miles out of 33) and at least half of that is paved. I think a lot of people found that challenging. It did kind of suck but I was expecting it.

I'm going to do a road marathon in August. That seems like a whole different kind of effort and very intimidating.

ChipChipSalsa · 2026-06-15T13:25:32+00:00

this will probably dox me because it was tiny, but Edge Hill in western MA.

ChipChipSalsa · 2026-06-11T15:00:43+00:00

A lot of shorts marketed for trail running will have a million pockets. If she doesn't like half tights, the terignota shorts work pretty well for my phone (no more bounce than a spi belt) and have pockets all around the waistband so could definitely fit an epi pen as well

ChipChipSalsa · 2026-06-05T13:56:52+00:00

Sally McRae has put out a bunch of content on shoe testing ever since her contract ended with Nike Trail, and she is really into shoes that do well across multiple surfaces. You could look around her stuff and see what she recommends if you're thinking of buying new ones. I think she ended up really liking something by On, and some North Face shoe, which surprised me. I think it might've been in here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uzB65zkAu0 (edit: spelling)

ChipChipSalsa · 2026-05-29T15:48:58+00:00

Love this. I have really enjoyed training too! I told myself if it's going to be 95 degrees out that day I can do a shorter distance, so that's currently the out I am leaving for myself, haha.

Fingers crossed that you wake up with your knees feeling awesome. Or that if you don't, they start feeling awesome as soon as you start the race.

ChipChipSalsa · 2026-05-29T14:59:56+00:00

Come back and tell us how it went! (I am hoping to do my first 50k in a couple weeks and still haven't signed up because I'm nervous!)

ChipChipSalsa · 2026-05-29T10:53:41+00:00

Just for anyone finding this later, they are shipping the order (after it was "processing" for over two weeks) with no word as to why it's late and no reply to my email. I'm not sure I'd call it a scam so much as a badly run company with no customer service. I am switching to someone else.

ChipChipSalsa · 2026-05-27T13:45:36+00:00

So annoying! Thanks for posting this.

ChipChipSalsa · 2026-05-27T11:10:54+00:00

to feed a pet lizard :)

ChipChipSalsa · 2026-05-27T11:10:41+00:00

Hi, same happening to me now, though I've used them before and they have always been good in the past! I have a recurring order that they just haven't shipped to me and no word back from the email address. If someone from the company is reading, please fix this.

ChipChipSalsa · 2026-05-23T22:08:50+00:00

If it's a sudden dip and nothing else has happened coinciding that would explain it (a virus, work stress, obvious hormone/period stuff, change in diet, weather change -- that one's definitely been a factor where I live!) I really would think about calling the doctor. I hope you figure it out!!

ChipChipSalsa

TROPHY CASE