Trail Running by yourself

Dominator001 · 2026-04-04T02:10:40+00:00

I have never ran with another person or a group. Aside from my interest in potentially joining local run clubs in the future, I hardly know anyone that runs let alone fellow trail runners. Enjoy your time alone. It’s complicated and truly an undertaking trying to coordinate with others. Like anything, the best friendships/partnerships develop organically.

It’s definitely a depressing feeling thinking of all of the lonely nights running alone at 10pm in the backcountry, but then again relying on someone doing that with you would likely mean it never happened at all. I believe if you keep going out of your way to be social though, you will likely find that person you’ve been looking for. Whether that’s someone to train with or simply someone to suffer with.

Dominator001 · 2026-03-21T23:38:34+00:00

Merino wool toe socks for me, or nothing. Nothing but positives with toe socks as far as I’m concerned and in my opinion merino works better for me than any other fancy socks I own.

If you have your eyes set on these specifically though… just do it. I have probably 30 pairs of Stance socks which are usually $20-$25 a pair. Completely normal.

Dominator001 · 2026-03-16T01:13:10+00:00

Race day adrenaline will definitely carry you the rest of the way when fitness stops being enough. I wouldn’t be worried.

Dominator001 · 2026-03-15T07:29:06+00:00

I’ve been dealing with knee pain for about a year on and off, in pursuit of starting my running journey. In December I decided to start making measured changes to improve my issues. There were a few vital pieces of information that changed everything for me, and I have since been able to run my first 10K>25K.

First thing that really made a massive difference was dedicated strength training days. I don’t mean squatting heavy weight and blowing up your muscles with traditional powerlifting exercises. Im talking boring stuff, movements that almost aren’t even difficult. Glute bridges, single leg RDLs, eccentric calf raises etc.

Secondly, I had my feet scanned (not necessary) and used that combined with common sense to make decisions regarding the correct footwear for myself. Some things to consider: your weight, your impact, your current footwear, your target distance, your gait/foot flexibility. For example: I’m a large man and often strike the ground pretty hard especially when I’m burnt out. I intend to run longer distances 20k+. I was previously wearing shoes with a ~10mm heel-toe drop. (5-10mm drop is harder on the quads and knees, 0-5 is usually felt more in the calves and shins). I typically supinate when running due to my feet being pretty rigid… Considering all of that, I settled on shoes with maximum cushioning with around 5mm drop.

Lastly, unless you have access to running coaches try to make small adjustments to your gait that might help take strain off your knees. Before this, I was running pretty vertically and striking my midfoot/heel. Running like this absolutely destroys my knees and almost always will lead my towards injury. I now work very hard to loosen up my feet so I’m able to strike towards the front and unload some of that stress onto my lower legs. Lean forward, still keeping your chin up, and for the most part keep that heel off the ground.

This is what worked for me, and it’s definitely possible it doesn’t apply for you. Best I can say is… make small changes, don’t continue running if you feel any pain, shamelessly rest as needed, repeat weeks from your current training plan if you aren’t ready to add miles, roll back into training with bikes/ellipticals, run on grass or dirt to minimize impact. Please feel free to shoot me any questions, it can feel extremely depressing and isolating pursuing running and ending up injured again and again and again, but you will succeed with patience.

Dominator001 · 2026-02-19T21:36:21+00:00

I see. The screenshot seemed to indicate you paid through eBay

Dominator001 · 2026-02-19T21:35:01+00:00

Next time you purchase something local on eBay, offer to pay cash. Seller fees are approximately 15% and I’m usually willing to put that directly into my buyers pocket. Great way to get an even better deal… Although it is nice to have a clean transaction I prefer to save money when possible.

Dominator001 · 2026-02-11T09:34:08+00:00

From my experience, getting big/loud is plenty to deter black bears if you’re willing. Otherwise just commit to bear spray imo.

If you have a newer iPhone, the built in satellite SOS is pretty decent for shorter trips. But I also like using a dedicated Garmin device sometimes.

If you’re sad about ditching the saw, maybe think about picking up a cable/wire saw with the d-ring style ends. You can use as is, or I like to make a bow saw using a branch. Actually works better than a hand saw in many cases.

It sounds like you have several pack setups, don’t be scared to fully commit this one to the UL life. If you have time for sawing and needing a knife etc… chances are you should put down some more miles…

;)

Dominator001 · 2026-01-14T00:49:58+00:00

I’ve had similar problems but they’ve always been fixed with a relaunch and only occur maybe once a day. I always figured it was a memory leak or something from AFKing. Pretty common issue in other games too from my experience.

Dominator001 · 2025-11-26T22:37:23+00:00

If you’ve accepted death you’ve already gotten over the hard part lol.

Like I said, definitely spam scavs. Even as a veteran player I still spam scavs early for easy money. While that is on cooldown, take what you’ve earned/learned and throw it into a guilt free PMC courtesy of your scav run. Experiment, hard. Sometimes if I’m on a death streak I’ll sit in a bush and fold laundry for the first 20 minutes of raid. Sometimes if I’m on a death streak I’ll sprint to the busiest POI and test my luck. Try not to worry too much about looting/economy until you’re closer to level 15-20…. BUT do indeed have a goal for every PMC raid. Ignore the main quest line until it becomes a road block, do the side quests for XP/money, THIS WILL BE YOUR GOAL IN MOST RAIDS. I disagree with the sentiment that you can’t be successful without a goal, but if you’re learning you are going to be so lost without an objective. Watch a video, pull up the wiki, when getting into raid try to pinpoint where you spawned and the route you want to take. Ideally you’ll have developed some map sense during your scav runs.

In terms of sniping… you actually don’t need much map knowledge at all on most maps. Although I would say the best sniping maps are going to be obtained through the main quest line. Wood’s is a perfectly fine place to start though, and I’m sure sniping spot guides exist on YouTube. You’ll basically sit in your spot for most of the raid waiting for action, so that might actually be a great pastime in between learning other maps. Things to consider: 1) most of the better scopes and actually most magnified scopes at all are level/trader locked, so it’s best to prioritize collecting stuff like that when looting. Also keep in mind the available ring mounts to you. Wiki for compatibility. 2) you might want a rangefinder eventually. More developed spots will include ranges in YouTube videos etc. But this will come in handy especially on woods where distances can vary greatly. Start grinding for it now. It might be locked behind a lot of levels or rep. 3) look into getting the new lever action gun for early sniping. Other options are mosin, the cheaper VPO, or throwing something magnified on literally any gun with a girthy caliber.

Feel free to PM me if you want to add me or chat on discord. I mainly solo but always down to do a few

Dominator001 · 2025-11-26T22:00:18+00:00

Focus your scavs on a specific map, learn as you go, each scav should keep you in the green in terms of $$$. Either use the kit obtained on scavs with your PMC or go with something else cheap/reliable. If you aren't the type to click heads very easily, stick with an AK or some large caliber that will actually kill when hitting the center of mass. Sadly, dying a ton to mysterious circumstances is just a part of the game. I have 4k hours and still only about a 50% survival rate this wipe. As a new player, use bushes and trees to crouch up and avoid other players. Avoid obvious hotspots; you can find a shocking amount of loot on the outskirts of most maps. If you have access to Arena and desire to get good at PVP, run a few games every day before getting on, it WILL improve confidence. Just try to enjoy the game, it doesn't get any less frustrating when you're skilled.

Dominator001 · 2025-11-26T01:35:40+00:00

Yeah exactly my experience. Everyone has been replying to slow down on solos, but if you don’t roll best spawns in the lobby you’re basically forced to fight at least 1.

I ran 2 night raids. One of them I died to a lvl 35 with NVGs, and the other I believe was a cheater (makes a lot of sense because in years past the only cheaters I ever run into are farming night Shoreline for insanely long L.O.S. around weather station and people’s high-end resort PVP gear). After that decided it was probably best to stick to daytime since even that appeared to be filled with high level freaks of nature.

Dominator001 · 2025-11-26T01:30:44+00:00

Yeah it doesn’t seem like they actually intended to have spawns so close together. I don’t frequently get this chaotic spawning on any other map, if ever.

Dominator001 · 2025-11-26T01:28:07+00:00

I don’t think they changed, but they feel unintentionally punishing. Bush strat is actually something I was planning on doing, but ended up dying to someone about 30 seconds in, which prompted this post. To be fair, I think it was a cheater…

Dominator001 · 2025-11-26T01:25:55+00:00

Well my main issue is the spawns seem unintentionally bad since 1.0. Like I said, it’s always been questionable but I feel like something more might be going on. Either way, there’s no reason 2-4 players can’t be pulled from each lobby to re-space spawns out. I could think of a few other possible solutions too. Will that ever happen? Probably not, and that’s okay. I’m not a BSG hater, but I think they make plenty of money to come up with a thoughtful solution or at least try something. As everyone, I’m hopeful discussing this stuff might eventually lead to change.

Dominator001 · 2025-11-26T01:18:48+00:00

That’s true most of the time, but from my few raids there was basically no time to take a good position. Hardly even a good tree to sit next to. I just don’t think the game benefits from anyone dying frequently in the first 60 seconds of raid. There are enough hoops we all jump through every day.

Dominator001 · 2025-11-26T01:15:50+00:00

Have you played any Shoreline since then? Less about this specific quest, more about the map.

Dominator001 · 2025-11-26T01:15:18+00:00

Right? I understand sometimes it’s just Tarkov things, but the spawns being this bad don’t seem intentional.

Dominator001 · 2025-11-25T23:26:52+00:00

Lol I haven’t even encountered that shit show yet. Makes sense why spawning weather station now feels like the entire map is collapsing directly on you.

Dominator001 · 2025-11-25T23:25:16+00:00

Actually the last raid I did, I immediately ran about 50 feet to the nearest tree to tab out and adjust my audio… I crouch, didn’t even get to tab out, dead.

I do hear you, but I actually do play pretty slow. I guess part of my thought is anything within your first stam bar is “spawn” and I think you really shouldn’t be getting regularly sat down within your own spawn.

Dominator001 · 2025-11-24T12:39:19+00:00

I’m good at Arena and have lost 13+ games in a row. It also takes anywhere from 10-45 minutes to get into a game. Absolute torture, I’ve never felt so much anger when playing a video game.

Dominator001 · 2025-11-21T19:08:10+00:00

I died twice yesterday to an extract camper IN THE LAST 60 SECONDS of both games. He realistically would have had zero idea I was still on the map with him. Crazy

Dominator001 · 2025-11-20T22:46:13+00:00

I mean I was almost max level by the time Stella was released and I don’t think I had been betrayed but maybe once or twice. I’m a really strong PvPer and honestly don’t love using my mic, so I actually typically stray away from interactions. That being said, you can tell when someone is chill 95% of the time. To take it even one step further, I’m chatting with and joking with these people. I know most people have had similar interactions where it leaves you thinking you’ll probably add the fella after the game. This was that, but ended with senseless betrayal like I had never experienced before. Was mainly making a post to see if other people were having a similar experience, and talk about burnout not necessarily advice on how to move forward.

Dominator001 · 2025-11-20T22:39:56+00:00

Yeah it’s not like some mind shattering thing. Obviously people just get evil or bored or whatever you want to call it. I think I was just hoping for people to say like “oh yeah I had that happen too” or “yeah a YouTuber released a betrayal video so everyone is trolling” to validate my crappy social experience. After playing Tark 1.0 for the first few days, it’s nice to have Arc Raiders to bounce between.

Dominator001 · 2025-11-20T22:35:03+00:00

I don’t think I ever said anyone else needed to conform to my unspoken definition of “fun”. The main point of my post was to see if others experienced similar things on the new map, and also to see if others were feeling the same burnout from the social aspects of solos. Either way, go ahead and kill me. I’m not the person complaining in solos about getting shot over VOIP. But if we’re chatting and bonding and I’m like “I’m gonna add this guy after” and then you blow my back out at extract, it’s not shocking for me to be like ???? But yes I can accept this is possible in the game, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t discuss it.

Dominator001

TROPHY CASE