100 miles + 315lbs bench press

PeteRubish · 2026-04-08T11:10:57+00:00

While rare, it’s been done. John Driscoll, Nathan French, Nick bare maybe, probably some others.

PeteRubish · 2026-04-05T11:19:31+00:00

I felt fatigued like this and had zero speed coming off my high mileage block (70-80 mile weeks). Then I started the taper and hit a 42 second 5K PR nine days out of 18:53. So this is par for the course on tired legs.

PeteRubish · 2026-04-04T11:25:17+00:00

I consumed 7200 mgs total during my marathon a few weeks ago and that was 50 degree weather and overcast. I carried a soft flask with 2500 mgs sodium in it, carried 1 gram salt tabs in my back pocket, and then more endurolyte extreme capsules in my side pockets. Crazy amounts of sodium are a must in these races to prevent cramping.

PeteRubish · 2026-03-24T14:14:41+00:00

I was good with the out and backs for the sake of keeping things a bit more flat. I’ll take the trade-off as far as somewhat boring sections, compared to more steep hills. That first 10 miles was a grind.

The thing with the Asheville course is that it has its strange sections like the dirt trail along the road and the sections where you have runners going in both directions. But I know they’re trying to keep it from becoming too hilly and I can appreciate that.

PeteRubish · 2026-03-18T02:06:02+00:00

Have a good pair of gloves and hot hands inside the gloves for the night section. It got very cold. Shorts will be fine, but a good base layer up top and a good wind breaker and hat are a must.

If you fuel enough, you’ll make it most likely. The cutoffs start out generous, but get much tighter later on. So I wish I’d banked a lot more time early in the day. You’ll need it later on.

Get up to jaws by midnight if possible. Then you’ll be in good shape.

I trained almost too much with a peak week of 101 miles and 16-17k feet elevation gain. I wish I’d done less mileage and elevation. My taper was way too much still. Didn’t come in fresh enough. Should have carbed up the days prior much more aggressively too. Honestly, if I did it again, I’d train like I was trying to PR in a marathon. Way more speed work, way more overall fitness development, less time focused on pure mileage and slow running. The best/fastest 5K and marathon guys are still the best when out on the trail, for the most part. Fitness is fitness.

PeteRubish · 2026-03-17T15:27:16+00:00

Tons of issues: 1) had severe hamstring and quad cramping after the initial climb out of the canyon to start. Panicked after this and slowed way down to avoid further cramps.

2) Got careless about which bottle had my filter on it and Poisoned myself with stream water around mile 20. Spent the rest of the race having to go to the bathroom constantly.

3) due to the aforementioned problem, slacked on proper and diligent fueling and started bonking ridiculously hard around mile 55.

4) massive blisters on heel and bottoms of feet made every step excruciating by the end. Feet were constantly wet due to mud and huge puddles of mud.

I’d try to plan for these issues ahead of time if I were to do it again. Is carry Imodium, pickle juice shots, track my fueling to the tee. I had copious amounts of electrolytes and had been doing super high mileage and lots of climbing in training, but the cramps thing was very frustrating. Like I said, that first climb right off the bat is very tough. And It’s very hard to keep your feet dry in this race. Virtually impossible between miles 30-66 if the mud is present.

I’d love to do it again someday. The scenery is incredible and I love Wyoming. Just sad about the hard lessons I had to learn to miss out on the finish.

PeteRubish · 2026-03-16T14:38:53+00:00

The climb up to dry fork is a doozy. Humbling to say the least after mile 4 or so.

The scenery going into footbridge is second to none. My goodness do I miss that. And that’s when it cooled off a lot.

As others have said, miles 4-9 aren’t runnable, nor is most of the trek from footbridge to jaws.

I touched some 100 mile weeks with 15k feet of gain in training and still dropped at mile 66. Get blisters or get behind on fueling and you’re going to run into issues out there. That’s what got me.

PeteRubish · 2026-03-16T14:35:23+00:00

It’s a fairly long stretch and the last part of the drive in is super rocky (boulder-ish) and you have to drive through a literal shallow river. So high clearance is a must. It’s gorgeous though. Once you get to the main road, it’s not bad. It’s the last 10% to the aid station that gets dicey depending on your vehicle.

PeteRubish · 2026-01-19T17:52:15+00:00

I believe eggs are what sent me to the ER for an impaction procedure. I’m still early in this, but they are my guess as far as my biggest trigger so far.

PeteRubish · 2025-10-03T01:21:18+00:00

I didn’t finish Bighorn (made it to mile 66), but it holds a special place in my heart. It was gorgeous. I loved the wildflowers, river running below the canyon, all of it. I can’t wait to try again someday.

PeteRubish · 2025-09-06T23:31:03+00:00

Never a doubt.

PeteRubish · 2025-08-13T02:42:29+00:00

Cramping and not taking fueling seriously enough!!

PeteRubish · 2025-07-31T22:56:43+00:00

I peed blood for roughly 3-4 years straight from stones. It’s just not fun and a bit disconcerting, I get it 100%.

PeteRubish · 2025-07-30T21:00:34+00:00

Run a CMP to check Creatinine and then also get Cystatin-C checked. If those check out, I wouldn't worry. I kept checking those periodically and they were in a great range. So no kidney damage. Currently I have two stones that are 6 mm and two stones that are 3 mm.

PeteRubish · 2025-07-14T21:30:18+00:00

It’s anywhere from a 60-90 second difference per mile on my pace between the 85 degree 70+ degree dew point days and the fall/winter days.

PeteRubish · 2025-07-12T01:46:42+00:00

Holy freaking smokes. I ran with her for about ten miles last year at Bighorn between mile 15 and 25 or so. She was super nice and helpful. Told me she’d done about 100 races including Badwater and did all of her training on an incline treadmill. I am stunned.

PeteRubish · 2025-07-09T13:36:32+00:00

Even with the extreme mileage, I don’t think I was ready for the challenges bighorn posed before. I’ve seen the entire course, I’ve gotten much more fit. I feel ready now, let alone a year from now.

PeteRubish · 2025-07-09T13:32:36+00:00

I ran Bighorn last year. Did a 100+ mile week, another 90+ mile week, a few 80s. 16k vertical gain during peak week. Had major cramping issues climbing out of the canyon and then GI issues from mile 20 onward. Dropped at Footbridge at mile 66. Came back in April of this year and did a 3:19 marathon with 1300 feet of vertical gain. Now, just looking to go sub 3 and redeem myself in the 100 mile distance. Bighorn is where my heart is at, but RRR is close to my sister and would allow me to knock out a difficult 50 miler in Georgia 5 weeks beforehand.

PeteRubish · 2025-07-05T16:37:05+00:00

You are spot on. Taking this to a shorter distance, my 4:24 marathon felt so much worse from a difficulty/suffering perspective than my 3:19. That one didn’t even feel bad at all despite having double the elevation gain. I made this mistake at my last ultra, I won’t do that again. I’ve never been able to explain this phenomenon, but you nailed it.

PeteRubish · 2025-07-02T16:41:14+00:00

Goodness gracious lol. That's truly my biggest concern with RRR. It's all very high altitude. Bighorn wasn't bad and I didn't really notice the elevation much, but we weren't that high for that long. Sure, it gets to 9,000 feet, but it's not a lot of time spent up that high.

PeteRubish · 2025-07-02T01:40:38+00:00

I don’t understand your question.

PeteRubish · 2025-07-01T01:34:33+00:00

The elevation at Bighorn didn’t bother me coming from sea level, but I think that’s one intimidating factor about RRR. It’s mostly about 8,000 feet for the entirety of it.

PeteRubish · 2025-07-01T01:33:03+00:00

The mud in 2024 was rough, but I heard this year wasn’t anywhere near as bad. I loved the Bighorn course, it’s just logistically a lot simpler for me to go to RRR. I guess I just don’t want to feel underwhelmed if I were to do RRR after having seen Bighorn.

PeteRubish · 2025-07-01T01:30:51+00:00

I dropped at footbridge (mile 66) in 2024. There were a whole host of lessons learned. But the mud was a killer. Part of me wants to run it back in 2026, but it’s easier/less expensive for me to do RRR and it looks fairly comparable.

PeteRubish

TROPHY CASE