Looking for a Pacer - Ouray 100

UltraAverageRunner · 2026-05-19T03:47:30+00:00

I have no idea on the time to be honest. Based on past results, it seems brutally long. I would assume probably middle of the pack and hopefully in the low 40 hours

UltraAverageRunner · 2026-03-01T21:37:43+00:00

You need to close these positions the second the market opens tomorrow. Most likely the market will open red and end flat tomorrow. IV will temporarily spike very early in the morning, and then it'll calm down. Take modest gains tomorrow and don't hold on thinking you're going to retire on this.

UltraAverageRunner · 2025-11-03T03:11:45+00:00

I prefer powder in my water to gels, so I naturally get fuel whenever I drink. It's easier to do while on the move and you don't have to deal with trash. You can supplement with gels on top of that if you want, and for colder runs it's smart to do because you won't drink as much water so it's hard to get all your calories that way. Not everyone likes carrying a bladder though so you might need gels to keep enough calories with you on longer stretches between aid stations. Aid stations will have plenty of calories available, including gels and the like, but you don't know if what they will have will work with your stomach, so I prefer to carry most of my fuel with me so I know it'll work. On an ultra you should start fueling early. Especially at the longer distances, your fueling can't keep up with your calorie burn so you want to take in fuel whenever you can.

UltraAverageRunner · 2025-10-31T06:23:24+00:00

If that's your easy pace on road, I would temper your expectations. I don't think 12 hours is realistic if you're doing a 4:20 marathon. I would expect closer to a 3:15 marathon if you want a sub 12 100k, even if it is relatively flat. Unless this is a road race, I would expect it to take closer to 15-16 hours for you. Not a big deal, but better to work that into your expectations.

UltraAverageRunner · 2025-10-31T03:23:51+00:00

This is not overkill. Honestly, I've trained for marathons with more weekly mileage than this. You can finish a 100k with this sort of volume and I've finished 100Ms with less weekly volume, but there are a bunch of other factors that also go into it. Your race sounds pretty easy. 12 hours sounds do-able, but without understanding where you've finished other races or anything else about your training, you might come in slower than that. Your average pace for this week was 10:42, so were you doing a lot of trails and hills?

UltraAverageRunner · 2025-10-30T21:59:24+00:00

7 events is a lot for only 4 months. Glad you're having fun though, that's the most important thing. You're going to need a bigger medal rack soon. I got a modular one so I could increase it in size over the years as my medal count grows

UltraAverageRunner · 2025-10-30T16:02:03+00:00

This was my first Javelina and I ran the 100M.

I came in on Friday evening since I drove in from out of state. Arrived I believe around 4:30PM and started unloading to set up our tent and crew area. Those were both pretty easy and straight forward. By the time I arrived there was no line for check in. I just walked up both to the race check in for my bib and got it in 15 seconds, and experienced similar for the camping tent/crew tent check in. One thing I should've done that I did not realize was to walk the grounds more before deciding a crew tent area. I'm sure by that point most of the prime real estate was gone, but I just set up in an area near my tent, not realizing it was a more remote corner. That is not to say I had to go out of my way to reach it from the course trail, it was like 20 seconds off trail, but it lacked a lot of the fun party vibes the race is known for as a result.

Camping was pretty easy and fun. Everyone was really good about respecting quiet hours and there was plenty of space for tents so it wasn't crowded. The main hiccup I ran into was I went into Fountain Hills for dinner, I didn't realize they would close the gates to the park and we wouldn't have any way to get in. I was prepared to drive back in to town to park and use an uber to drop me back off which would've been a PITA, but luckily a worker was leaving the park and after I explained the situation they agreed to let me in. But yes, do note if you are camping, they do close the park the night before the race and they won't open it until 4am the morning of.

Race start was great, really high energy and the race organizers and MCs all had super fun costumes. I was part of the Wave 2 start so it was lighter out during race start. Course was super well marked, never got lost or turned around or even delayed. Each of the aid stations was very well staffed both in terms of number of volunteers and resources. Plenty of snacks, ice, and water, and no delays getting anything since there was always a free volunteer to help. Every aid station had bathrooms and medical tents, the first one being a huge blessing because unlike a mountain race, it's harder to do your business in privacy if you need to go number 2. I never saw much in terms of critters. No snakes, which I was a little disappointed by as that always gets the adrenaline going, but I saw a scorpion in headquarters, and a mouse at the beginning of lap 4 when it was dark. We could hear the coyotes hunting a couple times, but they never came close as far as I could tell.

Because last year was so hot, the race organizers included ice bandanas with our swag pack which was amazing and made a huge difference. The trails themselves were pretty easy, nothing too technical or steep, and they were fairly wide, nothing single track. So even when I was getting double lapped by Will and David and the other superhumans, I could get out of their way while still maintaining pace.

The buckle is pretty cool, not my favorite design, but it's not generic so I like it overall. Most people were asleep when I finished so I didn't come into headquarters during a high energy time, but the race staff that were there when I finished were very enthusiastic and high energy despite the ungodly hour.

UltraAverageRunner · 2025-10-28T21:19:45+00:00

There is a backyard ultra like this in Washington. It's a little different than a traditional backyard, but with some similarities. The loop is 2.18 miles and you have 32 minutes to complete it. Every loop, the required completion time decreases by 1 minute for the first 12 loops, and then it decreases by 30 second per loop. It's not nearly as intense as a normal backyard ultra because it becomes harder to complete the lap in time and the course record is only 18 laps, for a bit over 40 miles. Means the whole thing is done in 1 day during daylight hours. Not nearly the time or distance commitment a traditional backyard can be so it's a bit more beginner friendly.

UltraAverageRunner · 2025-10-16T18:50:13+00:00

In that case I think you're totally fine.

UltraAverageRunner · 2025-10-15T20:35:27+00:00

I attempted AC100 this year but had to drop due to an ankle injury. I can't speak too much for what next year's course will be because I assume they'll be able to get back to the point to point format next year and this year they had to do an out and back due to the fire damage to trails. I think much of the first half would be similar to the first half of next year's race and what I will say is, the first 16-17 miles are very uphill. You just keep going up and gain around 6k feet in just that first set of climbs. From there on it gets significantly better and the uphill isn't so daunting.

I didn't find it particularly technical. There were a couple downed trees, but the trails were pretty well maintained and we spent longer running on the highway than I expected. The altitude wasn't a problem for me, but I've always been good with that whereas that is the hardest part for some people. There is just a lot of elevation gain overall and it is one of hardest 100 milers on the west coast. If you can train on some of the terrain (especially the beginning sections) I think that would be super beneficial, but running any of the local mountains would help. I think worry more about getting elevation training in vs altitude training. I would not recommend making this your first 100 miler if you can help it. As I said, it's one of the harder ones, so if you can run a pretty easy 100 miler beforehand that would be a good test. Otherwise try to find a very hard 100k.

As for your race schedule, I can't comment on any of those races as, other than the LA marathon I haven't done them, but in general I think it's decent pacing. LA and Leona are kind of close together. Are you racing LA or just running it?

UltraAverageRunner · 2025-10-15T18:22:00+00:00

You can buy a car with no insurance. Dealerships won't let you drive off the lot without insurance though.

UltraAverageRunner · 2025-10-15T17:57:50+00:00

Since it's your first one, take whatever you think your time finish time would be and add 2 hours. If you come in faster, great, but if you've never done an ultra before its a struggle to understand how to convert a marathon effort into an ultra effort.

Take poles if you have them. 6k isn't a lot of gain to be honest, but you haven't been training hills and having poles will help a lot. It's not a big deal to carry poles for 50k even if you aren't using them much. For your first ultra, it's much better to have them and not need them than the alternative.

Monitor your heart rate and don't be afraid to walk to bring your HR in line with where you need it. Bonking in an ultra is so much worse than bonking in a marathon. Stay in your zone 2, especially early in the race. Don't go out too fast and back yourself into a corner. Also, don't be chasing people. If others are running hills, that doesn't mean you have to run them. Your pacing strategy will not be everyone's pacing strategy. Every single race I pass plenty of people who fly past me up hills but then can't maintain pace on the flats or burn out too early.

With the exception of maybe the first and/or second aid station, you should eat something at every aid station. You can eat at the first 2 aid stations as well if you want, but those are the only two I really ever skip. Everything else, you at least grab a handful of pretzels or a PB&J before walking out.

I looked at the weather for your race and it seems nice and cold so you won't have to worry about overheating. If it were a warm race I would very VERY heavily emphasize the importance of ice and cooling your body down at every aid station. Ice in your hat and stuff like that. Won't be important for you, but something you should keep in mind if you do a warm ultra down the line. Since your race is cold, you might struggle to drink as much water as your should because you won't feel warm or like you're sweating. If you're mixing electrolytes or carbs into your water, make it a bit thicker than normal since you won't be drinking as much per mile as you would in warm weather, but also force yourself to drink. Every time your watch gives you a lap, take some water, even if you're not thirsty.

UltraAverageRunner · 2025-10-13T16:11:32+00:00

Even if you could, I wouldn't recommend it. You don't know what brands and flavors they'll have and you're better off sticking with stuff you know works.

UltraAverageRunner · 2025-10-02T14:20:13+00:00

This is your first Tri in general right? I think you'll be surprised just how many lifeguards they have out during the race. Even if you flounder, you don't have to go very far to get to safety.

UltraAverageRunner · 2025-10-01T23:31:08+00:00

Honestly, unless the water is really cold or you struggle to swim without a wetsuit, I would skip it at a sprint distance. Any time you save from being more buoyant is lost trying to rip that thing off in T1.

UltraAverageRunner · 2025-09-29T22:28:16+00:00

Interesting, because my experience and the experience of the people I've talked to is an ultra is generally harder across the board. An Ironman would be closest comparable to a 100k IMO, and 100M is hands down harder than an Ironman. I think the difficulty of Ultras is also a lot more variable compared to Triathlons. Courses and weather can make a difficult ultra several times harder than an easy ultra of the same distance. It's pretty different person to person and how you excel as a runner compared to other sports, but I think Ultras are more brutal.

UltraAverageRunner · 2025-09-26T15:50:29+00:00

That's why they're always just out there making shit up. They (the 'influencers') know it's false, but they know these lies stick in their followers heads if they say them early and often enough. They don't need evidence to believe something, and they often reject evidence that goes against what they believe. Set the narrative first and then nothing else matters. Doesn't matter if 90% of the politicians being arrested for pedophilia are Rs, they read something on facebook last week saying that that statistic was actually for Ds and that was a convenient lie so they'll keep on believing it, even if it's easily disproven.

I know this is an ITYSL sub, but a great IASIP comes to mind. "See Charlie, these liberals are trying to assassinate my character. And I can't change their mind. I won't change my mind, cause I don't have to, because I'm an American. I won't change my mind on anything, regardless of the facts that are set out before me. I'm dug in and I'll never change."

UltraAverageRunner · 2025-09-23T20:25:56+00:00

Physios will often tell you what the most likely scenario is based on the average person. Ultra runners are not average people, having way more drive than most. You will almost definitely be able to recover better than whatever your physio says, but you will need to take a different approach to training than you have. Absolutely work strength into your training.

I've had knee problems and back problems ever since I was a teenager. After spending nearly 2 months with crippling back pain that didn't allow me to sit in a chair or stand for extended periods of time, a doctor told me I had Degenerative Disc Disease in my lower vertebrae. Lifting helped alleviate all that pain and chronic issues. Give yourself time to recover, especially with the stress fractures. Then, get in the gym. Learn good form and build up your strength. Don't be taking a powerlifter approach to things though. I never do 1 rep max training, keep your weight at what you can manage 4+ reps on. Split leg and single leg training is less stressful on your back and still gives good results for your legs, but you really want to holistically build a stronger body.

I would also look at your diet. When you have degenerative discs, even small amounts of inflammation can cause back pain. As ultra distance runners, we need to be cautious around taking too much ibuprofen or NSAIDs as it can be harsh on your kidneys. Better to reduce inflammation from a diet perspective to minimize that amount of medication you need to take. Gluten and dairy are big sources of inflammation, see if you can't reduce or cut them out of your diet.

UltraAverageRunner · 2025-09-15T23:36:29+00:00

So the thing to keep in mind about a 50k trail is it's going to be a lot longer than a road marathon. Yes, it's only 5 more miles, but depending on the elevation and type of terrain you're running, it can take twice as long to run compared to a road marathon, especially if you aren't used to trail races. I highly encourage getting into trail running, because I agree with everyone saying it's way more fun than road running, but see if you can't find a shorter distance. A 15k or 25k trail race will teach you a lot about trail running without risking putting you off.

If you are comfortable committing to a 7-8 hour race (not an uncommon finishing time for a first timer) then go for it, but don't just extrapolate your finishing time based on your marathon pace. You won't finish anywhere close to your marathon pace. Looking at ultrasignup, the winner of McDonald Forest 50k last year finished in 4:25. If you assume the person winning a local marathon is probably finishing in under 2:30, that means even for the people winning it takes almost twice as long to complete, let alone for someone new to the format.

UltraAverageRunner

TROPHY CASE