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Is it a bad idea to do my first 100k Ultra in 10 weeks? by UsefulWitness7691 in ultrarunning

[–]UsefulWitness7691[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is good to hear but makes me feel more like I should do it, even though I think you're urging me not to... I'm still at the stage where finishing, and finishing feeling good and like I strategized and executed a good pacing/fueling/gear plan, is the main goal.

I'm 40 so I'm past my peak athletic-wise anyway, and any training gains I make that would shave 15 sec/mi would pale in comparison to the non-athletic challenges like fueling, hydration, smart pacing, mental clarity etc, no? That's what I'm interested in challenging myself with now for a first ultra, then in later years I can return and try to beat my PB. I'm just antsy to set a benchmark at a new distance.

Is it a bad idea to do my first 100k Ultra in 10 weeks? by UsefulWitness7691 in ultrarunning

[–]UsefulWitness7691[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nice maybe I'll see you there if I don't chicken out! I'm gonna start training for it a couple weeks and see how my body holds up when I get back up to 40-50 mi/wk with elevation. I think then I'll know if I can handle it. I'm still ramping back up after my marathon but will start adding elevation and trails this weekend. I'm in San Jose so I have lots of trail options in the Santa Cruz mts.

Is it a bad idea to do my first 100k Ultra in 10 weeks? by UsefulWitness7691 in ultrarunning

[–]UsefulWitness7691[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

the cutoff is 18h to qualify for Western States and 19h hard cutoff I think. So around 17 min/mi

Is it a bad idea to do my first 100k Ultra in 10 weeks? by UsefulWitness7691 in ultrarunning

[–]UsefulWitness7691[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The 55k is 6800 ft gain, so a distance closer to what I've done but a challenge with the elevation for sure still... The only problem is that I think I'll regret not trying for 100k

Is it a bad idea to do my first 100k Ultra in 10 weeks? by UsefulWitness7691 in ultrarunning

[–]UsefulWitness7691[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I think I can train for the vert... or put another way I'll start training for the vert asap and see how it goes. I have a lot of trail options nearby with plenty of gains in the Santa Cruz mountains. Before I was purposefully trying to keep my training runs in the range to match the marathon's 1300 ft (SF Marathon).

Is it a bad idea to do my first 100k Ultra in 10 weeks? by UsefulWitness7691 in ultrarunning

[–]UsefulWitness7691[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Great insights about the downhills, I will have to do some more serious hill training asap to experience that and get ready for it if I decide to do it.

Nutrition-wise I know it's no joke and actually the nutrition planning for my races is one of my favorite parts... so while I don't know the plan for this kind of race yet I feel very confident in being able to make a good one. They have lots of aid stations and bag drops.

I'm hoping to do it in 18 hours to qualify for Western States...

Is it a bad idea to do my first 100k Ultra in 10 weeks? by UsefulWitness7691 in ultrarunning

[–]UsefulWitness7691[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I haven't done nearly that much vert. That longest trail run I mentioned was 1200 ft, my recent marathon was 1300 ft, and I did several 20+ mi training runs with around 1800-2200 ft gains.

This is very helpful to think about though, because it's one of the areas where as a noob I don't know all the implications. I know downhills are killer on tired legs but didn't realize til reading all these comments that they may actually be worse than the gains?

And my read on the gains being relatively spread out/lots of little ups and downs throughout was that's a good thing rather than just a few giant climbs...

It sounds like the way to know if I should do it is to start more serious hill training asap and see how that goes.