For a trail 50k or 50 mile, I typically do my last long trail run of ~24 miles two weeks before the race, and then another medium-run of 12-15 miles one week before the race. But I'm also 35 years old, so our bodies are in different places with respect to recovery times. All that to say, with two weeks to go, you could still get in a few more good medium-long runs before your race.

If you're worried more about freshening up the legs before the race, then I would keep the runs shorter and focus more on stretching and flexibility.

throwing in some strides might help too.

Great day of racing today. Finished in 4:55. I didn't beat Tim or his wife. She dropped the hammer on me around mile 18.

Great Job

http://www.trailracingovertexas.com/crazy-desert-trail-race

I was planning on doing the Hells hills in Smithville April 4th but my Wife reminded me I have a bachelor party in Arizona that weekend. I'm looking for some other race before the tejas trails Pandora box of rocks at revile ranch late April, and this race out in San Angelo looked like one of the better options to try out. Anyone else doing this race or have recommendations for one closer to Austin?

Howdy... if any of you are ever up in Estes Park or Rocky Mountain National Park, hit me up. Would love to take some Ags on a tour of my local trails. Can go as long or short as you want...

oldarmy76 said:

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http://www.trailracingovertexas.com/crazy-desert-trail-race

I was planning on doing the Hells hills in Smithville April 4th but my Wife reminded me I have a bachelor party in Arizona that weekend. I'm looking for some other race before the tejas trails Pandora box of rocks at revile ranch late April, and this race out in San Angelo looked like one of the better options to try out. Anyone else doing this race or have recommendations for one closer to Austin?

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c-jags did crazy desert last year. if i remember correctly, he had mixed feelings on the race.

have you looked at the rogue trail series? https://www.roguetrailseries.com/home

Hey kids... really excited to discover this thread on here. I'm a long time ultra/trail runner with a handful of hundred miles and too many ultras to remember under my belt. Definitely a top of the mid packer on an average day, back of the fast kids on a great day, and a slug it out to the finish at all costs guy on a bad day. So quite average but truly love the longer distances on the trail. Figured I'd share race/run reports when I get them up. And, I offered above, but would love to connect with some Ags if you're every out here in Estes/RMNP. I have a great crew of runners up here and I/we would love to show you the backyard trails if you're in our neck of the woods.

Here's my race report from a qualifying, yet easy effort turned epic, Bandera run last month... enjoy!

http://michael-hodges.com/blog/bandera-100k-version-2-0/

Welcome aboard, smudge! I enjoyed your race report.

welcome aboard smudge!

I was at Bandera too. Last steps I've really been able to run. Didn't know it at the time, but had a torn labrum...been sidelined since.

btw, nice nail polish

AggieOO said:

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welcome aboard smudge!

I was at Bandera too. Last steps I've really been able to run. Didn't know it at the time, but had a torn labrum...been sidelined since.

btw, nice nail polish

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Thanks! And haha! Yeah, with two little girls, my toes are always pretty fancy looking! When my ankle was all messed up, my oldest told me she needed to repaint my toenails because my foot was so ugly!

Hoping to do Bandera again next year... really want to go one year and give that race hell. Such a beautiful course and a super fun event!

This was my 4th bandera. Really don't want to do it again any time soon, but there's a 500k jacket/award for the next one...

I'm running a trail run over in Shreveport this weekend called The Monkey Trails. They call it that because there's a chimpanzee reserve next to the park. This is just a 10.5 miler. But in my current fitness level it will be a beating. It's supposed to be 26 degrees and muddy.

good luck!

Last of the Shannon trail series here in San Angelo Saturday. I'm currently in 2nd for the long course series. Hoping to stay there. By all accounts the 15K at the state park runs more line 10 miles.

I'll probably head back to road events after this, but it's been fun to pretend I'm a trail runner for a couple months

Just curious where you normally run in San Angelo. I'm there for work 1-2 times a month. I usually stay in one of the hotels off Sherwood/Southwest Blvd near the Red Arroyo trailhead. I'll pop out to the state park when i have time as well. Wondering if there are any other decent areas...it'll be a while before I can take advantage due to injury, but would be nice to have another option.

easttexasaggie04 said:

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I'm running a trail run over in Shreveport this weekend called The Monkey Trails. They call it that because there's a chimpanzee reserve next to the park. This is just a 10.5 miler. But in my current fitness level it will be a beating. It's supposed to be 26 degrees and muddy.

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Good luck! If it really is 26 degrees then the mud will be frozen, which in my experience would be fantastic.

AggieOO said:

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Just curious where you normally run in San Angelo. I'm there for work 1-2 times a month. I usually stay in one of the hotels off Sherwood/Southwest Blvd near the Red Arroyo trailhead. I'll pop out to the state park when i have time as well. Wondering if there are any other decent areas...it'll be a while before I can take advantage due to injury, but would be nice to have another option.

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Sorry about the injury. I live right by those hotels so the Arroyo is my mainstay. The OC Fisher Dam is a pretty good spot if it's not too windy but it's literally only an out and back. Downtown by the Concho there is a trail you can get some decent mileage in. Also, there's parking near the KOA by Nasworthy and you can do the 2 mile loop around Hillside Dr. It's got some elevation change if you're tired of the flat areas. If you ever need more ideas, I'd be more than happy to help. You can also email me at username @ gmail

There's a thing called "West Texas Pretty" and it can be found out at the San Angelo state park. Abundant trails to explore out there and it has a beauty all its own.

Ended up 2nd today and overall for the Shannon trail series. May have me hitting trails a lot more moving forward

zachsccr said:

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AggieOO said:

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Just curious where you normally run in San Angelo. I'm there for work 1-2 times a month. I usually stay in one of the hotels off Sherwood/Southwest Blvd near the Red Arroyo trailhead. I'll pop out to the state park when i have time as well. Wondering if there are any other decent areas...it'll be a while before I can take advantage due to injury, but would be nice to have another option.

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Sorry about the injury. I live right by those hotels so the Arroyo is my mainstay. The OC Fisher Dam is a pretty good spot if it's not too windy but it's literally only an out and back. Downtown by the Concho there is a trail you can get some decent mileage in. Also, there's parking near the KOA by Nasworthy and you can do the 2 mile loop around Hillside Dr. It's got some elevation change if you're tired of the flat areas. If you ever need more ideas, I'd be more than happy to help. You can also email me at username @ gmail

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I enjoy the Arroyo. You can run it a few different ways to make it a 5-10k if you take a loop over by the park. You could run down Sul Ross and take a tour of ASU. Pretty little campus. That area running around college hills (the neighborhood around the Arroyo) and Santa Rita north of ASU has plenty of hills and some cool older homes to look at. I'm pretty sure there are a few 100+ year old homes in that area.

I went and ran down by the river when I was down there last year for the Crazy Desert Trail race just for a bit of maintenance and it was nice for a few miles. Not long enough for anything else than a pretty jog.

Most of my miles in that area were out in Wall running through cotton fields for Cross Country practice.

My first marathon is this Saturday and it is a trail run partially up mount Mitchell in NC. Training was truncated due to a couple minor injuries and now have micro tears on right Achilles. However, I'm cleared by Dr and ready to go. My question has to do with drinking beer leading to the run. Couple of beers each day ok?

Its trail running. You can have a couple beers during the race!

They offer beer at the last aid station. That's what I'm looking forward to the most! I'll know only 4 miles to go. More thinking about the lead up. I'm guessing the answer is if that is your routine then stick with it.

Obviously don't get hammered and dehydrate yourself, but nothing wrong with some light carb loading, IMO.

I ran one of the best marathons of my life after drinking a flight of tasters in Boston a few years ago. Just don't overdo it.

Need some advice. First, the Black Mountain Marathon was awesome! My first marathon and I picked a hard one. Several inches of snow overnight and morning of race up on the trail (total elevation gain of 3,000). Temps at turnaround (around mile 14) were in the teens with high winds (water in my hand carry bottle and at the aid stations was freezing). Trail was basically snow covered rocks with some frozen slush thrown in.

The leader went by on the way down taking huge strides in this mess, don't know how he didn't slip off the trail and roll down the mountain. I didn't set any speed records and my son stuck with me the entire run, but I finished. And definitely appreciated the informal aid station someone set up 3 miles from finish who was serving shots of whiskey!

It was overwhelmingly hard, cold and incredible and will be back next year provided I properly heal my Achilles. And that is what I'm seeking advice for. Started the run with micro tears in right Achilles, I didn't do anything to rupture it but I definitely had swelling and redness in the Achilles when I finished.

What is the best way to fully recover? I'm getting in ice bath 3 - 4 times per day (converted chest freezer with water in it), stretching, was applying heat with heating pad but was told that would not help, took some Alieve but it bothers my stomach so stopped, have a walking shoe (not boot) but it didn't seem to have any impact, elevating my legs for short periods during the day and of course, I'm resting and not running.

Tried posting pictures I have on facebook but it didn't work, will figure it out. Pictures don't do it justice but it was an incredible day with my son on a mountain.

i'm being completely selfish, but it'll be just my luck that WSER will cancel this year b/c of covid....which will mean no lottery, which means i wait ANOTHER year.

guessing by now you have recovered? Sorry we didn't get to your post.

Taking time. Icing daily and heat along with rest and stretching. Tried stationary bike yesterday and that was ok. Assuming there isn't much rise I can do. Let me know if there are any ideas. Thanks.

It may be worth trying a boot to completely immobilize it. I had a situation that sounds similar a few years ago, and the boot helped. Wearing one of those things sucks, but it may be worth it to bite the bullet and get more completely healed quicker. Once I stopped wearing it full time, I became much more aware of the day to day things that were putting strain on my Achilles. Those things aren't a big deal normally but are when trying to heal up and just incrementally slow the healing process.

I still deal with Achilles problems off and on and KT Tape as needed helps. But that is much more in the context of being able to keep running and different than your current situation.

I used KT tape leading up to the marathon but haven't since then. Is it primarily for preventing injury or for improved healing? Guess it wouldn't hurt to start using again.

I think that they would tell you both, but I don't know. I've only used it to keep me running when I have something that is more than discomfort but less than injury. I'm not going to make any claims about it being magic, but it seems to help when I need it and that's good enough for me.

Buffalo Run 50k/50/100 in salt lake city is cancelled next week. However, the RD is giving people 6 weeks to run the race on their own and send in gpx to get results counted.

Canyons 100k is cancelled. That was going to be my WS qualifier this year. I'll probably find a 100k in the Fall now.

Western States is still on, as of right now, but they are under a lot of social media pressure to postpone or cancel. Their approach so far has been: it's still too early to make a call, so let's wait and see. I think that's the right thing to do right now. I sincerely hope that things get back to normal asap and they are able to run the race this year.

Very glad I did bandera, though if the race cancels, they will likely make me requalify for 2022 lottery, bc there won't be one for 2021.

Not sure when I'll be able to run again anyway, so maybe it is for the best.