The main one is on my little toe and I get blisters under the callus. It's not ideal.

Is it on the side or bottom of the little toe?

Karl Meltzer used to cut holes in the side of his (I believe) original speed goats to relieve pressure.

Bottom

Oh, then I have no advice. I've done races with no socks and not developed blisters. Guess running around for years in the farm with no shoes really payed off.

Anyone running Brazos tomorrow? I am in for the 50mi.

SJEAg said:

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Anyone running Brazos tomorrow? I am in for the 50mi.

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Nope. But now that you told us you have to return with a race report.

For those who like tailwind, they currently have their best limited edition flavor (Grape) online.

I don't know what the deal is with the Arbuckle 100 in Oklahoma, but there was only 1 finisher this year.

Their new slogan: If you ain't first, you're last...except at the Arbuckle 100, where you can be both.

I want to add another 100 to my schedule in between now and Javelina in October. My schedule is kind of tight this summer, but what are some of your favorite races between June and September?

I'm a little nervous about races with tighter cutoffs, but I think I learned a good bit and could shave some time off. Also, I'm trying to figure out how to fix some of the problems that I had.

typically, I avoid races in that window due to training in the texas summer, so i'm not much help. AC100 is an exception this year, that I'm probably going to regret.

March Recap and Looking forward to april

Too bad Salt Flats is too soon in May because it's only a little harder than Buffalo, but the weather is still good and it never fills up. So many even lesser known 100s that don't have lotteries fill up early.

Dafstun said:

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SJEAg said:

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Anyone running Brazos tomorrow? I am in for the 50mi.

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Nope. But now that you told us you have to return with a race report.

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Well, ran it but tapped out at 2 laps/34 mi. Weird hip pain I've never experienced before so didn't want to risk a real injury. I ran this successfully a few years ago, so even though I could have walked it to finish figured no point without it being a potential PR.

Oh well, was mainly using this as incentive to train for a Mt. Whitney ascent this Sept. Not that it carries over other than getting myself in decent baseline shape now before the real training begins.

Looks like I'll be running the 6 hour at Spider Mountain on 5.11 and Captn Karl's 60k on 6.22 at Pedernales.

Depending on how I feel post AC100 (assuming I get in), I might do Captn Karl's on 8.24 as my last long run before BFC.

I will probably be at Perdenales. I just need to nail down one more race before I commit to it.

Anyone have input or experience with the Arkansas Traveler 100? This one has been on my mind for a possible first 100 in October. It's within driving range from Houston for me. Has about 12k in vert and has been around for a long time.

I've run/finished it twice. Its a great race. Most of it is very runnable, but there are a couple gnarly climbs out there. It didn't feel very technical to me, but I'm use to central texas and far west texas (el paso area) technical. Coming from houston, it might feel a bit more technical. I ran it in road shoes the first time. Would definitely suggest trail shoes, but its obviously do-able in road.

Happy to answer any other questions.

Thanks OO.

I tend to enjoy the more technical trails from central TX like Bandera/Pedernales/Colorado Bend. One of my reservations about the AT100 was the majority being maintained or unmaintained jeep trails. Seems a bit boring?? I have no interest in a manicured "trail" like a Brazos Bend or similar.

Do you recall how good crew access was? I'd likely be going solo without a pacer, and would rely on my Dad to meet me at crew spots. He's never crewed me, nor does he know anything about the sport. He also doesn't know that I will be asking him to crew me, ha.

Is this an ok race to go pacerless through the night? How's the navigation?

There will be nothing like brazos bend. Even the maintained roads don't feel like that. There are certainly some smooth sections, but even the maintained roads have varying degrees of maintenance. The unmaintained jeep roads are almost like side by side single track at times. The best part is the single track on the Ouachita Trail for sure though. The aid stations are fantastic. The course is an out and back after the Ouachita Trail, so easy to follow.

I obviously wasn't on the crew side, but the first time I ran, my parents made it to a couple aid stations. If they can do it, anyone can. The second time I ran, I had no crew, but found a pacer through the local running scene up there. I can probably put you in contact if you are interested. Even if they can't pace, I'm sure they know others.

It's an out and back course

Dafstun said:

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Thanks OO.

I tend to enjoy the more technical trails from central TX like Bandera/Pedernales/Colorado Bend. One of my reservations about the AT100 was the majority being maintained or unmaintained jeep trails. Seems a bit boring?? I have no interest in a manicured "trail" like a Brazos Bend or similar.

Do you recall how good crew access was? I'd likely be going solo without a pacer, and would rely on my Dad to meet me at crew spots. He's never crewed me, nor does he know anything about the sport. He also doesn't know that I will be asking him to crew me, ha.

Is this an ok race to go pacerless through the night? How's the navigation?

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If your dad agrees to do it, this might be a good book for him if he's interested. It's very beginner friendly. Crewing for an Ultrarun

AggieOO said:

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There will be nothing like brazos bend. Even the maintained roads don't feel like that. There are certainly some smooth sections, but even the maintained roads have varying degrees of maintenance. The unmaintained jeep roads are almost like side by side single track at times. The best part is the single track on the Ouachita Trail for sure though. The aid stations are fantastic. The course is an out and back after the Ouachita Trail, so easy to follow.

I obviously wasn't on the crew side, but the first time I ran, my parents made it to a couple aid stations. If they can do it, anyone can. The second time I ran, I had no crew, but found a pacer through the local running scene up there. I can probably put you in contact if you are interested. Even if they can't pace, I'm sure they know others.

It's an out and back course

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I didn't mean to insinuate that AT would be like Brazos. That was just meant to describe the types of races I am interested in vs. not.

If I do sign up, I may hit you up again for the local contacts you have for pacers. I'm not opposed to being paced, I just don't know anyone in this space that could do it.


Thanks for the book rec Aggiespartan. I never would have known about that.

i was getting off a plane when i typed my last message. apparently, i was mid-thought or something when i posted, so not sure why i had that last line in there re-iterating out and back. Anyway, hit me up with any other questions and I'll do my best to answer. Its been several years since I ran it, but will relay whatever I can remember.

For anyone that uses Spring Energy Awesomesauce, there's a whole conspiracy theory going on r/ultramarathon about it not having nearly the 45g of carbs that the package says. Some one did a food science type experiment and a type 1 diabetic just made a post about an experiment he did with his numbers spiking.

aggiespartan said:

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For anyone that uses Spring Energy Awesomesauce, there's a whole conspiracy theory going on r/ultramarathon about it not having nearly the 45g of carbs that the package says. Some one did a food science type experiment and a type 1 diabetic just made a post about an experiment he did with his numbers spiking.

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It's not too often that my running and conspiracy theory worlds overlap, so this weirdly makes me happy.

Things are starting to get serious. Aidstationfireball is on it.
https://www.instagram.com/p/C56GKkLrvuY/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Dang I just ordered some on Monday.

Crazy that AZ Monster 300 is already sold out. I know its a one of Candice's races, so she has a following, but surprised how quickly a 300 miler sold out.

It was getting a lot of hype on some of the podcasts.

we probably listen to different podcasts. i hadn't heard anything anywhere, other than from Candice's socials. Guessing the 200s podcast probably talked about it, but i don't listen to that one.

Yea they talked about it some on Distance to Empty, and she was a guest on the DFL before DNF podcast. I had seen some other people post about it on instagram too.

AggieOO said:

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Crazy that AZ Monster 300 is already sold out. I know its a one of Candice's races, so she has a following, but surprised how quickly a 300 miler sold out.

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In today's world of social media, bucket lists, yolo, etc, I'm not surprised that there's good demand for racing 300 miles.

I am surprised that Candice can keep finding enough people to volunteer for these races though. I've been on a crew for Moab 240 twice now, and it's pretty miserable being out in the boonies for 4 days, just supporting a runner. I always felt bad for the volunteers who were out there manning aid stations for 4-5 days in a row. Now, with a 300 mile race and a 7-day time limit, that's asking a lot of these volunteers.

i know that the popularity has increased, but I was just surprised to see it sell out a year in advance. I'm not too far into the 200+ world, so maybe I'm just out of touch.

has anyone watched "Chasing Dreams" by Golden Trail World Series? As much trail content as I consume via podcasts and youtube, I'm surprised I've not seen this previously. The last episode of season 3 dropped a couple weeks ago, but I'm going back and watching starting at the first season. Its pretty well done. Seems to be modeled after "Drive to Survive."

It's popped up on my youtube, but I haven't watched it because I don't know the runners or the races. Maybe I'll check it out.