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Cheers, interesting article! I like running as much as I like cycling and have a vague obsession with reading about ultrarunning and ultras- it seems like such a unique sport.
I recently finished Rise of the Ultrarunners by Adharanand Finn which was a really interesting read and it seems there's so many unique/eccentric personalities in the sport.
Not sure if I have an ultra in me though- I've ran close-to-marathon distances by myself out in the hills before but the thought of 40, 50 miles upwards is really quite daunting.
There was a good podcast with Christian talking to Payson Mcelveen on the Adventure Stache podcast.
Not sure if I have an ultra in me though- I’ve ran close-to-marathon distances by myself out in the hills before but the thought of 40, 50 miles upwards is really quite daunting.
For me, the thought of a 40 mile day of running sounds great. It's the time, effort and physical punishment of the necessary training that puts me off. I did my once-in-a-lifetime ultra last year and, even at only 53km, that took up too much of my time. TBF, I definitely had more in my legs on that day and would happily have run another 10+ km, but the dedication required to train for 80+ km is something I'm not up for.when I also want to ride, walk, paddle, swim etc.
I'm still unsure about how much of an acheivement doing an ultra actually is - and I've done loads (and up to some pretty extreme distances...) Assuming you're not too concerned about actually winning, just having a decent guarantee of getting round, enjoying yourself and get in comfortably ahead of any cutoff, then it's pretty much just a case of regular, steady training and dedicating time to it. But as @scotroutes points out, there's clearly an opportunity cost there - I still go cycling, but I couldn't realistically fit in any more sport.
Maybe when I win the lottery... 🙂
My only ultra is probably my proudest sporting achievement (not a long list). Like Druid I was good for 60km or so - unfortunately that ultra was 70km 🙂
Rouleur did a full interview and write up a few months ago, interestingly he got out of the pro peloton because he and his wife had a coffee shop and it was only lockdown forcing him to run that he realised he liked it
Yeah exactly, the "opportunity cost" describes it perfectly. I used to have no problem switching between dedicated long blocks of running and cycling but now I'm a bit older I try and keep my fitness of both up together and worry if I was to omit one for a period of time I'll never quite back to where I was- or at all (this may be a complete fallacy, I don't know).
I also catch up with a few friends via cycling so to ditch it completely for a dedicated 6 month block of running (or whatever) feels a bit anti-social apart from anything else.
Never say never though, I suppose 🤔
he and his wife had a coffee shop and it was only lockdown forcing him to run that he realised he liked it
Horseshit. Nobody forced anyone to run in lockdown.
I’m a bit older I try and keep my fitness of both up together and worry if I was to omit one for a period of time I’ll never quite back to where I was
Definitely a concern for the more elderly amongst us. I have a "bucket list" that is only getting longer, even though the time available to complete it is rapidly shrinking.
Horseshit. Nobody forced anyone to run in lockdown.
You read the article, right?
"Spain had a pretty hardcore lockdown when we were first allowed out to exercise; you had to stay within the municipality. It didn't make sense to even go riding. But you had the hills to go running in.