I don't disagree with his assertions. In fact, I was just thinking about this very thing last night. My work/life schedule for the last year has been so busy and stressful (moving into a new facility, selling a house, buying a house, etc.) that I have not been able focus on any serious training. I knew this was coming because it all really started in the middle of last year. It is only over the past few weeks that things have started to settle down. I knew it would be pointless to attempt to train adequately for a 100 miler this year, although I held out hope for awhile. There comes a point where you have to make decisions about what will be best for your health. I think I have it worked out where I can adequately train for one 100 miler next year, and that is what I plan to do. I trained well for my first 100 miler and all races leading up to that one, but I did not train adequately for my second. Part of that was due to the schedule changes that were unexpected, but most of that was based on me not respecting the distance or the course I was about to run. So, I try to look at what I am going to be able to realistically accomplish with all the things I have going on in life taken into consideration. I really wish that the race I want to run next year was held in February or early March. The late fall and winter are the times I have the best training.

I think he has a point, but it is a very long article for a simple point: don't race too much, and prepare for when you do.

He seems to be missing one point though: you can be in a race without giving it your all. I don't think he discusses using races as longer training runs. He just seems to be talking about all-out efforts to do as well as you can. For that kind of "racing" you don't necessarily need to be in "awesome cardiovascular shape", you just need to have enough conditioning of your body so that you don't get injured.

I think he has a point, but it is a very long article for a simple point: don't race too much, and prepare for when you do.

 

He seems to be missing one point though: you can be in a race without giving it your all. I don't think he discusses using races as longer training runs. He just seems to be talking about all-out efforts to do as well as you can. For that kind of "racing" you don't necessarily need to be in "awesome cardiovascular shape", you just need to have enough conditioning of your body so that you don't get injured.

Agree - It was a long article.  I stopped reading.

I've been running long distances for over 14 years, and don't "race" very often, which is a choice I made several years ago.  We are all experiments of one, so do what feels good, and what keeps you motivated and healthy.

I didn't see him mention that we should listen to our own bodies.  T&C's body is telling her she needs a break, and that's great she's listening, and will be a stronger runner for it.  mjsmith1223's body tells him his schedule makes him better trained for less than 25k events and because of that he'll avoid injuries.  Kelly's body is not human up, so he doesn't count.

For me, I'd rather run 4-5 hours in the woods than run a tempo 10k.  It's what makes me fell good, and what helps reduce my stress.  As far as racing, I'm happy with 2-3 races per year, but I enter more events and may "run" them to see people and have fun.

I think I am missing the dilemma. Did the sockdoc have a bad first ultra experience or something?

The personal choice and what works with your life is the most important thing. Fighting against that is bound to cause issues and problems. Just because you like to run trails does not mean you have to go run or race ultras. There are shorter trail races, and heck you don't even have to race at all. The thing about our sport/passion is just being out there if you ask me.

I've often joked with my friend that the most sensible way to run would be 1-2 hour max for any given run. Going beyond that I think it's more of an obsession type of a thing. Not something really needed to stay fit or healthy but I think most of us around here would agree that the fitness/healthy aspect of running isn't our number one concern.

My article would go something like this:

Running is individual...so just go out and do whatever the fuck you feel like doing because that's what you're going to do anyways.

I think I could replace a lot of text with that sentence.

 

I would have hit the "Like" button if RA had one.

Me too! Great point, Jamezilla.

 

TrailsnCocktails - For me the timing of the article was interesting for sure.  I have been doing a lot of thinking over the summer and into the fall.  I had lots of time to think on those long runs while preparing for a 50K :-)  Mostly I was thinking about how I really didn't have the time to prepare like I want to for marathon and longer distances.  My kids are young, I have a business to run and a wife to keep happy.  Part of training is managing stress and I was doing that poorly over the summer.

Agreed.  I use running as my stress relief tool, but when running starts stressing me out I know there is a problem! Of course I make the time to do it, but at a certain expense. I don't have kids yet, but I skip a lot of social events with friends/family to run. I also go to a lot of social events that negatively impact my training schedule.  I'm sure we have all done that numerous times. It will be nice to have a little breathing room where I don't feel like I need to be running all the time, or guilty for taking more rest days. (Understandably that doesn't need to happen now....I just get like that when training or preparing for long distance races.)

I guess what I'm saying is I'm looking forward to a little bit more relaxing time. I got spoiled by the 2.5 week government furlough