Wet wipes > TP

Yuk Although good for general purpose stuff like wiping your hands after a pesky carb gel leaks or you get animal poop on them when jumping a fence I suppose but wiping your arse with one, it just ain't natural Tom

smalcolm, this is critical: DO NOT wipe your face with a used wet wipe.

Nothing like poo to get a thread moving

smalcolm, this is critical: DO NOT wipe your face with a used wet wipe.

I'm going to right this on the package of wet wipes so I don't forget. jlynnbob you have quite the sophisticated set-up.

EEEEKKKK you carry your used paperwork with you afterwards I leave mine behind (so to speak) and let some creature use it for his or her bedding or nest

Many races here are held in sensitive areas which require the packing out of all things packed in! In order to continue to gain access to some of these areas, it is necessary to do as much as possible to leave no trace!

Here's a non-poop question. How do you figure out your pace? What you can handle for 40 miles on such varied terrain? Trial and error?

Here's a non-poop question. How do you figure out your pace? What you can handle for 40 miles on such varied terrain? Trial and error?

Trial and error does play a big part in figuring out pace. That said, I did develop a process for predicting my finish time (with a liberal margin for error, mind you) in races where I was unsure of what to expect (both from the course and from me!). If the information is available, I will look at the finishers lists and times for previous years races. Usually, I can find a name or two of finishers that have also finished races that I have run in the past. I look at the results for the races we have in common and use a relative placement for the race I am planning. For example, if Trent and I both ran the Strolling Jim and I can find Trent's name in the results for a race that I am contemplating (similar distance, maybe a 50K or 50 mile race), and I finished 15 minutes after Trent at Strolling Jim, then I can "project" my finishing time in the target race based on Trent's finish time. This is a very imperfect science, as conditioning can be very different year over year, but I can get more confident if I can find others I have raced against and do more comparisons. Again, it is very imperfect, but I have used it a number of times to help me develop pace charts and fuel/hydration plans for ultras. If you cannot identify individuals to use for the process I outlined above, another way to look at it is to think of placement. If you have "placed", let say, 500th in a 1000 person marathon, you finished in the 50th percentile. If you are looking to run a 50k, you might assume you will place near the 50th percentile in the 50K race. Look at past race results and see where the 50th percentile falls in terms of the target race. If there were 200 in the 50K last year, look at the time for the 100th finisher and "project" that time on yourself. Keep in mind that weather can play a role in slowing/speeding the field some, so take that into consideration. Conditioning is another thing to consider. If you were in tip-top shape when you ran your marathon and you aren't feeling so tip-top for the 50k, you can back it down a bit in your projection. Hope that helps...

Does the percentile thing really work? Folks who chose to enter a marathon (or 5k, for that matter) are very different than folks who chose to enter an ultra.

You're absolutely right, Trent. I would imagine that the larger the gap in distance, the more margin for error. There are a lot of folks that can blow me away in a marathon that cannot stay with me for a 100 and vice versa. But, if you don't have anything else to go on, it totally can be a tool to help "bracket" possible pacing times. Terrain can make a difference as well! I know that I can finish in a higher percentile in a flat race than I can in a mountain race. Why? Not sure, but I suspect that flat races draw more folks that may be trying the distance for the first time. Mountain races tend to draw more experienced runners (particularly at "that" distance). Does it really work? I used it for building my pace chart for Cascade Crest (a course/mountain range in which I had never run). My Best Case pace was 25 hours, my middle/target pace was 28 hours, my "uh-oh, this is gonna hurt pace" was 31 hours against a 32 hour cut-off. My actual was 29:03 (40th out of 67 finishers/93 starters), a time with which I was pretty happy. I can easily find an hour of screw-up in my actual race execution! This isn't the only example, as I have used this for 8-10 different races in prep... really helps me figure out how to prepare a drop bag strategy, for example. Lynn