How I nearly snatched defeat from the jaws of victory at the Grand to Grand Ultra but ultimately had my best race in 25 years of running.

How I nearly snatched defeat from the jaws of victory at the Grand to Grand Ultra but ultimately had my best race in 25 years of running.
When I set a goal, I do all I can to fulfill it. Therefore I have decided to “dig deep” in another way, doing more personally to support and protect public lands while hoping to inspire others to join me. I want to achieve my goal in TWO WEEKS by Saturday, September 28, the day […]
The Grand to Grand Ultra is two weeks away! As with past stage races, I’ve made a list of my gear & food to help others who may be preparing for a self-supported stage race, or who want to find out about ultra-lightweight gear for fastpacking and camping.
I’m doing this race again less as an endurance competition, more as an opportunity to revisit and revere this region up close, and ultimately do what I can to help protect it.
I spent ten months coaching two clients for the Grand to Grand Ultra and the Atacama Crossing. Here’s the outline of their training plans, and their stories of what the events were like, to show how to meet the myriad challenges of an ultra-long stage race—and, perhaps, to inspire your new year’s goals.
Perhaps my fondest memory of the Mauna to Mauna Ultra was the experience of the oxymoronic “friendly competition” in the best, truest sense.
It behooves competitors to carry as little as possible, because every pound of weight slows us down and saps energy. But, given the climate and terrain variability, I can’t go too light or get too hungry.
It’s taper time, so I reflect on peak training for the Mauna to Mauna Ultra and share an exciting update about Free to Run.
Peak training involves increasing your training load and preparing very specifically for the conditions of your race. For multi-day, self-supported stage races, the preparation becomes more complex.
Having spent the past two weeks developing several long-range training plans for clients, which span 16 to 24 weeks in preparation for a top-goal ultra, I thought I’d share the process and use my own training horizon for the Mauna to Mauna Ultra as an example.