The Runner's Trip: Run Long, Travel Far, Discover More
trail running and travel blog by Sarah Lavender Smith
Presenters are challenged to show 20 slides, each for exactly 20 seconds. I’ve never done a presentation like this, but I was game. I put together PowerPoint slides and scripted paragraphs for each, cutting away to get my talk down to roughly 20 seconds per slide and hoping my story wasn’t as boring as watching […]
Have you ever said, “I feel gross”? I said it to myself four nights ago, around 3 a.m. I do not feel like the person I was 12 weeks ago, and I want to be that person again. I tapped out a note in the Notes section of my phone: “What I Want to Achieve […]
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.
A flashback sparks excitement for training and racing 20 years later. Here’s my lineup for 2019.
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.
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.