How 'bout going for the silver buckle at teh Western States 100..might be down the road but one to shoot for nonetheless.

Beads -- you picked a race a week after my final tri.... too bad I'll probably be too sore (and broke). Joining the 2 of you would definitely make for a memorable first! Didn't you guys do it together last year as well?

I think you timing for a 50K would be fine Star...If you can get in another long training race or wrokout three weeks out from the 50k that would help. The key to running ultras well is back to back long runs...work up to 18-20 miles one day and ten the next. Depending on the course, most UR's will run walk the up hills and run the downs and flats or use a run walk plan.. I don't stop cross training, I think the cardio and leg strength you get from biking really helps..but you may find it necessary to cut back, in order to increase your running.
Welcome to the dark side!
try ultrunr.com A great site done by a friend of mine, and of course ultrarunning.com and not to be ignored
teamslug.com.
annapolisstriders.org also has a good 50 mile training program. (Pull down menu on the left at that site: JFK training)
No... Scott and I did the Goofy Challange together the last two years.

A marathon plan would work fine for a 50k...just slot in a few back to back....or train like an IM...Long run on Saturday, long bike on Sunday. As I get older that method works well and helps with recovery time and cuts injury. So...while training for an Ultra, I'll run mostly, with B to B's but every other week, long ride instead of the second run.
Long walks help too and work on your walking speed...a fast walking pace in an Ultra really helps,especially on hills.
Ultrarunners like to refer to it as the "dark side", but that's to scare away folks...you'll find the UR community, small,friendly and not at all up tight....the way tri's used to be. And that's the beauty...Ultras are hard...I've done some 50k, 50milers and 100ks and 12 hour races that were WAY harder than any IM...keeps out the riff raff;)

Bhwa Ha Ha...anudder wictim!

Maybe that's why I'm interested in ultras....it seems liks a different group than cyclists and even, dare I say, some triathletes. Anyway, I've read alot about the walking aspect of ultra, and I'm assuming that as the miles increase, one walks more. I laugh at that scene in Walking on the Sun about Badwater where the guy is cursing at his crew while he's walking because they didn't bring him soup fast enough...Of course I"ll do more reading on the psychological aspect of the sport.

So, how can I compare...or can I ... compare a 50K to the IM marathon? I "ran" like 11:30mm, whereas in a half-mary I run closer to 9mm. Is there any way to predict or expect or plan what I can do in a race that length? And for a 50K, should I incorporate a run-walk plan?

Sorry for all the questions....I'm an ultra-newbie :o And you are the masters...

...and are you saying, in not so many words, that the Ironman is a cake walk compared to ultras???? :p

Riff Raff is the villain in Underdog. :)

Back to ultras' - really starting to consider doing some. Maybe a good outlet for a slow guy like me!

Many Easy hundred milers are 24 hour races. Gun goes off and you see how far you can run in 24 hours. Many folks are able to break 100. Many of those races (mind you I've been to watch but haven't done one yet...that's this spring) are loops of about a mile or so so you have your own aid station set up..they are a blast to be at.
Trail 100's like Umstead are considered easy because they have a ten mile or so loop format on forest service roads. Others like Leadville or Massanutten Mt. are brutal... You can usually tell how difficult it is by the time cut off. Umstead for example is 30 (with a 26 hour cut off at 85 miles) while Massanutten is 36!
A trifuel ultra meet up? I am sooo on that! You pick it...I'll run it.
This would be up your European alley, mine too...but it's hard...47,000 of elevation gain!
http://en.karwendel-challenge.com/index.php?Inhalt_Nav_ID=1

RV...you should....it's a whole different ball game!

Beware Star, I will attempt to talk for the whole JFK 50.
I might make you ears bleed after a couple of hours! :D

uhhh...did you see the entry requirements for the Karwandel?

*We recommend that runners aiming to participate in the KC should have successfully taken part in at least two races over 90 miles and 24,000 ft. difference in altitude (yeah....no such thing in Florida)

* Each participant must carry with him an emergency food ration of 2000 kcal (In case the bears eat your other ration)

* Runners should not eat wild fruit (oh-oh...did that a few weeks ago....)

* The Organization committee reserves the right to effect doping controls before, during and after the KC (there's no way I can get through 100-miles in the Alps listening to Beads talk the entire 72 hours without drugs, my friends!)

I can start you off easy with a chatty 5k and then add distance and conversation. :D

With proper training... you have a shot of keeping your eardrums, and possibly your sanity until the finish.

I think Anton was a little 'crazy' already so he had some immunity already. :D

I can be a stimulant, a sedative, or an amnesiac.

Anywho...

From the jfk50mile.org site

1173 Scott Fleming M MADISON NJ
1080 Anton Struntz M GAITHERSBURG MD

1040-1299 1401-1500 Runners in the 5 A.M. Start

WOO HOO! Party on Wayne!! Party on Garth!! :D

In the 9 times I've done the JFK the weather has been as high as 60 degrees and as low as 20 with a nasty wind chill...
If any others are interested...the race caps at 1000 and they are at 625...with only about 300 permitted to take the 5 A.M. start.
Don't know of any in the Carribean but tons in Florida...Lots of old atheletes with time to spare!

Kyillee: this year or next?? Funny, I'm probably going to skip the IM-distance next year and do the 101 in Bradenton...but its the end of March! (Yikes! I think one could be a little cool too. I'm such a whimp!) That way I can get in some longer runs later in the season...

Anyway, I'm sure there's a race that will allow everyone to meet in the middle...and I don't mean Badwater (yet!).

oh-oh...I think I'm going to get into that 50K. Did a little research...talked with the RD...found a local ultra-running group that runs that trail. I'm going to run the loop on Sunday and see if I want to really do it! Ok, who am I kidding...I'm going to sign up regardless :D

Kyillee: I'm looking into the OOO in Cali next June....

The Croom Trail 50k...and the One-O-One ;)

Well, I went out with the Florida Ultra Runners yesterday morning at o'dark hundred (I got up at 4:40am...that's almost two hours earlier than when I was training for IMA!) Anyway, I ran a 9-mile trail with a lady who does ultras and adventure races. I came home and signed up for the 50k...which apparently has some good hills throughout the 4-loop course. I've got some running to do, my friends! :p

Awesome Star!...Some friends have done Croom and love it...Ultras are...Sa-weet...even 50k's which really aren't much more than marathons and so really don't count (Ultra running joke as some 50k's are brutal.)
Keep us posted!

This one looks like it would be fun for Oct. 2008. For you, Kyilee and Star it's almost in the middle in Prescott, AZ.
http://managainsthorse.com/
Plus, 50 mile finishers get a belt buckle!!! Count me in!

Sounds cool, but my problem is going to be this: there are very few places in this region of Florida to train hills. So any race with major elevation changes is going to be tough. My new trail running buddy told me that people around here train in parking garages :rolleyes: How fun would that be???

Yeah, or find some stairs at your local High School. Remember you'll be racing against horses too!!... and did I mention you get a belt buckle! ;P

C'mon, you know you want to. All the cool kids are doing it. :D

I think I am going to do the 50k in Seattle in October.:)

That's not what you were saying(when I let you get a word in edgewise) down at Disney!

"C'mon, you have done 42.4 miles over 3 days, a 50 miler is only 8 miles more, it will be a blast" :D