One of the Drift Edits and races i'm most proud of.

I took my "big" camera on this adventure to try and create a cinematic film as we all made our way around Mont Blanc.

Focusing on our movement through this stunning landscape as we all sit within our own minds for the majority of the challenge, I wanted to reflect that as best I could, whilst also trying to get to the finish line myself.

Hi there! I wanted to share my experience with training for and racing a 50k in the early stages of pregnancy. There isn't a lot of information out there about endurance running and pregnancy, and when I was considering going for something while we were trying to get pregnant, the couple of other stories people have shared on here were one of the few resources that I had. Hoping to build it out a little more for any others that want to try!

I'm 33F, and was struggling mentally with the idea of giving up the sport (temporarily) while trying to conceive, but we really want to start a family. I also work in a high stress job and training is one of the primary ways I manage my stress. I talked with my husband, and we decided that registering for a 50K while we try would be a) fun b) put a trip on the calendar and c) alleviate some of that anxiety, and thought that honestly it would take long enough to even get pregnant that I would likely race before we were successful. But then...the second line appeared! The timing meant I would be just over 8 weeks pregnant on race day.

At our first OB visit (~4 weeks), we brought up the idea of still racing with our doctor, and he was very supportive. From what I was told, the biggest concern is that you don't want to push your body more than it's used to. For reference, I've previously completed three 50K's, one 50M and did my first 100M last summer, so this is far from an increase over my previous running habits. He also talked to me about not necessarily racing, but focusing instead on going for what would be closer to a supported long run, which is kind of how I had already been thinking about it since the test, so that was fine.

Some of the less positive interactions I had were with family and colleagues. My husbands side of the family thought that it was an unnecessary risk (saw this coming from a mile away), but he was behind me 100% so that was fine. I also have a few coworkers that had already started telling me I needed to slow down when just taking the stairs between floors, and expressed their own passive aggressive judgements. My advice here, is that you know what your body can do. Someone who doesn't have the same kind of goals isn't likely to understand, and you have every right to manage your pregnancy in a way that works for you, especially if you've already sought a medical opinion. That was my go to response - "my doctor said it was cool"  ̄_(ツ)_/ ̄ 

One thing I will say is that the exhaustion, food aversions and nausea/vomiting hit HARD at about 6 weeks, and that was a significant challenge. At 5 weeks, I ran an easy pace 18mi day in the local mountains and had an absolute blast, and the next week I barely ran, and just tried to adjust to my new norm. It was a good lesson in listening to my body and trying to give myself some grace/not treat a training plan like it's the law. It's in the name; it's a plan. I also discovered that my food aversions appeared to pretty much be to anything but fruit, so getting calories in became almost impossible. I wasn't diagnosed until 10 weeks, so 2 weeks post race, but did end up being diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) after losing 15lbs in the first trimester (5'5, started at 160lbs). I want to emphasize that this was not because I was still running, and my OB never told me I needed to stop. On days that felt awful, I didn't run, and on days were I felt like I could I did.

Ok- race day! I ran the Sun Mountain 50K in Winthrop, and was lucky enough to have practically perfect conditions. I was concerned about not getting my heart rate too high and not getting too hot, and the weather really handled the second one for me. Even had a light dusting of snow falling at the highest point, super pretty with all the wildflowers. I also realized 2 days ahead that I could still grit my teeth and power through a box of Annie's white shells without it coming back up, so managed to get some carbs in leading up to the start line. That being said, thicker gels like GU and solid foods were not possible in this race for me. Had some nausea mid-race but a woman working one of the aid stations encouraged me to try a gin-gin, which I think actually did help.

One thing I wasn't thrilled about, I did take a fall around 25 miles just from being too tired to pick up my feet, stupid tree root for not getting out of my way! Took it mostly to the knees and hands, but it wasn't an insignificant one. However, this did not cause any problems for me other than some anxiety. I told my doctor about it when we got back, and he had me come in for a quick check and the heartbeat was chugging away in there! It was my first time hearing it, I'm not a crier but that one got me.

I would describe the overall experience as a really formative and powerful moment. The effort that it took to complete this race was much higher compared to other 50K's I've run, so that's something to be prepared for. Your blood volume is already very different by this point in the first trimester and I was getting out of breath hiking up steeper climbs. I've completed my previous 50K's all in under 6 hours, this one took 7:45. It honestly felt like I had been dropped into the last 50K of my 100M, like I'd just started at 60 miles and gone from there. I'd encourage anyone considering something similar to talk with their doctor, and also just focus on having realistic goals that are tailored to your situation. I'm proud of what our bodies can do!

I have run 4 100 milers and my 5th is Leadville 100. I have worked this summer but not a ton of volume (up to 50 MPW). I work a swing shift job so regimented training has been tough for this one since I switch between days and nights and 12 hour shifts. What would you good folks recommend for maximizing training in this last month? I can realistically only run 4 times per week and I have every other weekend off.

I am looking for footage from the Leadville 100 from 1996 to the early 00s. Please reach out if you have any from this era! Thanks in advance.

Just kidding - definitely not my first ultra (but I'm also not a seasoned vet either). This was the Last Annual Vol State road race and ran from Dorena Landing, MO to Castle Rock, GA. This was a bucket list race for me and definitely lived up to the hype. I've never experienced something quite like it and am hoping to run it many times in the future. AMA

Curious to see if anyone here has done the London 100? Signed up with a few of my friends, and want to know more about the race! The route from 2026 is just perfect 😍 getting 100km thru the city of London. Couldn’t ask for much more!!

yes, this is a road ultra, so to some it’s not as compelling, and hard for the knees.

I’ve tried to read through various blogs and summaries but am also a bit confused.

I’m a heavy sweater and have always struggled in the heat. I live in the PNW so we don’t tend to get TOO hot, but we do - the bigger problem is it’s random and drops back down to cooler temps so you never really get to fully adjust to those hotter temperatures.

I was thinking I’d finally try heat training this year (already late but better than never?) but I don’t have my own sauna. I can buy a sauna pass at a local place, but they also require you coming in clean/showered/etc.

A lot of what I read online talks about doing a heat session immediately following a training session. For a number of reasons I think this simply wouldn’t be feasible.

Sooo - would “randomly” but consistently sprinkling in 20-30min sauna sessions still be beneficial or am I still missing something and I wouldn’t get the adaptation benefits? Would a longer session help?

I’m still new to Washington. I live nearish to Seattle and I really want long single track or or forestry road doesn’t matter. But is everything in Washington made for mountain bikers or extremely technical and windy af. Somebody help. I’m desperate. I just came from Cali where the mountains are long, open & gradually build. Anyway thanks so much for taking the time to reply !

https://www.thesfmarathon.com/full-marathon/

Right now I only have the Maurten gels thats recommended by reddit. My trusty Soloman vest with two squeezable bottles I put water in, and the Openrun headphone for my gears. Don't think this will be enough, any experienced/seasonal ultra peeps here can pitch in what to get a few days before the run? From my experience, there will be plenty of stations for the second loop, but I don't think that alone can replenish/ease some of the exhaustion/blisters I get throughout.

First loop posted on strava above ^ and starts at 10:15PM this Saturday July 25th.

Second loop (posted on the actual website) starts 5:30AM the next day and there will be time to rest/change up in between.

First time doing a 52.4 and while I am confident of surviving the first loop, I have actually not done a distance longer than a single marathon.

For training I always do 15-17 miles twice a week, with a few miles in between the two long runs. I have done the regular SFM for the last few years, this will be my fourth one and want to complete an ultra before turning 25.

My previous PR is 4h30 but lots of trainings since then, could be down to near or even sub 4 (16-17 miler with the same route & hills usually around 8:40-8:50 pace).

Any advice is appreciated thanks!

This year's ultra first loop is kind of a scam, we are looping back and forth on a route that I do (most of) twice a week for free.

Does anyone know if the Canyons 100mi is officially the America's Major for 2027? I'm starting to collect stones to hopefully run Mont Blanc in a couple years and was hoping to do a 100mi race with double stones.

I've seen different answers about the America Major for next year- Kodiak and Canyons. Has there been an official announcement? Appreciate any help!

Anyone else running Crazy Mountain 100 this week?

Looking at NWS, the temps are going to be HOT. In the mountains it'll be a bit cooler, but the fiirst big climbs out of Ibex are gonna be hell. 98 degrees in Big Timber for Friday as a high, and 68 as a low.

Anyone have any pro tips for keeping cool? I plan on bringing a cooling towel, and 3L water capacity in my AdvSkn 12 with the filter.

Can't decide if this is too hot for sunshirt and short sleeves would be better.

Can't believe it's here! Training has been less than ideal, but I'm just looking to finish. Original goal was sub 30 hours, but with the weather and not so ideal training I'm shifting. Anyone else?

I'm also going to camp at the finish and shuttle to the start

Over the last few weeks I feel like there’s been an uptick in “check out my website/app/training plan designer” posts, and they are all blatantly AI products.

Can we get rid of these?

Training for my first 100k this fall, and the section I’m most nervous about is a 11 mile stretch with 4500ft elevation gain. The highest elevation gain I can get in my trail runs around here is typically 200-300/ft per mile. Does anyone have any tips on preparing for much steeper climb than they can train on?

Hey, I booked an accommodation in Sadova near Campulung Moldovenesc for the Bukovina Ultra Rocks race, but unfortunately I'm most likely not coming through injury. Anyone interested please let me know in a message. Cheers.

ran my first ultra (woo!) and subsequently developed tendinitis. I know what the cause is (I did not hill train enough and the massive drops definitely stressed out the knees).

Working with a PT but I’m curious about anecdotal experience w quadriceps tendinitis. Anyone have any tips or advice on how to deal with it? Seems like it’s mild so I’m not super worried but it’s also a form of tendinitis none of my other runner friends have dealt with.

Hi everyone. I’m hoping to get some perspective from this community because I’m struggling to figure out if this is normal ultrarunning burnout, accumulated fatigue, or something else.

I’m a 33-year-old female runner training for my first 12-hour ultramarathon at the end of August. My goal is to run 50 miles, and when I signed up for this race, I was genuinely excited. I wanted the challenge and I wanted to see what I could do.

The confusing part is that I don’t feel like I’m physically failing.

My training volume has actually been really strong. My normal mileage is around 65–70 miles per week, but recently I’ve been averaging closer to 75 miles/week. This week I hit 77 miles.

Today was supposed to be my 20-mile long run.

I stopped at 15.

About two miles into the run, I started dry heaving (I think from taking in too much salt before I started). After that passed, my body actually felt okay. My legs felt good. Physically, I probably could have kept going.

But mentally, I was completely checked out.

And that’s the part that is bothering me.

This is the third week in a row that I’ve cut my long run short. The first two weeks had understandable reasons (weather and other circumstances). Today was different.

Today was purely mental.

The last year has been a lot. I was diagnosed with hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS), on top of managing ankylosing spondylitis. I’ve spent so much time dealing with appointments, imaging, PT, learning how my body works now, managing joint instability and symptoms, and trying to figure out how to keep doing the sport I love.

Then I had another major setback: I fractured my second metatarsal and was unable to run for 3.5 months. Losing running during that time was incredibly difficult mentally because it’s such a huge part of my life and identity.

I was also supposed to run the London Marathon, and due to everything going on, that didn’t happen. Instead of really processing that disappointment, I got back to running, trained for Flat Rock in June, and then moved directly into training for this 12-hour ultra.

Looking back, I don’t think I ever really recovered mentally.

I think I’m burned out.

Not because I don’t love running. I do.

The weird thing is, I still have moments where the excitement is there. I’m actually really excited about the upcoming Falmouth Road Race and genuinely think I can beat my time from last year. That race has given me a spark that I haven’t felt with my ultra training lately.

I also realized recently that I’m lonelier than I thought. One of my closest running friends recently had a baby, so we haven’t been able to run together for over a month. Those runs weren’t just miles. They were connection, laughter, accountability, and something I looked forward to every week.

Without that, running has started feeling much more like a task.

I think what scares me is that I’m usually the person who pushes through. I’ve run marathons, chased big goals, and finished hard things. So stopping at 15 miles feels very unlike me.

I’m not looking for someone to tell me to quit. I still want this goal. I still want to see what I can do at my 12-hour race.

I’m just trying to figure out how to find the spark again.

For those of you who have trained for ultras, especially while dealing with injury, chronic illness, or major life stress:

• Have you ever had a period where your body was capable, but your brain just said “nope”?
• How do you know when you need to push through versus when you need a reset?
• Did you change your training, take a break, find new motivation, run with others, or just keep showing up until it came back?

I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who has been through something similar.

Thanks for reading. ❤️

Did anyone else do the TRTer 100 this weekend? Whoa Nelly beautiful but hard. My watch says it was 17k+ of gain. It felt like more.

But this one is more about advice on what to eat between runs. I've basically got an ultra every other weekend at the moment. I've done one, and have 3 more coming up.

They are all short (for ultras) at 30-34 miles each, and I don't run them hard, but they are hilly and still a challenge Just wandering what the best approach is nutrition-wise to recovering from the last one while also preparing for the next one.

I'm not running much between the races, just a few shorter runs each week to keep my legs ticking over. So I don't want to eat too much and end up carrying a load of extra weight!

Oh, and I have a 50 miler in September too, but that's about 4 weeks after my last 30 miler

I have a 24-hour race coming up mid-October. It kind of snuck up on me and I realized I only have 12 weeks to train. I've put together this training plan based on others I've seen and would like critiques on it.

I've completed four 24-hour races before (furthest distance was 61 miles last October) and a 50k earlier this year, but I've never followed a training plan -- I just wing it every time. I'd like to take it more seriously this time because I messed up my shins last October and developed IT band syndrome after the 50k. (I'm recovered from both, but I learned my lesson.)

I'm currently running 6-7.5mi/day with some "longer" 9-10 mile runs and zero rest days. 40-55mi weekly. I'm pretty comfortable at 50mpw and think I'm in a good spot currently, but like I said I want to take training more seriously this time around. Any and all advice is welcome!

I’m a 27F runner in Denver. I’ve ran an handful of half marathons and have been debating signing up for a road marathon or 50k ultra. I signed up to run a 50k on 9/26/26 in Colorado.

Any advice on a training plan? Or nutrition/prep? Weekly mileage?

Currently I average 15-20mi weeks running 3x/wk and strength training 3x/wk. I get my long runs are now gonna be on trail and I should probably do b2b running days on weekends. Right now I use the Nike app and like it because it has a free half marathon plan but they don’t have a free one for ultras.

Hey guys,
Got my first ultra coming up in 3 weeks. It’s a 40 mile trail race with ~4000 ft of elevation. Longest training run I’ve had has been 12 miles which I’ve done 4 of them. Wanted to go longer but my main focus was showing to race day healthy. My peak week was last week with 30 miles and 2700 feet of gain. I’m feeling strong, healthy, and ready. Any tips for someone who’s running 27 miles longer than they ever had before?
Thanks

Heard from my friend just ran Eiger Ultra Trail. Turns out mixed teams get lumped into the same ranking as all-male teams — no separate category, one leaderboard for both.

https://live.utmb.world/de/eigerultratrail/2026/E250

Is this just normal setup in ultra race as they treat female and male indifferent in long distance?

My boyfriend attempted his 4th 100-miler this weekend, and I found myself in a position that felt impossible. I’m not an ultrarunner, so I know there’s a lot of suffering that’s considered “normal.” But he came into the first aid station with blue lips, dizziness, confusion, lethargy, and later progressed to repeated vomiting, shivering, and couldn’t keep any food down. A race medic independently noticed his blue lips and wanted him to warm up before continuing.

His pacer, who is an experienced ultra runner, felt this was a normal low and encouraged him to keep going. I wasn’t trying to convince him to quit I just wanted a medic to evaluate him before continuing because I couldn’t ignore what I was seeing.
Being caught between encouraging someone you love to chase a goal and worrying that you’re watching them become medically unsafe was honestly unbearable.

For those with more experience: where do you draw that line? What symptoms make you stop thinking “this is just ultrarunning” and start thinking “this needs medical evaluation?” I genuinely want to learn how experienced runners and crew make that judgment.

My boyfriend never admits to pain. He never wants to worry anyone ever, he’s the strongest man I know. So I was extremely proud of him when he told me something was wrong. Everyone was telling him he’d be ok because “they’ve pushed through it before”. But my boyfriend’s baseline is different.

I’m afraid my empathic and nurturing reaction held him back from finishing. I never told him he couldn’t do it. I told him to trust himself and the medics. He did exactly that and I couldn’t be more proud. I can’t help but feel guilt and worry that I have a part in his post DNF grief. I wanna know the best way I can be there for him. Thank you for reading 🤍

I started making youtube videos of my training for my first 100 miler check it out😁