Beyond the Blog: What I Learned About Ultra-Running

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Ultra-running Things I Learned:
* Being horizontal is the single most important aspect to recovery.  I was in my bed for 10 to 11 hours minimum even if I only slept 8.
* Rehydrating at night for as many midnight trips to the bathroom as you can stand. I kept Gatorade and water by my bed and made sure
 they were empty in the morning.  Flushing out toxins is the only way to keep your legs usable over weeks at a time.
* Its okay to eat junk calories if that's what it takes.  Probably not a good strategy for longer than a month.
* The easiest calories are the ones you drink...my Gatorade/Tailwind mix was a huge factor in getting cals and keeping going.
* Setting psychological micro-goals is critcal to keeping a positive outlook, which is another key to long term performance.
* I originally had aid stations and support every 8 miles when plannning the routes. It turned out I needed them every 3 miles on average, every 2 miles at the end
* If you can carry a walkie talkie, do so.  this helped avoid serious problems and many times it helped with logistics. The range on ours was just over a mile.
* Coffee, regrettably, is not your friend.  I weaned off of it for 2 weeks (but I'm falling off the wagon as I type).
* I probably had a beer every night. It didn't kill me and it was part of my calorie intake.
* Being Completely Honest, Part I: I became somewhat addicted to taking Ambien at night because of my anxiety about getting enough sleep.  I will work on weaning myself off of it. Which of course is completely counter-intuitive to my increased caffeine intake.  
* Being Completely Honest, Part II:  If you take anything to avoid potty emergencies during the day, let's just say it WILL catch up to you. But its okay for a day or two.
* Being Completely Honest, Part III: Woman, man, or anywhere in between...lube up! You cannot afford rawness or chafing anywhere, and once it starts its hard to reverse.
* I rotated running shoes every day and ran in sandals on several occasions just to give my shattered toes a break.

...more to come...

Godspeed, 

R.

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