Marathoners: Are You Hitting The Wall?
August 21, 2009
Filed under Cross Training, Running
When a hobby turns into an obsession, the body–and mind–can give out.
In 1992, then marketing director Dean Karnazes set off on a midnight run from San Francisco. It was an impulsive decision that Karnazes admits was fueled by drunkenness. But once he experienced the initial rush of long-distance running–he covered 30 miles that night–Karnazes couldn't quit. What then started as a weekend hobby quickly became a life-changing passion–maybe even an addiction.
Karnazes, now 45, is one of the world's most accomplished endurance athletes. He has completed 50 marathons in 50 days, raced 135 miles across Death Valley and mountain biked for 24 consecutive hours. Surprisingly, the one thing he hasn't experienced is burnout.
"I've trained with guys who are much superior athletes to me, and they've burned out over the years," Karnazes says. "The thing that's kept me so passionate about what I do is that I enjoy competing against myself more than anyone else."
It's an admirable ethos, one that surely resonates with anyone who has made the transition from casual exerciser to athlete. But burnout, a physiological and psychological response to overtraining, can rob a person of his or her athletic ability and, even worse, the drive to perform.
From Athlete to Burnout
It wasn't until recently that the average American began harboring athletic ambitions even approaching those of Karnazes. Mark Aoyagi, director of sport and performance psychology at the University of Denver, says that until the fitness craze of the 1980s, most Americans used their bodies at demanding factory or manufacturing jobs, not on the weekend–and certainly not for recreation.
But once scientists better understood the link between exercise and health, which had pop culture evangelists like Jane Fonda and Jack LaLanne, new fitness habits were born. It wasn't long before the feats of extreme athletes, who scaled impossible mountains and ran for hundreds of miles at a time, became interesting to Americans who had tired of 10-kilometer runs.
In 2007, according to the Web site MarathonGuide.com, an estimated 407,000 people finished a marathon, compared with 299,000 in 2000. New interest in endurance activities isn't unique to running. The Outdoor Industry Association, a trade group, conducted an online survey this year and noticed incremental growth in many adventure sports. Among the 41,500 respondents, for example, more than 7,800 backpacked overnight, an 18.5% increase from 2006. Trail running and mountain biking also saw similar increases.
To Rob BonDurant, vice president of marketing at the outdoors company Patagonia, these figures aren't surprising. The participants, he says, thrive on challenging physical and mental boundaries.
But try telling all this to someone experiencing the first stages of burnout. He or she feels listless and sapped of the motivation and physical will to perform. Technically, says Mark Aoyagi at the University of Denver, the condition is known as "depersonalization." It's the overwhelming sense that you're no longer in control.
The fatigue is commonly triggered by overexertion and coincides with an increasing resting heart rate, a sure sign that the body is struggling. The prolonged exhaustion that happens when the body stops adapting to a training regimen is known as "staleness." If this continues for too long, it becomes official burnout.
"Once burnout has set in, you're done," says Aoyagi. "People who do get burnout will never get back to the point they were [at] before."
Preventing Burnout
How can a hobby-turned-passion go so awry? Aoyagi says it's a matter of failing to heed the warning signs (fatigue, lack of motivation) early on. Burnout victims, he says, also tend to forget why they've pushed themselves so hard in the first place.
So how does someone like Dean Karnazes, who still racks up hundreds of miles some weeks, remain unaffected by burnout? Just by resting when he needs to. Even an endurance athlete of his ability simply skips training sessions when he's overly tired. "I try to listen to my body more than anything else," he says.
BonDurant says burnout can be avoided by goal-setting, particularly if that benchmark involves doing what seems impossible. The best remedy, he says, is being told no.
"Tell an endurance athlete that they can't achieve something," he says, "and they'll go out and prove you wrong."
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You CAN run an ultra-marathon!
August 16, 2009
Filed under Running
GOING BEYOND 26.2 MILES IS TOTALLY INSANE!!!!!!!!!! The image above is a guy working on finishing the Badwater Ultramarathon. It’s a 134 mile race from the lowest part in the United States to the Highest. That’s hardcore, not to mention that the race goes through Death Valley in the summer when the average temperature is 120. An ultramarathon is any race longer than 26.2 miles. It can be done, but ultramarathons are not something you do to get or stay healthy. They can really beat your body up. I am not saying never try it, I did it, but it’s not for everyone. Even before I wanted to do a marathon I desired the ultra. I read about a guy who ran 50 miles and I just could not believe it. That made me want to do what I couldn’t believe was possible. It took me a long time to do it. I did several marathons first and then I slowly worked my way up the ultra ladder by doing the shortest races first until I reached 50 miles. I just don’t have the time to train for anything longer than that. If you have running experience you can give it a shot. I also talked to my doctor before I did an ultra. He was not real excited about it, but he told me I was healthy. You should do the same. If you don’t have experience and want to do an ultra, keep it on the back burner until you have some, but don’t forget about your dreams. Here are some resources to help you get started.
- Ultra running resource site. Just about all you need to know.
- Runners world ultramarathon training
- Hal Higdon 50 miler training
- UltraLadies 100 miler training schedule
12 Secrets to Being The Perfect Human
August 14, 2009
Filed under Running
The Perfect Human
DEAN KARNAZES WAS SLOBBERING DRUNK. IT WAS HIS 30TH BIRTHDAY, and he’d started with beer and moved on to tequila shots at a bar near his home in San Francisco. Now, after midnight, an attractive young woman – not his wife – was hitting on him. This was not the life he’d imagined for himself. He was a corporate hack desperately running the rat race. The company had just bought him a new Lexus. He wanted to vomit. Karnazes resisted the urge and, instead, slipped out the bar’s back door and walked the few blocks to his house. On the back porch, he found an old pair of sneakers. He stripped down to his T-shirt and underwear, laced up the shoes, and started running. It seemed like a good idea at the time.
He sobered up in Daly City, about 15 miles south. It was nearly four in the morning. The air was cool, slightly damp from the fog, and Karnazes was in a residential neighborhood, burping tequila, with no pants on. He felt ridiculous, but it brought a smile to his face. He hadn’t had this much fun in a long time. So he decided to keep running.
When the sun came up, Karnazes was trotting south along Route 1, heading toward Santa Cruz. He had covered 30 miles. In the process, he’d had a blinding realization: There were untapped reservoirs within him. It was like a religious conversion. He had been born again as a long-distance runner. More than anything else now, he wanted to find out how far he could go. But at that exact moment, what he really needed to do was stop. He called his wife from a pay phone, and an hour later she found him in the parking lot of a 7-Eleven. He passed out in the car on the way home.
That was August 1992. Over the next 14 years, Karnazes challenged almost every known endurance running limit. He covered 350 miles without sleeping. (It took more than three days.) He ran the first and only marathon to the South Pole (finishing second), and a few months ago, at age 44, he completed 50 marathons in 50 consecutive days, one in each of the 50 states. (The last one was in New York City. After that, he decided to run home to San Francisco.) Karnazes’ transformation from a tequila-sodden party animal into an international symbol of human achievement is as educational as it is inspirational. Here’s his advice for pushing athletic performance from the unthinkable to the untouchable.
1. BE AUDACIOUS
Finding the right challenge is the first challenge. "Any goal worth achieving involves an element of risk," Karnazes says in his autobiography, Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner. Risk, yes, and creativity too. For instance, looking for the ultimate endurance running challenge, in 1995 Karnazes entered a 199-mile relay race – by himself. He competed against eight teams of 12 and finished eighth.
2. GO LACELESS
One of the biggest annoyances in long-distance running is lace management. After banging out 50 miles, it can be hard to squat or even bend over long enough to tie your shoes. The North Face recently responded to Karnazes’ complaints and came out with the $130 M Endurus XCR Boa. Its laceless upper is enmeshed in thin steel cables that connect to a tension dial at the back. A simple turn cinches the shoe onto the foot. No more slowing down to fiddle with laces.
3. FLIRT WITH DISASTER
In 1995, Karnazes ran his first Badwater Ultramarathon, a 135-mile trek that starts in Death Valley, California, in the middle of summer and finishes at the Mt. Whitney Portals, 8,360 feet above sea level. After running 72 miles in 120-degree heat, Karnazes collapsed on the side of the road suffering from hallucinations, diarrhea, and nausea. He had pushed himself to the point of death to find out whether he was strong enough to survive. He was. Though he didn’t finish the race that year, Karnazes came back the next and placed 10th. He won it on his fifth attempt, in 2004. "Somewhere along the line, we seem to have confused comfort with happiness," he says.
4. EAT JUNK – LOTS OF IT
You wouldn’t believe the stuff Karnazes consumes on a run. He carries a cell phone and regularly orders an extra-large Hawaiian pizza. The delivery car waits for him at an intersection, and when he gets there he grabs the pie and rams the whole thing down his gullet on the go. The trick: Roll it up for easy scarfing. He’ll chase the pizza with cheesecake, cinnamon buns, chocolate éclairs, and all-natural cookies. The high-fat pig-out fuels Karnazes’ long jaunts, which can burn more than 9,000 calories a day. What he needs is massive amounts of energy, and fat contains roughly twice as many calories per gram as carbohydrates. Hence, pizza and éclairs. When he’s not in the midst of some record-breaking exploit, Karnazes maintains a monkish diet, eating grilled salmon five nights a week. He strictly avoids processed sugars and fried foods – no cookies or doughnuts. He even tries to steer clear of too much fruit because it contains a lot of sugar. He believes this approach – which nutritionists call a slow-carb diet – has reshaped him, lowering his body fat and building lean muscle. It also makes him look forward to running a race, because he can eat whatever he wants.
5. CUT BACK ON SLEEP
Karnazes has a wife and two kids, and he worked a 9-to-5 job for the first eight years of his quest to transcend his own limits. Finding four hours for a 30-mile run during the day was next to impossible. The solution: sleep less. "Forgoing sleep is the only way I’ve figured out how to fit it all in," he says, noting that running in the dark can be soothing. Plus, there’s less traffic to contend with. He now gets about four hours of shut-eye a night. Before he started running, however, he was just a regular guy who got a regular eight. As he started to run more, he found that he could sleep less. The National Sleep Foundation reports that exercise does lead to more restful sleep, and Karnazes takes this idea to the extreme. "The human body," he says, "is capable of extraordinary feats."
6. SHOW YOUR BODY WHO’S BOSS
"The human body has limitations," Karnazes says. "The human spirit is boundless." Your mind, in other words, is your most important muscle. As a running buddy told him: "Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention to arrive safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming: Wow!! What a ride!"
7. GET A COOL WATCH
Karnazes wears a souped-up Timex that monitors his speed, distance, calories burned, and elevation, all of which is critical for deciding when to order the next pizza while in the midst of a 200-mile trek. Besides letting him order a pie on the run, his cell phone uses specialized GPS software to broadcast his location to the Internet for all to see. It’s fun to follow his icon rolling across the digital landscape, but it’s also useful when Karnazes disappears into the night. If he ever pushes himself too hard and collapses, his people can locate him. And fans would know something was wrong if his signal landed on top of a hospital icon.
8. LEARN TO LOVE KRAZY GLUE
If something goes wrong – and it inevitably will – it’s usually with Karnazes’ feet. In races and on training runs, he has battled giant, foot-devouring blisters. A surprisingly effective treatment: Krazy Glue. Pop the blister, slather the wound with the super-adhesive, and voilà – your foot is ready to take a beating again. The glue acts as a kind of indestructible second skin and has helped Karnazes finish competitions he wouldn’t have otherwise. (Officially, Krazy Glue recommends avoiding all contact with skin.)
9. GET USED TO IT
If you’re going to explore the boundaries of human endurance, you’ll have to learn to adapt to more and more pain. To prepare for the searing heat of the Badwater race, Karnazes went on 30-mile jogs wearing a ski parka over a wool sweater. He trained himself to urinate while running. He got so he could go out and run a marathon on any given day – no mileage buildup or tapering required. This training made the extreme seem ordinary and made the impossible seem the next logical step. Eventually, when he grew accustomed to the pain, it stopped hurting. "There is magic in misery," he says.
10. PROMOTE THE HELL OUT OF YOURSELF
Before he became Superman, Karnazes was the Clark Kent of the PR world: a humdrum marketing executive at a pharmaceutical company. But in the past three years, he’s published a memoir, nabbed a sponsorship from the North Face, appeared on Late Show With David Letterman, and gotten himself on the cover of a handful of magazines. The book and the North Face contract generate enough money to support his family, and the high profile translates into maximum motivation: Failure is scarier when the family income is on the line.
11. BREAK IT DOWN
Fifty-six miles into his first Western States Endurance Run – one of the oldest 100-mile races in the country – Karnazes found himself alone entering a canyon at twilight. It was tough going – the trek boasts a total elevation change of 38,000 feet. With 44 miles to go, his spirit was flagging, but he found a way to make it seem conquerable: He remembered the next checkpoint would leave only a marathon and two 10Ks left to go. He knew he could run each leg, and that helped him achieve the whole.
12. AVOID KRYPTONITE
Forget tequila. Karnazes has given up hard drinking. His big vice these days: chocolate-covered espresso beans.
Athletes over 40 hurtle past records, stereotypes
 Matt Carpenter, 43 Carpenter – owner of a 90.2 VO2 max, a record high for the measurement of efficient oxygen use – leaps a gulley at Garden of the Gods. The runner is often a winner of the Pikes Peak Ascent and the Pikes Peak Marathon. Photo by Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post |
Jason Blevins The Denver Post
The familiar doubt arrived, haunting Marshall Ulrich.
"You are too old for this."
It was 114 degrees, and 56-year-old Ulrich was 35 miles into July’s Badwater Ultramarathon, a 135-mile race that climbs from California’s Death Valley to the flanks of Mount Whitney. Ulrich was crossing Death Valley for the 20th time in his running career, and things were looking grim. He’d lost 6 pounds since the start. His legs felt leaden, his breathing was labored. He was cramping. Sweat pouring. He was dead last in a race he’d won four times.
Maybe he’d pushed too hard, racing across the Gobi Desert, taking on an adventure race in Virginia and an ultramarathon through the Swiss Alps during the two months prior. Maybe after two decades of endless running in 117 ultra competitions and a dozen expedition-length adventure races and summiting the highest peaks in each continent, he was nearing his end at the top.
Maybe he was simply too old.
"I definitely thought about that for a little bit," he says, leaning back into a leather chair at his home perched above St. Mary’s Glacier.
"I had to give myself a little talk and say, ‘So what?’ I had to stop feeling sorry for myself. So I’m suffering. Big deal. I expect to suffer, and really, I just don’t care. You have to remember you always come back."
After an hour in the medical tent and a gallon of water, Ulrich found his inner champion and passed more than 40 other racers on his way to the finish the next day.
Turns out age wasn’t a factor. For Ulrich and an impressive roster of other over-40 athletes, a combination of smart training and the wisdom of experience lets them stay competitive.
They aren’t winning despite their age. They are winning because of their age.
Oxygen-burning machines
"What we are seeing is a new phenomenon in that we have athletes who are basically athletes their entire lives," says Chris Carmichael, Colorado Springs training maestro to Lance Armstrong and a former pro bike racer who finished his second Leadville 100 this year at the age of 46, this time in less than nine hours.
"They just keep on going. They just keep on getting more efficient with their use of oxygen. After years and years of aerobic training and competing, they are, in a sense, smarter athletes."
And they compete in an evolving playing field that is turning recreation into sport. What were once multi-day or several-week hikes – like the Colorado Trail or the Kokopelli Trail – are now venues for nonstop endurance races. Marathons, once the pinnacle of athletic achievement, are mere training runs for ultra races that span at least 50, but more often 100, miles.
 Front page of the Sunday, 10/21/2007, Denver Post |
Adventure racing, which draws teams so fast that the biggest weeklong races sell out in a matter of hours, has evolved into a contest for those who can suffer the most and still keep moving.
Take Bernie Boettcher. On his 45th birthday last month, the Silt legend reset his master-class record and logged his fourth overall win at the Imogene Pass race above Telluride. It was his 267th race in 260 consecutive weeks. In those five years of every-weekend racing in sneakers and snowshoes, he’s tallied 115 wins and 208 master-class wins.
"At the end of suffering, there is a reward, and it’s a really neat feeling to overcome that suffering," says Boettcher, his blue eyes gleaming beneath his trademark wide-brim straw hat. "After a while, that feeling is irresistible. You plow on through because you know it’s so good."
Passion before performance
A common thread found among Colorado’s venerable elite – aside, of course, from natural athletic talent – is a late competitive start. Most didn’t begin their full-tilt racing career until their mid-30s or even later.
"Maybe that’s because we have a different set of expectations and the passion came before the performance, where a lot of guys who started young had the performance first and then lost the passion," says Matt Carpenter, a rarely beaten world-class runner who, at 43, just won both the Pikes Peak Ascent and Pikes Peak Marathon in the same weekend.
"You have to look pretty hard to find young guys with the level of passion some of us old guys bring."
A few months ago, Carpenter teamed up with Ned Overend, a 52-year-old mountain biker from Durango, to win the team contest in the Teva Mountain Games. The two gray-haired athletes giddily beat some of the strongest young competitors in outdoor sports.
"I have a lot more respect now for the old-man strength, and I know now, once the gun goes off, forget the age groups. It’s every man for himself," says 29-year-old Josiah Middaugh, a nationally ranked triathlete from Vail who has lost several times to some of Colorado’s toughest over-40 racers.
The passion of the extraordinary elders is anchored in a steadfast love for training. Sure, for outdoor athletes, training means going for runs and rides in the woods. Who doesn’t like that? But when it comes to competing at an elite level, training involves somewhere around 40 hours a week of heavy work, not a weekend ride or two.
And after a couple of decades of training, the older athletes learn a few tricks – like how to taper and how to make it fun – that keep them in shape while staving off dreaded burnout.
They have trained for so long, their fitness level is staggering and it stays high. They aren’t rolling off the couch to prep for a race. They are building on decades of work.
"Training is a part of our lifestyle," says Overend, who was twice ranked as the world’s top rider and still levels virtually all rivals who pedal against him.
"Racing is important, but training is absolutely important. … You have to build momentum, get the right intensity and volume and find the right recovery time. It’s complicated, and it changes all the time. "
Wisdom of the war horse
The right training regimen fosters the right mental game – and that’s where some over-40 athletes say they have the sharpest edge over their younger rivals. It’s the same for most sports, where the old war horses know the strategies of a contest and carry the confidence and expertise they need to defeat stronger adversaries.
"Physically, I know there are people on the starting line who are probably stronger than me, but that doesn’t mean I cannot beat them," says Vail’s Mike Kloser, a 47-year-old husband, dad of two teenagers, director of activities at Beaver Creek and the world’s most accomplished adventure racer – who still rides a mountain bike like he’s being pursued by wolves.
"It might actually mean I am more able to beat them, because they rely less on their mental game. The mental game is a huge factor."
So long as that mental war is waged before the start of the race. While a younger racer might be strategizing and obsessing during a race, veterans know that in competition they have to remain in the moment.
"For me the mental part isn’t really a part of it. I just get out there, and it’s too overwhelmingly physical to get stressed," says Dave Wiens, a mountain biking champion who beat Floyd Landis and his own record in his fifth win at the grueling Leadville 100 race this summer. "A lot of it is attitude. You are going to be as old as you think you are. I like to think I’m only 43."
Motivation is a varying characteristic among older athletes. For racers such as Carpenter, Kloser and Boettcher, it’s all about winning. Some race to win, but they race for other reasons. Wiens and Overend are so in love with riding, they will race long after they lose that perch on the top podium.
Winning for a cause
As for Sedalia runner Diane Van Deren, she races to win so that her message will be trumpeted.
A dozen years ago, surgeons told Van Deren her career as a pro tennis player was over. The chunk of seizure-scarred tissue they were carving from her brain would take with it her athletic excellence. Today, the 47-year-old mother of three is on track to become the most accomplished female endurance trail runner in the country.
Last month, she placed fifth overall at the 50-mile Dances With Dirt ultra in Hell, Mich., dominating the women’s field, setting a masters record and beating all but four of the male racers who lined up at the start.
She found herself grinning at the same panting question from several racers she passed: "Do you mind if I ask how old you are?"
"When I win, I use it as a tool to raise awareness of brain injuries. It’s not about me. It’s about what I can do with that win," says Van Deren, a North Face-sponsored runner who works closely with patients, administrators and doctors at Craig Hospital.
"I want to take a gift I have as an athlete and use it to the best of my ability. My legs are my voice."
Ditto for ultramarathoner Ulrich, who has raised more than $250,000 for the St. Lucy Filippini Health Center in Hamelmalo, Eritrea, through his tireless running and fundraising.
"When I was young, it was an ego thing – pushing myself to see what made me tick," Ulrich says.
"Then I got that figured out and found another motivation. Knowing I’m doing it for someone else keeps me going. If it was just for myself, I wouldn’t do it. I guess I’m kind of getting over myself."
MATT CARPENTER, 43
Carpenter just changed his motto. It used to be:
"Go out hard. When it hurts, speed up."
Now it’s:
"Train like you’re young, and race like you’re young."
"I’m not making any concessions to age. I think the key word is denial," says the father of one, whose particular skill is running up and down mountains.
Carpenter says he is stronger than ever before, but maybe not as fast. Judging by his recent performance on his home hill, Pikes Peak – winning both the ascent and marathon in two days – it’s hard to see any declines in speed. Besides, a decline in Carpenter’s world means that his dominant wins are simply less dominating.
The 122-pound racer chooses his contests carefully and does not lose. Arguably the best mountain runner in the world, Carpenter logged a VO2 max of 90.2 in 1990, the highest ever recorded for a runner. (VO2 max is considered a benchmark of fitness and measures the amount of oxygen a person can extract from circulating blood and distribute to muscles during high exertion.)
Learn more about Carpenter, one of the more opinionated and colorful runners, at www.skyrunner.com.
DAVE WIENS, 43
Wiens owns the Leadville 100 bike race.
The five-time winner of the ridiculously difficult race put a special effort into this summer’s competition, knowing that Floyd Landis, and possibly Lance Armstrong, would be racing.
For training this spring, he rode the Kokopelli Trail Race from Fruita to Moab – scorching the 142-mile desert race in 12 hours, 45 minutes.
It paid off. When push came to shove in the final leg of this year’s Leadville race, it was Landis pushing Wiens – and the Gunnison father of three boys shoved harder.
Born and raised in Denver, Wiens started racing pro after graduating from Western State College in 1988. Wiens officially "retired" from racing in 2004, but that was before the two-time national mountain biking champion won his four Leadville 100s, the inaugural 125-mile Vapor Trail Race and the Crested Butte Classic 100.
Obviously he has his own definition of "retired."
"It’s kind of an obsession. That’s a problem I have. I am going to have a hard time defining ‘the end,"’ he says. "While winning is certainly more fun, I think losing has way more to offer in terms of character building. I’m going to do Leadville until I get beat. And then I’ll probably do it again."
BERNIE BOETTCHER, 45
Boettcher lives to run in the hills. Not just jogging, but racing and beating everyone who lines up against him.
During nearly five years of racing, the part-time artist from Silt has developed an encyclopedic knowledge of his rivals: their style, how they look when they are feeling strong, and more important, what they look like when they are suffering. Things like tilting their head back. Slowing the swing of their arms. And the most tell-tale sign, looking back over their shoulder.
"You know that that means? That means they’ve stopped racing. That’s when I make my move. For years I have worked on recognizing signs of weakness. I’m like a predator," he says, noshing on a buffalo burger after a quick 30-mile training run.
He makes sure to never develop a pattern his rivals could use against him, working feverishly to assure his strategy is never turned on him. His wife, Jeannie Blatter, is an equally gifted runner, and often the pair wake up Monday with pairs of matching medals. They both share an "excessive personality" that drives them to compete.
"Everything I do is designed to win at running," he says.
MIKE KLOSER, 47
Kloser started pedaling his mountain bike competitively in the mid-’80s after living in the Vail Valley for several years.
He dabbled in the pro mogul skiing circuit for a while, winning a few national contests. But he found his calling hammering the knobby-tired ride, winning mountain biking’s pre-sanctioned world championships in 1988. The father of two teenagers who are emerging as top-tier athletes themselves, Kloser credits his longevity to his switch to adventure racing in 1997.
"Now everything I do outdoors is training," he says.
In the past decade, the 26-year Vail Resorts employee has earned the most wins in adventure racing history, captaining his Team Nike to five world titles, three Eco-Challenge wins and four Primal Quest championships.
Last year he won the U.S. Winter Triathlon Championship at Grand County’s Devil’s Thumb Ranch, confirming his reputation as one of the world’s top all-around outdoor athletes. He does it all and he wins, sporting an unnervingly placid "isn’t-this-fun" grin with every step.
His strategy: pray for the worst weather imaginable. "I really hope for adverse conditions. I relish those hard circumstances because I know rivals wither in those conditions," he says.
DIANE VAN DEREN, 47
In April, Van Deren ran 47 hours, logging 150 miles without stopping.
On her final – and 15th – 10-mile lap at the McNaughton Park Trail Run in Illinois, race organizers began taking down ribbons marking the trail. After all, the racers had been there 14 times. Van Deren freaked out.
"Where’s the trail?" she screamed at the checkpoint staff. "I have a brain injury. I can’t remember!"
A flustered organizer joined her, running along the trail, pointing out the turns – and Van Deren set her record. Just like always.
After brain surgery 12 years ago, Van Deren must write notes on her hands and drop-bags on long-
distance runs. "Drink. Flashlight. Rain jacket." That keeps her focused on stuff like surviving while she stomps her way into history.
The mother of three – including a 19-year-old serving in Iraq – kept her surgery and seizure history secret during her first years on the competitive ultra circuit. When she established herself as a force, she came out and became one of the nation’s leading voices for brain-injury awareness.
She takes her role-model status as seriously as her training, which involves waking at 4 a.m. daily for trail runs that stretch past 30 miles.
"There are no shortcuts to what we do," she says. "It all comes from hard work, and we need to convey that message more clearly. It’s our obligation to set good examples."
NED OVEREND, 52
Overend is the living legend of mountain biking. The Durango racer started his career on the highest step of the podium as a runner, logging top finishes at Imogene Pass in 1980 and 1981.
When he mounted a mountain bike in the early ’80s, he began a career that kicked off with wins at the inaugural world championships in Durango in 1990. From there, he went on to earn two world champion titles and six national crowns as well as dual nicknames: The Lung and Deadly Nedly.
He beat his own record at this summer’s Vail Hill Climb – part of the Teva Mountain Games – beating Floyd Landis with a blistering time of 27 minutes, 29 seconds on the 9.7-mile, 1,500-vertical-feet climb up Vail Pass.
"Avoiding injury is my key," he says. "If my knees get sore on a bike ride, I turn around and go home. I stand in freezing water a lot too: the Animas River, right here in town. I think that kind of ice bath is a good way to reduce inflammation and reduce the chance of injury.
"Injury means needing to take more time off, and that can lead to getting out of shape. You can’t be this old and get out of shape, because it takes so long to regain it."
MARSHALL ULRICH, 56
Ulrich started running 26 years ago to handle stress as his first wife was dying of cancer. He ran a few marathons, barely dipping below the three-hour mark.
On a whim, he decided to run a 24-hour race in upstate New York in 1988. He won it, setting a record, and surprised himself by maintaining that three-hour marathon pace for the entire 24 hours. The father of three had discovered a rare ability to run for, well, forever.
In 2002 he began a quest he dreamed up at age 8: to climb all seven of the highest summits on the seven continents. It took him a mere 3 1/2 years.
Next spring, the lithe Ulrich will join renowned ultra runner Charlie Engle, 44, in an attempt to break the record for running across the United States. Starting in Seattle, the pair plan to run at least 68 miles – probably 15 to 17 hours a day – for 47 days, ending in Washington, D.C.
"There are lots of people out there who think it is extraordinary to go out and run 100 miles. For us it’s much more instinctive to do that instead of sitting on the couch drinking beer and watching a ballgame.
"We have this yearning. I always said I wanted to run into my 90s. Now I’m thinking I can do it into my 100s."
The 7 Ultimate Achievements In Endurance Running
By: Shane
Below are brief descriptions of some of the greatest accomplishments in endurance running. Even if you’ve never run a mile in your life you have to respect these athletes for their achievements.
1 – Three men ran 4,000 miles across the Sahara desert in 111 days. Charlie Engle, Ray Zahab, and Kevin Lin ran the equivalent of two marathons a day for 100 days to become the first modern runners to cross the Sahara Desert’s grueling 4,000 miles. They were stricken with tendinitis, severe diarrhea, and knee injuries all while running through the intense heat and wind, often without a paved road in sight. Temperatures varied from over 100°F during the day to below freezing at night. Typical day: up at 4:00am, run until lunch, eat, run until 9:30pm. Then get up and do it again… for 111 days.
2 -
Xu Zhenjun ran a 3:43 marathon – backwards. In a world where 99% of people never finish a marathon in their lifetimes and of those who do, 90% don’t run under 4 hours, Xu Zhenjun of China managed both, in reverse. I thought Zhenjun was a rare person who ran backwards for fun, but it turns out there are a bunch of people who prefer to run backwards. Timothy "Bud" Badyna, the father of backwards running (pictured right), has also completed a sub-4 marathon backwards and a 10K in 45:37.
3 – Mark Covert has run at least one mile every day since July 23, 1968. In the decades since he started the streak, Covert has covered more than 136,000 miles. At his competitive peak, he ran more than 150 miles a week and was one of the top road racers in the country, finishing seventh in the 1972 Olympic trials marathon. He still averages eight miles a day. Sure, on some days his running may only consist of 9 or 10 minutes, but did you read how long? Since 1968. Covert has said:
"I’ve trained through illness and injury, run plenty of times when I shouldn’t have. I ran on the days my parents passed away and I’ve run when every one of my four kids was born. I still look forward to running every day, although the trees go by more slowly now."
Covert is now the Cross Country Coach for Antelope Valley College (he knows a little about running). I guarantee his runners have trouble finding excuses to miss practice.
4 – 7 Days, 7 Continents, 7 Marathons. Sir Ranulph Fiennes and Dr. Michael Stroud went seven for seven during a grueling week of marathon running and transcontinental travel. The pair ran seven marathons in seven days on seven continents from October 26 – November 2, 2003. The men ran in Chile, the Falkland Islands, Sydney, Singapore, London, and Cairo before completing their marathon of marathons by running the New York City Marathon. Besides battling the exhaustion that any marathon runner faces, Fiennes and Stround also had to battle jet lag and dramatic changes in temperature and humidity during each race. The feat was especially impressive for Fiennes, who suffered a heart attack just four months earlier.
5 – Ethiopia’s Haile Gebrselassie’s marathon world record. Haile Gebrselassie ran a marathon in 2 hours, 4 minutes, and 36 seconds in 2007, crushing the old world record by nearly 30 seconds. These days marathon winners are consistently throwing down times like 2 hours and 6 minutes. It’s so common, I think we have forgotten exactly how fast it is. That is keeping a 4 minute, 48 second-per-mile pace for 26.2 straight miles! For a non-runner, it may be difficult to comprehend just how remarkable this feat is. Very few people in the world can even keep that pace for 1 mile.
6 – Finishing Badwater (anyone). Plain and simple, Badwater is the toughest endurance run in the word. Each year, approximately 70 people attempt to run 135 miles from Bad Water, Death Valley to the portals of Mt. Whitney. In case you’re not familiar with Badwater or Mt. Whitney, Badwater is the lowest place in the Western Hemisphere and Mt. Whitney is the highest point in the contiguous United States. Basically you’re running from the lowest place in the U.S. to the highest. In addition to the 13,000 feet worth of ascent, there are the 130°F (55°C) temperatures to deal with. Participants are forced to run on the white lines on the side of the road to keep the soles of their shoes from melting and a heat suit to keep them from frying in the sun. The winner from the last two years has finished in the 24-25 hour range but the average finish time is in the 35 hour range. My first question was "How in the world does someone train for this type of event?" Luckily for me they have a training guide on the Badwater homepage. Here are a few examples of training recommendations I picked off the site:
(1) – HEAT is the main nemesis, acclimate your body NOW!! Start using a sauna on your EXPOSED body. Do not wear any protective clothing.
(2) – ENDURANCE is very slow to develop. Set a target of being able to WALK, ONLY, at 20-30 minute per mile pace, NON STOP (NO SLEEP) for 24-30 hours. Do not exceed this pace, nor train in this way more than once a week.
7 – Dean Karnaze ran 350 miles non-stop. "The Relay" is a 200-mile, 12 person relay race. Not only did Dean Karnaze run this race by himself, he ran an extra 150 miles from his home to the starting point. Karnaze ran 80 hours straight and burned an estimated 40,000 Calories to cover the 350 miles. I couldn’t even stay away that long, yet he kept a good pace the whole way. Karnaze has also has finished the Western 100 ten times, the Badwater four times, and most recently he ran 50 marathons in 50 consecutive days in all 50 United States.
10 Places You Should Take Your Kids
July 14, 2009
Filed under Childrens Health
Forget expensive theme parks: Take your family camping and see some of the most beautiful destinations in the U.S.
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Established in 1872, Yellowstone is America’s oldest National Park. Take the kids to see Old Faithful then hop down to Grand Teton National Park. Camp at the West Entrance KOA»
Glacier National Park, Montana
Glacier’s 700 miles of trails offer hikers every opportunity to experience one of the most pristine places in the U.S. Stay at St. Mary Campground »
Badlands National Park, South Dakota
With 37 million year-old fossil beds, this pre-historic park will thrill the scientist in your family. The eroded pinnacles create an almost erie landscape with endless opportunities to explore. Stay at the White River KOA Campground»
Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado
Adventurous families can plod to the top of 14,259-foot Long’s Peak but those who stick to the 8,000-foot valleys won’t miss out on breathtaking views of the Rockies. Aspenglen Campground»
Redwoods National Park, California
It’s impossible to know their grandeur until you stand beneath the redwoods. But that’s not all there is to see. Redwood National and State Parks extend from Northern California into Oregon with stunning views of the Pacific Ocean. Camp at the Crescent City Redwoods KOA»
Zion National Park, Utah
Best known for its rust-red slot canyons that glow in the sun’s rays, Zion’s massive canyon walls and georgeous waterfalls also impress. Hike or bike through the park, or take ranger-guided tours including a 2-hour night hike. Watchman Campground»
Grand Canyon, Arizona
Introduce your kids to one of the seven natural wonders of the world. Experience the Grand Canyon by hiking up top or go rafting down below. Camp at the North Rim Campground»
Death Valley, California
Tour 3.4 million acres of desert and mountains in Death Valley–the largest national park in the contiguous United States. Sitting 282 feet below sea level, it’s also the lowest, hottest and driest valley in the U.S. Camp at Furnace Creek»
Acadia National Park, Maine
Maine’s dramatic coastline sets the stage for Acadia National Park where visitors can hike and bike more than 120 miles of historic trails, and take ranger-guided boat tours. Stay at the Blackwoods Campground»
Ozark National Scenic Riverways
There are over 300 caves and springs to explore where two spring-fed rivers meet creating the Ozark Scenic Riverway. Explore the river in canoes, kayaks or inner tubes. Camp at Alley Springs Campground»
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