Running Tips
Things I Learned the Hard Way
Field notes from 100s, 200s, and a few races I'd rather not discuss. Every lesson below was paid for in full.
Pacing and reading your runner
You may need to be part psychologist, part motivator, and sometimes nasty.
Just eat something, even when you do not feel like it.
The lesson: Real food is not optional after mile 50. Your gut will tolerate gels for a while and then it will stop tolerating them all at once, without warning, at the worst possible time. Carry backup calories that require chewing.
I Skipped the Sleep Station at Mile 120 and Hallucinated a Diner
The lesson: Sleep deprivation past 36 hours produces hallucinations that feel completely real and are occasionally charming. Take the sleep station. 90 minutes will not cost you the race. Skipping it might.
My Shoes Fit Fine in the Parking Lot
The lesson: Buy your race shoes a half size up. Your feet at mile 80 are not the same feet that tried on shoes in a store. They are larger, angrier, and they remember every decision you made.
Mile 160 Is Not the Place to Decide If You Want to Finish
The lesson: Decide why you're doing it before you start. Write it down. Put it somewhere you'll find it at 3am when you've been moving for 50 hours and a diner that doesn't exist is starting to sound like a reasonable reason to stop.
The fine print
None of this is advice, exactly. It's more like a record of tuition paid. Your mistakes will be different. But if one of these saves you 90 minutes of sitting on a rock at mile 158, we're even.