It's been a minute, huh? Let's start... a few years ago. This really all starts back in… jeez, 2021? I had taken a break from road running and was training for the 2021 Western States 100. My training was honestly pretty terrible (as you can read in several old blog posts) in the sense that …
Continue reading hungry dogs run faster: eugene marathon 2023
Training Basically, my training was not what I wanted it to be. I went into a lot of detail in my training blog post from a few weeks ago. I didn’t get in as many long runs as I wanted, and they weren’t as long as I would have liked, especially the Sunday runs. I …
Continue reading the 2021 western states endurance run: 50 shades of maceration
Race Information Name: Quad Rock 50 milerDate: May 8th, 2021Distance: 50 milesLocation: Fort Collins, COWebsite: https://gnarrunners.com/quad-rock-info/Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/5264917891Time: 12:42 Goals GoalDescriptionCompleted?Afinish before cutoff (14 hours)YesBSub-13 hrsYesCrun at least part of every single mileYes Splits MileTime10.3 mi2:0914.1 mi1:0417.5 mi0:4424.9 mi1:5032.3 mi1:5535.7 mi1:1639.5 mi0:5942.7 mi1:0750 mi1:35 Training So, a bit of background. My big goal race for the year is Western States in June, so …
Training Ok, so, first of all: I did not train for this. I’ve been running all summer, but that’s not the same as training for a multiday ultra. If you’re interested in the raw numbers, check out my strava training log and see for yourself (https://www.strava.com/athletes/15875698/training/log). I’ll also provide a short summary of just how …
Continue reading hell or glory: the endless mile 48 hour race
History: If you’ve never heard of Western States before, congrats! You probably don’t run ultramarathons, didn’t grow up in Northern California, or you just don’t pay an excessive amount of attention to more “niche” running events. If you HAVE heard of Western States, and especially if you’ve spent the past few years running qualifiers and …
...Which is how I found myself running sub-9 minute/mile pace at mile 58 of a 100 mile race. Hi, my name is Clare, and I'm a dumbass...
...In previous races, this sort of situation might have shoved me instantly into Negative Nancy mode. I would have gotten upset and essentially given up on the rest of the race, probably slowing to a shuffling walk and just beating myself up for the next 20 miles until the finish. This time, I just went straight into problem-solving mode...
Pre-Race So.... this race was not planned. Originally, I was just going to Breckenridge to support Gunnar as he ran the marathon (and do my own long run of 12-15ish miles). However, on Saturday, I set out to do a 20 miler on the trails nearby. It went terribly. I called it quits at 15 …
Training: I will be the first to admit that I did not train nearly enough for this run, and I would not recommend following my approach. While I had done some decent mountain training during December and January to prep for Running Up For Air, I had been focusing mainly on flat road running during March …
...Every time I saw someone going to hand in their bib, I felt a pang of jealousy. I was not looking forward to running all night in the freezing cold in the dark, but my one non-negotiable goal was to make it all 24 hours and not quit...
Clare Runs Sometimes 