Obviously those races are a little longer than 5k park run and somewhat more tiring. From my own experience, the only problem I've experienced in ultra races is painful and colorful urinating, but that comes from dehydration and with regular drinking (at least sipping every now and then) that should be solved.
Did anyone experienced more severe threats for the health and how to avoid any significant problem (apart from running 24h in the first place)?
You should not get dehydrated in any race if it's longer than a Half Marathon.
24 hour races (as well as 100 mile trail races) are for experienced ultrarunners only. Not that this matters these days. If you have not the experience, your body will not be ready for that long distance. Overuse injuries like fractures are not uncommon. They might not happen right in the race but maybe just a little bit later.
So yes hydration and nutrition matters a lot in ultraraces and only if you have done enough shorter ultras like 50k and 50 mile races you get an idea what your body needs.
And people have almost died in 100 milers because of overuse of painkillers during the race. So don't do that.
Zero experience with everything above 131,4 km (12h self-supported run). My main race (24h) is scheduled in the June, until that I plan to run another 12h in the March or April just to check my fitness and practice with nutrition and hydration.
You should be fine. Eat and drink enough but also make sure that you don't over drink and over eat. And be prepared to get pretty slow in the last 8 hours. Always keep walking when you can't run. Never leave the course.
Thanks. :) I'll post here the outcome.
Doing anything to excess is bad for the overall organism . Running like most of us do , even the serious hobby joggers, is excessive. Human are made to walk , lope , or sprint in moderation, not to be driven the way we are to the types of training we do.
That said , in the modern world, it beats opioid addiction and such things in ranking of what's less bad for the overall organism.
I've done a lot of 24 hour ultras and multi-day events. Just make sure you take plenty of time off after to recover. Your body may start to feel fine (muscles, tendons, etc), but your CNS and cardiovascular system will be shot. It takes me a good 6-8 weeks after a 24+ hour effort for my heart rate to come back down to normal on easy runs. Good luck!
No wild animal frequently runs more than about a quarter mile hard/as fast as they can.
To do otherwise is not natural.
There are no circumstances when a human living in a natural state would voluntarily try to cover as much distance as possible in 24 hours. The energy expenditure would not be worth the caloric or any other benefit. No predator would chase that long.
Maybe occasional submaximal efforts up to 10k or so. Ultra distances in a day would be very rare and ill advised.
Humans likely never lived longer than 40 or so before they were killed by other humans, predators or in an accident.
Running lots of miles over many years can wear out your knee cartilage . Happened to me at 103.000 miles.
Everydog wrote:
Doing anything to excess is bad for the overall organism . Running like most of us do , even the serious hobby joggers, is excessive. Human are made to walk , lope , or sprint in moderation, not to be driven the way we are to the types of training we do.
That said , in the modern world, it beats opioid addiction and such things in ranking of what's less bad for the overall organism.
Thanks Dr Karen. Knower of everything about the human orgasm.
Where are you where most humans don’t live longer than 40?
90% of the people I know are older than 40%. Most of the people dying of covid are over 70.
yea there’s probably some long term risks involved but if a person wants to run ultras and experience their life to the fullest as they see fit, that’s their prerogative.
People do many things that shorten their life. Pretty much every person, actually. Whats the point of living past 75 if you're a burden to others, withholding inheritance they could get. All yourself to live a useless life of sitting in a retirement home accomplishing nothing all day. That's not living so I may as well die asap if I'm in that situation.
ToenailONEONE wrote:
I've done a lot of 24 hour ultras and multi-day events. Just make sure you take plenty of time off after to recover. Your body may start to feel fine (muscles, tendons, etc), but your CNS and cardiovascular system will be shot. It takes me a good 6-8 weeks after a 24+ hour effort for my heart rate to come back down to normal on easy runs. Good luck!
I did a 12 hour race a few years ago and it wrecked me for about 3 months. I would feel good for a run but then it would take twice as long as it should have to recover. I did the same race a year later and had stomach problems so only ran about 6 hours and hiked the rest. Much less time to recover from that.
being 52 may have been a factor too wrote:
ToenailONEONE wrote:
I've done a lot of 24 hour ultras and multi-day events. Just make sure you take plenty of time off after to recover. Your body may start to feel fine (muscles, tendons, etc), but your CNS and cardiovascular system will be shot. It takes me a good 6-8 weeks after a 24+ hour effort for my heart rate to come back down to normal on easy runs. Good luck!
I did a 12 hour race a few years ago and it wrecked me for about 3 months. I would feel good for a run but then it would take twice as long as it should have to recover. I did the same race a year later and had stomach problems so only ran about 6 hours and hiked the rest. Much less time to recover from that.
What 1.5 to 3 month recovery?
I think you guys where totally under prepared.
I usually have one tough day after a 24 hour race. One week later I am back to normal.
But keep in mind that 24 hour running is for very experienced ultrarunners with 5-10 years of running experience. This is not the place to run your first 50 miler but I know a lot of people do it that way, these days.
sled puller wrote:
No wild animal frequently runs more than about a quarter
Not running, but some birds fly 8+ months without landing.
You didn’t push hard enough if you’re “back to normal” after a week.
@24 hour runner here
If I may ask, what is your PB (or how to name it in this discipline) on 24h race? You sound like really experienced person.
133 miles when I was 34. So not that good. But I was able to see world class runners all the time and learned a ton from some of them. Now 20+ years later I still manage to get over the 100 mile mark.
24 hour runner here too wrote:
You didn’t push hard enough if you’re “back to normal” after a week.
Maybe, but remember that most of us are not professionals. We all have to show up for work on Monday again.
24 hour runner here wrote:
133 miles when I was 34. So not that good. But I was able to see world class runners all the time and learned a ton from some of them. Now 20+ years later I still manage to get over the 100 mile mark.
Thanks. That's some result, I'll try to hit 200 km (or at least 180 km) in the first try, I think it's doable.