Bryon Powell - Relentless Forward Progress: A Guide to Running Ultramarathons

Bryon Powell has loved trail running since going out for his high school cross country team in 1992. A decade later, his introduction to ultra-running gave him the ability to run his beloved trails nearly without end. By October 2007, he found himself increasingly drawn to informative writing on the subject, which led to his development of the trail running and ultramarathon website, iRunFar.com. This love blossomed, as well. In May 2009, Bryon left his job as a Washington, DC, attorney to dedicate himself full time to spreading the word about trail running and ultrarunning. His work has appeared in numerous national publications, including Outside, Runners World, Running Times, Trail Runner, Competitor Running, and UltraRunning. Hes also a contributing editor at Trail Runner and an advisory board member of the American Trail Running Association. In addition to writing, Bryon has coached many runners to their first ultra or first 100 finishes while helping others break course records at major ultramarathons. Needless to say, despite his writing and coaching, Bryon still runs ultras. Hes twice placed in the top ten at the Leadville 100 (06 & 09), twice won the under-30 age group at the Western States 100 (04 & 05), and was part of the first American team to place in the top three at Moroccos Marathon des Sables (09).

Becoming an ultrarunner is like graduating from superhero school. If youre certain that mainstream society has amply inquired about your marathon running habits, then wait until you experience their ultrarunning commentary. While compliments from family, friends, or co-workers are inherently uplifting, your champion status runs deeper than their perception. Once youve run an ultra-marathon, you really are a superhero.

Running for 5, 12, or 24 hours during an ultramarathon requires an exquisite level of physical and mental fitness. In addition to racing, many runners deploy their wicked athleticism in innumerate other endurance adventures. Adventure runs, endurance snowshoeing, fastpacking, and stage racing are a few avenues to which you may apply your newfound superpowers.

Borrowing a term from road cycling, I call this stuff beyond-category adventuring. In cycling, beyond-category climbs are the toughest in terms of their combination of elevation gain and length. While some of this afterwords adventures are similarly rigorous, I call them beyond category for the way we use our physical and mental fitness to go beyond, into the infinity of possibility.

Being ber-fit just plain feels good, but for me theres more to it. Said fitness allows me to explore some of our planets awesome nooks and crannies. I recently found myself, while on a fastpacking trip through Californias Sierra Nevada Mountains, on a 12,000-foot mountain pass. Up that high, it felt as if we were more in the heavens than on earth. That mountain pass is a metaphor for these beyond-category adventures: The sky is not even close to the limit.

If youre like me, youve probably found yourself staring at an expanse of landscape, a far-off ridgeline, or a squiggling dirt road and thinking, I want to go there. If so, I have some grand news: As an ultrarunner, you probably can!

Some ultrarunners I know find inspiration for adventure runs in whats around them in their everyday worlds. Many endurance runners have, for example, laced their shoes and run from their town to the next one, simply because they wondered what it would be like to run a distance they usually drive. Other adventure runs may be big link-ups, connecting a series of ridges or valleys surrounding your hometown so that you can see them all in the course of one day. Some adventure runners I know vacation to a national park, lash food and water to their backs, and undertake an all-day expedition. Simply said, adventure runs provide an intimate and often surprising look at an old haunt or a new destination.

Ultrarunners are sometimes a competitive lot. Of the folks who take on trail adventure runs, some enjoy putting down fast times, known by the community as fastest known times or FKTs, during those runs. The speediest of adventure runners track FKTs via a forum hosted by ultrarunner Peter Bakwin. (Find a link to the FKT forum and other afterword-related resources at www.iRunFar.com/rfp/resources.)

One particularly popular adventure run is the Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim, or R2R2R. Runners start at one of the Grand Canyons rims, most often the South Rim, descend to the Colorado River at the canyons bottom, climb to the far rim, then around, and run back to the rim on which they started. Though the Grand Canyon has many trails over which you can run R2R2R, the FKT was set using the South and North Kaibab Trails by ultrarunner Dave Mackey in 2007. Mackey covered this adventure run, which spans 42 trail miles and includes 10,000 feet of both elevation gain and descent, in less than seven hours!

At heart, Im an adventurer, feeling pretty certain that I was put on this earth to dig my heels deep in some of our planets wildest places. As such, I love a good adventure run. I adore this concept so much that, in 2006, my second ultradistance run was the Grand Canyon R2R2R. Running so many miles on legs that werent acclimated to ultradistance travel disabled me for days with muscle soreness. However, a full day of running back and forth across one of the worlds deepest canyons while observing its shifting shadows and moods made the discomfort more than worthwhile.

Most runners of our earths temperate latitudes have experienced the challenge of training during the frigid and slippery winter. When training on the road, we sometimes slip-slide our way through an otherwise decent workout. On the coldest of winter days, we lament the peg-legged feeling that results from never quite warming up. And trail runners tuck their tails after the first snowstorm that buries their prized possessions, the trails, until next spring.

Have no fear. If you dislike winter running or if want an addition to it, endurance snowshoeing could be your answer. In my mind, snowshoeing is a perfect winter parley. Its superb cross training, requiring the use of little-employed-by-running muscles. Snowshoeing allows you play on snow-covered trails. And its ample hard work, so youre sure to maintain, if not enhance, your fitness.

Endurance snowshoeings crowning jewel is its simplicity. Its just you, your snowshoes, and the Wild West (or East, or North, or, on a stormy winters day, the South). That is, the wilderness is your oyster. Get to know the winter side of all those trails you use so much during the summer!

Numerous companies manufacture a multitude of snowshoe models. Some are designed for running on groomed surfaces, while others are made for floating over deep powder. My recommendation: Buy a high-quality pair of snowshoes created for versatility. Other than snowshoes, all you need is a pair of waterproof and insulating shoes or boots, as well as some knee-high, waterproof gaiters.

Fit folks who take to endurance snowshoeing will likely find it to be a bit harder than normal hiking, but easier than running. However, if you find yourself moving through powder, the workout can turn anaerobic. As an ultrarunner, youll quickly see what the fuss of endurance snowshoeing is all about: going as far as youd like on top of the snow. Endurance snowshoeing is a magic-carpet ride to a whole new world of winter play.