Author: Jared Byrd

Race Report: Suffering Through The Bryce Canyon 100

/ Jared Byrd / 1 Comment

This was as close as I was getting to this cliff.

Sara and I were sitting next to the trail watching as other runners went past; I was a mile out from the turnaround aid station working way back up the mountain, she was on her way down.

We were both in rough shape.

We were fourteen hours into the Bryce Canyon 100 in Southern Utah, and it had been a struggle. It was more than 95 degrees, the sun was blazing hot, and we had spent much of the day climbing at an altitude between 8,000 and 9,000 feet.

While our training had been great, the combination of heat and altitude was defeating.

Continue reading →

Advertisement

Training Tools | Learning to be Mindful On and Off the Trail

/ Jared Byrd / Leave a comment

After finishing the UROC 100K in Virginia.

I have added a new weapon to my daily training.

This weapon is helping me in my personal relationships, at work, and has become a new tool to use when things get rough on the trail.

A year and a half ago, I discovered that my body had an interesting way of letting me know that I was feeling stressed out: My hair started falling out.

Continue reading →

Gear | Why Ultrarunners Can’t be Monogamous with the Apple Watch … Yet

/ Jared Byrd / Leave a comment

The Apple Watch 2 has a built-in GPS that can use apps like Strava without an iPhone.

I have been an avid Apple fan for years, but I have two Apple Watches currently gathering dust on my dresser.

The majority of my ecosystem is within Apple, so when Apple announced the first-generation Apple Watch a couple of years ago, I knew I’d have one on day one. It had issues, but I enjoyed being an early adopter and finding uses for Apple’s new wearable.

As a running watch, the first-generation Apple Watch required an iPhone, which was less than ideal. When Apple announced the Apple Watch 2 – and its built-in GPS – it sounded great; I could load music onto my watch, leave my phone at home, and get in a quick run. All with just once device.

Over the last few months the Apple Watch has become even more intriguing. Third-party developers, such as Strava, have released major updates to their popular apps that take advantage of the built-in GPS. Overcast, a popular podcast player, has added the ability to download and play podcasts directly on the Apple Watch, a feature that Apple hasn’t enabled on its own Apple Podcast app.

But, as great as the watch has become, I kept asking myself if it really meets my needs.

Continue reading →

Training Philosophy (aka How Not to get Injured)

/ Jared Byrd / Leave a comment

This site focuses on ultrarunning, and significant amount of this site will be dedicated to running more than 100 miles. But we realize that a fair number of people are still growing their abilities and may be curious how we train. Below are some of the basics. We will post more specific training updates down the line.

Ultrarunners are used to getting a certain set of questions when sane people learn what we do for fun.

The conversation normally starts with a look a of disbelief followed by, ” … wait, how far?”

Then it progresses to the obligatory, “I don’t even like to drive that far,” to which I always reply that I don’t like to drive that far either.

Eventually, if the person is curious enough — or another runner — they ask how we train to run such long distances.

Continue reading →

Running Feral | The Bigfoot 200

/ Jared Byrd / 1 Comment
Sara and Jared near Mt. St. Helens in Washington.

Sara and Jared near Mt. St. Helens in Washington.

Over on RunningFeral.com, Jared writes about August’s Bigfoot 200.

Coming out of the prerace briefing, Sara and I began to understand that we were fucked. The two hours of pre-race information had left her feeling nauseous and left me feeling certain that a section called Klickitat was where people go to die.

We had known when we signed up that the race — through the wilderness of the Northern Cascades — was more than 200 miles with more than 90,000 feet of elevation change. But, hearing all of this in person made it feel a lot more real.

Read the rest back on RunningFeral.

Welcome to The Endurist

/ Jared Byrd / Leave a comment

marysrock

We are ultrarunners, and last year at the Bigfoot 200 we joined an even more niche pack of crazy who don’t stop at 100 miles.

This year we’ll run the Tahoe 200, because why not?

While researching and prepping for Bigfoot last year we realized there weren’t a lot of resources for the ultra-ultrarunner. We had lots of questions — about gear, about nutrition, about feet — and couldn’t find a lot of answers.

Hence, The Endurist.

Continue reading →