Submitted by Bucklerunner on July 7, 2010 - 6:09pm.
I sent a number of friends, mostly ultramarathon runners, to the site to follow the race. Almost all comments came back: "They all sound so normal on the podcasts." I explained it's a matter of pace and distance. Do a criterium, or cyclocross, you race for an hour on fluids only at 90 percent effort and there's nothing left. Do a 24 hour enduro you go on fluids and some solids at 60-80 percent and there's nothing left. In a 24 hour one might stop for food and fluids. If you go for 2745 miles, you better go at a recovery pace most of the time and also have something left for the next day, or you're in trouble, so real food, rest breaks and a sensible pace, which makes it all seem so normal, in spite of the fact that 150+ offroad miles/day is far from normal (well, it depends on one's peer group).
Another general observation
I sent a number of friends, mostly ultramarathon runners, to the site to follow the race. Almost all comments came back: "They all sound so normal on the podcasts." I explained it's a matter of pace and distance. Do a criterium, or cyclocross, you race for an hour on fluids only at 90 percent effort and there's nothing left. Do a 24 hour enduro you go on fluids and some solids at 60-80 percent and there's nothing left. In a 24 hour one might stop for food and fluids. If you go for 2745 miles, you better go at a recovery pace most of the time and also have something left for the next day, or you're in trouble, so real food, rest breaks and a sensible pace, which makes it all seem so normal, in spite of the fact that 150+ offroad miles/day is far from normal (well, it depends on one's peer group).