Decided to run my first ultra in over a decade

The background leading to this decision: A couple of years ago I had surgery that resulted in having to take time off from my modest physical fitness routine and had me reevaluate how I was spending my life. Post-recovery I pushed myself to really improve my cycling and peaked with training to do the 100-mile El Tour de Tucson over the span of 4 months. That was last year and this year I had planned on attempting the Arizona Trail bikepacking challenge as my peak activity for the year. However, by June I started leaning into challenging myself with a run instead so that whatever my fall event ended up being I could spend it with my wife. I settled on reattempting the Pumpkin Holler Hunnerd to see how my late-30s self stacked up against my mid-20s self by applying everything I had learned cycling to running.

In 2014 I completed the Pumpkin Holler Hunnerd 50k in 6 hours 49 minutes. I went in with no fueling plan, no phone, and really just a Casio and a dream. My training strategy leading up to it was simply run a lot.

Over the 4 months I put into training for this event I averaged about 14.7 running miles a week and peaked at 29.2 miles with my longest run being 16 miles. I generally adopted a run plan that consisted of Wednesday easy runs \[7 mi\], Thursday run club \[5k\], Friday anaerobic runs \[2-3 mi\], and Sunday long/hard runs \[10+ mi\]. I supplemented running with my primary activity of choice, riding, with Monday Zwift anaerobic rides, Tuesday easy rides, Wednesday club rides, Thursday anaerobic rides, and Saturday long rides with additional zwifting thrown in-between. I also generally aimed to swim laps for at least 30 minutes around lunch each day. With the 2026 Pumpkin Holler Hunnerd 50k (plus great gourd challenge) I managed to finish in 6 hours 19 minutes with the 50k time itself being \~6 hours 3 minutes. I paced myself, I fed myself, and I listened to some sick beats on spotify. Ultimately, I feel like I am in the best shape of my life even if it is slightly rounder.

So now what am I doing post-50K? Well, I committed to signing up for a local ultra, the Colossal-Vail 50/50. I may aim to do the ‘trifecta’ though it overlaps with some cycling events I want to compete in. But I think the big long term goals leading into next year are to a) find a swimming coach b) begin adding intensity into my workouts (and dropping body mass) and c) get myself an ironman finish. For now though, I am very happy with how this year went.