People think I’m crazy for loving the idea of running all day—but this was my 18th race and one of the most memorable. The Dead Horse 50 Miler delivered scenery, struggle, surprising highs, and a battle with a possible stress fracture that forced me to rethink what endurance really means. This is my full first-person story: the chaos before the start, the early confidence, the painful middle miles, and the lessons I learned about pacing, mindset, and why sometimes the hardest races teach you the most.

Preparing for a 50-mile ultra isn’t about being fast or elite—it’s about being particular. In this post, I walk through exactly how I get ready for a 50-mile race as a very average ultra runner: from reading the race guide and planning travel, to loading GPX files on my watch, breaking the course into segments, and building a simple heart-rate–based pacing plan. I also share how I design my drop bags, choose nutrition and carb drinks, decide where to stash headlamps and sunglasses, and avoid the three most common reasons runners drop from ultras: gut issues, foot problems, and total fatigue. If you like practical checklists, over-preparation, and honest talk about carb loading and stress eating, this step-by-step breakdown will help you show up on race day feeling ready instead of hoping for the best.

Running one all-out mile hurt worse than any ultramarathon I’ve ever done. After tearing my ACL twice and carrying nerve damage for a decade, I set out to break my fastest mile time—on a freezing night, after multiple runs, with my brother pacing me on a bike. This is the funny, painful, humbling story of my PR attempt and what it taught me about speed training, mental toughness, and why fast miles matter even for ultrarunners.