October 20, 2025 • 36 mins
Hey Running Friends!
I recap a very rocky 20-mile Mammoth March in Hudson Valley and address how it affected marathon training.
Mammoth March: Check out all the places this hike takes place
All Trails: If you do a lot of hiking, this is a great resource for different hikes you can do near you, and the paid version will let you download a hike and be able to find your way even if there is no cell service
Things I used on the Hike (I earn from qualifying purchases)
Saloman Speedcross 6 GTX: These are the shoes I used, they are a trail running shoe, but they were EXCELLENT for the hike.
Day Pack: Make sure your pack has adjustable waist and chest straps
Wool Hiking Socks: No cotton! These Smartwool socks feel great, no itching!
Tick Prevention Spray: We sprayed this on gear and clothing before the hike
Tick Remover "Key": We did not need to use this, but we carried these lightweight tick remover tools just in case!
If you are looking for a coach to help you reach your running goals, even if it's just to start to run, take a look at my Coaching Services page on the website. I do virtual, in-person (Buffalo, NY area) and also offer single zoom sessions for those would just like to chat with a coach one time.
I am also a Personal Trainer, and offer virtual training as well, in addition to Nutrition Coaching.
Find my additional outlets over at the YouTube channel and at wrinkledrunner.com. Sign up over on the blog for the once-a-month newsletter! If you would like information on utilizing a running coach, check out what I can do for you here.
If you have any running-related questions, please send an email to sherry@wrinkledrunner.com…I answer every one.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:23):
Hello and welcome back to the Wrinkled Runner
podcast.
Um, it's been a while.
It's just been life's been justall over the place.
But uh I wanted to recap for younot a run actually or a race,
but a mammoth march.
And for those of you who don'tknow, a mammoth march is a 20
(00:44):
mile hike, and some of theevents actually also have a
30-mile hike.
And I signed up for this, andI'm just gonna do a recap of it
in case it is something that youmay want to do.
And it is a challenge, even ifyou are a runner and you are a
runner of marathons, hiking usessome different muscles, and uh
(01:10):
yeah, so I'm gonna just recapwhat I did, and this was a few
weeks ago.
Now we're in mid-October 202525, and I did this on October
5th of 25.
So I'm also in mid-marathonbuild, actually coming to the
end.
My marathon is in 28 days, butat the time when I signed up for
(01:32):
this marathon march, I did notknow I was going to be running
this the Richmond Marathon.
So my fitness business is mostlyrun coaching, and uh I do
strength training for my runnersthrough that.
But I do take on a few, veryfew, personal training clients
on the side, and that arethey're not runners, they're
(01:55):
just interested in personaltraining, and I go to their
homes and work out with them andbuild their programs and things
like that.
So, one of my clients I like togive challenges to because uh
she is someone who can handle alot of challenge, and it's just
something that I like to throwat her, she's always up for it,
(02:17):
and I found this Mammoth Marchthing going through my uh
Facebook feed and thought thiswould be an excellent challenge
for this client, and I wanted todo it too, so I thought we could
do this together.
We talked about it back inFebruary, I think that's when we
signed up for it, and at thetime I was training for the
(02:38):
Buffalo Marathon, which Ithought would be over with at
the end of May, it because it'sin the end of May, but because
of our winter, which I thinkI've talked about before, it was
just ice, just ice all the time.
It was not safe to be outsidetraining.
I don't have a treadmill, I donot like treadmills, but I'm
actually thinking of breakingdown and getting one just in
(02:59):
case this winter ends up beingthe same as last winter because
I deferred my Buffalo marathonto next May.
And so I'm going to have to gothrough another winter of
running outside.
Hopefully, I can, but if Ican't, I really need an
alternative way to get thatmileage in.
So, anyway, I signed up for thismammoth march and decided to put
(03:24):
together some training for it.
Now, hiking is not my specialty,so I had to do a little bit of
research, a lot of research, ontraining for hikes and you know
what you need to do, what whatstrength should be done, ways
that it's different from runningand from marathon training, and
kind of put together a trainingprogram for myself and my
(03:47):
client.
Now, we did not hit all of thethings that I had wanted to do
in this training, just a lot wasgoing on in both of our lives
for the summer.
But we were able to get sometraining in, and I think that
did go a long way for themammoth march.
Now, if you are interested, Iwill absolutely put a link in
(04:11):
the show notes for you to go totheir website.
They have them all over thecountry throughout the whole
year.
It just depends on like whereyou live.
They try to keep it so it's kindof cool on the cool side
wherever, wherever you are.
Uh, so this was in HudsonValley, which is near New York
City.
In October, early October, itshould be like an ideal hiking
(04:31):
kind of climate.
Well, because of our summer andour fall here in the northeast,
we actually reached a high of 85degrees that day.
So uh I kept watching theweather and and it was, I was
like, oh my gosh, I hope this isnot out in the open and that we
(04:53):
are shaded for most of thishike.
So uh we signed up, we decidedto do a few hikes during the
summer, and after I deferred mymarathon in Buffalo, I really,
really wanted to do a marathonthis year.
I I've had to defer for onereason or another my past few
(05:16):
marathons.
And so I really wanted to getsomething on the books for this
year.
And I signed up for the RichmondMarathon because my son lives
there, and that is on November15th of 2025.
So I knew I was signing up for amarathon while I was going to be
doing this 20-mile hike.
(05:37):
Kind of thought maybe the20-mile hike would be like one
of the weekends that I do a20-mile run, even though it is
different.
So I'll talk later when I get tothat point about what how I
handled that issue.
But anyway, so throughout thesummer, I was combining marathon
training with also trying to hitthe trails a few times.
(05:59):
We did a five-mile hike and wedid a 10-mile hike, mostly to
make sure that the shoes that webought were something that we
were going to want to hike 20miles in and also use a day
pack.
So, kind of like a practice run,like we do in running a half or
a marathon, where we practiceeverything we're gonna wear and
(06:22):
our fueling and all that goodstuff.
So we bought the Solomon Sixshoe.
It's a it's actually a runningtrail shoe.
We didn't want something heavyand boot-like uh on our feet for
the 20 miles.
I wore hiking boots once thathad like steel-toed shoes, and
it was not a 20-mile hike by anystretch, and my toenails were
(06:46):
black, they fell off, they hurtlike hack.
I mean, I kept thinking I wasgoing to take these boots off
and just hike barefoot when Ihad to do this, and this was
like probably 10 or 15 yearsago.
So I decided to go with a moretrail shoe.
They are amazing, and I know I'mgetting the what it is wrong.
(07:07):
There's a there's Solomon in thename, and there's a six, and so
I will link to that.
Uh, but these were fantastic onour practice hikes.
We were going on rocks andthings that were wet, no
slippage.
It was they were great.
Um, if you are a hiker or youare a runner or you want to run
(07:29):
trails, I highly recommend thisshoe.
This thing was, they wereamazing.
When we did hike, you know, wewere taking water with us, and
on the mammoth marches, whatthey do is they have uh stops,
you know, just like in a race,but you have to bring your own
water bottle.
So make sure if you do this, youpay attention to all the things
(07:50):
that they send you.
Download, uh, they had like aguidebook, download that, make
sure because if you show up tothe sinking, you're gonna hit an
aid station and be able to get aglass of water or you know, a
cup of water.
You are not.
You need to bring your own waterbottles to this.
So we carried our water bottleson the practice hikes, and we
(08:12):
did a lot of walking in between,but of course, you know, walking
on the pavement, walking on asidewalk is way different than
walking in the woods.
We decided to go the day before.
So it was about a five and ahalf hour drive from where we
live to where this hike is.
And this hike, the Hudson Valleyhike, is considered, I've heard,
(08:35):
the top three or the hardest.
It's one of the hardest ones,and of course, that's the one we
decided to sign up for.
So we really didn't know what wewere getting into.
I've hiked, uh, you know, I'vehiked all over, but nothing like
this.
There was a lot going into itthat we were just unaware of.
We went in the day before, thankgoodness, and then got a good
(08:58):
night's sleep, and we had to getup early.
So with the Mammoth March, youpick what time you want to
start.
So I don't remember theearliest.
It's either 6:30 or like seveno'clock, that has the earliest
start time that you can do, andthen they do like 15-minute
intervals after that that youcan pick as your start time,
with 8:30 being the last ofthose times that you can pick.
(09:21):
I picked or we picked 8.15, andthen you have eight hours to get
to a certain point.
And I'm assuming it's differentwith each mammoth march because
ours is so hard, you had to getto mile 17 and a half by 4.45
p.m.
So whether you started at 7 a.m.
or started at 8.15, you had toget to this mile marker by 4.45
(09:46):
p.m.
And once that time hit, theywould shut that down, and then
they you'd all have to go intolike a sprinter bus and then be
taken back to the start line.
We got to this hike, and I don'tknow what I was thinking.
I guess I was thinking that itwas gonna be just me and my
client just skipping along thetrails and you know, having long
(10:06):
talks about stuff and just, youknow, enjoying the scenery and
whatever.
And we get to the parking lot,and of course, there's like
thousands of people there.
So uh already it was like, ohyes, this is this is an event.
This isn't just we're not justgoing hiking, and it had a good
breakfast full of carbs.
When we got there, there was avery long line to check in
(10:31):
because something that thisstate park had that apparently a
lot of the other mammoth hikesdon't have is you have to have a
bib number.
And I think this is the firstyear that they did this.
This is only the second year forthe Hudson Valley hike, and I
don't think they had the bibthing last year.
At least that's what it seemedlike with the emails and stuff.
(10:52):
And so you had to get into along line, you had to check in
and sign your, you know, I coulddie, but you're not responsible
for that signature thing.
And then you had to go and youhad to pick up your bib, and it
was, you know, broken up intolast names.
There were some people in thatline that it was way past the
time that they were supposed tostart this.
(11:14):
And then after you picked upyour bib and pinned it on, then
you got into another super longline because they only allow up
to five people to go at once,and then there's like a
30-second stagger before theylet the next people go through.
So that you know, you're there'snot a thousand people starting
out at this hike at once.
(11:34):
And we finally made it to thestart.
We're released, and you start ata beach, which we were really
concerned about at first when wefirst read that this is where we
were starting, because it's likeI don't want sand in these shoes
for 20 miles, but you actuallystart on a paved surface, you're
not anywhere near the beach.
Uh, well, you're not you don'tstart on the sand or at the
(11:55):
beach uh itself.
There's a area that's pavedright along it, and that's where
you start.
So you walk through and youstart going along, and it's
really well marked, exceptapparently in the earlier when
it first started, some goofballdecided to change the signage so
(12:18):
that people were going the wrongway right off the bat.
I don't know who did that,obviously, but idiocy, just just
complete idiocy.
They figured it out, and then bythe time we got to that point,
we didn't have an issue.
It was already changed andstarted.
So we started off and you know,we were going along.
(12:40):
I would say the first four mileswas was pretty easy.
It was in the woods, thankgoodness, because it was
obviously getting hotter andhotter as the day goes on, but
it was it was pretty good.
Now, one thing that I wouldrecommend is that you make sure
you know when the uh aidstations are going to happen.
I knew that there was going tobe four aid stations.
(13:03):
So in our heads, we're like,okay, well, every four miles
there's going to be an aidstation.
Well, the first one didn'thappen until we were seven and a
half miles into that hike.
They have to set it up,obviously, based on where roads
are so that they can drive allthe stuff to the certain
checkpoint.
That was the first one that madesense.
(13:24):
So it was about seven and a halfmiles in before we got to an aid
station.
Now they had a lot of snacks andprotein bars, and you filled up
your water bottle there.
And then they also hadelectrolyte tablets that you
could also use.
They had porta potties at eachone, which was awesome.
And the aid stations, I wouldsay, were really, really well
(13:45):
stocked with a lot of differentthings.
Now, the only complaint that Ihad, and this is probably petty,
but you know, they said therewas gonna be like peanut butter
and jelly sandwiches as part ofthe fueling.
Well, in my head, I'm thinkinglike uncrustables or something
like that, where you just grabit.
(14:07):
There was actually somebodymanually making peanut butter
and jelly sandwiches.
And both for me and my client,that was kind of like kind of
like an ick.
I mean, they were wearinggloves, so I will give them
that.
They were wearing gloves.
I don't know why I saw that andjust thought, no, but I did not
(14:30):
take a sandwich.
I took a bunch of other thingsthough, and that gave me enough
carbs.
Because the other thing that Iwould say is some of this stuff
was quote unquote healthy stuff.
So that wasn't high in sugar.
As a runner and a marathonrunner, I'm thinking, no, put
out donuts.
Like, give me those simplesugars that are gonna hit my
(14:54):
body and give me that energyquickly.
I don't want a no-sugar bar thattastes like sawdust when I still
have 13 more miles to go in thishike.
That's actually gonna take twiceas long as a marathon.
So, anyway, we were on our way.
People were already dropping outat that point.
This one was very, very rocky.
So you are on, even in the pathsthat are draight, it's very,
(15:17):
very rocky.
But because you're in theCatskill Mountains, it's also
there's a lot of elevation toit.
You're you're going up a lot ordown, you know, either
direction, especially whenyou're my age.
Either direction is not fun.
Not a lot of stability.
I honestly would not recommendyou just try to do this in
sneakers, get something that ishiking specific so that it's
(15:39):
grippy and that you are able touh get through it on some
unstable territory.
So we made it to the next stop,and that was just water.
I think there were a few snacksthere that we grabbed and then
started out, and I want to sayit's that one or the next one.
(16:00):
Some somewhere in like the 12,13 mile mark, there were a whole
bunch of other people that weregoing home or going back to the
start.
There were people we we goforward from the aid station,
and there were people that hadactually turned around and were
heading back to the aid stationwhere you could get a sprinter
van.
So that's the other thing thatyou need to know about this is
(16:23):
you have to be prepared toeither go and make it to the
next aid station or turn aroundto head back to the previous
one.
You are not going to get asprinter van otherwise.
Now, they do have sweeper, theyhave a uh this one had one
sweeper guy, so he was in theback making sure that everybody
(16:45):
was getting through.
And then what the bib did wasevery time you came into an aid
station, they would write downyour number so that they knew
that you got to each aid stationand that at the end of the
thing, if you were still outthere, they would actually know
that you were still out there.
But they made it very clear thatif you leave an aid station, you
(17:07):
are not going to be able to quituntil you got to the next aid
station.
So uh there were a lot of peoplethat would turn around and head
back fairly quickly after wewould leave an aid station
because I think they startedback out and realized they they
weren't gonna make it.
It was getting difficult.
Like I said, there was a lot ofuphill, there were some
(17:29):
switchbacks, there were somescrambling up of just it was
just rocks.
Some people had the walkingpoles.
We did not take walking poles.
I think if you're used to them,that was probably something that
you would want.
We didn't practice with them.
I've never used them.
I think if I had tried to use itfresh off of never using it on
(17:51):
this hike, I would have had noclue.
I would have, you know, foldedthem up and ditched them or put
them in my backpack becauseyeah, it I I don't think I'd be
able to use them the way they'resupposed to be used.
It was just too rocky.
A lot of this hike, we were infront or behind each other.
(18:13):
It was not very wide.
The path was not very wide.
Now it was a beautiful,beautiful hike.
It was, you know, there weretimes when you'd come across the
uh you were to be at the top ofa mountain and could, you know,
see out for a long, long time.
It was absolutely gorgeous.
But towards the end of it, wejust don't care.
You're just you're just tryingto get through.
(18:35):
And we had to get to 17 and ahalf, like I said, by 445.
I thought we had to get there bymile 17.
And we hit mile 17 and there wasno station, there was nobody.
And then my client was like, No,I think they said mile 17 and a
(18:56):
half.
So then I started panicking.
It was probably after fouro'clock at this point.
We were slowing down, and onceyou got to that checkpoint, you
could take, they would figurethat you were going to get to
the end before sundown.
So you could relax a little bitmore after that because they
weren't gonna pull you off.
(19:17):
There was really nobody to pullyou off the trail if you once
you hit that 17.5.
But the problem is you have togo 17 and a half miles before
you get to that point.
So uh we were we were justbooking it, you know, we were
just trying to pass people,which is the other problem when
it's only a straight pathwithout a lot of give um to the
(19:40):
left or the right.
They say you use, you know,hiking etiquette and say to your
left, but there were a lot ofpoints where there wasn't a left
to be had.
Not that like there was a cliffor anything, but there was just
you weren't on the path.
It's hard to describe, but itwould be very difficult
sometimes to pass people the waythat we were.
(20:00):
And every once in a while, thensome the leader of the pack
would turn around and see allthese people behind them and get
off the trail so that peoplecould pass by.
So we really booked it and wegot to the 17 and a half mile
point at like I think 412between 420 and 425.
So we were good.
(20:21):
We didn't, you know, we made it.
There were uh there was a hugecircle of chairs actually, and
there were people just giving upat that point.
They were waiting for thesprinter van to take them back
to the start.
I was like, there is no way I amnot getting that metal after
(20:42):
getting to 17 and a half miles.
I mean, to me, we are almost tothe end point.
We're not stopping.
So we we kept going.
And right after that, or bearound mile 18, oh my goodness,
there was an incline.
It was just pure rock, purerock.
And it was like, it wasn'tstraight up, but it felt
(21:03):
straight up at that point.
There were there were peoplethat were going up it and then
stopping to rest.
And I was just like, there, ifyou stop, you're done.
Your your legs are gonna crampup, you're gonna, you're gonna
freeze and not be able to go anyfurther.
I'm like, we are, we're hittingit.
We're going.
We went up and we just keptgoing and kept going until we
(21:26):
got to the top, and then wecould take a breather.
And then every time we thoughtthis has to be the last incline,
we have to be starting back downthe mountain because we're
ending up on a beach again.
We were ending up back where westarted.
There'd be another incline.
We were we were done for sure.
And then we on the last probablymile and a half, you were just
(21:49):
kind of out on the road, uh,walking along the road and the
grass, kind of like the the waya car would go to get to this
place that we were going to end.
When we saw the finish line, wewere both, let's just go.
And so we started running andran out that last probably 300
(22:11):
yards.
Miraculously enough, it actuallyfelt really, really good to
stretch those legs and not be ina walking position anymore and
kind of run to the finish.
We got our medals, we were done.
I do not remember how long ittook us.
They don't chip it, it's not fora time.
This isn't a race.
(22:32):
And we didn't, we didn't want acountdown or we, and we wanted
to be able to rely on our GPS ifnecessary.
Because the self-service wasn'tgreat out there.
So I have all trails, and so I'mable to download the off GPS
thing if we needed it.
And we didn't want to use up ourwatch energy by tracking it.
(22:54):
So we didn't put it in as like aworkout or anything like that.
A lot of what we went through ismental, just like the just like
a marathon, half marathon,whatever race, hard race you're
doing, it's mental.
There's a lot of we want toquit, but we got to keep going.
Let's just keep going, let'sjust do this.
(23:15):
I did get a few blisters, butnot a ton.
It was a very strenuous hike.
I highly recommend doing amammoth march.
I think it's awesome.
I don't know that I wouldrecommend doing this one.
After it was all over, my clientand I were like, it's so
annoying that people who haven'tdone this particular one will
(23:38):
never know how difficult itactually is.
And, you know, what those rocksdo to your body.
The difference in what my body,how my body felt after this
versus say a long run, is mostlywas mostly in like the quad area
from going downhill, like theshoulder blade area from
(23:58):
carrying a pack, which is whydoing practice hikes I find so
necessary uh for training forthis.
Just my feet.
My feet hurt so much more thanwhat they feel like in a long
run.
Now, I do think that trainingfor a marathon was probably
(24:20):
helpful in the hike.
You know, I'm mentally preparedto go for long distances.
I'm using my legs all the timeand like doing strength training
for running, and that helps alot with hiking, although there
were some differences in what Iprescribed for strength training
for the hike than I would forlike running a marathon.
(24:42):
I do think that my marathontraining helped my hike.
Now, the question actually is isdid doing this hinder my
marathon training?
So I was really, really nervousabout that.
And I had a run scheduled.
So we ran we hiked on aSaturday, and I had a my long
(25:05):
runs, I usually do on Mondays.
So the Monday after the mammothmarch, I just went out to run.
I didn't prescribe myself anymileage to get through.
Luckily, it was a down week asfar as running uh mileage goes.
I was able to run 10 miles andrun it r well with not, you
(25:27):
know, a lot of pain, no painactually.
I feel like I bounced backquickly and I was really, really
nervous about my glutes,piriformis area, groin.
I'm gonna do a whole podcast onsome of what's been going on
with that and what I'vediscovered with that and why
that's been alleviated, butthat's going to be in another uh
(25:49):
episode.
I think it enhanced both.
I think I think doing boththings at the same time helped
because it's all endurance,right?
There may have been a time wherethat would have really, really
hindered my marathon training,but I think it ended up being
all okay.
And then a week after I had a20-mile run and it was good.
(26:13):
It came out, I I did reallywell.
So that fear that it was gonnaruin my marathon training is
gone.
I I feel like I'm recovered nowfrom the hike, thinking about my
next one.
Uh, I'm not gonna do the Hudsonone.
I there's one near me,Letchworth State Park, that I'm
(26:34):
looking at maybe doing with someof my in-law kids and my own
kids and uh trying to getthrough that one, which isn't
until 2026.
So that leads me kind of toshould marathon runners do
events like this duringtraining?
Now, this is not something thatI would have ever recommended
anybody do.
I spur of the moment decided todo this fall marathon while
(26:58):
doing the uh Mammoth Marchtraining because I did want to
get that other marathon in.
Now, that being said, andbecause I went through this, I
don't know.
I I guess I it would depend onthe person.
It it depends on the person.
Now I've been running marathonsfor eight years.
I've been running for 20 years,I've been running marathons for
(27:20):
eight years, and so I'm prettywell versed in endurance.
And there's been years I've donetwo marathons in that year and
things like that.
So endurance is something I liketo do, and my body is pretty
used to that.
So for me, I think that issomething that I can handle.
I can handle a hike, a 20-milehike, also the you know,
(27:42):
training for a marathon, and Ithink it would just all around
just added to the enduranceportion of my training.
I think this was actually prettygood cross-training.
It threw variety into that.
It translated to me beingcomfortable with doing a 10-mile
run two days later.
(28:04):
I probably would have run about14 miles that day because I did
the 20-mile hike.
It was like, okay, well, youknow, that's at least the
equivalent, if not more.
So for cross-training, I reallythought that this worked really,
really well.
When you do something like thishike that's different than what
(28:25):
you normally do, you can see inyourself, number one, how the
mental aspect that you've beentraining yourself for so long uh
with marathon training cantranslate to another endurance
sport, but also how you have toadapt.
(28:46):
And sometimes though those samestrategies don't work.
I mean, when you're running amarathon, you know in your head,
especially if you've run onesbefore, how much more time you
have left.
When you're doing an eight-hourhike, or in our case, I think it
was closer to a nine-hour hike.
(29:06):
That's a lot longer of a time.
So you do have to put indifferent strategies.
So it just adds to your mentalcapacity for getting you through
these things.
It also shows that you canbalance doing some of these
events, even if you don't get inevery single training aspect
(29:28):
that you were trying to go for.
In the beginning, we did reallywell.
We were doing like seven-milewalks, and then every three
weeks we would go for a hike.
So the first hike was fivemiles, then we would do walking
for a couple weeks, and then wedid a 10-mile hike.
The 10-mile hike really, reallyis what pulled us through
because we were going to do a15-mile hike a few weeks before
(29:50):
the 20-mile hike and then kindof taper.
The 15-mile hike didn't happenbecause a whole lot of life
stuff was going on uh with bothof us.
But that 10-mile hike gettingthrough that really helped our
mental understanding of whatthis hike was going to be like
and also gave us this confidenceboost.
(30:12):
So I would never recommend goinginto this 20 mile hike blind
where you have done zerotraining.
Some of the other people thatdid it, it was.
Pretty clear that they did notdo any training for it.
And the you know, they were theones that dropped out between
mile four and mile 12, let'ssay.
(30:33):
Because this isn't shipped, Idon't think there's any
statistics on how many peoplestarted versus how many people
finished.
I don't know what that lookslike, but it just felt like
there were a lot of people thatdropped out.
So some training is verynecessary.
And I'm actually puttingtogether a training package for
people who want to train for theMammoth March with strength
(30:55):
training and practice hikes andhow to get familiarize yourself
with gear and all that kind ofstuff, just because it did have
quite an impact in what me andmy client were able to do versus
what some other people were dowere able to do or not do.
So I would really recommenddoing this.
(31:19):
I think it's great forcross-training if you are a
runner and you run somemarathons.
Now, that being said, don't signup for one that's a week before
your marathon.
I would say that based on mytraining, my marathon training,
and what I still have to do inthe next month, that was
(31:40):
probably the cutoff for me.
I would not want to like todaygo hike 20 miles and then in
four weeks have a marathon.
It blended very well with whereI was in my training.
And that's the other thing Iwould say as well is if you're
going to sign up for one andyou're also training for
something for a longer distance,like a half or a marathon, look
(32:04):
at where that falls in yourmarathon training so that you
can balance out, you know, whereyour long runs are.
Because what running 10 milesdid teach me a cut two days
after is that you are using yourmuscles a bit differently.
And so you still need to getthose long runs in.
(32:46):
So just be mindful of that ifyou decide to do it, or if you
don't have any any trainingthing on the schedule, any
marathons or you know, halves orwhatever, then go ahead and look
at that schedule and challengeyourself with this 20-mile hike
if that is something you want todo.
(33:07):
It's a lot of fun.
There's a lot of people that arestarting out, a lot of
camaraderie.
It's different than like a race.
There's no spectators.
Like it's not like you can comewith your crew and then they're
gonna plant themselves unlessthey go to one of the uh aid
stations.
But even then, that's gonna be avery quick go potty, you'll get
(33:30):
your snack, you get you fill upyour water bottle, and you're on
your way.
So that is a bit different.
There were a lot of peopleactually that did this on their
own, which surprised me.
I was so glad that I had my girlwith me because you are able to
talk, pull each other on, andhave some accountability.
Some of these people who weredoing it on their own, that
(33:53):
mental game with this one musthave been really, really
grueling because it was it was alot.
So keep that in mind if you signup for one.
That if you're gonna do this onyour own, you are really on your
own.
You know, bring headphones orwhatever because you you're
(34:16):
gonna be with yourself for along period of time.
So that's it.
That's my recap of the MammothMarch.
It was fun, it's like givingbirth during it.
It was awful.
And I didn't, I we kind of threwour hiking shoes to the side and
didn't ever want to look at themagain.
But here I am two weeks later,and I'm already looking forward
(34:39):
to the next one.
And if you are interested inmore information, uh follow the
link in the show notes to theMammoth March.
You can ask me any questions youwant about it, and I will give
you my answer honestly.
And you have questions aboutwhether it's something you
should be doing based on whereyou are in your running life,
(35:01):
you can also shoot me an emailand I will answer that from a
coaching perspective uh to thebest of my ability.
Hello and welcome back to the Wrinkled Runner
podcast.
Um, it's been a while.
It's just been life's been justall over the place.
But uh I wanted to recap for younot a run actually or a race,
but a mammoth march.
And for those of you who don'tknow, a mammoth march is a 20
(00:44):
mile hike, and some of theevents actually also have a
30-mile hike.
And I signed up for this, andI'm just gonna do a recap of it
in case it is something that youmay want to do.
And it is a challenge, even ifyou are a runner and you are a
runner of marathons, hiking usessome different muscles, and uh
(01:10):
yeah, so I'm gonna just recapwhat I did, and this was a few
weeks ago.
Now we're in mid-October 202525, and I did this on October
5th of 25.
So I'm also in mid-marathonbuild, actually coming to the
end.
My marathon is in 28 days, butat the time when I signed up for
(01:32):
this marathon march, I did notknow I was going to be running
this the Richmond Marathon.
So my fitness business is mostlyrun coaching, and uh I do
strength training for my runnersthrough that.
But I do take on a few, veryfew, personal training clients
on the side, and that arethey're not runners, they're
(01:55):
just interested in personaltraining, and I go to their
homes and work out with them andbuild their programs and things
like that.
So, one of my clients I like togive challenges to because uh
she is someone who can handle alot of challenge, and it's just
something that I like to throwat her, she's always up for it,
(02:17):
and I found this Mammoth Marchthing going through my uh
Facebook feed and thought thiswould be an excellent challenge
for this client, and I wanted todo it too, so I thought we could
do this together.
We talked about it back inFebruary, I think that's when we
signed up for it, and at thetime I was training for the
(02:38):
Buffalo Marathon, which Ithought would be over with at
the end of May, it because it'sin the end of May, but because
of our winter, which I thinkI've talked about before, it was
just ice, just ice all the time.
It was not safe to be outsidetraining.
I don't have a treadmill, I donot like treadmills, but I'm
actually thinking of breakingdown and getting one just in
(02:59):
case this winter ends up beingthe same as last winter because
I deferred my Buffalo marathonto next May.
And so I'm going to have to gothrough another winter of
running outside.
Hopefully, I can, but if Ican't, I really need an
alternative way to get thatmileage in.
So, anyway, I signed up for thismammoth march and decided to put
(03:24):
together some training for it.
Now, hiking is not my specialty,so I had to do a little bit of
research, a lot of research, ontraining for hikes and you know
what you need to do, what whatstrength should be done, ways
that it's different from runningand from marathon training, and
kind of put together a trainingprogram for myself and my
(03:47):
client.
Now, we did not hit all of thethings that I had wanted to do
in this training, just a lot wasgoing on in both of our lives
for the summer.
But we were able to get sometraining in, and I think that
did go a long way for themammoth march.
Now, if you are interested, Iwill absolutely put a link in
(04:11):
the show notes for you to go totheir website.
They have them all over thecountry throughout the whole
year.
It just depends on like whereyou live.
They try to keep it so it's kindof cool on the cool side
wherever, wherever you are.
Uh, so this was in HudsonValley, which is near New York
City.
In October, early October, itshould be like an ideal hiking
(04:31):
kind of climate.
Well, because of our summer andour fall here in the northeast,
we actually reached a high of 85degrees that day.
So uh I kept watching theweather and and it was, I was
like, oh my gosh, I hope this isnot out in the open and that we
(04:53):
are shaded for most of thishike.
So uh we signed up, we decidedto do a few hikes during the
summer, and after I deferred mymarathon in Buffalo, I really,
really wanted to do a marathonthis year.
I I've had to defer for onereason or another my past few
(05:16):
marathons.
And so I really wanted to getsomething on the books for this
year.
And I signed up for the RichmondMarathon because my son lives
there, and that is on November15th of 2025.
So I knew I was signing up for amarathon while I was going to be
doing this 20-mile hike.
(05:37):
Kind of thought maybe the20-mile hike would be like one
of the weekends that I do a20-mile run, even though it is
different.
So I'll talk later when I get tothat point about what how I
handled that issue.
But anyway, so throughout thesummer, I was combining marathon
training with also trying to hitthe trails a few times.
(05:59):
We did a five-mile hike and wedid a 10-mile hike, mostly to
make sure that the shoes that webought were something that we
were going to want to hike 20miles in and also use a day
pack.
So, kind of like a practice run,like we do in running a half or
a marathon, where we practiceeverything we're gonna wear and
(06:22):
our fueling and all that goodstuff.
So we bought the Solomon Sixshoe.
It's a it's actually a runningtrail shoe.
We didn't want something heavyand boot-like uh on our feet for
the 20 miles.
I wore hiking boots once thathad like steel-toed shoes, and
it was not a 20-mile hike by anystretch, and my toenails were
(06:46):
black, they fell off, they hurtlike hack.
I mean, I kept thinking I wasgoing to take these boots off
and just hike barefoot when Ihad to do this, and this was
like probably 10 or 15 yearsago.
So I decided to go with a moretrail shoe.
They are amazing, and I know I'mgetting the what it is wrong.
(07:07):
There's a there's Solomon in thename, and there's a six, and so
I will link to that.
Uh, but these were fantastic onour practice hikes.
We were going on rocks andthings that were wet, no
slippage.
It was they were great.
Um, if you are a hiker or youare a runner or you want to run
(07:29):
trails, I highly recommend thisshoe.
This thing was, they wereamazing.
When we did hike, you know, wewere taking water with us, and
on the mammoth marches, whatthey do is they have uh stops,
you know, just like in a race,but you have to bring your own
water bottle.
So make sure if you do this, youpay attention to all the things
(07:50):
that they send you.
Download, uh, they had like aguidebook, download that, make
sure because if you show up tothe sinking, you're gonna hit an
aid station and be able to get aglass of water or you know, a
cup of water.
You are not.
You need to bring your own waterbottles to this.
So we carried our water bottleson the practice hikes, and we
(08:12):
did a lot of walking in between,but of course, you know, walking
on the pavement, walking on asidewalk is way different than
walking in the woods.
We decided to go the day before.
So it was about a five and ahalf hour drive from where we
live to where this hike is.
And this hike, the Hudson Valleyhike, is considered, I've heard,
(08:35):
the top three or the hardest.
It's one of the hardest ones,and of course, that's the one we
decided to sign up for.
So we really didn't know what wewere getting into.
I've hiked, uh, you know, I'vehiked all over, but nothing like
this.
There was a lot going into itthat we were just unaware of.
We went in the day before, thankgoodness, and then got a good
(08:58):
night's sleep, and we had to getup early.
So with the Mammoth March, youpick what time you want to
start.
So I don't remember theearliest.
It's either 6:30 or like seveno'clock, that has the earliest
start time that you can do, andthen they do like 15-minute
intervals after that that youcan pick as your start time,
with 8:30 being the last ofthose times that you can pick.
(09:21):
I picked or we picked 8.15, andthen you have eight hours to get
to a certain point.
And I'm assuming it's differentwith each mammoth march because
ours is so hard, you had to getto mile 17 and a half by 4.45
p.m.
So whether you started at 7 a.m.
or started at 8.15, you had toget to this mile marker by 4.45
(09:46):
p.m.
And once that time hit, theywould shut that down, and then
they you'd all have to go intolike a sprinter bus and then be
taken back to the start line.
We got to this hike, and I don'tknow what I was thinking.
I guess I was thinking that itwas gonna be just me and my
client just skipping along thetrails and you know, having long
(10:06):
talks about stuff and just, youknow, enjoying the scenery and
whatever.
And we get to the parking lot,and of course, there's like
thousands of people there.
So uh already it was like, ohyes, this is this is an event.
This isn't just we're not justgoing hiking, and it had a good
breakfast full of carbs.
When we got there, there was avery long line to check in
(10:31):
because something that thisstate park had that apparently a
lot of the other mammoth hikesdon't have is you have to have a
bib number.
And I think this is the firstyear that they did this.
This is only the second year forthe Hudson Valley hike, and I
don't think they had the bibthing last year.
At least that's what it seemedlike with the emails and stuff.
(10:52):
And so you had to get into along line, you had to check in
and sign your, you know, I coulddie, but you're not responsible
for that signature thing.
And then you had to go and youhad to pick up your bib, and it
was, you know, broken up intolast names.
There were some people in thatline that it was way past the
time that they were supposed tostart this.
(11:14):
And then after you picked upyour bib and pinned it on, then
you got into another super longline because they only allow up
to five people to go at once,and then there's like a
30-second stagger before theylet the next people go through.
So that you know, you're there'snot a thousand people starting
out at this hike at once.
(11:34):
And we finally made it to thestart.
We're released, and you start ata beach, which we were really
concerned about at first when wefirst read that this is where we
were starting, because it's likeI don't want sand in these shoes
for 20 miles, but you actuallystart on a paved surface, you're
not anywhere near the beach.
Uh, well, you're not you don'tstart on the sand or at the
(11:55):
beach uh itself.
There's a area that's pavedright along it, and that's where
you start.
So you walk through and youstart going along, and it's
really well marked, exceptapparently in the earlier when
it first started, some goofballdecided to change the signage so
(12:18):
that people were going the wrongway right off the bat.
I don't know who did that,obviously, but idiocy, just just
complete idiocy.
They figured it out, and then bythe time we got to that point,
we didn't have an issue.
It was already changed andstarted.
So we started off and you know,we were going along.
(12:40):
I would say the first four mileswas was pretty easy.
It was in the woods, thankgoodness, because it was
obviously getting hotter andhotter as the day goes on, but
it was it was pretty good.
Now, one thing that I wouldrecommend is that you make sure
you know when the uh aidstations are going to happen.
I knew that there was going tobe four aid stations.
(13:03):
So in our heads, we're like,okay, well, every four miles
there's going to be an aidstation.
Well, the first one didn'thappen until we were seven and a
half miles into that hike.
They have to set it up,obviously, based on where roads
are so that they can drive allthe stuff to the certain
checkpoint.
That was the first one that madesense.
(13:24):
So it was about seven and a halfmiles in before we got to an aid
station.
Now they had a lot of snacks andprotein bars, and you filled up
your water bottle there.
And then they also hadelectrolyte tablets that you
could also use.
They had porta potties at eachone, which was awesome.
And the aid stations, I wouldsay, were really, really well
(13:45):
stocked with a lot of differentthings.
Now, the only complaint that Ihad, and this is probably petty,
but you know, they said therewas gonna be like peanut butter
and jelly sandwiches as part ofthe fueling.
Well, in my head, I'm thinkinglike uncrustables or something
like that, where you just grabit.
(14:07):
There was actually somebodymanually making peanut butter
and jelly sandwiches.
And both for me and my client,that was kind of like kind of
like an ick.
I mean, they were wearinggloves, so I will give them
that.
They were wearing gloves.
I don't know why I saw that andjust thought, no, but I did not
(14:30):
take a sandwich.
I took a bunch of other thingsthough, and that gave me enough
carbs.
Because the other thing that Iwould say is some of this stuff
was quote unquote healthy stuff.
So that wasn't high in sugar.
As a runner and a marathonrunner, I'm thinking, no, put
out donuts.
Like, give me those simplesugars that are gonna hit my
(14:54):
body and give me that energyquickly.
I don't want a no-sugar bar thattastes like sawdust when I still
have 13 more miles to go in thishike.
That's actually gonna take twiceas long as a marathon.
So, anyway, we were on our way.
People were already dropping outat that point.
This one was very, very rocky.
So you are on, even in the pathsthat are draight, it's very,
(15:17):
very rocky.
But because you're in theCatskill Mountains, it's also
there's a lot of elevation toit.
You're you're going up a lot ordown, you know, either
direction, especially whenyou're my age.
Either direction is not fun.
Not a lot of stability.
I honestly would not recommendyou just try to do this in
sneakers, get something that ishiking specific so that it's
(15:39):
grippy and that you are able touh get through it on some
unstable territory.
So we made it to the next stop,and that was just water.
I think there were a few snacksthere that we grabbed and then
started out, and I want to sayit's that one or the next one.
(16:00):
Some somewhere in like the 12,13 mile mark, there were a whole
bunch of other people that weregoing home or going back to the
start.
There were people we we goforward from the aid station,
and there were people that hadactually turned around and were
heading back to the aid stationwhere you could get a sprinter
van.
So that's the other thing thatyou need to know about this is
(16:23):
you have to be prepared toeither go and make it to the
next aid station or turn aroundto head back to the previous
one.
You are not going to get asprinter van otherwise.
Now, they do have sweeper, theyhave a uh this one had one
sweeper guy, so he was in theback making sure that everybody
(16:45):
was getting through.
And then what the bib did wasevery time you came into an aid
station, they would write downyour number so that they knew
that you got to each aid stationand that at the end of the
thing, if you were still outthere, they would actually know
that you were still out there.
But they made it very clear thatif you leave an aid station, you
(17:07):
are not going to be able to quituntil you got to the next aid
station.
So uh there were a lot of peoplethat would turn around and head
back fairly quickly after wewould leave an aid station
because I think they startedback out and realized they they
weren't gonna make it.
It was getting difficult.
Like I said, there was a lot ofuphill, there were some
(17:29):
switchbacks, there were somescrambling up of just it was
just rocks.
Some people had the walkingpoles.
We did not take walking poles.
I think if you're used to them,that was probably something that
you would want.
We didn't practice with them.
I've never used them.
I think if I had tried to use itfresh off of never using it on
(17:51):
this hike, I would have had noclue.
I would have, you know, foldedthem up and ditched them or put
them in my backpack becauseyeah, it I I don't think I'd be
able to use them the way they'resupposed to be used.
It was just too rocky.
A lot of this hike, we were infront or behind each other.
(18:13):
It was not very wide.
The path was not very wide.
Now it was a beautiful,beautiful hike.
It was, you know, there weretimes when you'd come across the
uh you were to be at the top ofa mountain and could, you know,
see out for a long, long time.
It was absolutely gorgeous.
But towards the end of it, wejust don't care.
You're just you're just tryingto get through.
(18:35):
And we had to get to 17 and ahalf, like I said, by 445.
I thought we had to get there bymile 17.
And we hit mile 17 and there wasno station, there was nobody.
And then my client was like, No,I think they said mile 17 and a
(18:56):
half.
So then I started panicking.
It was probably after fouro'clock at this point.
We were slowing down, and onceyou got to that checkpoint, you
could take, they would figurethat you were going to get to
the end before sundown.
So you could relax a little bitmore after that because they
weren't gonna pull you off.
(19:17):
There was really nobody to pullyou off the trail if you once
you hit that 17.5.
But the problem is you have togo 17 and a half miles before
you get to that point.
So uh we were we were justbooking it, you know, we were
just trying to pass people,which is the other problem when
it's only a straight pathwithout a lot of give um to the
(19:40):
left or the right.
They say you use, you know,hiking etiquette and say to your
left, but there were a lot ofpoints where there wasn't a left
to be had.
Not that like there was a cliffor anything, but there was just
you weren't on the path.
It's hard to describe, but itwould be very difficult
sometimes to pass people the waythat we were.
(20:00):
And every once in a while, thensome the leader of the pack
would turn around and see allthese people behind them and get
off the trail so that peoplecould pass by.
So we really booked it and wegot to the 17 and a half mile
point at like I think 412between 420 and 425.
So we were good.
(20:21):
We didn't, you know, we made it.
There were uh there was a hugecircle of chairs actually, and
there were people just giving upat that point.
They were waiting for thesprinter van to take them back
to the start.
I was like, there is no way I amnot getting that metal after
(20:42):
getting to 17 and a half miles.
I mean, to me, we are almost tothe end point.
We're not stopping.
So we we kept going.
And right after that, or bearound mile 18, oh my goodness,
there was an incline.
It was just pure rock, purerock.
And it was like, it wasn'tstraight up, but it felt
(21:03):
straight up at that point.
There were there were peoplethat were going up it and then
stopping to rest.
And I was just like, there, ifyou stop, you're done.
Your your legs are gonna crampup, you're gonna, you're gonna
freeze and not be able to go anyfurther.
I'm like, we are, we're hittingit.
We're going.
We went up and we just keptgoing and kept going until we
(21:26):
got to the top, and then wecould take a breather.
And then every time we thoughtthis has to be the last incline,
we have to be starting back downthe mountain because we're
ending up on a beach again.
We were ending up back where westarted.
There'd be another incline.
We were we were done for sure.
And then we on the last probablymile and a half, you were just
(21:49):
kind of out on the road, uh,walking along the road and the
grass, kind of like the the waya car would go to get to this
place that we were going to end.
When we saw the finish line, wewere both, let's just go.
And so we started running andran out that last probably 300
(22:11):
yards.
Miraculously enough, it actuallyfelt really, really good to
stretch those legs and not be ina walking position anymore and
kind of run to the finish.
We got our medals, we were done.
I do not remember how long ittook us.
They don't chip it, it's not fora time.
This isn't a race.
(22:32):
And we didn't, we didn't want acountdown or we, and we wanted
to be able to rely on our GPS ifnecessary.
Because the self-service wasn'tgreat out there.
So I have all trails, and so I'mable to download the off GPS
thing if we needed it.
And we didn't want to use up ourwatch energy by tracking it.
(22:54):
So we didn't put it in as like aworkout or anything like that.
A lot of what we went through ismental, just like the just like
a marathon, half marathon,whatever race, hard race you're
doing, it's mental.
There's a lot of we want toquit, but we got to keep going.
Let's just keep going, let'sjust do this.
(23:15):
I did get a few blisters, butnot a ton.
It was a very strenuous hike.
I highly recommend doing amammoth march.
I think it's awesome.
I don't know that I wouldrecommend doing this one.
After it was all over, my clientand I were like, it's so
annoying that people who haven'tdone this particular one will
(23:38):
never know how difficult itactually is.
And, you know, what those rocksdo to your body.
The difference in what my body,how my body felt after this
versus say a long run, is mostlywas mostly in like the quad area
from going downhill, like theshoulder blade area from
(23:58):
carrying a pack, which is whydoing practice hikes I find so
necessary uh for training forthis.
Just my feet.
My feet hurt so much more thanwhat they feel like in a long
run.
Now, I do think that trainingfor a marathon was probably
(24:20):
helpful in the hike.
You know, I'm mentally preparedto go for long distances.
I'm using my legs all the timeand like doing strength training
for running, and that helps alot with hiking, although there
were some differences in what Iprescribed for strength training
for the hike than I would forlike running a marathon.
(24:42):
I do think that my marathontraining helped my hike.
Now, the question actually is isdid doing this hinder my
marathon training?
So I was really, really nervousabout that.
And I had a run scheduled.
So we ran we hiked on aSaturday, and I had a my long
(25:05):
runs, I usually do on Mondays.
So the Monday after the mammothmarch, I just went out to run.
I didn't prescribe myself anymileage to get through.
Luckily, it was a down week asfar as running uh mileage goes.
I was able to run 10 miles andrun it r well with not, you
(25:27):
know, a lot of pain, no painactually.
I feel like I bounced backquickly and I was really, really
nervous about my glutes,piriformis area, groin.
I'm gonna do a whole podcast onsome of what's been going on
with that and what I'vediscovered with that and why
that's been alleviated, butthat's going to be in another uh
(25:49):
episode.
I think it enhanced both.
I think I think doing boththings at the same time helped
because it's all endurance,right?
There may have been a time wherethat would have really, really
hindered my marathon training,but I think it ended up being
all okay.
And then a week after I had a20-mile run and it was good.
(26:13):
It came out, I I did reallywell.
So that fear that it was gonnaruin my marathon training is
gone.
I I feel like I'm recovered nowfrom the hike, thinking about my
next one.
Uh, I'm not gonna do the Hudsonone.
I there's one near me,Letchworth State Park, that I'm
(26:34):
looking at maybe doing with someof my in-law kids and my own
kids and uh trying to getthrough that one, which isn't
until 2026.
So that leads me kind of toshould marathon runners do
events like this duringtraining?
Now, this is not something thatI would have ever recommended
anybody do.
I spur of the moment decided todo this fall marathon while
(26:58):
doing the uh Mammoth Marchtraining because I did want to
get that other marathon in.
Now, that being said, andbecause I went through this, I
don't know.
I I guess I it would depend onthe person.
It it depends on the person.
Now I've been running marathonsfor eight years.
I've been running for 20 years,I've been running marathons for
(27:20):
eight years, and so I'm prettywell versed in endurance.
And there's been years I've donetwo marathons in that year and
things like that.
So endurance is something I liketo do, and my body is pretty
used to that.
So for me, I think that issomething that I can handle.
I can handle a hike, a 20-milehike, also the you know,
(27:42):
training for a marathon, and Ithink it would just all around
just added to the enduranceportion of my training.
I think this was actually prettygood cross-training.
It threw variety into that.
It translated to me beingcomfortable with doing a 10-mile
run two days later.
(28:04):
I probably would have run about14 miles that day because I did
the 20-mile hike.
It was like, okay, well, youknow, that's at least the
equivalent, if not more.
So for cross-training, I reallythought that this worked really,
really well.
When you do something like thishike that's different than what
(28:25):
you normally do, you can see inyourself, number one, how the
mental aspect that you've beentraining yourself for so long uh
with marathon training cantranslate to another endurance
sport, but also how you have toadapt.
(28:46):
And sometimes though those samestrategies don't work.
I mean, when you're running amarathon, you know in your head,
especially if you've run onesbefore, how much more time you
have left.
When you're doing an eight-hourhike, or in our case, I think it
was closer to a nine-hour hike.
(29:06):
That's a lot longer of a time.
So you do have to put indifferent strategies.
So it just adds to your mentalcapacity for getting you through
these things.
It also shows that you canbalance doing some of these
events, even if you don't get inevery single training aspect
(29:28):
that you were trying to go for.
In the beginning, we did reallywell.
We were doing like seven-milewalks, and then every three
weeks we would go for a hike.
So the first hike was fivemiles, then we would do walking
for a couple weeks, and then wedid a 10-mile hike.
The 10-mile hike really, reallyis what pulled us through
because we were going to do a15-mile hike a few weeks before
(29:50):
the 20-mile hike and then kindof taper.
The 15-mile hike didn't happenbecause a whole lot of life
stuff was going on uh with bothof us.
But that 10-mile hike gettingthrough that really helped our
mental understanding of whatthis hike was going to be like
and also gave us this confidenceboost.
(30:12):
So I would never recommend goinginto this 20 mile hike blind
where you have done zerotraining.
Some of the other people thatdid it, it was.
Pretty clear that they did notdo any training for it.
And the you know, they were theones that dropped out between
mile four and mile 12, let'ssay.
(30:33):
Because this isn't shipped, Idon't think there's any
statistics on how many peoplestarted versus how many people
finished.
I don't know what that lookslike, but it just felt like
there were a lot of people thatdropped out.
So some training is verynecessary.
And I'm actually puttingtogether a training package for
people who want to train for theMammoth March with strength
(30:55):
training and practice hikes andhow to get familiarize yourself
with gear and all that kind ofstuff, just because it did have
quite an impact in what me andmy client were able to do versus
what some other people were dowere able to do or not do.
So I would really recommenddoing this.
(31:19):
I think it's great forcross-training if you are a
runner and you run somemarathons.
Now, that being said, don't signup for one that's a week before
your marathon.
I would say that based on mytraining, my marathon training,
and what I still have to do inthe next month, that was
(31:40):
probably the cutoff for me.
I would not want to like todaygo hike 20 miles and then in
four weeks have a marathon.
It blended very well with whereI was in my training.
And that's the other thing Iwould say as well is if you're
going to sign up for one andyou're also training for
something for a longer distance,like a half or a marathon, look
(32:04):
at where that falls in yourmarathon training so that you
can balance out, you know, whereyour long runs are.
Because what running 10 milesdid teach me a cut two days
after is that you are using yourmuscles a bit differently.
And so you still need to getthose long runs in.
(32:46):
So just be mindful of that ifyou decide to do it, or if you
don't have any any trainingthing on the schedule, any
marathons or you know, halves orwhatever, then go ahead and look
at that schedule and challengeyourself with this 20-mile hike
if that is something you want todo.
(33:07):
It's a lot of fun.
There's a lot of people that arestarting out, a lot of
camaraderie.
It's different than like a race.
There's no spectators.
Like it's not like you can comewith your crew and then they're
gonna plant themselves unlessthey go to one of the uh aid
stations.
But even then, that's gonna be avery quick go potty, you'll get
(33:30):
your snack, you get you fill upyour water bottle, and you're on
your way.
So that is a bit different.
There were a lot of peopleactually that did this on their
own, which surprised me.
I was so glad that I had my girlwith me because you are able to
talk, pull each other on, andhave some accountability.
Some of these people who weredoing it on their own, that
(33:53):
mental game with this one musthave been really, really
grueling because it was it was alot.
So keep that in mind if you signup for one.
That if you're gonna do this onyour own, you are really on your
own.
You know, bring headphones orwhatever because you you're
(34:16):
gonna be with yourself for along period of time.
So that's it.
That's my recap of the MammothMarch.
It was fun, it's like givingbirth during it.
It was awful.
And I didn't, I we kind of threwour hiking shoes to the side and
didn't ever want to look at themagain.
But here I am two weeks later,and I'm already looking forward
(34:39):
to the next one.
And if you are interested inmore information, uh follow the
link in the show notes to theMammoth March.
You can ask me any questions youwant about it, and I will give
you my answer honestly.
And you have questions aboutwhether it's something you
should be doing based on whereyou are in your running life,
(35:01):
you can also shoot me an emailand I will answer that from a
coaching perspective uh to thebest of my ability.
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