Women's History Month / International Women's Day 2019

To celebrate March as “Women's History Month” and as the month that hosts International Women's Day, I decided to write short features on female ultrarunners that inspire me. In the order in which I posted them, which in no way suggests greater or lesser importance of any, below are the features I put together on four amazing ultrarunners who happen to be female. I stopped at only four not for lack of material, but strictly only because of my personal time limitations. There are obviously many other female ultrarunners who have impressive accomplishments and stories that deserve to be told. So if any of the below runners inspire you, I encourage you to seek out further inspiration via blogs and vlogs of other female ultrarunners who are sharing their own story with us all.

#IWD2019

Courtney Dauwalter

To celebrate March as “Women's History Month”, I will be posting what are hopefully inspirational posts of female runners that I find inspiring. To start I dusted off this meme I made a little less than a year ago, just a little late for last year's International Women's Day. None other than Courtney Dauwalter! Keep pushing those boundaries and helping us all learn what is truly humanly possible.

Jasmin Paris

Photo Credit:: Yann Besrest-Butler/Montane Spine Race

The second female ultrarunner to be featured to celebrate March as “Women's History Month” is Jasmin Paris. While in the process of winning outright the 2019 edition of Britain’s brutal 268 mile Spine Race, Paris expressed milk at aid stations for her 14 month old daughter. If that’s not impressive enough, Paris improved the overall course record by over 12 hours with a finishing time of 83:12:23. She is the first female to win the Spine Race outright and she did it definitively. Amazingly, she foresaw the greatest challenge of this race not being the demanding course, but being away from her daughter as she wrote in a pre race blog post “I think the mental battle will probably be my biggest challenge. For one thing, I think I’ll really miss Rowan, who I have only been away from a couple of times for a single night since she was born. On the plus side, I think I’ll have the very best motivation for getting to Kirk Yetholm as quickly as possible!”

https://www.inov-8.com/blog/jasmin-paris-recordbreaking-spine-race-win/

Ann Trason

Photo from IRunFar.com, “Ann Trason and the 1995 Western States 100”, 1994 Western States 100.
I would be doing a disservice to all of the ultrarunning world and women in general if I failed to include the legendary Ann Trason as a featured female athlete to celebrate March as “Women's History Month” and International Women's Day. Where to begin with Ann Trason and her lengthy list of ultrarunning accomplishments. Let’s start with course records.

6:09:08 – American River 50 mile (1993)
3:59:32 – Cool Canyon Crawl 50K (1993)
7:31:24 – Dick Collins Firetrails 50 mile (1987)
6:13:54 – Hunter Thompson 50 mile
18:06:24 – Leadville Trail 100 women's record (2nd place overall in 1994)
8:55:49 – Miwok 100K Trail Race (2001)
6:43:52 – Quicksilver 50 mile (1992)
7:29:36 – Silver State 50 mile (1994)
7:00:47 – World 100K (1995)

Should we continue to World Records?

50-mile (5:40:18 in 1991)
100K (7:00:47, 1995)
12-Hour (91 miles 1312 yards, 1991)
100-mile (13:47:42, 1991)

If her records don’t impress or inspire you, maybe her persistence will. She DNF’d her first two attempts at running the Western States 100 (1987 and 1988) due to knee problems and dehydration respectively. Rather than giving up, she went back in 1989 and won the race. She went on to win it for the next nine years to achieve an unprecedented 10 year win streak. She won the race for an additional four more consecutive years from 2000-2004. Her course record (17:37:51) set in 1994 stood for 18 years. Did I mention that two of those Western States wins came less than two weeks after winning the ultra competitive 56 mile Comrades Marathon?

Even with all of these accolades, it is likely that many people were introduced to Ann via Christopher mcDougall’s rather unflattering portrayal of her in his book Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen. Thankfully in recent years, through the work of content creators such as Billy Yang (see link to podcast/video), the ultrarunning community has painted a more complete picture of who Ann Trason is. If any of this captivates you, follow the links below to learn more about Ann Trason and her amazing ultrarunning accomplishments. Also linked to is my Mines of Spain race report where I tell my account of unknowingly sharing my final aid station stop with Ann Trason debating whether or not I should do a shot of Fireball.

http://www.beastcoasttrailrunning.com/2018/11/2018-mines-of-spain-100-mile-footrace.html

https://billyyangpodcast.libsyn.com/ann-trason-byp-009

https://trailrunnermag.com/video/watch-a-video-portrait-of-ann-trason-trail-running-legend.html

Candice Burt

Photo from Candice’s website, Wild Defined (http://www.wilddefined.com/).

The final female athlete to be featured and wrap up my weekly posts to celebrate March as “Women's History Month” and as the month that hosts International Women's Day is Candice Burt. If you haven’t heard of Candice Burt, then you probably haven’t heard of 200 mile races either. Sometimes referred to as the “Queen of 200s”, Candice is making the 200 mile distance a bit more of a standardized ultramarathon distance and probably as mainstream as it has ever been. I don’t say “ever will become” because I believe as much as Candice has already popularized the distance, it will likely gain further popularity in large part thanks to her efforts.

Candice is the Race Director (RD) for and creator of three of what are arguably the most popular 200 or more mile ultramarathons: Tahoe 200, Moab 240, and Bigfoot 200. The bulk majority of all the miles for all three races is made up of primarily a single loop course design, making them a rarity even amongst most 200 mile or more races in the US which tend to rely heavy on multiple loops or repeated out and backs. Candice’s races are a niche category within the niche sport of ultrarunning. However, with her attention to detail, focus on scenic and quality course design, and her intense marketing skills (#200IsTheNew100), Candice has built a following and demand for these types of races.

Maybe her success as a RD is in part due to her broad experience as an accomplished ultrarunner herself. Candice holds the current unsupported Fastest Known Times (FKTs) for two routes: the Wonderland Trail (95 miles) and the Trans-Zion (48 miles). Additionally, with four HURT 100 finishes (4th F, 2nd F, 2nd F, and 3rd F) amongst a slew of other impressive ultra finishes on her Ultrasignup, there is ample evidence that not only does Candice know how to direct ultras, she also knows how to run them.

#IWD2019

Were CEP Compression Socks Responsible For My 50K PR?

"Disclaimer: I received a pair of CEP 3.0 Tall Compression Socks to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!"

When my CEP 3.0 tall compression socks arrived in the mail I was excited to try them out to see if they lived up to the hype I’ve heard. When I say hype, I don’t specifically mean just CEP compression socks, but the running benefits of compression socks in general. I see them being worn by many ultrarunners and shorter distance runners and have heard many runners rave about them. My experience with them is limited. I’ve only worn a single pair for a couple days immediately following my first 100 mile race. Maybe they helped with recovery a bit, but it is hard to say as it was still somewhat painful and a bit rough on my body as a whole. Although, if the recovery from my first 100 miler didn’t hurt to a certain degree, in my opinion I would say I probably did something wrong for it.

My first reaction to my new CEP 3.0 tall compression socks was eagerness to get outside and run a hard paced 10 miler. The fact that this was my first non-treadmill run in awhile and the weather had finally warmed enough to be comfortable to run in shorts in early March may have contributed to my zest to get out and run on this particular occasion. My second impression of these new socks was “Dang! These things are really tough to put on!” Well that ten miler went really well, even earning some Strava Best Effort medals (https://strava.app.link/dGqJLCdEjV)! Everything felt great for the entire ten, including my feet and calves. And after a few more trial runs, managing to put the socks on became much easier with a little practice and learned technique.

After a few more weeks and test runs, it was time for the real test: wearing my CEP compression socks for my first race of the season, Rat Race 50k. I figured if 31 miles of trails with a few stretches of semi technical terrain went well wearing CEP socks, I would be a convert as well. I'm happy to report that the race went wonderfully (improving my 50k PR from 4:54:29 to 4:15:24) and the socks performed beautifully (race report). My greatest concerns when trying new socks for long runs is comfort and blister prevention. I was relieved to find CEP compression socks kept my feet feeling good for the whole distance and I went home without a single blister. I’m not naive enough to credit any pair of socks for a nearly 40 minute improvement in my 50K PR nor am I too bashful to claim that it was my hard work that was the primary factor that made that degree of improvement possible. However, I am willing to admit that a quality pair of socks never hurts the cause and if a placebo effect improves my performance, I’ll take it. 

So that is just my anecdotal experience with CEP compression socks, but as a skeptic I always ask what the research shows when I hear anecdotal evidence. Many claims are made by companies selling the socks: improved blood flow, reduced swelling, muscle stabilization, and decreased recovery time among others. All sound like great benefits, but does the research support these claims? Armstrong et al. (2015) found in a randomized, replicated study that the wearing of compression socks for 48 hours immediately after running a marathon reduced recovery time. This conclusion was reached based on the data showing a significant difference in the amount of time it took for participants to reach exhaustion during a controlled, incline treadmill run two weeks before and after running a marathon. The time until exhaustion for the treadmill run after the marathon for the group of runners wearing placebo socks decreased by 3.4% while the time increased for the compression sock group by 2.6%. A similar study performed by Kemmler et al. (2009) came to similar conclusions, finding that running performance was significantly improved by calf muscle compression.

If I haven’t sold you on them yet (not that I’m trying to), here are three quick points that may close the deal:

1. They look and feel good (at a very minimum cover bad calf tattoos)
2. Six Month Guarantee: 150-200 wears before compression lessens
3. Thirty Day Return Policy: No questions asked money back guarantee

If you would like to try out a pair of CEP compression socks for yourself, they are available on Amazon. The 3.0 socks I tested are currently available for $59.95. If you want to give just the calf sleeves without the socks a try, they are available for $39.95.

It's not everyday you get to run trails with Rich Riopel, some NJ ultrarunning pride showing here.

Works Cited:

Armstrong, S.A., E.S. Till, S.R. Maloney, and G.A Harris. 2015. Compression Socks and Functional Recovery Following Marathon Running: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 29(2):528-533. 

Kemmler, W., S. Stengel, C. Kockritz, J. Mayhew, A. Wassermann, and J. Zapf. 2009. Effect of Compression Stockings on Running Performance in Men Runners. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 23(1):101-105.

24 Treadmill Miles To The Bowl

Twenty four miles on one bowl of oatmeal.

Just this morning I finished what will probably be my last long run (24 miles on the treadmill) prior to my first race of the year, the Rat Race 50k. It felt good for having not run much in the last week due to work obligations and some family celebrations. I know a whole lot of people will disagree with my opinion, but it wasn’t that bad doing a long run on the treadmill. Especially since I have a pretty solid spotify playlist prepared just for such occasions. The other benefit of long runs on the treadmill is the ability to set the pace and stick to it mindlessly, which is what I had planned for this run. I ran the first 18 miles at my target race pace for the NJ Novo Nordisk Marathon, (8:30/mile) which would be under my marathon PR by less than a minute. After that I increased my pace slightly until the last 2 miles when I ran sub 8 minute miles. Being able to run 22 miles at my target pace without feeling like I was struggling at all and then being able to pick up my pace a bit at the end is a huge confidence booster for my PR goal at the NJ marathon. However, I still have my doubts about whether I’ll actually pull it off. Not because I don’t think the fitness or ability will be there, but because the Hyner 50k is the weekend before. And not just because the Hyner is a tough 50k with some big climbs, but because now that I’m committed to running the PA Triple Crown Series all three of those races (which begin with Hyner 50k) are my “A” races for the year. This means that I intend to not hold anything back at Hyner and if it goes well and there’s nothing left in the tank at the finish, I likely won’t be fully recovered after one week when I go for the marathon PR. Whether I blame poor planning or just myself for making stupid decisions doesn’t really matter because I’m not changing my plans regardless of how dumb they may be. The way I see it is if I do run a good time at Hyner and still hit my marathon PR goal it will just be that much more impressive. Additionally, it will likely motivate me to go for another marathon PR soon after in hopes that I could surely run a better time on fresh legs.

Before I wrap this up, just a side note, or more so a bit of a humorous story. One of the earlier mentioned family celebrations was a trip to Great Wolf Lodge in the Poconos of PA. While this trip took some time away from what would have been dedicated training time, I still got on a treadmill to run at the Great Wolf Lodge resort. While it wasn’t a great work out or run, it was a pretty entertaining one. The fitness room is small even by hotel fitness room standards. And one of the three walls is made of glass windows along a busy hallway. This hallway is a pretty high traffic area between the water park, arcade, and a wing of the hotel rooms. Never before have I had more ice cream eating children stopping to stare at me running on a treadmill than during this treadmill run at Great Wolf Lodge. I’m not complaining about this. I actually found it pretty humorous at the time and still do. It was somewhat surreal as I kind of felt like I was an attraction at the resort with all of the attention I was getting. If you’re ever at a Great Wolf Lodge don’t totally blow off your work out if the weather is crappy, you’re slightly drunk, or just feeling exhausted. Find the fitness room and run some miles on the treadmill. It will entertain the kids roaming the halls and if you’re like me you’ll get a few chuckles from their fascination.


Scott Snell
March 2, 2019

My Wife's First And Only (So Far) Marathon

Ah... The porta potty line at the start of a road race, really makes you appreciate ultras.

Author's Note:  I wrote this back in mid 2018 just a few weeks after the Tahoe 200. After writing, I left it untouched until now (February 16, 2019) when I finally decided to post it. 

It was at some point during 2016, I don’t recall exactly when, that my wife announced t me that she wanted to run a marathon. These were some of the most beautiful words she ever said to me. I write that rather facetiously. She didn’t elaborate on what motivated her to want to run a marathon, just that she wanted to run one before her thirtieth birthday which would be later that year.

My wife, Amanda, wasn’t a newbie runner, but she had not run as much or as regularly in recent years after having children as she had before we had kids. So hearing that she wanted to run a marathon wasn’t a completely radical or ridiculous idea, but it was still a bit of a surprise. In fact, Amanda was a runner long before I ever was and I credit her for me becoming a runner. I doubt that she ever thought that a passion for long distance running would burn so strongly within me once I discovered ultramarathons, but anytime she gets annoyed with my obsession I just remind her that she had a role in instigating this addiction.

Some final words of
encouragement before the start.

But this story is about her, not me. However, my obsession with ultrarunning plays a bit of a role in the story. She decided on a marathon, the Lehigh Valley marathon in PA in mid September. If memory serves me correctly, this gave her roughly three months during the summer to build up her mileage base and improve her overall fitness level to get to a point where she would be able to enjoy the marathon experience rather than just struggling through it. After all, that was her main goal: to finish a marathon, not run it as a Boston qualifier. With this in mind she looked over training plans and asked me about my training. Ultimately, she followed a similar training regimen to what has worked well for me: HIGHLY FLEXIBLE! With two young boys at home, there aren’t many other options.

She did her shorter runs when time allowed. Her longer runs were done on weekends incrementally increasing the distance. The training time seemed to go quickly for me at least and during that time Amanda enlisted a friend to run the marathon with her. Soon enough, we were meeting up with her friend at the pre race expo adjacent to the steel stacks in New Bethlehem, PA. The following morning I drove them both to the start and after some last minute goodbyes and words of encouragement from the kids and I they were off.

Since this isn’t my race report and I wasn’t around to observe Amanda’s progress throughout the day, I’m going to gloss over her whole race experience and just report that she finished running it in. While she was busy running her first marathon, I was busy swimming with our boys at the pool of the hotel we stayed at. As much fun as they were having, we made sure to be at the finish in plenty of time to cheer her in. She made it there, looking a bit tired, but running nonetheless.

Last photo before entering the start corral.

Since then Amanda pretty much went back to being an occasional runner for the last two years without ever even suggesting any interest in running another marathon. I was a

Just finished!

bit shocked just a few weeks ago when she unexpectedly said she wanted to run another marathon. I can’t help but feel like I deserve some of the credit for motivating that desire. I in no way blatantly or even intending to push her in that direction. I was simply doing what I often do: following a race online. Specifically, the Tahoe 200.
Likely, the majority of the credit for motivating Amanda to pursue another marathon should go to Courtney Dauwalter. Amanda usually doesn’t show much interest when I provide her unsolicited updates to ultras I’m live tracking and geeking out on. However, the weekend of the 2018 Tahoe 200 seemed a little different as I reported to her throughout the day that Courtney was still leading the field with a big gap between her and second. Towards the end of the weekend after Courtney’s epic and inspiring battle for first place overall, Amanda announced that she would like to run another marathon. So thank you Courtney for providing that spark to motivate my wife. Now I just need to come up with some great reasons why she should just go ahead and register for a 50k rather than another marathon. Any suggestions are welcome!

At the finish!

Training for Ultras On a Treadmill

I totally take back this meme I made a year ago.

If you’ve been a follower of my blog, you’ll know that I’ve struggled with deciding what the heck I’m running this year. Well, I registered for the entire PA Triple Crown Series for the third straight year. With the decision made and me being committed to running the PA Triple Crown Series this year, I knew it was time to get serious about training. Whether I opted to run the series or not, it was time to quit giving in to excuses and start building up some mileage for whatever I decided I was going to run this year. In the past two years I felt like it wasn’t my overall fitness level that took away from my finishing time at Hyner, but rather the big climbs and my lack of being prepared for them. So, I intend to change that this year. I got myself a membership at the local Planet Fitness so I could start training earlier, lose less fitness over winter, and train on some incline rather than just running pancake flat South Jersey. I’m also putting in some time on that stair stepper machine thingie in an effort to help build the quads.

My training for both years leading up to Hyner was pretty similar in mileage and terrain (see Table 1 below). Not surprisingly, my results were pretty similar as well. In 2017 and 2018 I finished in 5:36:36 and 5:42:02 respectively (race reports here 2017 and here 2018). This year has already been a bit of a change with the treadmill workouts allowing me to more readily and comfortably increase volume, mix in continuous 15% incline reps, and increase intensity. I feel these three aspects of training on a treadmill may work to my benefit as I concurrently train for Hyner 50k and the Novo Nordisk New Jersey Marathon.

Table 1 shows my monthly mileage totals leading up to the Hyner 50k in 2017 and 2018.

Month	2017	2018
January	164	136
February	80	128
March	128	164
Total	372	428

The first benefit of the treadmill training I’ve felt is just the ease of increasing volume. With January almost over I have about 180 miles for the month, a pretty big increase over last year. Surprisingly, it felt pretty painless to go from two months of lower than average mileage to a higher than average month on the treadmill. Maybe the primary reason is because I’m not a fan of cold weather running. And the main reason I’m not a fan of running in the cold is because the cold, dry air tends to trigger my asthma while running. I’m a fan of running for 24 hours in the heat and humidity, but once it gets too chilly I just can’t breathe which makes running miserable. And no, for the most part I don’t think of running for 24 hours as being miserable. The treadmill takes away the “sucky weather excuse” altogether for not getting a workout in which has helped me increase my volume of running this past month. I readily admit that I have fallen victim to using that excuse. After getting home for work, cooking dinner for the kids, doing homework, and getting the kids ready for bed it can be tough to be motivated to get out for a run in the dark even if it’s just cold. And if it’s rainy, cold, and windy, the “sucky weather excuse” sounds even better. Thanks to the gym and the treadmill, it’s no longer an excuse.

The second benefit of the treadmill is the option to run some incline. Granted, the maximum 15% grade of the treadmill is nothing compared to the final climb (SOB) at Hyner, but it is still better than the average route I run in South Jersey. I do have a few areas I can run where there is the option of doing some short hill repeats, but I am not aware of any area in South Jersey where I could train on a long, continuous climb.

A video showing the hills I use for hill repeats at the Egg Harbor Township Nature Reserve.

The third potential benefit I hope to eek out of this treadmill training is more quality workouts with higher intensity. We’ve all heard the old phrase that “quality is more important than quantity” in many situations, including running. Heck, there’s even a podcast that plays on this concept (Ten Junk Miles). Although I would argue that there is no such thing as a “junk mile” as long as I enjoyed running it, I am also well aware that not all runs provide equal training benefits. For reasons I mentioned earlier (that whole asthma and not being able to breath thing) my cold weather runs tend to be at a much lower intensity than I can maintain during the summer months. Not only am I able to do some higher intensity runs on the treadmill, I’m able to do it in an extremely organized fashion. Whether it’s half mile high intensity followed by a half mile recovery or three quarter mile easy pace with quarter mile sprints, I just set the treadmill and run it.

So, what does my treadmill incline workout look like? I set the treadmill to max incline at 15% for a mile which should be 792 feet of gain. I do three sets of max incline after three faster sets of 5 miles at 1% grade (264 feet of gain each). If my math is correct it puts me at a total gain of 3168 feet. Which I’m hoping will have me better prepared for the 7500 feet of gain at Hyner in April that has been a major shock to my quads for the last two years.

A video showing how I feel on the treadmill.

Scott Snell
January 31, 2019

2019 Race Schedule, So Far...

“You have to set goals that are almost out of reach. If you set a goal that is attainable without much work or thought, you are stuck with something below your true talent and potential.” —Steve Garvey

So after much waffling and indecision, when the opening hour of the Eastern States 100 registration was upon us last weekend, I decided that again for the third consecutive year I would go all in on the PA Triple Crown Series. A few days later, I stumbled upon a last person standing event, Ragged Runner, in CT not too far from home in NJ. It is only two weeks after Worlds End which is not ideal, but as much as I have wanted to run a race that used this format I couldn’t resist and registered within a couple hours of learning of the event. And with that decision, my 2019 race schedule is for the most part pretty much planned with the exception of a longer fall race. I’m considering Beebee Farm 48 hour or Black Forest 65ish miler in PA. Since one of my 2019 goals is to run my longest/farthest run ever, I’m leaning towards Beebee Farm 48 hour since I think I could accomplish that there. However, if I happen to accomplish that goal at Ragged Runner (last person standing) in June, I may opt to close the season with midnight stroll through Rocksylvania and just run the Black Forest in PA.

Definitely:
April 20 - Hyner 50K - PA
April 28 - NJ Marathon - NJ (shooting for marathon PR)
June 1 - Worlds End 100K - PA
June 15 - Ragged Runner (last person standing) - CT
August 10 - Eastern States 100 - PA


Possibly: 
September 26 - Beebee Farm 48 hour - VT
October 6 - Black Forest - PA

Are Treadmills Torture? Not With Zwift!

Disclaimer: I received a Zwift runpod to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!

Most trail runners I know tend to have a pretty negative opinion of treadmill running, some I would dare to say even hate it. Maybe it’s because of what is missing from the running experience when on a lush trail in the sun compared to the typical gym environment in which you find treadmills to commonly occur:  no fresh air, no wind in your hair, no sounds of birds calling or water flowing. Maybe it’s because of what the gym environment adds:  “gymtimidation”, all of the current hottest music tracks (sorry, not a fan of most), scents of the locker room, muscle heads admiring themselves on the expansively mirrored walls. Maybe it has something to do with social anxiety and the feeling of freedom that is provided by running alone outdoors. Or just maybe it’s due to the fact that these dreadmill hating trail runners can’t overcome the fact that the origin of the treadmill can be traced back to devices used as a form of punishment and prison labor in the early Victorian period in Britain. British engineer Sir William Cubitt is credited for the introduction of treadmills as a form of prison labor in 1818. The penal treadmills were used to grind grain in 44 English prisons at their peak. Over time, the practice waned and was ultimately abolished in 1902 when Britain passed the Prisons Act (1898).

By Google scan of 1864 book by Henry Mayhew & John Binny - https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=TGAJAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA306

Whatever the reason or reservations trail runners have for avoiding treadmill running, there is now a tool available that aims to improve the overall treadmill experience. The team at Zwift has created a product that virtually transports a treadmill run to almost anywhere in the world. Popular routes from the US include Richmond and New York. Popular oversea courses feature Innsbruck and London. The fantasy island of Watopia is even an option for zifters.

And the benefits don’t stop at running virtual courses. Zwift offers structured training workouts to help you prepare for your next 5K, half marathon, or triathlon. Additionally, the Zwift platform also offers a community to train with. If you want to run with friends who are on the other side of the world, Zwift makes that possible with virtual group runs.

Since I’m not a particularly huge fan of treadmill running I thought Zwift would be perfect for me to make any treadmill running I do more enjoyable. Unfortunately, the required app that syncs with the Zwift runpod was not compatible with my Android phone (LG Stylo 2 plus) so I was never able to personally experience the Zwift platform. As of now the app is only fully available on the Apple store. The Android app is currently still in beta form and from what I could gather is only compatible with newer Android devices. There is also the PC or Mac version of the software that can be used if your treadmill set up allows (I couldn’t manage to pull this off at my local Planet Fitness).

Although I wasn’t able to partake in the excitement of going for a Zwift run, plenty of my fellow BibRave Pros have and had lots of positive things to say about it. Heck, they even made me feel a little jealous of a treadmill run?! Here’s a sampling of some of their reviews after experiencing some Zwift virtual runs.

BibRave Pro Product Review: Zwift - YouTube

Review: Zwift Indoor Training App – The Marathon Lady

BibRave + The Running Event = A HECK OF A GOOD TIME | Scootadoot

Zwift Run! – Jenna Runs

Taking the “dread” out of dreadmill: a review of the Zwift run pod

Hate running on the treadmill? Try Zwift – She Runs by the Seashore