Birmingham Stage Race

Birmingham Stage Race

The Mountain High Outfitters Birmingham Stage Race is now just over one month away.  The North Face is a race sponsor and will provide technical wicking shirts for the event.  We will order the shirts on October 1st so sign up before then to be sure of getting a race shirt.

Ultra Trail Running Training Camp

On November 10th and 11th we will be hosting a training camp for anyone interested in learning more about running ultras.  The camp is FREE.  Just sign up.  It will be held at Oak Mountain State Park.
Here is a link to the website: Birmingham Ultra Trail Running Training Camp

This will be a training camp for anyone interesting in learning "How to Run an Ultra" no mater how much or how little running experience you have.  The course will be designed to giver participants the knowledge necessary to go out and successfully complete an ultra.  We will cover how to run everything from a 50K to 100 miles.

Day one we will cover the basics.  We will discuss such things as how to stay hydrated and fueled during long training runs and races, how to determine what you can eat on the run, when you will need dropbags and what you should put in them.  We will also talk about clothing, equipment, night running, pacing, weather, efficient use of aid stations, etc.  The discussion will be broken down into related elements.  Following each segment we will go out as practice what we talked about.  We will have a full aid station set up and run far enough to need it.  We will simulate race conditions as close as possible.  (Clothing and equipment could be an entire weekend course.)

Sunday will be slightly more advanced and cover such subjects as how to set up a training schedule geared to a specific ultra, where to peak and how to tapaer.  We will go into more detail on some of the things discussed Saturday.  We will plan out a race strategy for a 50 mile race and a 100 miler.  We will talk about how to run up hills and how to determine if it is best to walk uphill or run up.  We will also cover going downhills and then we will go run a few hills.

Camping will be available near or at the location of the training camp.  For those camping, we might just get caught up on the mountain a little too late and have to finish a run in the dark.  There will be a small fee for camping in Oak Mountain State Park.  (Bring headlamps and flashlights, Yes, both!)

The Camp is sponsored by Fleet Feet Sports and Mountain High Outfitters and we will have equipment available to try out or purchase.

More information to come and a full outline will be available soon including a list of things you should bring.