Spirit Animals

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Want to find your "Spirit Animal"?

I found out I am a tiger here, a hawk here, and here I am a rabbit.

Or you could run the 2012 Copper Canyon Ultra Marathon and perhaps the RD Micah True aka Caballo Blanco will help you discover your inner "Spirit Animal".

I've Discovered Why You've Been Running

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Why do you run? That is a question runners get asked and or ask themselves all of the time. My answer at this point in time would be that I run because I want to become a better runner. Some may ask and I ask myself all the time why I draw URG comics. My answer at this point and time would be that I draw because I want to become a better artist. The comics I post here are my drawing workouts. Looking back at my early "workouts" I can see that I have come a long way and like with my running the progress is slow but any progress is good so I'm happy to just keep plugging along.

I'm sorry I hurt you.

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The END Is Near!!

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What Kind of...

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This comic was inspired by the multitude of "FACE PLANT" stories I have come across recently in my Blogger travels. Did you see that camera guy in Geoff Roes video go down, now that was funny...but why was it funny? Seeing people fall should not be funny but it is, as long as no one gets hurt...seriously. I ended up with stitches once when I fell and believe me I was not laughing.

It is quite the experience though, running along without a care in the world, admiring the landscape, the flora, the fauna then BAM you are down. The ground comes up so quickly to your face and it feels like gravity has increased ten fold as your head smashes to the ground shaking your brain all around. Sometimes trying to save yourself can spell more trouble and you end up with a cut hand, a broken wrist or a dislocated elbow. Not fun or funny stuff for sure.

The truth of the matter is that "face plants" are dangerous as many people have suffered serious injuries taking one and my question could just as easily have been, "What is the most dangerous plant to an Ultrarunner?" In that split second that someone is falling none of us knows if the fall will result in a scratch or a broken bone. So when the dust settles and it appears that everything is in the right place then I guess all of that adrenaline from the anticipation just has to go somewhere and it ends up spilling out as a kind of celebratory relief  in the form a big hearty burst of laughter.

It's For You...

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Apparently the biting flies(black, deer etc. etc.) were bad around these parts this year. I heard many a tale from avid outdoorsy types about how they high tailed it down wooded trails on foot and whisked around tight corners on bikes trying to avoid the nasty buggers. As I listened to their stories of pinning dryer sheets to their clothes to ward them off I tried my darnedest to be sympathetic and dared not mention that the tiny pests never bother me even if I happen to run through a swarm and accidentally down a few while I'm at it.

There was an Old Lady...

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Thank-you for stopping by UltraRunningGuy.com today. While you are here feel free to check out more comics on URG's other pages(main page) and don't forget to see if you won URG's "Out Too Fast" contest here.

Also if you haven't done so yet then please consider following URG so you don't miss out on future comics and contests. Lastly I really do appreciate anyone who adds me to their Blog List and am happy to reciprocate by adding yours to mine;-)

Have a Good One,

EJ

Out Too Fast...The Comic and the Contest!

If you haven't seen the comic "Out Too Fast" already then it means you either haven't gotten around to purchasing Bryon Powell's new book, "Relentless Forward Progress : A Guide to Running Ultramarathons" or you are just a slow reader and haven't come to page 178 yet. So for those of you who haven't seen it you'll find a preview of that page below plus two chapters of the book to preview here.

The Comic-

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The Contest-

iRunFar Headsweats Race Hat

From reading your blogs I do know that there are many folks out there who have read and are following the training plans in Bryon's book. I would love to know some of your favorite tips about training/racing/nutrition/hydration etc, etc. that you picked up from "Relentless Forward Progress". Please leave your thoughts and comments below with your name and a winner will be randomly chosen to win a great iRunFar Headsweats Race Hat made of Coolmax mesh and built-in terrycloth headband to show off on your next run or race. Note: Make sure to check back August 23rd to see if you won.

The Contest Winner-
Thank-you to all who took the time to comment. It appears that everyone is in agreement that Bryon's book is an overdue and welcome resource for the ultrarunning community. I am sure that Bryon will be happy to hear that his book has been a helpful tool for you all. Now without further adieu the winner of the iRunFar.com Headsweats Race Hat is Alex. Congratulations Alex, please e-mail me your mailing details so Bryon can send you your prize;-)

When Nature Calls...

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50 Flavors



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What is this URG comic about?a) URG living true to his motto that if one is good then 50 is better!
b) Ultrarunners are gluttons for miles and ice cream.
c) URG is demonstrating how a strong base is the foundation of success.
d) How URG replenishes the 5000+ calories he just burned running around the park's 50 km perimeter.
e) URG showing off his new shoes to the locals.
f) How URG really, really, really likes ice cream.
g) all of the above

The Quitter Inside!

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Ahh if it were only that easy. There is a 'Quitter" inside all of us waiting for the perfect moment to make his presence known. When to listen to him and when not to heed his frantic calls for mercy is one of the toughest decisions an ultra runner has to make. Not listening could mean injury or serious ill effects.  Listening could mean giving up on ourselves and our dreams. I was comforted the other day to learn that even the best elite runners wrestle with this same quitter demon inside of them. Thanks Gary for your funny and  insightful post and all the best with your most recent set back which is not funny at all;-( Sometimes we have to QUIT but we don't ever have to GIVE UP!

Cold Rain & Mud

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One of the hardest things for a runner is to be stuck at home when a friend or loved one is off racing somewhere without them. Add in extreme weather conditions and the waiting and the wondering can become unbearable.

The Winner of the "URG From the Hill CONTEST" is...

...Kevin P. is the WINNER of  "The URG From the Hill Contest". Kevin's calculated guess of 9380 miles was indeed URG from the Hill's yearly mileage!! Kevin is now the owner of an advanced personalized autographed copy of Bryon Powell's new book
"RELENTLESS FORWARD PROGRESS" .

Congratulations Kevin, you were the only one to guess correctly so the Bonus Questions did not come into play. Many others were close, very close and a few unfortunately appeared to have misread the distance markers. After you see my calculations I know some of you will be kicking yourself however I hope you had fun with it and I really appreciated the time it took for everyone, even the guessers to enter so thank you all so much. (Note: I have entered my calculations at the bottom of this post if you want to compare yours to mine.)

Kevin's Bonus answers were-
a - Mom & Dad - 840 miles
b - December
c - 72 days
d - How many days does URG have to substitute a Big City Run for a run to Town to make it an even 10,000 miles for the year?
Ans: 31 additional runs to the Big City vice running just to Town.

A few people seemed to have fun with Bonus Question d- where they were asked to make up a question and answer it themselves. See a few of those inventive and amusing self made questions and answers below.

Alissa L
d) How old is URG from the Hill? Under 30 because he never needs a rest day. :)  

Roger H
d. Bonus Question: What do Granma n Grampa give him for Christmas Dinner
Bonus Answer: 1 teaspoon of cement.
Bonus bonus question: Why only 1?
Bonus Bonus Answer: 100 mi in 23 hours? He's hard enough already!
: )

Tom B
d) When does URG rest? He rests every 4 years on February 29th.

OK so there was also the drawing for the 2 Power Balance wrist bands from all of the entries plus my Followers. Just a reminder to please Follow URG so you don't want to miss out on future contests and comics.
The winners are: Tatianna and Derrick. Congratulations!

My calculations and explanations-
The best place to start was at the "meat and potatoes" of the question which was to figure out how many times URG ran to Town and then figure out the distance using that number.

He ran to Town everyday of the year(365) except when he ran further so you needed to count up the number of times he ran further.

52 days to the Big City, 14 to Mom and Dad's, 4(Oct, Dec, Feb, Apr) to Brother's and 1 day to run to Gramma and Grampa's plus 1 day to run home from Gramma and Grampa's. 52 + 14 + 4 + 2 = 72

Then subtract that number from 365 to get the number of days of running to town times the distance to get the total number of miles to town. (365 -72) x 20 miles = 5860 miles to and from town per year.

Now all you have to do is calculate the distance to and from URG's other destinations-
Big City 52 x 40 = 2080
Mom & Dad's 14 x 60 = 840
Brother's 4 x 100 = 400
Grandparents 1 x 200= 200

So the total number of miles URG from the Hill ran is 5860(Town) + 2080(Big City) + 840(M&D) + 400(Brother) + 200(G&G) = 9380 miles

Note: there was one entrant who pointed out that all of my calculations were based on a house of cards that could come toppling down if for some reason URG decided to leave late for his long runs. If URG did not leave just after the crack of midnight then some of his 1 day runs could in theory have lasted 2 days and his 2 day run to the Grandparents could have lasted 3 days. I call this theory the "Human Factor Monkey Wrench" and it made my head spin. However I did determine that this was a guessing game where URG's mileage was a predetermined "X" and the hints were there to help you guess that predetermined number. Just to be safe though next time I will probably run my contests past the above unnamed entrant just to be sure; )

Bryon Powell's Rejects ; )

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OFF COURSE
(remake of the original)



   I thought I would put up the two comics that will NOT appear in Bryon Powell's new book, "Relentless Forward Progress". As you can see both comics feature the author himself in one form or another. Using the table of contents of the book as my guide I submitted a re-make of "Off Course" for the chapter about navigation and "Good Water" for the chapter about hydration.  I really enjoyed trying my hand at capturing Bryon's likeness as this was the first time I actually looked at a picture of someone while I was sketching a comic. This then inspired me to attempt another caricature of three well known ultrarunners(the fourth being  mentioned by text) who's picture I found on Bryon's site. That comic called "Out Too Fast", is indeed the one that Bryon accepted for his book.  I am not sure why Bryon rejected the other comics however I have a theory that his modesty may have played a role and or he didn't appreciate seeing himself depicted  hanging from a cliff or as a pillar of salt. Go figure.

I would also like to mention that you still have time to enter the contest to win an advanced copy of the book so check it out here . Good Luck to everyone and thanks to all of those who have entered so far. Come back Sunday to see who won.

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GOOD WATER

URG From the Hill CONTEST!!

WIN Bryon Powell's New Book

"RELENTLESS FORWARD PROGRESS"

*All you have to do is GUESS URG's yearly mileage.
Guess Here Now or see the map below for clues.
Hint- It is between 5000 & 10000 miles

*Whoever's guess is closet without going over WINS plus everyone who enters will have a chance to win a Power Balance Band(see details below)

CLICK TO ENTER the contest or e-mail your answer to ultrarunningguy@gmail.com

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THE CONTEST

I am very happy to announce that the winner of "URG from the Hill Contest" will win a personalized autographed advanced copy of Bryon Powell's NEW book, "Relentless Forward Progress". The book is sure to become "the standard for ultramarathon training books for a long time to come" and will be available to the public in late April at iRunFar.com . I would also like to give a quick mention(brag) that one of my comics was personally chosen by the author to appear in the book. "Out Too Fast" is a new comic that I drew especially for "Relentless Forward Progress". I can't say enough how very honored I was when Bryon accepted one of the three comics I had submitted to him(OK I was a bit offended that he turned down the other two but I got over it).  

I am also giving away 2 "Power Balance" wrist bands. The winners will be randomly chosen from the entries submitted and my Followers so if you are not Following URG please do so for another chance to win.

HOW YOU CAN WIN THE BOOK

All you have to do to add this great book to your library is to answer one QUESTION- What is URG's yearly mileage? (see the map). Your answer can be a guess or your best calculation. Whoever's  guess is the closest with out going over WINS!!: ) You don't need to answer the Bonus Questions, however if there is a tie then The Bonus Question/s break it and failing that the winner will be chosen by a random draw of the tiees(is that a word?). Only one guess per person per question.

E-mail your name and answer ONLY to ultrarunningguy@gmail.com.

 PLEASE DO NOT POST YOUR ANSWERS AS A COMMENT.

GOOD LUCK to everyone! CONTEST ENDS  Saturday, April the 9th at midnight.

HINTS

*Copy and print map if possible

*Read the Clues & Details along with the Question and Bonus Questions before beginning your calculations

*I shouldn't say but please note the distance key or you haven't got a hope; )

*The calculations are very easy so take it bit by bit and have fun.

*If I think of anymore HINTS I will add them here

*If you have any questions post them as comments so everyone can see them and my response

ENTER NOW or e-mail your answer to ultrarunningguy@gmail.com