Your first 100-miler doesn’t have to be a guessing game. In this episode, I break down the complete blueprint for going from marathon finisher to 100-mile finisher. It covers everything I learned through years of trial and error, plus great coaching, across multiple 100- and 200-mile races, starting with a homemade 52-mile loop around my college campus.

• Why you should give yourself 12–18 months to train, and why a marathon is the starting line
• How to pick your race: excitement first, then elevation gain, terrain, temperature, cutoff times, and date
• Building up the distance ladder: marathon → 50K → 50 miler or 100K → 100 miles
• The three key training blocks: VO2 max, lactate threshold, and endurance, with example workouts and RPE targets for each
• Minimum peak volume to shoot for: 6 hrs/week for 50K–50 mile races, 9 hrs/week for 100K–100 mile races (from Jason Koop)
• The rule of specificity, and a simple formula for matching your weekly elevation gain to your race
• Why consistency and deload weeks beat big, unsustainable training weeks
• Treating long runs as race-day rehearsals, including carb, hydration, and sodium targets
• Essential gear: two pairs of shoes, toe socks, a hydration vest, a long-battery GPS watch, a headlamp, and chafe balm
• Building your crew and pacers, plus how to taper the right way
• Race-day execution: fuel early and often, mix in whole foods, and enjoy what you’ve earned

You’ve put in the work. Go out and run your race.

New episodes drop every week, with actionable training tips, race strategies, and stories from people doing extraordinary things. Subscribe so you don’t miss one. And if you’re ready to train with a plan built around YOUR race, send a DM to @pierceshowe on Instagram to learn more about coaching, or check out www.runyourrace.com.

In December 2018, military veteran Jared Ewing was hit by a car in Cleveland, lost his calf muscles and Achilles tendon, and was told by a room full of doctors that his marathon days were over. Ten months later he finished the Columbus Marathon, and this summer he completed four 100-mile races. Jared shares the full story, the faith that carried him through it, and how “one more mile” became the mindset that rebuilt his running.

• The night of the accident, the strangers who saved his leg, and the choice between amputation and keeping the leg
• Six weeks in the hospital, four in a nursing home, and getting to the YMCA on a walker
• Starting with a quarter mile on the treadmill and adding a little more every day
• Buying a full marathon bib “just to see,” and finishing Columbus 10 months after being told he’d never run another marathon
• Why you don’t have to run the whole way: walk/jog strategy for marathons and ultras
• Pushing back on limiting beliefs and building up slowly over a one-to-two-year plan
• From road 50Ks to the JFK 50 to a sub-24-hour finish at Burning River 100
• How his faith in God removed his fear of failure and kept him positive through every 100
• Where his mind goes during a 100: gratitude, prayer, and his “spiritual crew”
• Why the highs and lows in ultras come in waves, and why you’re never alone out there
• Being a light for other runners on course
• What’s next: a sub-3 marathon attempt, a backyard or 24-hour race, Marathon des Sables in April, and his first 200

Find Jared Ewing here...

• Instagram -> @jrod4513
• Strava, Facebook, LinkedIn -> Jared Ewing / @jrod4513
• GoFundMe for his upcoming four-100s documentary -> https://gofund.me/ef77da6bc

New episodes drop every week — actionable training tips, race strategies, and stories from people doing extraordinary things. Subscribe so you don’t miss one. And if you’re ready to train with a plan built around YOUR race, send a DM to @pierceshowe on Instagram to learn more about coaching.

Go out and run your race.

Dm me the word "COACH" on Instagram (@pierceshowe) to learn more about 1:1 coaching

Thinking about your first 100-miler but not sure where to start? This one is all tactical. Pierce breaks down what to look for when picking your first 100-mile race, then walks through five of the most beginner-friendly 100s out there to help you earn that first belt buckle.

• The #1 factor in choosing a race: what excites you most (mountains, flat, trail, road)
• Other factors worth weighing: elevation gain and descent, temperature, cutoff times, altitude, and terrain
• Why it’s easier to race on terrain similar to what you train on (and how to make it work if you can’t)
• Rocky Raccoon 100 (Huntsville, TX — February): low 40s to 60s, ~5,000 ft of gain, the “hilliest” on the list
• Tunnel Hill 100 (Vienna, IL — November): 30s to 50s, only ~1,400 ft of gain, a go-to for PRs
• Brazos Bend 100 (Needville, TX — December): under 100 ft of gain, basically sea level, flat and fast but can get warm
• Hennepin 100 (Sterling, IL — October): mid 40s to mid 60s, ~1,000 ft of gain
• Long Haul 100 (Lakeland, FL — January): 50s to 70s, ~1,200 ft of gain
• Why you should build up through a marathon, 50K, and 50 miler before tackling 100
• What Pierce learned from running his first 100 on a one-mile neighborhood loop (and why he doesn’t recommend it)

Go out and run your race.

New episodes drop every week — actionable training tips, race strategies, and stories from people doing extraordinary things. Subscribe so you don’t miss one. And if you’re ready to train with a plan built around YOUR race, send a DM to @pierceshowe on Instagram to learn more about coaching.