Hello! Welcome to the dark side. We have cookies.
Ashley Sametz is one of only four people all-time who have DNFed Stage 7, and we can’t even pretend to know what that feels like. We’re really glad to have you back the next year!
You’ve trained for Ultimate before. What did you learn that you will build from (or avoid) this time around? I DNF’d with 12k left at the Marathon last year. I learned that sometimes, it’s not your day. If things don’t feel right from the start, just slow it down and try to buddy up if you can.
Besides training, what will be the same and/or different about this Ultimate compared to your first completion? I’m hungrier. From a performance perspective, I mean. I can always eat.
What is the one piece of advice that you’re glad you knew/you wish you knew before your first completion? Run your own race. It’s easy to get caught up in the speed demons and push too hard too soon. Remember: YOU HAVE SEVEN DAYS OF THIS LUNACY. Slow down *Unless you’re Robyn or Rob or Val
How were you feeling in the days and weeks following your first Ultimate completion? Even with the DNF, I felt pretty good. The ENDURrun family won’t let you feel low for long. And then I registered for 2019 when I got home. I also felt oddly motivated and excited for my next race, which was Haliburton 50 Miler… which was the best and most comfortable 50 miler I’ve ever run.
What are your ENDURrun 2019 stories? Get it done. Laugh a lot. Make new friends. Don’t push too hard… I have a 100 mile race 6 days after Endurrun finishes, so I’m mostly looking forward to getting a lot of fun motivation from the Endurrun family.
What can we follow-up with you about in August for a profile part 2? Whether or not I survived running 200 miles in the span of 14 days.
What are you most looking forward to about ENDURrun 2019? The people. Lloyd’s jokes. The tanlines.
What are you nervous about, if anything? Injuries… but I figure if i go slow enough, we should be ok.
Can you share any details of your training? Lots of 50ks and a few back to back long runs, including Conquer the Canuck Ultimate weekend, which I’ve never done before! I’m also really enjoying a hamstring injury, so I’ve actually started stretching and doing physio…which is something I’ve avoided for 35 years.
What is your runner profile? The laziest ultra runner you’ll ever meet. I’ll do maybe 40k a week (I work 3 jobs and have a kid and dogs, so it’s mostly treadmill), and a “heavy” week is 80K. I run on anything, but prefer trails (Which is why I love Chicopee and Bechtel!). I’ve been running for about 20 years.
What else would you like to share? Guys. GUYS. I’m so excited to see you all again. Please have donuts at the 10k TT 🙂