Discussion: Wise move.

I worked alongside a top Norwegian orienteer for a year. His mantras were, rest is 50% of training, and when you do intervals, always stop when you feel you have one left in you- not after you find you don't!

I see you run in Mudclaw 270s. Do they give extra cushioning on hard trails, whilst still offering a reasonably flexible sole allowing feedback? I have the light 200s. Perfect for O terrain, but doubtful I could manage an ultra in them on Lakes trails.

The new mudclaws (either the fancy graphene ones or the cheaper ones; but not the 'classic's) are much more comfortable on hard ground than the old ones used to be, since they totally redesigned the tread pattern. My go-to orienteering shoe was the x-talon 212 since the old mudclaw was so unpleasant on tracks etc, but after the update I think it's now the better choice since it's the x-talon that suffers on stony ground where you can feel every single pointy bit through them. The new mudclaws are still quite narrow, though - I wouldn't want to wear them for an ultra.

My go-to ultra shoes are the Nike Pegasus trail (non-Lakes) or the Salomon s/lab ultra (Lakes). If it was really muddy though, either of those would be rubbish. You don't often get an ultra where the whole thing is on mud, though! I will probably wear mudclaws for the first 30 miles of Lakes in a Day and then change to the Salomons for the last 20.

Thanks, there's hope for me yet.! My Brookes are heavy and give no feedback and take away much of the joy of running. I'll probably try the 270s and Salomons after further research.

The Lakes in a Day looks much more appealing than the hard trails of the Montane 50, though a much tougher parcour. I hope the weather is decent.