Tag: ultra running

A colleague recently mooted that they were considering running a local ultra running event and asked me for advice. The question of liability crossed my mind, but my excitement and ego quickly go me thinking about what advice could offer them. I’m rarely approached as an expert, but clearly rumours of my endeavours had caused someone to think I was worth asking.

So firstly what qualifies me. I’m not a qualified coach, running or otherwise, I am a registered health professional, but not in the muscles, bones, heart or pain field and I spent the first 15 years of my adult life avoiding running at all costs as anyone who had the misfortune to play football with me would attest.

I am someone, who is prone to agreeing to participate in ambitious escapades before ever considering,

1. Whether I am able?
2. What preparation will be required to get me to the the point of being able?

When I started running regularly, in my early 30s, I followed a fairly conventional path to half marathon glory. Did a 5k, then a 10k , then followed an 8 week plan, did the 13.1 miles (happy days), lost all impetus and stumbled along running infrequently for a couple of years afterwards.

A few years and changes of jobs later, I became aware whilst sat at my desk that colleagues were talking about having done various endurance type running events. I didn’t know these people particularly well and I couldn’t say they cut a particularly super human presence around the office. That aside, the fact I was hearing first hand about running 50 miles plus was enough for me to engineer the chance to agree with one such colleague to sign up for the next 40 miler that he was planning to do. I did this with an almost cavalier flourish suggesting a level of competence completely at odds with the reality.

I had 3 months to prepare and at that point was probably running an average of 10 miles per week. Shit

I started, as with any good project, and in the absence of an Ultra’s for Dummies book, with a thorough search of google. I suspect that over the subsequent three months, I read every single related article on the World Wide Web, mostly in lieu of actual training.

My takeaways were:

1. I need at least 170 hours a week to fit in the requisite running
2. The calorific requirements require me to adjust to a 10000 kcal/day diet and if I don’t I’m bound to either vomit or soil myself on the day.
3. The navigational skill and kit requirements demand that I spend 6 months on a mountain guide course and do further research on getting away with larceny.

None of the above appealed to my half-arsed approach to most things, but a couple of nuggets therein did stick and prove to be the difference. Added to my own experiences here is a list of things that me through my first 40 mile ultra race in one piece and in good time.

1. Accept walking as part of your training – I started to consciously walk hills I used to run up. I haven’t necessarily maintained this principle most of the time, but for the first time this permission was incredible. I noticed the time difference for equivalent runs was not massive and as I became more adept at switching to a fast hike on up hills I probably actually gained from the restorative effect. I live in a fairly hilly area and my training sessions became interval sessions, where both my tolerance and running speed increased.
2. The above had a secondary benefit of enabling me to eat and drink more effectively on the move. The permission to eat for ultras is one of the great joys, but I always had difficulty taking even clear fluids whilst running. This usually ended with a roadside choking fit, water eyes and snot bubbles, but eating and drinking during a walk is far more doable.
3. Make yourself as comfortable as possible – It’s gonna hurt. Reduce every possible additional problem before it becomes one. Lube, wipe, eat, drink, do your bag up properly, tighten your straps, shake it properly when you have wee….you get the drift. You’re out there a long time, so allow yourself the few seconds you never have when doing a 10k or half marathon.
4. Find stuff you like to eat – I’ve always used gels and never had a problem, once I found a couple that didn’t taste like a cross between children’s penicillin and hair gel. But some people don’t get on with them, so find something you do. You will crave salt later in a race and although I love tucking into the communal crisp bowl (pre-Covid) at aid stations, I find that this craving is abated by chucking an electrolyte tablet in your water bottle.
5. Have clothes and a bag with access pockets at the front – there is nothing more demoralising than realising the one thing you really want is buried deep at the back and you have to strand yourself at the roadside for what will seem like a lifetime to retrieve it.
6. Keep it light – the google will tell you you require so many calories per mile etc etc., but consider what will be at each aid station, you don’t need to pack a Sunday Lunch. Keep an eye on the weather forecast, if its not going to be -6C you don’t need the 3 extra Merino sweaters in your bag. Know the route, the available support the weather, the time of day and pack what is necessary. Every gram counts once you go into the red zone. (I need to stress you must always follow the minimum kit requirements for any event and id certainly be more cautious in winter or overnight, but apply some thought to what you will really need).
7. Poles – Scott Jurek uses them, so why shouldn’t we. If it’s hilly consider learning to use them. Once I got over myself and started to use them for lumpy runs I found minutes coming of my ascent times. Just be careful not to poke anybody’s eye out when you go over a stile.
8. Buddy up – I do nearly every event on my own and I’m quite happy to exist in my own space, but I’ve learned that to spend some time in someone else’s company for at least some of an event is massively helpful and I’ve even made some friends out of it.

And finally. How much training did I actually do? I really struggled to get even close to having the time to run the miles required in any plan I found. What I did do, was get out as often as possible and even when runs were only 30 minutes to an hour ensure that I added some additional resistance, aim for steep climbs, carry a bag and get off road. When I could go out for a few hours I stopped worrying about pace, I ate, drank and walked on occasion, kept mixing it up. And in the end this far from superhuman managed to achieve something pretty super out there with the other weirdos out in the Worcestershire countryside.

Note: my colleague completed their first ultra and I had shared the above thoughts with her so I’m claiming full credit for their achievement.