Ultra-running Tips and Advice

How to Prepare for an Ultra (any distance over the marathon)

Food - Normal marathon training programs will suffice to finish an ultra-distance race. The biggest difference is training yourself to take care of your body past three or four hours on the course. During the typical marathon a runner can survive on water, electrolyte fluids, and gels. On an ultra you must consider caloric intake; real food like potatoes, fruit, soup and sandwiches, and energy bars. It takes practice in training to get used to handling food on a running stomach.

Walking - The runner that is used to running every step of a race will have to train themselves to take walk breaks on an ultra. Today’s ultra runs are commonly run off pavement. Many of them are on single track trails laden with hills. Although early in an ultra race you may have the energy to run up every hill and hammer down the other side, you should consider the distance of the event and how long you may be out there. Back off the pace in the early miles and take the time to walk up the longer or steeper hills. Promise yourself that you will run the downhill and flat parts of the course. Over the long run a fast walker will always overtake a person who is struggling by running a little and then taking intermittent walk breaks. There is no such thing as bank time in an ultra. A conservative even pace from the start can be held for over 50 miles.

Long Runs - The biggest difference between ultra long run training and marathon long run training is not the distance of the run. It is the number of the long runs. For example, if you are used to doing one long run of 18-20 miles every weekend to prepare for a marathon you can still effectively train for the ultra by running the same distance. The difference is that the next day you will need to go out and do it again. This is called the back-to-back long run. Now this might sound impossible to start with but the same theory applies as in marathon training. Build into the second long run day over the weeks of your schedule. Start the second day long run by running 12 miles and add two miles every week. Rather than tracking your long runs by miles you should focus on the amount of time the run should take. If Saturday’s long run goal is 20 miles then think in terms of hours instead depending on your fitness level and goal race pace. Sunday’s second long run can be shortened by 30 minutes or a half an hour depending on where you are at on the training schedule. If your schedule doesn’t permit the luxury of back-to-back runs then plan to increase the time of one long per week to over 5 hours.

Tips for the Event (nutrition, clothing, mentality, etc.)

Electrolytes - Most of you have probably heard about the need for extra salt during an endurance event. Depending on the environmental conditions, your training and fitness level, and the distance of the event, the endurance runner should ingest extra salt and potassium throughout the ultra. Most of your body’s needs can be met by alternating electrolyte fluid with water intake. If it is a summer-time event or very humid conditions I would advise purchasing electrolyte capsules or salt tablets to take on a regimented half hourly or hourly schedule. This is especially important during a race that lasts longer than 12 hours.

Clothing - Clothing can be a tricky thing to get right on the day of an ultra race. Due to the fact that the ultra can take from half of one day to overnight into the next day makes it difficult to plan for changes of clothing. Study the course description and determine where the aid stations are placed and whether the race allows for drop bags at different points along the course. Most ultra runners wear a waist pack or a hydration pack. Use the pack to store a lightweight jacket shell, stocking cap, and gloves. These are easy items to put on and take off during changing weather conditions and weigh very little. If the race allows for drop bags then plan to put a long or short sleeve shirt to change into when the sun comes out. If there is the possibility of rain or snow then it is best to carry a heavier jacket tied around your waist. In longer events over 12 hours it is nice to have a clean dry shirt to change into just to feel better. If it is expected to be extremely hot during an ultra I have found that wearing a cotton T-shirt soaked in cold water provides an excellent evaporative cooling effect. Consider whether there will be water crossings and the need to put a change of socks in the drop bag as well.

Mentality - The ultra is a very physically demanding sport. It is just as important to train yourself psychologically as well. You might be used to counting down 26 miles by now but counting down 50 or 100 can be overwhelming. Do not over think where you will be at or how you will feel 16 hours from now. Start the race by breaking it down into aid station stops or where you will meet your crew next. Remember the little things that need to take place continuously especially early in the race; electrolyte intake, hydration, gels, anti-inflammatory medication. One important thing to prepare for if you will be out overnight is the mentality of needing to stay awake all night. Prior to every 100-mile race I plan one overnight training run usually within four weeks of the event. Find a buddy or two and plan to start at 9 or 10pm and spend the night with headlamps and flashlights on trail until sunrise the next morning. Even though you haven’t been running all day this will still duplicate the biorhythms the body experiences in the dark of the night and the rejuvenating feeling when daylight breaks. This also provides valuable training getting used to your lights and how the trail looks at night.

Biggest Myths About Ultra-running

Weight Loss - I am going to lose 10 or 15 pounds running 50 or 100 miles. Not true; although the calorie burn figures that you see on your GPS watch or treadmill bear this out, the body through training becomes efficient with its ability to lose weight during exercise. Longer ultras have medical checkpoints to verify your weight is within 3% of your starting weight. The reason for this is to make sure that you are staying hydrated and have a good electrolyte imbalance. A loss of too much weight reflects that you are dehydrated and probably haven’t been eating because your stomach is nauseous. Your electrolytes are probably imbalanced as well. If this condition spirals too far then pouring large amounts of water down your throat will not correct it; it will just make it worse. Don’t focus on weight loss during an ultra race. Save that for your weekly and monthly training goals.

Mileage - I have to run 50 mile weeks to run a 50 mile race. Not true; most properly trained marathon runners run between 25 and 40 miles per week. Perfect, the marathon distance is 26.2 miles and my training is way over that. I have a 50 mile race planned so I must up my mileage. You can do this if your body and its biomechanics can handle it. More importantly than increased mileage is training yourself to take care of your body’s caloric and hydration needs on training runs over 3 hours. Practice taking food and extra water on your longer runs. It is also important to focus on the back-to-back long runs and plan recovery days around this training. 50 mile weeks may be an advantage for 100 mile event training but unless you consider yourself as an overall competitive runner then don’t lose sleep trying to run 100 mile weeks.

Multiples - If I am in shape to run a 50-mile or 100-mile race today then I should be in better shape to run another one next month. Not necessarily true; although you may read of the ultra-runner who ran twelve 100-mile races this year, that person is a veteran ultra-runner with many years of experience under their belt. And they are a mutant human being with special recuperative powers. The body goes through many physiological changes after most ultra-distance events. Many of these changes and corrections we are unaware of. For 5-6 days after most of my 100-mile finishes my body lost up to 8 pounds even though I hadn’t lost any weight during the race itself. Some of this is due to an increased metabolism but much of it is due to muscle damage being purged through the endocrine system. The muscle damage will heal with a proper diet and rest and become stronger when healed but plan to give it some time. My rule of thumb is one 100-mile race per year, two 50-milers, two to three 50Ks, and perhaps one other odd distance ultra just for fun.

Common Mistakes that Rookie Ultra-runners Make and Should Avoid

Water - Carrying all of this extra water is going to slow me down. Most hydration packs today are made for comfort and ease of use. The trade-off for carrying extra water is an extremely high advantage compared to drinking too little early in a long ultra. If you are concerned about the weight of 70-100 ounces on your shoulders then throw in a weekly upper-body weight training session to increase your strength or do push-up repetition training.

Shoes - I just bought this brand new pair of trail running shoes yesterday and plan to use them in tomorrow’s 50K. Not a good idea. You may get away with this in a pair of road shoes on a road marathon, don’t try it on the long trail. Plan to do at least one long run in a pair of brand new shoes to feel out any hot spots, tight places, and the shoestring tie method. Get the general feel for how the shoe handles small and large rocks underfoot, sand and mud, and uphill and downhill slippage in the heel and toe box. A lot of energy, physically and mentally, can be expended in an uncomfortable pair of shoes in the middle to late stages of an ultra when you are worried about how many toe nails are going to be lost.

Hills - I feel great early in the race so I am going to run every uphill I can. This may work for you in a 50K but make sure you have trained yourself for the course elevation profile. I do not recommend running early hills in ultra races over 40 miles. Many runners understand the term bank time. This is time gained running faster in the first half of the race knowing they are going to slow down in the second half; the mentality is that the pace evens itself out over the distance of the race. This may work for the shorter road races but in the ultra, bank time rarely works. Early uphill running and hammering downhill will fatigue quads, hamstrings, and calf muscles. Later, when fatigue manifests itself you may be not only walk, but crawl up hills and barely able to shuffle down hills. Fast hard walking on an uphill depending on the grade will produce sub 20-minute miles averaged with 10-12 minute down hills still produces 15-16 minute miles. On the other hand, 25-30 minute up hill crawling averaged with 18 minute down hills results in 24 minute miles. 24 minute miles usually will not make the cut-offs that are established by the race officials to stay on the course. 15 minute miles over the course of 100 miles results in a 25 hour finish; pretty respectable for most 100s.