Ultra training and the penultimate big week…
I ran a lot this week. According to my Garmin 93.39 miles. I’m not sure I have ever run 93.39 miles in one week. This is the penultimate, or second to last big volume week in this training cycle.
As I write this, in my current week, it is a down week, with less volume. I’m 5-6 weeks out from my event. I have one more big week next week and then I’m in my taper.
I never imagined I’d run this level of volume. I’m learning a lot.
I only started running seriously in my mid 30’s. I was a half-hearted, lightly talented, cross-country runner in prep school. I didn’t come back to it until later in life. Even when I started running again in my 30’s with my Boston Marathon quest I was always working full time, traveling for work and trying to be a dad. I was never a high mileage guy like the professionals. There wasn’t really room in my life for 100-mile weeks.
I read the biographies of all the great marathoners of my time and knew they were laying down those 100+ mile weeks. The math didn’t work for me. That’s an average of 15 miles a day. Even at my fastest that would be something like 13 or 14 hours of running. Close to 2 hours a day on average. That’s what Billy Rodgers did. That’s what Joan Benoit Samuelson did. That’s not what I could do and still retain any kind of professional or personal life balance.
Part of my ‘success’ with marathoning is I was able to crack the code of racing well on moderate mileage and lots of quality.
I found a way to work on quality in the time I had. I found a way to squeeze in enough miles to close 26.2 on guts and spirit. Even at my fastest and fittest, I would typically peak out at 60 miles a week and top out those long runs in the mid-20’s.
Of course, my goal times were close to an hour slower than the pros. How much of that gap was lack of talent and how much was lack of volume work we’ll never know. I figured out the compromises and the work necessary to find the race times I needed.
Last week I ran for 93 miles and 18 and a half hours. Granted most it was a 10 and a half long run on Saturday and another 3 and a half on Sunday. But, still it’s a bit mind blowing for me to wrap my head around. Some would say it’s best to think about it too hard!
One of the reasons I can do this now is I’m in a different season in my life. I’m at a point where I can waste an entire Saturday running alone in the trails. There are no soccer games or dance recitals.
That weekend run block was a new level of both time and distance for me. 50 miles on Saturday followed up by 15 miles on Sunday. Again, this is a chunk of trail running, 75 miles in 2 days, that I have never done before. I’m 55 years old. Closing in on 56. I’m setting new records in time and distance on my feet.
What are the big picture take aways for you?
- Your body, no matter how old, is capable of amazing adaptation. These abilities are literally baked into our DNA. Our bodies know how to do some serious shit if we ask them to.
- If you are a life-long endurance athlete you have the engine. This aerobic engine is the baseline enabler of so many different endurance activities. Whether it’s ultras, Spartans, Ironmans…you’ve got the basic building blocks to do any of this stuff, the rest is just details.
- Form is more important the longer you go. Ultra-running is about efficiency. Not just aerobic efficiency but mechanical efficiency. If you’ve got decent mechanics you can go forever.
- The longer you go the more mental it becomes. It’s always a mix of mental and physical but as you get deep into a day of running it is all mental.
- It’s simple. The deeper you get the more nuance is stripped away. All you are left with is simply moving forward.
And I guess that’s life isn’t?
…
Let’s talk details.
It was a good week. I got it all done. I was not traveling so I was able to get up in the mornings and start my runs early. The weather was reasonable. Nothing terrible, mostly cool and dry during the week then cool and humid on the weekend.
I’d be on the trails by 5:30 or 6:00 AM. I take Buddy the ancient Wonder Dog with me for the first 2.25. Nice and slow so he can get some fresh air and I can warm up. Then I head back out to finish up.
The previous week was a light week, a recovery week. I did all my workouts but ate and drank too much. I’m not sure if this was just the result of being hangry from the mileage or some sort of stress reaction. I managed to bulk up a bit during the rest week. Being heavy is not necessarily a game ender for the ultra-distances but it doesn’t help.
Tuesday, I knocked out 8 and a half miles in the woods in the morning. Wore my new Hoka Speed Goat trail shoes that I instantly fell in love with. My legs felt heavy but functional.
Wednesday morning, I got out for 10.8. Another nice outing. I felt strong in the core and enjoyed the run.
Thursday morning, I wrapped up the midweek sessions with another 8 and a half. Wore the Speed Goats again. Decided to try my Saturday long run in them. The toe caps are well designed. They roll off obstacles instead of catching. That means less falling.
I am getting tired of falling. The typical scenario is that I’ll be a bit tired and start dragging my left foot just a tiny bit. That left toe will catch on a stump or rock and I’ll face plant. I’m typically carrying a water bottle in my left hand and my droid in my right hand. 9 times out of 10 I’ll reach out my hands to break the fall. Depending on the terrain I might tuck and roll but I usually don’t have the warning for anything fancy.
I have developed contusions and cuts, a bizarre trail running stigmata, on both hands. It hurts. You might say ‘Lift your feet’ but falling is part of trail running. Especially long trail running. Long story short, the Challengers have a straighter tread profile that sticks out a bit. The Speed Goats have a rounded hard toe cap that rolls off obstacles instead of catching.
…
For Saturday’s long run I had a long check list of things to prepare. I needed to drop a water bottle off in a friend’s yard the next town over. I needed to get my clothing and nutrition and sundries all ready to go. I didn’t want to be hunting around for stuff in the morning.
I had planned to get up before the sun and see if I couldn’t simulate the early race start. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get to sleep. There was a mosquito in my bedroom pestering me. I skipped the crack of dawn start and slept in until 6:00 am or so. I took my time getting some coffee and oatmeal and prepping. I got out the door just after 7:00, which, based on projections would put me back around 5:00 in the afternoon.
I lost a lot of skin on my previous long runs so I made sure to be incredibly generous with the lube. I greased up every crevice and rubbing point I could imagine.
The deer flies are starting to emerge, so I wore a bug hat – which is a running cap with a bandana safety pinned to the back to keep the flies off your back and shoulders. I sprayed this with good old Deep Woods Off!
I filled my backpack with water and stuck a flask of Hammer Gel and a bag of Endurolytes in the side mesh pockets so I could reach them without taking the backpack off. I filled my 24 oz bike bottle with F2C mix.
I mounted my new gaters on the Speed Goats. These new gaters are an attractive red-white and blue stars and stripes motif. I’m going to say I looked like Captain America – if he wore gaters.
I Decided to tape the big toe on my right foot because the Speed Goats are tight in the toe box. I could feel that toe rubbing and knew from experience that on a run that long I’d probably lose the toenail. Tape might give it a fighting chance.
Such are the decisions that you make. Fall down or lose a toenail – the ultra runner’s world is full of these Sophie’s choices.
I set my droid to play podcasts and threw it in the backpack. I wore my JayBird X3 Bluetooth headphones.
I decided to do 2 20+ mile loops to start. I though this would be more purposeful and more interesting than running shorter loops.
And, I got to it.
…
The first loop was a breeze. I was trying to take some Hammer Gel from the flask each time I felt like it and stay on top of the water consumption.
I didn’t feel any tiredness at all until I got up past 30 miles. Even then it wasn’t a wall, just a realization that I’d been out for 6+ hours and still had 4 more to go.
The all Hammer Gel diet was a mistake. I had a rumbly tummy in the high miles. I’m going to have to work in some real food. It was a cooler day so the bugs weren’t bad and the water use was manageable and consistent.
The gaters worked great keeping sticks and stones out of my shoes. If you want some gaters check out Dirty Girl Gaters – link in the post.
The shoe decision worked out reasonably well. I only fell 4 times and one of those was not avoidable. The toe nail got bruised, even with the tape, but I think it’s going to survive.
But I discovered something else that I hadn’t thought about. The Speed Goats have a slightly lower heel drop than the Challengers and the Cliftons. Sure enough, with the big mileage I could feel it in my Achilles tendons. Nothing terrible, but still noticeable.
The first 30 miles were a breeze. The last 20 were work. The last 5-7 were fairly miserable. I was exhausted and moving slow. I got back from the second 20ish mile loop with 7 or so miles left to run. These were the hard miles. I decided not to head out for another big loop and just ran small loops to make up the distance. It felt like it would never end.
Turns out this new pair of JayBird X3’s are good for about 7.5 hours. So I ditched the droid for the last bit.
When the going got hard I focused on my hips and elbows. Just trying to keep my mechanics clean. There were no cramps. There was no death march. I was just physically tired and a bit rumbly in the tummy.
When I got back to the house I was wrecked. I stripped off my foul-smelling stuff and lay down on my bed on a towel and passed out for a bit. Woke up with the chills and took a hot shower.
The shower was awful. I lost a ton of skin on my undercarriage and also managed to get chaffing on my back under the pack, which is something I’ve never had before!
I curled up in an arm chair with a blanket like an old man and watched TV with my kids for the rest of the night.
…
The following day I had 15 miles to run. This is the ‘running on tired legs’ part of the training.
My legs were not sore at all. I felt fine. Just a bit tired. And this is interesting to me because I was mentally and physically shattered for 3 days after the Vermont 50 10 years ago. I guess this is easier running or I’m better adapted somehow.
My club had a ‘brunch run’ located a couple miles from my house on Sunday. Since I am cognizant of how much of a running hermit all these miles are turning me into, I decided to try to coordinate with the brunch. I woke up early and drove the host house for a 6:00 AM start. This would put me back by 9ish to have social time with my friends.
Mimi’s house is less than a mile from a trailhead of sorts. I headed out into the powerlines and mountain bike trails that I know from my mountain biking history.
The weather was cool but very humid and misty.
I carried two bottles this time after having underestimated my water needs in the previous two Sundays. On these runs your body carries over a bit of dehydration to start. In one of the bottles I threw in a Hammer Endurolyte Fizz tablet – and that seemed to help my energy level a bunch.
The only way I can describe the Sunday run is as being entirely primal. As I got out into these gnarly technical trails in the early morning I felt like I was the last person alive on the planet. Or, more precisely, like the first man discovering a new world. It was a bit of a dream state.
The rocks, the roots and the dense forest canopy dripping in the mist were primal.
I had the JayBird Run headphones in with music and just got lost in the run. It was sublime. Only a few miles in I could feel the wet shirt starting to wear on my nipples, so I took it off and fashioned it into a head covering knotted and tucked under my hat.
That enhanced the primal feeling. Here I was, this old ape, this silverback, driving through the primal rain forest with my short shorts and bare wet body.
At one point I crossed a road with a police cruiser sitting doing a speed trap near the trail head and I’m surprised he didn’t taser me and drag me off to the mental hospital.
The last couple miles were a chore as my legs began to lose the battle with fatigue once more. The last mile to her house was a downhill road section and I was able to fall into marathon form and run it in. It took me more than 3 hours to go the 15-mile distance but I was still able to kibbitz with my friends and munch on some social food with them.
…
This is a sport that continues to teach, if you let it. If you’re brave enough to set goals that scare you. If you’re dense enough to do things that you don’t think you can do. If you’re willing to try. Just try. Just show up and try. And keep showing up.
Miracles happen.
This is a sport where if you reach out, extend your hand, it will reach back and together, hand in hand you will find undiscovered country.