Written by Andy DuBois - http://www.mile27.com.au

If you are training for a 100k or 100 mile race is there any point including speed sessions in your training? When the winning time in most of these races is slower than 5 minutes per kilometer you may think not. If the fastest runners are running that slow then surely speed is the least of your concerns?

Whilst that may intuitively make sense I believe there are a number of very good reasons that all runners should include speed work in their training even if the race is 100 miles long.

1. Increase Your Maximal Aerobic Capacity

Often referred to as your VO2max your maximal aerobic capacity is a measure of the maximum amount of oxygen your body can utilise during intense or maximal exercise. Elite endurance athletes have very high values , Kilian Jornet ( course record holder and multiple winner of the UTMB) is reported to have a VO2 max of 92.

An easy way to understand the benefits of a high VO2max is to think of it in terms of a cars maximum speed. If your cars maximum speed is 200km/hr then cruising at 100km/hr is going to put little stress on the engine. Whereas if the maximum speed is 110km/hr then cruising at 100 is going to have the car almost at its limit. ( Whilst this analogy is dependant on a few other factors as well as VO2max it does hopefully illustrate the point)

There is a large genetic component of VO2 max and it is believed you can only improve this figure by 10-30% (although improvements up to 60% have been measured) . Whilst this may not seem like much it can make a big difference to your aerobic running speed . The most effective means of increasing this is through high intensity interval training (HIIT)

As we age our VO2 max starts to decrease for a number of reasons so including some HIIT in your program will help stop the decline of your maximal aerobic fitness.

2. Improve Your Ability To Use Lactate

Lactic acid is the bad guy in running but research is showing that it’s really a good guy in disguise. The body can be trained to take the lactate part of lactic acid and use it for energy. High intensity workouts can teach your body how to utilise lactic acid as a fuel source. This allows you to exercise at a higher intensity for longer or recover quicker from a period of higher intensity work like climbing a hill.

3. Increase Your Aerobic Pace

The pace at which you can run a marathon at is dependant to a large degree on how fast you can run a half marathon. If your half marathon PB is 1.30 then you aren’t going to break 3 hours in a marathon.

Elite marathon runners know that if they can’t run 10km in under 28 then they have no chance of running a marathon in under 2.08.

There is a similar rational for ultrarunners. Being able to run shorter distances faster means that you should be able to run slower for longer.

Someone who can run 10k in 35 minutes will find running at 5 min k pace very comfortable whereas someone whose 10k time is 45 minutes will find it harder to maintain 5 min k pace.

Any type of training that can improve your speed at shorter distances will help your speed at longer distances (provided you do a suitable amount of endurance training as well).

3. Improve Your Dynamic Flexibility

Running at a faster pace means your muscles go through a greater range of movement than running at a slow pace. Running lots of miles at a slow pace means your muscles will adapt to the reduced range of movement. The problem in an ultra is as we tire our muscles tighten up, further restricting our range. This results is your running reverting to a shuffle and then eventual walk. Having a greater range of movement means that as your legs tighten you are still able to run effectively.

4. Improve Your Running Economy

Running economy is a measure of how much oxygen you use to run a certain pace. The more economical you are the less oxygen you will use. Economy is independent from VO2 max. Two runners with the same VO2max may have different running economies which means the more economical runner will find it easier at a certain pace than the other runner.

Factors influencing running economy range from the ability of your body to utilise elastic energy, your biomechanics, and the neuromuscular and biochemical process that occur in your body during exercise. Speed training has been shown to improve all of these factors.

5. Force Your Body To Adapt.

Training is based on the overload principle. Apply more stress on the body than it is used to and it becomes stronger thus better able to withstand the stress next time. Too much stress of course will just lead to injuries. If we are running at a slow pace then the only way to overload the body is to run further. This obviously has its limitations. Most of us have a limited amount of time available for a long run and the longer the run the more recovery time we will need. For example you may be able to recover from a 30km run in a day, 40 km in 2 days but after 60 km you may need 3-4 days off. Are the benefits gained from a 60k run worth having 3-4 days off?

Speed training allows us to overload our bodies in a short period of time and because the volume of training is low recovery is quicker.

Are These Factors Relevant In Ultrarunning?

For most ultras the key is to set off at a pace that feels very comfortable and try and hold that for as long as possible and then hope you don’t slow down too much in the later stages.

What defines your comfortable pace ? A combination of your running economy , VO2 max, biomechanics and neuromuscular and biochemical processes all of which can be improved by speed training.

Other Advantages Of Speed Training

Learning to run when your legs are tired is an important part of training for an ultra. There are a few ways to fatigue your legs, one is to run for a long time and the other is to run faster. Doing a long run the day after a speed session is a great way to train your legs to run when tired.

A one hour speed session can be as useful as a 2-3 hour run. Whilst ultrarunners obviously need to incorporate some long runs into their program speed training provides a time efficient means of boosting performance.

Can Marathon and Half-marathons Be Counted As Speed Training?

I often hear ultrarunners talking about how they did a marathon on the weekend and counted it as their “speed” session. Whilst they might have run the marathon at a significantly faster pace than an ultramarathon, a marathon cant be considered speed work as it doesnt stress the body in the same way that speed work does. Yes it may place a large stress on the muscles but for most of us our lactate levels, oxygen consumption and heart rate is nowhere near high enough to stimulate the same training adaptations that speed work does.

The Risks Of Speed Training

If you arent used to running fast then heading out to the track and running 400m repeats is a sure way to injure yourself. Just like it is necessary to build up your mileage slowly it is also necessary to gradually increase your speed work. For runners not used to speed work fartlek training is the best way to introduce some into your training schedule. Simply include some faster paced efforts randomly during a normal run. These efforts may be as short as 100 metres or as long as mile. They are not all out efforts, merely faster than your normal pace. As your body adapts you can increase the speed and number of efforts.

What Kind Of Speed Training Is Best For Ultra Runners?

There is no one size fits all training approach as each individual responds differently to different training sessions. What works for one may not work for another. There are a wide variety of speed training sessions you can do ranging from 100m uphill bounds to hour long Tempo runs. Future blogs will go detail how to do some of the more common sessions ultra runners should include in their training routine.

Written by Stu Westfield - http://stuwestfield.blogspot.co.uk

INTRODUCTION
I'd like to start by saying a big thank you to all the Spiners & Challengers (from previous races as well as the 2014 edition) who took time to complete the survey. I'd also like to acknowledge the contributions from those who did not complete the race, but still shared their experiences. I have made every effort to word this blog with sensitivity to these racers, I am mindful of the commitment and investment of time and energy it takes to stand on the start line and face down the Spine. But if any offence is caused, it is unintentional and please accept my sincere apologies.

The insights offered by all the respondents have been extremely useful in adding context to the conclusions. I'm also sure that other racers will appreciate trying out your ideas and methods to see if these might help with future successes. As one respondent said "knowledge is power" and the Spine is no exception when it comes to informed choices in all aspects of kit and training.

The aim of the survey is not to find a 'formula which fits everyone'. Indeed I doubt whether such a thing exists anyway. Even before the race starts, there are so many variables such as previous experience, expertise, fitness and physiology. I shall pick up this thread further into this blog when I return to the theme of the 'complete racer'. What I hope does come from this survey is range of ideas, suggestions and further discussion which racers can test out and see if there are improvements for them too.

So what prompted me to start this survey?
Well, as a member of the Spine Race Mountain & Medic Safety team (M&Ms) I have a vested interest in working for every racer to:

1. Fulfill his/her potential
2. Have a safe race
3. Have the best possible experience (although enjoyment sometimes comes as a         retrospective emotion in the bar after the race!)

Of course, footwear choice is an important factor in all of the above. Who's racing with what kit is a frequent topic of discussion among the M&Ms and it helps us form an idea of who might require what kind of help during the race. 

RESULTS
So to the results...We had 36 respondents, of which 17 were Spiners and 19 Challengers.
Anecdotal evidence and my M&M observations of the races in 2012, 13 & 14 indicate that the Spine and Challenger are different propositions in terms of feet attrition and tissue damage. For instance, by the mid to late stages of the Spine, enough time has elapsed for additional complications such as trench foot and infection to become race limiting factors.

Examination of the survey results further justifies scrutinising each race separately to draw out specific observations for the 110 & 268 miles.

SPINE CHALLENGER (Edale to Hawes 110 miles)

• Of the 19 respondents, 5 did not make it to Hawes, 14 finished.
• The most popular shoe type was Salomon Speedcross (6 wearers).
  
• Other Salomons on show were a couple of SLab & one XA Pro.
• Most Salomon wearers kept with the same shoe for the whole of the Challenger (one changed from SLab to Speedcross.)
• 6 out of 7 Salomon wearers completed the Challenger.
• A range of Inov8 shoes also featured strongly: GTX 268 Boot (1 wearer); Trail Roc 255 (2); 295 (2); Roclite (1).
  
• Of the Inov8 wearers 4 out of 6 completed the Challenger.

One idea promoted was: Injinis Socks + Seal Skins + water repellent foot balm. 

Keeping water out of footwear is a major consideration. Given the British winter climate and the increasing popularity of ultra-trail races, it is surprising that there are not more commonly available boot-trainer hybrids or trail running shoes with built in gaiters.

Grip has been a sore topic for some racers as each year we have seen retirements due to slips, trips and falls. The single most common cause is on the stone slabs which have been laid along much of the Pennine Way to prevent erosion of paths. When the stone is freshly cut and laid it offers good grip, but as soon as it becomes wet and slimy, or covered in frost/ice they are treacherously slippery. One respondent said Salomon XA Pro offered him no traction on this surface. Another advocated putting Yak Track spikes on for the slabby sections.

From my work on the Spine Mountain & Medic Safety team, knowledge of the Pennine Way, expedition leadership and journeying in remote environments (including traversing the infamous Bigo Bogs in the Uganda Rwenzori jungle - descriptively named in the best African traditions: bigo because its big, and bog, well there was an awful lot of that too) and competitive events background, I have developed a complete racer approach to training and racing strategies. 

 

Ranger Expeditions / Spine Mountain & Medic Safety Team

Tel: 07890 620274

Written by Stu Westfield - http://stuwestfield.blogspot.co.uk

A few weeks ago, I posted a picture taken at the start of The Spine Race 2013 with the text line:
"Spine Race Legends 2013 - In 2014 we'll be making some more..."

Written by James Adams - http://www.runningandstuff.com/

Run an ultra they said. It will be the coolest thing ever, they said. Chicks will dig it, they said. You will carve your body into an immortal God they said. You'll write a blog that will have people stopping you in the street and saying "you are that super human athlete who knows no fear, no limits, no toilet going boundaries - please will you make babies with me" - they said.

I am not here to judge why you are here and what you have done before now.

Maybe you are here because there is a girl you want to impress or maybe you read some idiots blog and thought “ooooooh that looks like good fun”. All I have to say is that you are here now and you may as well accept what you have got yourself into.

I imagine right now you are feeling a sense of unknowing, a sense that this isn’t really going to happen. A sense that you might wake up one morning and this has been some crazy dream you’ll be able to laugh about with your friends over a drink. Ha ha yeah, 50 miles of running, that’s sounds pretty stupid.

But I imagine if you are reading this it’s not a dream but a reality that you are going to have to deal with. Like all first times there will be a rush of excitement, anxiety, nerves and fear as you thrust right into the job at hand. It might not be easy and it might not be glamourous but I promise you that when it is all over you’ll be able to lie back with the warm glow of satisfaction

Note the title of this article. It is not “50 mile running awesomeness”. If you want to read all about that then I suggest looking at the blogs of Ian Sharman, Robbie Britton, Danny Kendal, Paul Navesey, Eddie Sutton,Stu Mills to name but a few.

This is really a “how run run 50 miles and not die” article.

So here are some last minute tips for surviving your first 50 miler.

DON’T PANIC

These two words are the best advice for ultra running. Your race is coming up and perhaps you feel like you have not done enough? You somehow feel like you are less prepared for you last marathon than you are for this race that is twice that? You are genuinley scared that this might end in tears, or worse. You look around at the start line and see lots of beaming faces of highly trained runners about to run 50 miles like it’s nothing.

Well let me tell you that most of those runners are bricking it too, it just doesn’t show very clearly on the outside. Humans are good at that. One thing I would suggest is that you never compare your insides with somone elses outsides. You can’t. It’s impossible.

Take those feelings of fear and apprehention as a sign that you are about to do something pretty significant and then imagine those emotions, in reverse at the finish line of the race. That’s what this is all about, getting yourself into shit scary situations where you think you are going to die or embarrass yourself but somehow you manage to hold onto yourself just enough to make it to the end intact.

If you don’t feel even a little bit scared that I suggest you ask for your money back and give it to the wizard of Oz in return for a heart.

MANAGING THE EXCEPTIONS

How is an ultra different from a marathon? Well obviously it’s the distance innit? A marathon is exactly 26.195 miles and an ultra is anything more than 26.196 miles. Give or take size 9.

However if I were to describe what is different about an ultra than a shorter distance race I would do it via a graph that looks something like this.

I think this graph best explains what goes on in ultramarathons. You may have come from a background of racing where you know exaclty what pace and what food at all points during the race. This approach is still useful and if it makes you feel better to plan then go ahead. Just bear in mind that one of the key lessons you’ll learn when stepping up to ultras is that you will need to think on your feet a lot more.

This is hard because your thinking will be fuzzy and your feet will be sore after 6+ hours of effort. Don’t be afraid to change something that doesn’t work and all the while remember that you are adding to your educaction as a runner. No matter how bad it is going you are learning stuff and hence making yourself more experienced and resilient in the future.

CHILL OUT - EAT GRASS

Did you know that Zebras are the least stressed animal in the world? This is measured by the level of cortisol in their bodies. They often get chased by a lion (which I imagine is quite stressful) but then when the ordeal is over they simply forget about it and carry on eating grass as if nothing happened at all. They don’t think about the next lion attack, they can’t control that and to spend time thinking about it would mean a life in therapy.

When I am running and something does not quite go right, say someone gets in my way or a gate is sticky or someone has fiendishly placed a large rock right where your fott has landed.  Then I just ask myself “what would a zebra do?” It would just forget about it and eat grass. That’s what I try to do, forget about it and keep putting one foot in front of the other.

A good way of practicing this is to cycle in London. There are hundreds of things that might upset you, cyclists jumping lights, zombie pedestrians, pot holes, van drivers etc. Each of these is an opportunity to practice being a zebra. If you can get to one side of Oxford Street to the other without calling another person something nasty you may well have passed.

So when stress is hitting you from all sides, just put on the stripes, get on the bike and start eating grass.

YOU ALREADY HAVE EVERYTHING YOU NEED*

So you have probably been on lots of forums and spoke to a lot of people about what is required then aggregated all of the mentions into a nice pie chart where you have gauged the relative importance of things based on how much people talk about them. Something like this.

Well that’s social media for you, making runners stupid since 2007. This is actually more like what will get you through the race. You’ll notice that not much of this can be bought, you have to earn it.

Now this pie chart is a little misleading. Legs and head are not seperable like this. One affects the other which in turn affects the other in an intractible way that has yet and probably never will be deciphered.

My point here is at this stage there is nothing you can buy that is going to increase your chances of finishing the race. It's all about what you are willing to do with your legs and your mind on the day.

*unless there is something on the mandatory kit list that you have not got. Then you should get it.

DON’T BE THAT DICK

I know a lot of race directors. They are all saints. Not just because they give up such a huge amount of their time to create events for people like me to just turn up and run. It’s more because they put up with a huge amount of questions from runners and have hitherto managed to avoid killing anyone. It’s going to happen one day, a race director is going to kill a runner. Don’t let that be you. Here are some simple ways to avoid that.

• Turn up with ALL the mandatory kit. It’s not just a list for laughs, it can potentially save your life. Don’t argue when asked for your waterproof jacket you are then told you can’t use your crepe paper jacket.
• Also, don’t spam the RD with emails saying “I’ve been out on that path before and never ever needed a jacket or spare battery so I think your list is a bit draconian”. If you have already done this then rest assured every other Race Director in the UK now knows about it.
• Don’t drop out without letting the organiser know. Search parties have been sent out in the past to find a runner who ended up being in their living room eating pizza. I hope they choked on a glistening yellow chunk of e-coli
• Don’t point at your Garmin and go “wah wah wah this checkpoint is 17.1 miles and you said it was only 16.5”. Those things are wrong, which makes you wronger and if that kind of thing bothers you I suggest you find a different sport such as picture frame squaring
• Avoid giving the organisers a herniating drop bag.
• Do thank all the volunteers who have given up their time for you. Don’t moan if there are little delays in getting your food and water topped up. They are not paid ferrari wages and you are not Louis Hamilton
• Don't be impatient at the registration. If there are 200 people registered to run and they all turn up at the same time then there is going to be a delay. Use the time to obsess about each others kit and then develop a horrible anxiety that you are not going to finish because you don't have breast pockets
• Say "I don't need a map, I know this place like the back of my hand". That's all well and good but not going to help if you need to call for help. "I think my leg is broken, yeah I'm at the 14.7 mile point of my Sunday morning run. What do you mean "Grid Reference". Check out my Strava, login "Awesomerunner" password "sillybolloX". No, CAPITAL X you idiot.
• Don't ever litter. Ever.

DON’T IGNORE THIRST (OR LACK OF IT)

Two big mistakes in ultras. The first is not taking a sip of water in the first 20 miles because you are way too excited and chatting away and think that the precious 10 seconds it might take to get some fluid into you would mean that you would not be able to keep up with the guys you have been chatting with for the last few hours. If you ignore thirst early you will run into trouble later, you can't really "catch up" with hydration very easily.

The second is drinking religiously to a schedule that then messes with your electrolyte levels and causes suffering. I am not going to pretend to be a doctorologist who knows what really goes on here except that I have seen a lot of runners drinking themselves stupid (not beer of course - runners wouldn't drink beer) by following one of those 200ml ever 15 minutes things. 

One of the beautiful things about ultra running is that you get to learn the ways in which your body is awesome. One of which is it's uncanny ability to alert you when it needs water. It does this by making your thirsty. Keep it simple. Don't ignore it and don't overide it.

EAT YOURWAY OUT OF GRUMPINESS

OK this is NOT general life advice but a really good heuristic for managing yourself in ultras. If you are grumpy you are probably “hangry” and food will help resolve this. You body will be a raging torrent of various chemicals and hormones and often its hard to know exactly how to fuel it.

I recommend using natural walking points to eat. If there is a 5 minute slog up a hill then use that to stuff your face with cocktail sausages or pork pies or whatever food you have on hand.

Use food as a reward. Derive pleasure from it. Don't think "I will eat a Kit Kat because it has 300 calories in it", think "I will eat a Kit-Kat cos I really like Kit-Kats". I love it when checkpoints have savoury stuff like sausage rolls and sandwiches. It gives me something to look forward to when slogging through the mud. Try and make food and the thought of food a positive thing. 

Many runners have found success with trying to delay the consumption of sugar until later on. Sugar gives you instant hits (and subsequent crashes) in energy levels and emotional levels. Again some people will say sugar is the devil, others will call these people nutjobs. Experiment with yourself, that's part of the fun.

LAND THE SPACESHIP

There is a scene in Apollo 13 where the astronaughts look out the window and all they can see is Earth. They can’t see around it for it is too massive. This causes great anxiety as they have to land on it. This is the “wood for the trees” thing.

Whenever the size of the task just seems too big for me - and running 50 miles should feel too big - I take that as an opportunity to just focus on the little things that are going right. Like they did in the spaceship: all they could do was to make sure their calculations were correct, to switch the right switches and to do the correct proceedures.

I do the same when I just can’t imagine how much I have to do. All I have to do is get things right now. Just make sure you are landing your feet correctly, make sure your arms are swinging normally. Are you breathing regularly. Distracting yourself with the present and focusing on what you control will pull you out of the fear.

We are all "systemisers" to various extents. We take the chaotic noise from the world and try to make order and that makes us feel good. Every puzzle solved is a little stroke of karma that makes us happier.

I think of long races as a long puzzle to be solved, one clue at a time. It is all one long game of muddy sudoku.

So when gravity of the race in front of you starts to feel crushing, relax, put on your space suit and simply try to do what’s right in the next five seconds.

DRESS FOR ALL WEATHER

You may have run races where you put in a fairly consistent effort in fairly consistent weather and end up being around the same temperature throughout. That will almost certainly not be the case here. You will be going at variable speeds and being out there for say 8-12 hours you are going to experience the temperature of hte day rise and fall and all that happens in between. It only takes a few minutes to go from boiling hot to pretty damn chilly.

Your body is an incredible machine for disipating heat when you are hot. It is also an incredible maching for holding into heat when it is cold. The problem is that during this race you'll be requiring both and the body might not change modes quick enough. Starting in the morning, you'll be running a bit faster and generating some heat but the air will be cool and it will quickly disappear as the body then shunts this away. Then when the sun starts to glare this equilibrium will be challenged, you may get hotter with no increase in effort and become uncomfortable.

This is the easy part, it's when it gets cooler (as the sun goes down, as you slow or if the weather turns). This can happen quickly. It only takes a few minutes of breeze to zap all the heat out of your body (and your body will still be pumping blood and losing even more heat). Be careful about getting cold. Be aware and wear the right stuff.

The key to keeping warm in the cold is layers. Wearing two or three tops gives you extra air between the layers to insulate you. If it's going to be cold then I suggest taking an extra layer. Keep moving if possible, swing your arms to generate more heat if needed. Think about what to put in your drop bag. Perhaps a change of clothes if you get wet early on and a chance of socks.

But then don't forget the Sun. It is going to get light from about 4am and you'll spend most of the race exposed to the sunlight. Even if it's not hot you should not underestimate the slow sapping power the Sun has. Protect your head particularly the back of the neck.

PACE YOURSELF

If the question "what is the optimal pace for running an ultra" was asked in an episode of QI the following answers will set the buzzers off and have Alan Davies looking more like a bufoon than usual;

• Run the same pace throughout
• Start fast then get slower
• Start slow and then get faster

Pacing ultras is a bit like pacing yourself when out drinking in the pub (apart from that 11pm cut-off which is just unrealistic and annoying). Sometimes the best nights are the ones where you go hard early and end up in funnier situations than if you'd took it steady. Other times a conservative pace is more sensible and can often save pain later on.

OK this analagy is a bit tenuous but I don't mind causing the bewilderment because I want to make the point that no one really knows what is "right" in terms of pacing race of this length. Even is "mere" marathons there is a lot of debate as to whether the "negative split" is an optimal strategy and therefore if you take this confusion, double it and then square it you will arrive at the level of certainty at which anyone can be confident about the "optimal" pace to run ultras.

Well this bit has been extremely unhelpful hasn't it? 

I guess what you need to think about is both the mental and physical impact of how far you get in what time. You might decide to aim for an even pace, finishing the 50 miles in 12 hours. You may hit the marathon point in 6 hours and think "blimey, I feel really knackered and I have all that to do again". This could lead to a downward spiral mentally that then results in further slowing, further bad thoughts and a greater chance of jacking it in.

You may fly through the marathon point in 4 hours and think "I am a bit knackered but I have loads of time and can keep this up a bit longer" and then by 30 or 35 miles you think "sh1t I've run myself into the ground here but I only have 15 miles to go which will take 3 hours max".

Obviously the opposite of all that could happen, you might be Mr Consistent throughout or you might run yourself stupid and injure yourself. I don't want to tell you exactly how to pace an ultra because everyone I know does it differently and will maintain that what they do is the best way. All I will say is that everyone slows down a bit at least.

Run walk? Maybe. I know people who win races doing this. My preference is to walk up the hills or out of checkpoints (while eating food). Others follow a schedule. Here's an idea (from Jason Rollibards book) "Speed ups". Walking breaks rest your legs as they use different muscles. How about then sprinting occasionally? That uses different muscles too and so can be considered rest. Kind of. I have not tried this yet but reckon it's worth a go. Do it and let me know how you get on.

THE WALL STILL COMES

I believe the majority of DNF’s in this distance come from simple wall anxiety.

That thing you get warned about in the marathon where your glycogen levels expire at around 16-20 miles leaving you with a painful transition through into fat burning but since you figure you are close enough to the end you may as well pull through and by 22 miles it feels ok again anyway and oyu have only 4 miles to go.

Well the wall still happens here. In my experience because I am running a bit slower it comes a bit later (maybe 20-25 miles) where perhaps my body goes through this change where I just feel bad.

Now the normal response to feeling bad at mile 20 of a 50 mile race is “OMFG I feel terrible and I have not even done a marathon yet and I have more than a marathon to do if I carry on like this I will feel dead pretty soon”.

And then quite conveniently there is often a checkpoint right bang in the middle of this with a nice chair and a nice cup of tea and a nice bus that might take you to the end of the race.

AVOID THE TRIFLES

When you decided to run this race you probably (rightly) thought that nothing is worth having if it’s easy to get. You figured that running 50 miles will be bloody hard but the satisfaction that may come with completing would more than make up for this discomfort. You have a good brain, one that knows what’s valuable.

However it is not invincible. When it is a bit starved of oxygen and food and a nice cosy sofa the brain can lapse into quitting mode. It starts looking for the path of least resistance to getting out of this situation. Rather than continuing to the end it will start to devise ways to get out now. It will start thinking of trifles.

A trifle is a reason for quitting that in retrospect you will kick yourself for. I’m not suggesting you carry on if your leg is broken but I have heard (and have given) many reasons for quitting races in the past that when I look back on them I realise how pursuasive my lazy brain can be sometimes.

If you are thinking of dropping out, think ahead 24 hours and ask yourself “is this a trifle?”

PLAN YOUR FUNERAL

OK so you are not actually going to die but this is one of the most effective ways I have ever used of getting away from negative and depressing thoughts. When you've been running for a long time your brain lets in lots of negative and destructive paranoid thoughts. Like your friends mocking you, sneering at your awful efforts to try and finish 50 miles. You'll believe that the whole world is conspiring against you, that every wobbly stile or rusty gate is there to impede you personally. That a loose rock or an exposed tree route has been placed there by some devine for intent of ending your race. This is normal. And funny.

In these times celebrate every little victory you can. Every person who lets you past, every dog that does not bite you, every child that yells "well done" or "keep going". Every time the sun comes out, every time you see a route marker that lets you know you are on the right track. All of these little things help.

And if you really are struggling mentally start planning your own funeral. Imagine a scene when you are in a box about to be buried and everyone close to you in your life is there. Imagine the things that they will say, the ways you touched their lives. It will obviously only be great things they will say. You can be as egotistical as you'd like, no one needs to know. Every word spoken will be about how awesome you are. If they have nothing good to day then don't invite them to your funeral.

FURNISH YOUR PALACE

I’ll let you into a little secret. The key to happiness is to blog about ultrarunning. Well there might be other sources of life fulfilment but I have found this one and am hanging onto it.

I have found that buy writing about my running has helped me in more ways than I imagined possible at the start. I thought it would be a good way of remembering what I did but that’s not the only thing.

•        I can re-live vividly some of the amazing events and emotions I have felt while ultra running and can essentially get all the benefits again for free
•        I can help others who might be about to do such races by giving them information that I might have forgotten if I didn’t write it down
•        It makes it much easier to write a book if you have all this stuff already written down (did I mention I have a book out?)
•        It actually helps me during the race.

Yes that’s right. Blogging as you go has actually helped me manage difficult situations. Whenever soemthing “bad” happens in a race my approach is “well at least it will make an interesting blog” and I genuinely believe this has got me through more stuff than if I just shut up about it.

Now you may think this is self centred and I am a bit egotistical. That is because it is and I am but that is perfectly normal and I don’t feel bad about this.

So my advice would be to write the story as you go. A technique I use is to furnish my memory palace as I go along (using my 5 mile commute to work as my “palace”). It is also called the “Method of Loci” but probably best explained in Josh Foer’s book “Moonwalking with Einstien”.

So in summary, Don’t Panic, Don’t be a dick, It’s not about the bag, comfort eat, blog as you go and land the spaceship. 

I hope you liked this article. If you did then feel free to comment and share.  And also (if you didn't know) I have a book out which I am told is more entertaining than watching an ultra runner poo themself (which is essentially what my book is about). 

I am also working on a Marathon Survival guide and a 100 mile survival guide.

Written by James Adams - http://www.runningandstuff.com/

This came along quickly didn’t it? It only feels like yesterday that you signed up for this thing, you promised yourself you’ll run miles and miles of training, gym every day and otherwise turn yourself into a super awesome running machine.

How did that go?

If your answer is “not quite as planned” then don’t worry, you are in the overwhelming majority of runners who feel the same. Two bits of advice I have for the start line;

Don’t compare your insides with someone else’s outsides

And

Don’t Panic!!

Right now you may be looking around at your friends who are running the marathon or perhaps at the start line where everyone just looks in a state of bliss, no nerves or anxiety amongst any of them. Let me tell you something I have learned from speaking to 100s of marathon runners over the years, everyone is chewing up on the inside, everyone is a little bit scared and worried that they have not quite done enough to get to the finish line.  

So are you a bit scared? Good. You should be and so is everyone else. You are about to do something that is pretty amazing, probably harder than anything you have done before and these feelings of worry and fear will translate later into feelings of euphoria and achievement.

In my first marathon I was so nervous my node bled for the first 3 miles. I turned up at the start expecting there to be marathon bouncers who would look at you and decide that you are not fit to start. I thought they would just look at me and laugh me away, “Ha ha ha, you’re avin a laugh aren’t you”.

Here follows some practical advice for surviving your first marathon.

THE NIGHT BEFORE THE NIGHT BEFORE

You’ll have heard no doubt that sleep is important for many reasons, it allows us to rest, to switch off from the previous day and to regenerate our brains to tackle the next day. Without it we will be unproductive slow zombies.

Don’t panic about not getting much sleep the night before. You are nervous and perhaps paranoid about oversleeping or just can’t stop thinking about the race. I remember in my first marathon I woke up every 20 minutes paranoid that I didn’t have enough safety pins. It’s normal, don’t panic.

It is quite likely that you will not sleep well the night before, this is fine, don’t worry too much about it just try as best you can to relax. You are not an iPhone who will just cease to function when the battery runs out, your battery has much more life than you can ever imagine (those with young children will know this better than most).

For me sleep is a bonus if I can get it the night before but I don’t let it worry me if it doesn’t happen.

It is actually more important to get a good night sleep the night before the night before so try to create the conditions to allow this. Don’t force yourself up by an alarm or commit to too much activity in the morning.

If possible try to avoid any stress in the previous week. You don’t want demons floating around in your head the night before so if you can avoid moving house, getting divorced, dealing with idiots at work or supporting Tottenham in the week before the race that would help massively.

CHECK FORM

26 miles is a long way. You’ll probably hit the ground about 50 thousand times and it is hard to get all of these things perfect.  You are told that putting one foot in front of the other is easy; ask them to do it on running 21 miles. Sometimes getting the feet to lift of the ground is quite hard.

Use the mile markers as “form checks”. Whenever you see them ask yourself “Is my stride good, am I standing tall, how are my feet landing? Am I thirsty, do I need more energy? Am I running too fast? Or too slow?”

Use these to prompt a mental checklist that you will then act on every mile. It is easy to forget these simple things and then run into all sorts of trouble. If you think about them constantly though you might just go insane and miss out on lots of the atmosphere.

“WHEN I WAS THIRSTY – I DRANK”

The best advice came from Forrest Gump when he said “When I was thirsty – I drank”. It really isn’t any more complicated that this.

Your body is a magnificent feat of biological engineering that has been perfected over millions of years to perform endurance exercise in fairly warm conditions. Your sweat processes and heat management is almost unique in the animal kingdom and is potentially a contributing factor to how we have had the time to grow these huge brains that have led to great leaps of science and culture such as quantumn physics, the Mona Lisa and Gogglebox.

It knows when it needs water, better than any textbook. Contrary to a lot of old textbooks if you are thirsty you are NOT “somewhat” dehydrated, you are just thirsty, simple as that.

The two biggest mistakes I have seen in marathons are;

Not drinking when thirsty early on as it is inconvenient to do so and drinking robotically to a schedule, ignoring your bodies opinion on the need for fluid.

People not drinking early when they are thristy and then trying to “catch up” later on by drinking like a fish. Have you ever downed a pint then had to run for the last train? The results will be similar, only with more people watching. And TV cameras.

Simply try to quench your thirst the day before and in the morning and if you are thirsty at mile 3 then don’t say “I’ll just crack out a few more miles before having a drink”, just have a drink then.

But don’t drink robotically to a schedule. Drinks manufacturers have made a lot of money telling us we should be drinking more than we need, ruining many a marathon and charging for the privelidge. Let your body decide. It’s not stupid.

OK maybe a bit... but for other reasons.

Also, drinking DOES NTO cool you down. pouring water on your skin does but if it is a hot day still only drink when thirsty, there is no mechanism whereby putting cold fluid in you cools you down.

PASTA PARTY LIKE IT’S 1999

Pause reading for a moment and answer the questions “What is carb loading?”

I bet 90% of you got it wrong. I bet 90% of the answers were something like “it’s where you scoff down 2 large bowls of pasta and a pizza the night before the race so that you have the energy required to get around a marathon”.

This is wrong. Carb loading is quite a bit more complicated than that, it is actually quite hard to do and it doesn’t always work. I suggest that in your three meals of the day before you just eat a bit more in each.

The day before the race is not the time to discover new foods. In fact it is not the time to deviate from what you normally eat. If you normally eat lots of bread and pasta then eat that the night before, if your diet is more fruit based or rice based then that is fine too. A mistake many people make is to deviate from their usual diet to one that contains lots of wheat and then struggle with stomach problems during the marathon. If you don’t typically eat pasta/bread etc then don’t do so before the race, eat what you usually eat.

Should you abstain from Alcohol? My answer to this is going to be psychological rather than nutritional. A couple of beers/wines will have no nutritional impact on your race so long as you are well hydrated. Ask yourself whether it will help you relax. I think the benefits to be gained by being relaxed far outweight any slight impact a beer might have on your body. Just don’t relax too much. 7 pints is too much relaxing.

VISUALISE YOUR DREAM RACE

There is not much you can do to improve yourself physically now but a hell of a lot you can do mentally.

Olympic cyclists do it, war generals do it and you have probably done it in a presentation at work. You rehearse in your mind the perfect race, the perfect battle, the perfect pitch. You imagine the roar of approval from your colleagues or fans as you execute the perfect manouvers to achieve your goals.

Even just thinking about it gives you great confidence, it excites you, it motivates you. These are all great things and you should spend the few weeks before the marathon thinking in this way. It will get you buzzing on the start line.

But this thinking does something even more profound. Without wanting to scare you this kind of thinking increases your tolerance for suffering. I don’t  want to over state it but running a marathon for the first time you are going to suffer. However the more you have visualised succes the more you are willing to suffer to achieve this goal.

By visualing success you are investing more psychologically in the race and will be more likely to pull through the hard times, the more you feel you have to lose. It’s like watching the Matrix trilogy. You watched the first two, the third was absolute crap but there is no way you are going to not finish the job, you feel like the whole thing would be a waste of time if you didn’t.

THE WALL

The wall is both a mental and physical thing. There is little you can do to avoid it but lots you can do to get over it. I will try to explain what I believe the wall is. (Please note I am not a medical professional, a nutro-biologist or a physiopolist).

Your main source of energy for running is glucose. You have about enough to run 15-20 miles on this. When this source runs out your body turns more to fat burning to keep your legs moving. Your body can do this fine however the transition can be uncomfortable.

I’ve heard various descriptions as to what this transition is like. It’s like being hungover, or really angry, or drunk or giving up caffiene cold turkey or like having the flu or all of the above. These are all real feelings in response to a real change in your body but they won’t last long. However it can poison the mind, and then the wall can hurt you for much much longer.

The marathon is a fiendish distance. You are made to run until your sugar runs out, you then get hit by this wall thing and then told you have at least 10 miles left to run. It’s like been thrown into a room with One Direction and only been given three bullets.  When the wall hits and you first feel its effects it is easy to start exprapolating. Dammit if I feel this bad at mile 17 how on earth am I even going to make it to mile 20?

You then start of a downward emotional spiral where you start to doubt yourself, question the point of what you are doing and start to find excuses for why you didn’t finish. You look for a way out, you find it harder to justify carrying on. This is the melancholy you must defeat.

These negative thoughts then make it harder physically. You notice the pains in your legs more, your heart beats faster because you are a bit more stressed, you might breathe harder, your natural flow of running is disrupted and now you expend more energy to put one foot infront of the other. The wall has not done these things directly, it did them via your own brain.

Sneaky little bugger isn’t it?

My advice on this section is to be aware that it will come and then when it does remember that it does not last forever. This really is the time to just start surviving one mile at a time, not letting the fear ruin your race completely.

Relentless Forward Progress.

COMFORT EATING

Nutrition in the race is possibly the worstest done thing by people in a marathon. Probably runs pacing into second place. I think the first thing to recognise is that most people will at some point get this wrong and so you should not feel too bad for having doubts. The main thing to remember is that no one can authoratively tell you exactly what to eat and when as everyone is different.

Well that was helpful wasn’t it?

If I was to advise on one thing it would be to try and delay taking sugar until at least the second half of the race, sugar makes you high and makes you crash. You can to some extent avoid this crash with more sugar to get another high (sounds like substance abuse doesn’t it? It kind of is). Sugar can be a tricky game to play.

How do you know if you need food? Well you’ll probably be grumpy, that’s the cue. Hangry I believe is the correct term. If you start to feel like you want to punch the people who are cheering you on then look for a small child and take a jelly baby off them (assuming they are offering them, it would be mean just to steal from them no matter how grumpy you are).

Imagine the sugar gushing down into your legs and electrifying your muscles, pushing them on to finish the race. OK I don’t mean to sound like a homeopathic shrink but that visualisation works for me.

PACE YOURSELF - SOMEHOW

I am going to take a wild guess here and say that you are not Mo Farah. If it is you Mo then hello and good luck in the marathon. Perhaps eat some meat this time so that you don’t fall over at the end.

I am assuming that you are not planning on winning the marathon.

Pacing is a contentious topic and when you start the race you will be so full of hormones that maybe you have never experienced before that you will set out like a bat out of hell. Humans do things like that when full of hormones, I think it’s a design fault.

I think the key things here to remember are not to set out too fast but also that everyone slows down a bit. This “bit” varies from doing the second half one minute slower than the first to doing the second half about 4 hours slower than the first.

Pick your “optimistic” time and head for half way in half of that. For example you may have a target of 4.00 but think optimistically you could get 3.50. Then head for halfway in 1.55, if you are right about your optimistic pace you should arrive there on time and if you are feeling good you should be able to continue at that pace.

If however you might have overstetched yourself at least you have not done so by much and you can afford to slow down a little and still achieve your original goal.

ENJOY BEING THE STAR

My first marathon I think was my first public performance since a school production of “Rama and Sita” where I played a talking monkey who set fire to curtains with my arse. There are not that many parallels between the two performances (only one did I actually feel real burning in my rear end). However my first marathon was made better by the feeling that I was genuinely a star of some show.

And you will be, thousands of people will be lining the streets cheering you on with a genuine respect and bewilderment for what you are doing. Some of them may have run marathons before but most wont because it does not even occur to them to push themselves in this way.

Draw on their support and feel inspired by your own efforts just for being there. Look forward to the bragging rights afterwards, in the pub, at home, at work.

I have to say that I envy the position you are in right now. Your first marathon is a magical experience that will never be repeated. It’s like having kids I imagine, the first is brillant but then the subsequent ones are a bit rubbish. Only joking, I imagine having kids is way harder than running a marathon.

Every moment of the day will be a significant part of the rest of your life, whether you get your dream time or get carted off in an ambulance you’ll have stories to tell people after this race. Make them good.

PS I forgot all the usual advice. Don’t wear new shoes, only eat gels you’ve tried before, lube everywhere, remember to tie your laces, safety pins, don’t look directly at the sun with a telescope etc etc.

I hope you liked this article. If you did then feel free to comment and share.  And also (if you didn't know) I have a book out which I am told is more entertaining than watching an ultra runner poo themself (which is essentially what my book is about). 

Written by Andy DuBois - http://www.mile27.com.au

As you may have guessed from a previous blog on speed training for ultrarunners you’ll know I’m a big fan of speed training and tempo running is a great speed workout. But what is a tempo run?

A bit of research on the internet shows that a tempo run can be simply defined as a 20 minute run at threshold pace which is 25-30 seconds per mile slower than current 5k pace or a run at 90 % of your maximum heart rate. Of course if you feel 90% is too hard then 75-85 % of max heart rate is also tempo intensity as is a run of 20-25 minutes in duration at between 10k and 15k race pace.If you are very fit it’s your 15-21k pace. It can also be defined as 70-80% of your aerobic capacity or a run of 20-25 minutes at 20-25 seconds per mile slower than your 5k pace or 40-45 minutes at 15-20 seconds slower than your 10k pace. The fastest pace you can manage for an hour is another common way of describing tempo intensity.

Just in case you didn’t quite follow me there, it’s a 20-60 minute run of between 75-90% of your max heart rate or at a pace somewhere between your 10-21k race pace

So to that’s pretty straight forward then, not much confusion on that issue!

Why is there such a big discrepancy on what the experts recommend as a tempo run?

Problems with defining tempo running

Most scientists and coaches definition of a tempo run is a run at just below your anaerobic threshold pace but the definition of anaerobic threshold isn’t as clear cut as you may think. Some say its the point where your body can no longer clear the lactate being produced in your muscles as fast as your body is producing it and therefore it starts to build up, others says its the point where respiratory rate increases without a matching increase in oxygen intake, others use a figure of blood lactate of 4mmol

The problem is that whilst we’d like to be able to define exactly how fast, far and at what heart rate a tempo run should be done researchers are even questioning whether a definitive point or threshold even exists. Some argue that blood lactate accumulates continuously and no specific threshold can be determined.

Whether it exists or not (and I believe it may exist in some people and not in others) both science and runners agree that training just under this supposed threshold does improve running performance significantly, particularly for races 15k to 42km.

But with no consensus on exactly what anaerobic threshold is and if it exists and no agreement on the ideal tempo intensity or distance how can we determine the most effective tempo run for us and is it a worthwhile training session for an ultrarunner

Why ultrarunners should include Tempo running

For ultra runners tempo pace (however you define it) will be quicker than race pace. However there are still substantial benefits to be had from doing tempo sessions. As I have argued in the speed training for ultra runners blog, if you can improve your pace at shorter distances then you have the potential to improve your pace at longer distances

For example if your marathon pace improves from 5 min ks to 4.30 minute ks then running at 5.30 minute k pace will seem very comfortable.

Its no coincidence that the majority of the winners of ultra races are also very credible marathon runners, often sub 2.30.

If we agree that tempo running is beneficial for ultrarunners then the next step is working out what a tempo run actually is and how best to use them in your training.

Tempo running for an ultrarunner

The fact that there is no consensus on tempo runs implies that the correct pace, distance and speed will be specific to the individual and the race the individual is training for.

When looking at any training run we should always have an understanding of the purpose of a particular training session. How do we want the body to respond?

For an ultrarunner two of the most important training effects are an increase in sustainable aerobic running pace (in terms of both speed and duration) and an increase in strength endurance to handle the repetitive loading on the legs that occurs during an ultra.

For this to happen we obviously need to run at a speed close to our supposed threshold to stimulate the body to respond by pushing that threshold up but also run for long enough to cause enough damage to the legs to force the body to respond by increasing strength endurance.

Pure speed training is great for speed but the load on the legs will be less since you are covering far less ground.Long runs do put a reasonable amount of load through the legs if they are long enough but most of us cant run long more than once a week so tempo running is an ideal mid week training run that develops both speed and strength endurance in the legs.

Tempo runs have a good balance of speed and duration that can help us develop both speed and resistance to fatigue.

With this in mind I would argue that shorter tempo runs of 15-20 minutes have limited value for ultra runners (except as a means of progressing to longer runs) as the time is not sufficient to place a significant load on the legs.

I believe that starting with 2-3 efforts of 15 minutes and then as your mileage and fitness increase build the time up to 90 minutes. One of my favourite tempo runs is 2 x 45 minutes hard with a 10 min jog in between. Keep in mind the pace for the hard sections will be slower than half marathon pace and probably very close to your marathon pace.

Strictly speaking 90 minutes isn’t a tempo run but I believe what you lose in running at a slower pace you gain from the extra load on the legs involved in running relatively fast for 90 minutes.

How fast should a tempo run be?

The fastest pace you can maintain for the specified time. If you can’t maintain the same pace for the whole run then it’s too fast. If you use a heart rate monitor it will be somewhere between 80-90% but will vary depending on a number of factors including fitness, fatigue levels and the weather so don’t be a slave to a number on your watch. Go with how you feel.

Running out and back courses are a great way to determine if you are pacing your runs correctly. Eg if you run out for 10 minutes then turn and run back to the start in 10 minutes then your pacing was good. If you made it back with time to spare you started too slow if you made it back in more than 10 minutes you started too fast.

How often should you include a tempo run in your training?

This will depend on how long your tempo run is. Anything lasting an hour or less can be done weekly (depending on your other training of course). Longer runs like the one I mentioned above are very demanding and are best done once every 2-3 weeks.