Got sucked into running my first ultra - PANIC

first ultra wrote:

How can I improve in 4 weeks and not totally suck at this event?

You can't.

The good news is you don't need to.

You need to. It's all about your mental ability to keep moving.

You goal should be to stay on the course for 8 hours, no matter what happens.

Start slow and keep walking when you need to. Don't just stop because something hurts because there is always something in ultrarunning. Fix the problem if you can but always keep moving. Eat and drink a little bit along the way but don't overeat on junk food.

And keep moving until you run out of time.

You will be surprised how far you will get.

Expert ultrarunner wrote:

first ultra wrote:

How can I improve in 4 weeks and not totally suck at this event?

You can't.

The good news is you don't need to.

You need to. It's all about your mental ability to keep moving.

You goal should be to stay on the course for 8 hours, no matter what happens.

Start slow and keep walking when you need to. Don't just stop because something hurts because there is always something in ultrarunning. Fix the problem if you can but always keep moving. Eat and drink a little bit along the way but don't overeat on junk food.

And keep moving until you run out of time.

You will be surprised how far you will get.

Don’t forget to stop by the portapotty when you need to do a number 2!

Good advice already. You could up your long runs for the next several weeks, but don't push it, you will be better served to go in well rested. There will be all kinds of runners there. The serious about getting as many miles as possible, those just wanting to get an ultra in, and possibly just wanting to get a marathon in. It is a good bet you will be nowhere close to having the fewest miles.

Other advice (not asked for): You are not likely going to be running for 8 hours on your prep. Start walking early. If the are any significant hills, walk those from the start, or do a lap, then start walking the hard parts. If the course is almost flat then start with a run/walk method. Increase the walking time, as needed as the event progresses and as needed. Since you are repeating loops, you may just decide to walk from one landmark to another, run, walk from one landmark to another and so on. You will complete your first Ultra!

Expert ultrarunner wrote:

first ultra wrote:

How can I improve in 4 weeks and not totally suck at this event?

You can't.

The good news is you don't need to.

You need to. It's all about your mental ability to keep moving.

You goal should be to stay on the course for 8 hours, no matter what happens.

Start slow and keep walking when you need to. Don't just stop because something hurts because there is always something in ultrarunning. Fix the problem if you can but always keep moving. Eat and drink a little bit along the way but don't overeat on junk food.

And keep moving until you run out of time.

You will be surprised how far you will get.

Thanks for the reply and the great advice. I'm not expecting miracles to happen in the next four weeks. My plan is basically:

1. Do a 14-15-16-17 mile long runs over the next four weeks

2. Increase my mid-week mileage by 1-2 miles each week

3. Replace the 6-mile tempo run with 3 hard uphill miles + 3 easy miles (alternating) on the treadmill. I'm not expecting a huge improvement, but I do think there is something to be said about 'breaking in' your hill muscles before the event so it's not such a shock to the system.

This should get me to 45-50 miles by the last training week, and then a 5-day taper.

Thanks for that advice as well!

The course is fairly easy - all paved/gravel trails, nothing technical, weather should be 40-50F so no issues with heat. There's one large hill which I definitely plan to walk starting from lap 1

Just for reference

25% of the field last year did 3 loops (18 miles) or less.

60% of the field last year did 4-5 loops

My 'reach goal' would be 5 loops which comes out to about 4 miles per hour...

first ultra wrote:

Thanks for the reply and the great advice. I'm not expecting miracles to happen in the next four weeks. My plan is basically:

1. Do a 14-15-16-17 mile long runs over the next four weeks

2. Increase my mid-week mileage by 1-2 miles each week

3. Replace the 6-mile tempo run with 3 hard uphill miles + 3 easy miles (alternating) on the treadmill. I'm not expecting a huge improvement, but I do think there is something to be said about 'breaking in' your hill muscles before the event so it's not such a shock to the system.

This should get me to 45-50 miles by the last training week, and then a 5-day taper.

I would not bump up the weekly mileage too much. Last bigger week should be two weeks before the race. Otherwise you will be tired at the race.

That would be my thought as well. Coming from your current build-up, my thought, for what it is worth, is that you should not do a 'long' run' the week before. A 10 miler would be fine. If you want to increase your mileage, I would do it over 3 weeks. You could end up at the same place, in terms of mileage on the long run. Now, I do not know, if you need to do any of that. The most important thing at this point is to go in well rested and injury free. Heck, you might be better off in doing a 20 miler next week, if it would help you psychologically, then don,t do any more longer runs than you are currently doing. Again, just my opinion, for what it is worth.

Good point - with half marathons it's a different story.

I'm thinking 14-16-17-10 for my next 4 long runs, and then 5 days taper would be better. I would also scale back the mileage the week of that final 10-mile long run. That means my peak mpw would be about 45 but would give me more time to rest. So overall things would look like:

Week 1: 39 miles w/14-mile Saturday long run

Week 2: 42 miles w/16-mile Saturday long run

Week 3: 44 miles w/17-mile Saturday long run

Week 4: 30 miles w/10-mile Saturday long run

Week 5: 12 miles + race day on Saturday

Sounds good. Go for it.

Good Luck!

first ultra wrote:

A buddy of mine sucked me into running an "ultra" race

As a former first lady once said, "just say NO"!

The "panic" response is the absolute wrong mindset to have. This is the gentlest intro to ultra running you can have - there is no commitment to a given distance or even running for the entire 8 hours. As you said, most people in the event in the past didn't get to the ultra distance, you very well may not either. That's fine. Reframe your mindset as this being a fully supported long run instead of a race, your only goal is to explore what happens when you run farther than you ever have before.

As far as training, what you've come up with above sounds perfectly reasonable. Have fun, enjoy the new experience, don't take it too seriously.

Do you have a cooler and a comfortable lawn chair? Jog some laps. Hang out and chat. Maybe walk a lap. Why would you want to push yourself - wreck yourself - for this. It's a runathon.

Fake a limp before the race, DNF within the first mile after your "valiant attempt" to start the race, walk back to the vehicle, relax, pick your buddy up in 8 hours. Simple as that.

I have a lot of experience with doing ultras with insufficient training. The key to executing a race with such (mis)preparation is to use a run/walk strategy. Take a one or two minute walking break at the end of each mile and/or make sure to walk the uphills. The walks don't penalize your pace as much as you might think they would, and allow you to run 2x further (rectally sourced multiplier) than you would otherwise be able to do.

Another benefit of the walk break is that it gives you a chance to regroup and get some nutrition. If you don't keep up with your calories and fluids, it's going to be a very slow and painful last 3 hours.

Keep your ego in check (especially early) and you'll be fine. Have fun!

Gallowalking (as others have mentioned) - you should practice to get a feel for the transitions. People usually suck in their first marathon, let alone ultra. Just enjoy the masochism!

Is the trail you'll be running on near your house? If so, probably the single best thing you can do is to go out and do a long run (2 loops = 12 miles) on the actual trail a few weeks before. Actually, do as many runs on the trail as possible beforehand. This will allow you to figure out your pacing, where to run vs walk, etc. I also find going into events already familiar with the lay of the land makes things so much less stressful. If this is on a trail and you haven't done much trail running, this will also break in your 'trail running muscles' and allow you to test shoes as well, so race day isn't such a system shock.

Don't overdo it with the long runs at this point, and definitely do your hardest week 2-weeks from the event.

Good luck and have fun!

first ultra wrote:

Good point - with half marathons it's a different story.

I'm thinking 14-16-17-10 for my next 4 long runs, and then 5 days taper would be better. I would also scale back the mileage the week of that final 10-mile long run. That means my peak mpw would be about 45 but would give me more time to rest. So overall things would look like:

Week 1: 39 miles w/14-mile Saturday long run

Week 2: 42 miles w/16-mile Saturday long run

Week 3: 44 miles w/17-mile Saturday long run

Week 4: 30 miles w/10-mile Saturday long run

Week 5: 12 miles + race day on Saturday

This sounds pretty reasonable. I think you could push the long runs (within reason) just a touch more. You're not looking to gain fitness or add in workouts. Maybe:

Week 1: 15-16

Week 2: 18-19

Week 3: 20-22

Week 4: 12-13

Without new quality and recovering right I think you can still add onto Week 3. Do the long run on Friday or Saturday to get in an extra rest day. If you're doing any faster running, I would stick to tempos around marathon pace. No reason you can't get in a marathon on race day.

Looks like you got some decent advice already but my quick 2 cents.

You dont need to up your long runs. If you have 4 weeks yet, plan to do 1 really long run ASAP. Then spend the next few weeks just being consistent running while pushing ALL your runs a little bit more ie instead of trying to make your long runs longer just make your normal runs longer and dont do any other major long runs once you've done the 1 really long run.

Running if you start making your long runs longer the closer you get to the race, the more chance you are going to be overtrained going into the race. You also are not going to much benefit at all a few weeks out. Better to get one big run in now so that you can recover and get some benefit from it. Making all your normal runs a bit longer will help prepare your body for going long.