How to Train yourself for Your First Ultrail

How to Train yourself for Your First Ultrail ?

Running a trail ultra is a great challenge and one that can change the way you run for life.  Although it may seem intimidating at first, once you begin to train, it will feel familiar and more like a slightly altered marathonprogram. Look at these points before you go for an ultra-run.

    Train specifically. 

   The more closely you simulate the trail terrain you'll be racing on in training, the more prepared you'll be.  Do your research on the course to identify the level of technical difficulty, hills, altitude, and weather and optimally prepare your body and mind for race day.

Keep eye on your Path. Every step is unique which ultimately lowers the risk of overuse injury however because these patterns are new to your body it will need time to adapt.  Start your journey to the trails with a few shorter runs during the week and hold this pattern for the first 4-6 weeks.  Once you begin to feel comfortable, begin to transition your long endurance runs on the trails.

      

Watch out for trail drain. One sign you know you've run hard on roads is the unmistakeable muscle tightness and fatigue that comes from the impact forces.   You can literally feel the effects of the impact on your body.  This is not the case on trails.  The body hurts less and fatigue shows up in an overall energy drain and decrease in the ability to maintain a strong running form (tripping, falling).  Like marathon training, it is just as important to follow the flow of easy and hard workouts to allow your body to acclimate and recover efficiently. Listen to your body for signs of trail drain (low energy during runs, fatigue, higher breathing rates at average paces, dead legs, and feeling generally tired all day).  If you have the drain, cross-train for a few days at an easy effort and run on flat roads for the week to recover.

Modify your long-run strategy. Yes, in order to race longer you need to train longer but you don't need to go crazy.  If you invest all your energy for the week in running long, you will also need to invest all your energy in recovery.  Balance out your training recipe with a variety of workouts and you'll improve your stamina, endurance, strength, technical skills and recover more efficiently so you can train harder for longer.

     

     

Run with the rhythm of the trail. The greatest part of trail running is it teaches you to run by the terrain rather than your watch.  It doesn't mean you have to toss your watch aside, it simply means your normal pace won't mean much on a winding, technical single-track trail.  Set a goal this season to run by effort (how you feel - breathing, heart rate) rather than pace.  This can and will change the way you run forever.  One, because you end up running your best effort on any given day (hot, humid, cold, low energy) and two, it gives you a sense of freedom that empowers you to explore beyond your numerical limits.  It allows you train simply by matching your effort to the planned workout for the day (easy, moderate, hard) versus trying to run by a planned pace which may or may not be optimal for the day.

     

 Be self-contained.  Find the right balance of fuel (Food and Water) for you while training this season and learn the hydration system that works for you.  There are three basic ways to go for carrying fluids handheld bottle, backpack/vest bladder, and waist belt with multiple bottles.

     

Make friends with walking.  Even the best ultra-runners utilize the benefits of walking in training and on race day.  Power walking allows you to pace yourself evenly, dim the intensity on technical, hilly terrain and move more efficiently for longer periods of time.  Some ultra-athletes set their watch alarms and perform run-walk intervals while others run by the terrain and run the flat and predictable sections and downhills and walk the uphills and highly technical parts.  The latter strategy works very well for rolling, hills courses.

      

Race like the tortoise, not the hare. The secret to successful and joyful ultra-run races is in your pacing strategy.  Because any given mile could be flat, rolling, muddy, technical, it is impossible to race by your watch at a specific pace (unless of course you've trained on the course and know it by feel and even then it will be hard).  Rather than relying on your watch, use your natural pacing instincts and run by your effort.  Learning to race by feel will have a tremendous impact on all your other races as it will teach you to run from within and through any racing condition and cross the finish line at your strongest.