Ultra training for beginners

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17 Jan
12:19pm, 17 Jan 2024
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fetcheveryone
Ah. It's a hobbit thing I think :-)
17 Jan
12:29pm, 17 Jan 2024
49,177 posts
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HappyG(rrr)
:-)
17 Jan
12:42pm, 17 Jan 2024
1,439 posts
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Sam Jelfs
Why anyone would want to do it mainly My wife was interested and it sounded a mega pain in the backside to me, but I'm lazy, hate naviagation while running, and quite like running in circles


I hate running in circles, and would much rather be out on my own than stuck with hundreds of other people bashing elbows. I have done quite a few events where the route isn't marked, so navigation is not normally an issue for me, at least not with modern GPS devices. I liked the challenge of it, but then I have also gone and done FKTs on routes as unsupported / self-supported, so guess thats kind of my thing.
17 Jan
1:11pm, 17 Jan 2024
49,180 posts
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HappyG(rrr)
Quite pleased at my guess of "about 50% walking"



Fetch's new feature of walking % has those two nice cadence humps that he identified for this my last ultra (Cateran 55 mile, quite hilly, massively under trained, and last as in most recent and also as in never-again!!) :-) G
17 Jan
5:37pm, 17 Jan 2024
49,186 posts
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HappyG(rrr)
Quick comment on stops along the way - can't remember if your EfM is supported (will Katie or others be driving to meet you every few hours and bring you stuff - snacks, kit changes etc?) But anyway, we often say in WHW support "Beware The Chair"!

It's very tempting when you are bushed after 20 hours to sit down and not want to get up again. If you are not looking for your best distance and time, this might not matter. It might be more important to refresh yourself as much as possible. And it is always essential to eat, fix blisters/chafing etc. But actually a 20 min sit in a chair isn't going to help you keep going for next hours, if it's just sitting for sitting's sake!

Keep moving. Relentless forward progress.

In my next instalment... "Giving up. Don't!" :-) G
17 Jan
9:03pm, 17 Jan 2024
4,127 posts
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paulcook
I can vouch for that. Not so much sitting but generally spending too long in aid stations. For me, more races has tuned up my efficiency but the worst offences were in extreme weather and it took me 20+ minutes to get back out. Unless it’s part of your plan, sat in an aid station gets you no progress.
17 Jan
9:15pm, 17 Jan 2024
563 posts
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5km_is_plenty
Get your bottles refilled, grab some scran and crack on. Don't sit down.
17 Jan
9:59pm, 17 Jan 2024
10,099 posts
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Northern Exile
Don't immediately DNF when you walk into an CP, even if you've decided that's what you're going to do.
17 Jan
10:26pm, 17 Jan 2024
63,803 posts
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Derby Tup
And in a similar vein don't just give up and then regret it. I'm still mad I dropped out of the Lakeland 100 in 2013
17 Jan
10:33pm, 17 Jan 2024
49,188 posts
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HappyG(rrr)
Oh NE. That was going to be my Don't Give Up post!

When yiu think yiu can't go on...

1. Give yourself a new target - not the end but a reduced goal. Then you can give up.
2. If that still feels too daunting, just next check point or meet up point. Then yiu can give up.
3. If not that then just 1 more mile. Then yiu can give up.

And guess what, once you've achieved that, yiu will find you haven't given up.

Then repeat.

The number of people who I have seen saying they were spent, in unbearable pain, couldn't go one more step, 30 mins later, marching on fine. Give it time. No matter how low you are "This Too Shall Pass".

Half the fun is reaching the low points and then discovering what the real you will do!

Discover. Reveal. Amaze! :-) G

About This Thread

Maintained by jacdaw
I'm planning to run a couple of ultra events next year and I'm looking for some general training i...

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