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Marathons are a test of your fitness. Ultramarathons are a test of your systems. ​

Happy Tuesday!

This week I’m going to deviate from my typical metacognitive style of writing and get practical with you. This newsletter is for the ultra-curious. Specifically, runners who’ve completed a marathon and are considering a 50k-100k.

If you’ve never done an ultramarathon or are fairly new to the ultramarathon game, this will answer the initial questions that usually show up the moment you go beyond 26.2.

To get started, here’s the honest truth:

You already have a strong engine. A marathon is no easy feat.

But ultramarathons go beyond pure fitness. They reward durability, pacing discipline, fueling consistency, and logistics.

1. Training: shifting from Marathon to Ultra

Marathon training: build toward one big, long run + some pace work.

Ultra training: build toward repeatable long efforts + terrain skill + staying functional for long periods of time.

The biggest mistake I see most first time ultrarunners make is only focusing on adding volume. It makes sense. And to a certain extent, volume is important. But just stacking more miles usually leads to two outcomes:

1. You get fit but eventually get injured.
2. You get fit but don’t gain fitness specific to the race demands.

Most training needs to be at your aerobic pace (often faster than your ultra pace) but the longer runs should mimic the paces (hiking & running) that you would experience during your race. For most of ultramarathoners, we aren’t “running” the entire distance. There’s a lot of walking or, even better, power hiking involved. In training, it would be unreasonable to ask you to power hike during all of your training.

For some, your weekly mileage may reach the equivalent of the actual race. For others, it may not even reach 60%. With such little training volume compared to the length of the race, it doesn’t make sense to power hike during all of your training. Running will make you fit, but the large majority of it needs to be closer to your actual race pace, not faster.

2. Understanding Ultra Volume

1. Frequency over volume – the first pillar to understand is that the more frequent you can get out and train, the more opportunity you have to provide stimulus to building ultra specific fitness. Running 2-3x per week won’t cut it. It’s better to expose your body to shorter, more frequent runs that you can recover quickly from.
2. Time over mileage – focus on accumulating time on feet over distance. Most of us are not training on the terrain that are specific to the ultramarathon events, so mileage in training does not translate to mileage in the race. But what does translate is time. There’s no way to understate it, ultramarathons take a long time to finish. Take an honest look at how long your first might take you and focus on accumulating similar amounts of time over the course of a week.
3. Pacing – I alluded to this before, but your race pace is not your training pace. The longer your training days get, the more your pacing should match the effort you’ll use in the race. I promise you it’s slower than you think. Use HR and RPE, to keep you at an effort that you can maintain for hours. This is the pace that you want your body to become most efficient at.
4. Recommend minimums: These are bare minimums to finish for many runners on forgiving courses, not best practice, and not ideal for peak performance.
   • 50k: 3-5 hours per week
   • 50 mile/100k: 5-7 hours per week
   • 100 mile + : 7-9 hours per week

3. Methodology: upgrades that matter

There are some key shifts in training that you can use to optimize the amount of time you have available to train.

1. Back-to-back long days (or long run + long hike) – Running (or hiking) 2 days back-to-back helps prepare your body for the demands of moving while fatigued. The second day, your legs will feel sore and heavy but that’s the point.
2. Strength Training – Incorporating regular strength training into your program helps fill many of the gaps that pure running won’t give you in preparation for your ultra. Climbing, descending, stability on uneven terrain, and muscular durability can all be improved with routine strength training. Strength training doesn’t always mean gyms and dumbbells. Incline walking, rucking (weighted vest), and stair climbing are all ways to improve your muscular endurance.
3. Nutrition practice – Fueling is the number one reason that most athletes DNF. As is said in any ultra endurance event, it’s primarily an eating contest with a bit of running mixed in. With exception of really fast 50ks, you’re typically racing through 1, 2, or 3+ of the main meals of the day (breakfast, lunch, and dinner). The longer you go, the less blood flow you have going to your digestive tract. This commonly leads GI distress or fueling avoidance. It’s important that you practice your race fueling; not just sports nutrition but eating “real” food. Most ultra events have aid stations that would trump a restaurant buffet. You have to practice this and make sure you are confident that you can eat A LOT and a VARIETY of foods.

4. Race Specific Demands

1. Trail vs. Road – The demands of a trail are very course specific. Rocks, roots, and water crossings are often part of ultramarathons. When you go off road, all of these factors reduce your ability to find the typical rhythm that you find in road running. It’s important to become familiar with uneven footing, descending (often on loose terrain), and the constant micro-adjustments required for running off-road. Much of this comes from being aware of your effort. Understanding RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion) is critical. Going too hard can lead to one misstep or poor decision that can end your race.
2. Flat vs Hilly Races – This is the part that marathoners underestimate the most. Going uphill, especially power hiking steep grades, requires a different demand on the legs. Your glutes and calves get worked in a way that is very different than flat terrain. Going downhill is worse. After any considerably hilly races, you will hear most runners comment on the pain they endured on the descents more than they endured on the climbs. The constant eccentric braking of the quads leads to intolerable discomfort. There are a number of techniques athletes can use to help prepare for downhill running, but I’m warning you now, don’t sleep on the downhill preparation.
3. Temperature and Weather – Many races extend from day into night, and often night into day. You can often have big fluctuations in temperature between day and nighttime running. This is where gear selection and preparation become imperative. But it also affects fueling and hydration. When its cold, runners tend to drink less. Having a plan for gear and nutrition specific to the temperature and weather fluctuations is imperative.

5. Logistics

Gear

The gear you need for an ultramarathon, compared to a marathon, takes a lot more consideration. For most races, you’re going to need to carry things with you during the race. Hydration and nutrition are the obvious. But considering many of the factors listed above, you’re also carrying:

• Lighting
• Anti-chafe cream
• Blister care
• Spare clothes
• Phone + small battery pack
• Anti-nausea or antiacids, other medications

*this is, by no means, an exhaustive list*

Depending on the specific demands of the race, you could be carrying packs weighing 10-20 lb. Not only do you have to plan what you think you’ll need, but you want to practice carrying the extra weight in your training.

Aid Stations

If you wanted to compare aid stations in a marathon versus an ultramarathon, it’s like comparing a 7-11 to Buc-ee’s. Marathons have aid stations every mile with the basic essentials you might need on a quick stop. Ultramarathon aid stations are often spaced farther apart, but they have everything you need and then some.

Logistically, this means you have to carry a lot more with you because it could be hours before you reach the next aid. But when you get there, there’s a buffet of soup, noodles, sandwiches, pizza, quesadillas, hamburgers, cookies…the list goes on and on. But they don’t just have food, they also have CHAIRS. After many hours of trekking through the woods in the middle of the night, those chairs and buffet are so comfortable. If you don’t have a plan for how you’re going to move efficiently through the aid stations, you will get sucked in. Before you know it, you’ve lost 10-, 20-, or 30-minutes idling at the aid stations.

When you get to an aid have your plan of attack:

• Refill fluids
• Grab planned fuel
• Fix any problems
• Leave

Crew & Pacers

For most 50ks a crew isn’t necessary. 100k, maybe, depending on the course and space between aid. 100 milers, most definitely.

Your crew’s role and execution of their roles can be the difference between a DNF and belt buckle. It’s important that your crew knows your plan. The more crew members, the more complex. Assign a crew captain and make sure everyone else has designated jobs (Nutrition, Gear, Lighting, etc).

For 100k and 100 milers, you might also have pacers. Once the pacer enters the course, they will face the same challenges you will face. You have to make sure that they are prepared for the terrain and the distance. Ultimately, it’s your race, but most races will not allow you to leave a crew member outside of an aid station. It’s important to have discussions about how you like to be motivated and what topics you want to leave out. When you haven’t slept for 24 hours and are hurting in every square inch of your body, you may want not want a cheerleader at that moment. Or maybe you do. But make sure that is discussed and planned out.

6. Race selection

Your first ultra shouldn’t be your hardest.

Pick a race that matches your current life and training reality:

• terrain you can actually prepare for
• cutoff times that don’t force you to panic-hike all day
• weather you’re not gambling on
• logistics you can handle without a 12-person crew and a spreadsheet

50k vs 100k vs 100 miles: what changes?

50k: pacing discipline + basic fueling + terrain comfort

Most common lesson: “I went out like it was a marathon.”

100k –> 100 miles: fueling consistency + time management + durability (feet/quads)

Most common lesson: “Fitness wasn’t the issue; my system planning was.”

Final Thoughts

If you’ve been through the process of training and completing a marathon, it shows you can commit.

When you step up to your first ultra, you learn if you can manage.

• Can you manage the volume?
• Can you manage the logistics?
• Can you manage the highs and lows?
• Can you manage the decision making?

If you want help choosing the right first ultra (or building a smart first block), hit reply with: 50k or 100k + trail/road + flat/hilly + expected temps

…and I’ll tell you the top 3 training priorities for that exact setup.

Don’t let this intimidate you. You can do this with the proper planning.

MINDSETENDURANCE.COM