Preparing for My First 100k Ultra Run

This article starts the series of articles about me preparing for my first 100k ultra run event. 100k?refers to 100 kilometers of running (and most often also some occasional walking), which usually should be tackled within around 24 or so hours depending on the event and the terrain in question. 100k events are often run on gravel roads or trails consisting hilly sections with uphills and downhills and difficulty level of each event may vary a lot. Because of this variability of the events, it’s hard to set any precise time estimates for oneself before tackling any particular event.

My background of running?is lengthy and one could argue that I’ve been running all my life. However I’ve never been a “real athlete” and my last competitions in running (or more often cross country skiing) are from my childhood years. The longer distance events I have participated so far consists of few half and full marathon length runs and recently also couple of so called “ultras” (longer than marathon 26,2 miles / 42kms). However the ultras I’ve run so far are of the smaller nature and thus are not comparable of what is often considered as a real ultra event (100k and above). My next plan is to see if I’m able to push myself through the training and discipline needed to tackle the 100k ultra event.

Running has always been natural?and (at least mostly) enjoyable hobby for me. I mostly run by myself without any real goals and the occasional running events I have participated, have been because of the fun and excitement and to give me extra motivation to push a bit harder with some structured training. After the events I return back to my weekly routines of occasional runs and day offs without any specific plans or goals. At some point I start to wonder about the next event in a year or so as a next bigger goal for my calendar. I think this is very natural “cycle” for many of us occasional runners and it is part of the excitement to constantly learn about you and your strengths and weaknesses and the ways you want to enjoy this beautiful sport be it alone, with spouse or best friend or as a participant of the mass events.

One could easily argue why?anyone in one’s right mind would want to aim for such a crazy goal as 100 kilometers of running. However fair the question might be, the answer is probably very subjective and not at all easy or straightforward. The?why?of running?is actually and definitively worth an article by itself. Personally I only found the idea of running more than marathon length distances recently during couple of last years. My last experiences with marathons were pretty unsatisfactory and consisted of suffering from fatigue and dehydration on the hot paved roads of my home town Helsinki. The combination of speed, hard surface and constant awareness of the remaining distance makes marathon or any other ordinary run very different from ultras and trail ultras in particular.

I’ve always loved nature?and luckily nature is something that is easy to find all around where I live. As a kid we used to spend most of the time outside and much of it playing at the neighbouring forests jumping from stones to stones on the summer or preparing jumps for skiing during winters (at that time there was always still plenty of snow). During adult years nature became a bit less natural and rediscovering running on trails (aka trail running) was a huge enlightenment for me.

Currently I almost only run on trails?(or gravel roads if no trails available). What makes running on trails so different from paved roads to me is the sense of moment it immediately brings. One needs to focus on every step and most often is able to see only until next corner around the trees. The combination of focus and peacefulness of the nature makes the training almost like meditation at its best and makes one forget all the everyday worries even at its worst. One aspect of trail running that I particularly enjoy is that it is perfectly ok to walk at any time once the terrain so demands. For example I personally always walk all the uphills and actually have learned to expect those small breaks during my training. This is a considerable change of mindset from how I used to specify “running” in my past. The?permission to walk?is in my mind actually very elementary discovery on what the long distance running is and have also lead me to this point where I’ve started to shift focus for even longer distances where the concept of speed becomes less and less vital and concept of endurance and mercifulness becomes more and more crucial. There needs to be certain amount of discipline in place, but on the other hand one needs to understand what are ones personal limits for today and to learn to be kind to oneself.

I’ve always been a pretty lazy exerciser?and however much I like running, I also like skipping the boring runs on bad weather, for feeling tired or what ever reasons there might be day by day. Thus I considered starting this series of articles not only to share my experience to all of my potential readers, but also for me to get some extra boost and motivation to bring up my training and passion to higher level which is definitively needed if I want to aim for such a lengthy event as a 100k run. Good part on being lazy is that it lowers the probability for hurting oneself for the excessive training. This in particular is something that I want to focus on since as the training load increases from running, more and more attention should be but also on core and strength training as well as stretching and relaxation. As one tool to limit excessive training load, I’m going to introduce the concept of back to back runs (two longer runs on separate days ) to my training program instead of single long runs on one day.

One important reason I want to share my story?is hopefully to be able to prove that it does not need inhumane efforts and unbearable sacrifices to accomplish a desired skills for accomplishing 100k ultra event. I’m going to try to identify reasonable level of training with manageable training load that I’m able to handle while not sacrificing my whole life, free time and most importantly family and my well being with the training. After all I’m a normal office working family man with the ordinary juggling with kids going to school, managing work, being tired and suffering occasional muscle pains here and there (currently mainly lower back). I’m not yet confident if I can make it happen and even less so if you should give it a try. However I’m going to try my best and most importantly enjoy the journey while doing it. Anyway life is too short for hesitation and the only way to get to know yourself and about your goals is start working for them today.

Please join my journey?for the preparation and feel free to comment with your own experiences and ideas about the topic. What makes ultra running such an inspirational subject is that it is about the community and people together with the same hopes and dreams and at the same time very personal and subjective journey to your inner beliefs, struggles and strengths. Please note that the ideas and experiences presented are from my personal subjective viewpoint. I’m not a professional athlete or any other authority on the topic. Still I hope you will enjoy my story and find the inspiration for yourself and may also avoid the possible (probable?) mistakes and drawback I’m due to aim.

Link to the original story: trailway.medium.com