Ultra Running — Choosing your Battle

As I’m preparing to write this article, I’m simultaneously following the live coverage on youtube about the legendary ultra event from Mont Blanc region. The event is part of the weekly long celebration of ultra running called Ultra-Trail du Mount-Blanc (UTMB) and the coverage is so well hosted, that I need to admit it’s hard to focus on my - not so well flowing - writing, in stead of the beautiful sceneries of Champex-Lac in Switzerland and follow the participants enjoy their progress on the brisk and sunny morning of the Alps. While the cameras are following first bunch of the runners they make it look so easy and tempting that I cannot imagine why anyone would not want to join and be part of such an exiting event and atmosphere.

For us mere mortals than the ones frolicking themselves up the alpine hills, it makes sense to start from somewhere with a bit lower demands and expectations. But let’s not be depressed. With the raising popularity of the trail and ultra running, there is a vast amount of events available for one to choose from and there is even more appearing each year.

So what to consider when selecting your first longer ultra event to take part?

Length.?Well, I guess this is the most obvious. Ultra events are conventionally divided in following main categories:

• 50k Short ultras just above marathon distance
• 50M (roughly 80 km) Short to medium distances
• 100k Medium distances
• 100M (roughly 160 km) and above Long distances

The actual distance may vary between (and inside) these main categories and often one event provides one or more of around above length choices for different levels of athletes to choose from.

However what also heavily matters in addition to pure distance is the difficulty and technicality of the route (see “Profile and terrain” below). So instead of looking at the pure distance, you should also heavily consider the other aspects of the route, while you estimate the event fit for your purposes.

I keep hearing that due to the increasing popularity of trail and ultra running there is (at least somewhat) a tendency for newcomers jumping to ultra events with too long distances with one drastic step in stead of gradually building their capacity and capabilities via shorter distances first. I don’t know if this is true, but via my own experience I’m tempted to promote more conventional way of increasing your ability going patiently step by step from shorted distances and less demanding terrain to longer distances with more demanding terrains. Maybe its just me, but personally I feel its extremely valuable to gain information and understanding of my capabilities and build later progress and training on that while events and distances get harder and harder.

Timewise my proposal would be to start with some easy to approach shorted distance ultra first and if and when everything goes well with the training and event itself, choose a more challenging event for the next year — or even year after that — and thus allow enough time for your body to respond to ultra specific endurance, strength and speed training.

Additional plus on progressing gradually and maybe accomplishing some already earlier done event with better training first, gives you a nice benchmark about your progress compared to your earlier attempts. For some it might be that some specific distance feels most natural and the goal might be getting better on that, rather than constantly increasing the length of the event itself.

Site and scenery. I would claim that the first and foremost directive (after deciding right distance for your level) for choosing your event should be the site itself. As said there is vast amount of races and events available and many of them are on really stunning locations. Of course the indisputable fact is that those most iconic and famous races suffer from the exact fact of being so famous and iconic that it is hard to fit in and actually there is often a lottery you need to participate to win your place on the race. On the other hand there are also many less famous and maybe not so iconic, but still beautiful, events you are able to participate and often also not too far from you to reach.

Why the site and scenery? At least for me the trail running (or often more something like “speed trekking“ than actual running) is as much about the respect and beauty of the nature, than pushing yourself to the limits and enjoying the winning yourself after completed challenge. If you commit to put yourself through the pain and effort that is needed for an ultra run, so why not choose the event based on the amount of joy the surrounding nature brings. One should not underestimate the help you gain once you can at least occasionally focus on surroundings rather than inner feeling and emotions during the inevitable difficult periods you will face during your run.

One more thing to note is that you may be able find exceptionally beautiful and motivation locations surprisingly close to where you live. Often parks and forests around us can offer much more than you would initially ever imagine. However the pity of the neighbouring forests is that you inevitably grow to learn them in and out during your longer training runs and thus for a bigger challenge it may be fruitful to find an event somewhere a bit more exotic in order to give that extra motivation and chill that is needed for the training and preparation it requires.

Profile and terrain.?One of the most dominant factor one should focus on when choosing ultra event is the battle zone, which equals as profile and terrain in ultra world.

Ultras are organised anywhere from stadium racetracks and flat tarmac courses up until crazy sky races with amazingly steep climbs on breathtaking altitudes. Thus the profile and terrain effects hugely the effort of the race and is sometimes even more decisive than the actual length of the race. That being said the race of let’s say 80 or even 60 kilometres long may well be more challenging than the other one with 100k or more.

Because the terrain (trails, roots, mud, stones and cliffs) also very much affects the perceived effort of each race, it is impossible to objectively compare individual races. However in order to somehow approximate scale the effort of each race a concept of so called km-effort has been taken into use. The km-effort is often used on European alps to give trekking trails a difficulty estimation and is at its most simple form defined as:

Length of the course in kilometres + 10 x cumulative elevation in kilometres

Thus as an example an 85k long ultra event with cumulative (total) elevation of 5000 metres, equals to 85k + 10 x 5k = 135 km-effort, while 100km ultra on flat terrain equals to 100km-effort which is only about 75% of the shorter race with substantially higher elevation profile. While we also know that races with high elevation tend to contain very rough terrain with stone fields or even snow at some point, it is reasonable to estimate that the actual effort needed for the shorter event can be even double the longer event on easy flat surface.

Season.?Finally one should consider the best season to suit ones training, work and other schedules that set the practical boundaries for ones living. Personally I prefer events at the end of the summer season, since they give me more time to practise during spring term but still offer (mostly) dry conditions that are harder to reach during latter part of the year particularly on the nordic climate zone I’m bound to enjoy.

Of course things get more complicated if you have appetite for multiple events during season, since preparing for each event and adequate recovery period should be carefully planned as part of your training program. My personal strategy has been to select one clear main event of the year and if any additional events will be introduced, those should be considerable shorter and aimed as a more serious training runs rather than “races” themselves.

Conclusions

These are my considerations about how to choose a fitting ultra event for your next challenge to conquer. In the end what matters is that you keep running and enjoy what you are doing. Remember that ultra running or any other endurance sport is mainly about patience. Patiently building your capabilities and listening what your body needs is key to the success. Ultra events are a nice addition to help keeping oneself motivated and provide some well deserved highlights to often very lonely and sometimes tedious training.

It is nice to have big goals in your mind that sometimes may feel even impossible and such that you would never even dare speak about, while also keeping mind humble and having the patience to approach your goals step by step whatever they may be.

Link to the original story:?trailway.medium.com