First 100 Miler Training 2018: Winter + Spring

UT4M - 169km, 11000m of elevation gain

How to train???

The Event

For 2018 my goal race is the UT4M 100 mile event in Grenoble France.

WHY? Turning 50 this year, a "logical" step up after completing a number of "shorter" (50km and a 50miler) ultras over the last four years and wanting to enter an event I am not sure I can finish! Why ultras in general - I love training by running around in the woods for hours exploring until I find my way back to my start location.

How long? Considering the winners take ~28hours and the cutoff is 51hours I expect I will be out there for 40+hours

Why this one? If you are going to go out there for that long you have to be incredibly motivated. I love mountains and am more of a beast of burden than a speed demon - the hills and the views motivate me. Also, it may get hot on the day but it is not a desert run which I may do one day but heat is not my best friend. I also get to visit a different part of the world

Winter training: Strength, skiing, snowshoeing, trail running and intervals.

How to train? As anyone who knows me I love coaching and that includes figuring things out for the athlete in me. My winter and spring phase of training was all about improving leg and core strength through a large variety of specific and general exercise. I still included endurance through skiing primarily and some road intervals for speed. Here are the highlights:

• Gym strength with heavy leg weights, body weight exercises and range of motion strength. Included in this were a eccentric strength exercises - my favourite two are:
  • one leg sitting squat holding weights for the quadriceps
  • hamstring lean on knees with feet tucked under a heavy object
• Cross-country skiing: January is a busy time for ski racing which I coach for Nakkertok and support two of my sons at the club. Therefore, I spend a lot of time on skis, coaching and training and entered a few races. In February Leonard and I completed the Canadian Ski Marathon 170km over two days carrying 5kg packs for Silver Coureur de Bois. I also found time later in the season to get out with friends pond hopping in the Gatineau Park finding signs of moose and of course beavers who I can think for creating all of the ponds.
• Snowshoeing through deep snow is an incredible strength workout and is a beautiful way to explore the woods. I found some wonderful spots at Nakkertok and put in a 25km snowshoe from Nakkertok North halfway to south in an ice storm.
• Trail running: I found a few trails to run in the mornings before ski races (Mont Ste Anne and Morin Heights) but ramped up trail running later in the winter on the ultimate run in the area: Wolf Trail. No, despite the April Fools day pictures, I did not run Wolf trail barefoot. I did however do an epic run up Wolf, along the escarpment on an unmarked trail to the Firetower and then putting the skis I carried under my feet, looped out to Lac Philippe and back around Meech
• Running Intervals: To improve my running speed I picked the following workout to run on MacKay Avenue - Goal: run smooth but fast
  • X*1min, Y*2min and Z*3min with 1 to 2 min rest.
  • I improved significantly over the workouts I did dropping my times by ~30s/km and increased the total workout time to 10*1min, 10*2min and 3*3min.
  • If you want to get dizzy watching me go back and forth check out this relive https://www.relive.cc/view/1517089133

Progress?

It is now the end of May and it is good to have markers to see how you are progressing. This is a tad harder with a 100miler as I don't exactly go run 80% of that distance in training to see how I am doing. However, here are a few indications that I am heading in the right direction

• I am having a blast training :) Events are often great motivation to get out there and this has proved to be very true in prep for my 100 miler. I can't remember a winter where I have done such a variety of training and exploring
• Despite low kms running I can run long - My focus has been on cross-training however I ran Wolf loop trails, a 48km loop of Frontenac Provincial Park and most recently a 50 miler.
• 8km Blair Road Time Trial - I ran Blair Road hill 1km repeats, 4x for a total of 8km with my pace holding even throughout in April. Good indication of my fitness.
• Still had legs after 80km - I ran the North Face Bear Mountain 50miler on May 5th, 2018 and despite having some stomach difficulties in the middle, my legs were strong and I finished at a sub 5min/km pace. Every other marathon and ultra that I have run, my legs were completely destroyed at the end of the event. Not this time!

The Challenges

No training goes perfectly and adapting to the injuries, overtraining, obstacles is the key to succesfull training.

My first "publish" of this page was missing the challenges in training. What have been my major obstacles and how have I dealt with them?

• Training while raising busy (kids, coaching and work) requires adaptation and time management. I have gotten pretty good at this over the years but it continually requires adaptation. A weekend of coaching skiing at an Ontario Cup race is a lot of time on your feet but often not a lot of exercise - that's ok - it is active recovery!
• Learning when to stop. The athlete in me would bury himself into the ground every workout. Before, I do a training the coach in me gives parameters
  • 30-40 minutes of intervals depending on how you are feeling.
  • Maximum of 2 hours running today
• Give myself time to recover - After a race or a hard week or two of training taking the time, with active recovery, that my body needs is critical. I don't get faster by continuing to work out hard while exhausted physically, mentally or emotionally.
• Don't compare myself to others - I have my own set of strengths and weaknesses and what works for one person doesn't necessarily work for me. It is easy to say "ok" I need to put in 100km of running per week because I see others doing that but it isn't how my body works best (I need lots of cross-training).
• Believe in my gut - That nagging feeling in the back of my head shouldn't be ignored. Sometimes it does mean that I should get out and do that training even though I am tired at the end of the day (one of the best ways to build toughness according to the book Endure!) and other times it means I need to back off!

What's Next for Training

• Rideau Lakes Cycle Tour is coming up on June 9th and 10th with Leonard and I are attempting the full distance (177km *2 days) together for the first time. Another good form of leg strength cross-training! I got a bike fit done recently and the difference it made was huge - my lower back wasn't sore on a four hour ride :)
• Adventures - the exploring has kept me motivated so I will continue to do that, starting with checking out the unmarked trails in the north of the Gatineau Park on my birthday.
• Mountains - UT4M is mountains so I will plan some weekend trips south to hike/run and get used to climbing and descending.