Skip to content

Author: Patrick Durante

Patrick is an ultrarunner and coach from Philadelphia who loves documenting his running career. His mission is to provide useful tips and tricks to assist others along their ultra journey.  You can find his coaching services at https://ultraruncoach.com.

Overcome Negative thoughts in Ultras with an “Ultra Inventory”

Overcome Negative thoughts in Ultras with an “Ultra Inventory”

Published by Patrick Durante on November 2, 2024

My brain, like yours, is a prediction machine that’s always focusing on the dangers ahead. It’s able to create entire scenarios that may or may not happen. It does this over and over again, hundreds of times a day, and sometimes negatively. Like that scary sound you heard in the dark while running in the woods? That’s a goddamn bear about to eat you!

To your mind, every sound is a bear about to pounce!

In an ultra, the typical conversation goes like this in your mind: “You’re going too fast.” “You’re going too slow.” “You’re not fast enough.” “You’re walking too much.” Constantly in negative chatter. It predicts some of the worst scenarios that someone could imagine. Where the voices are hard to quiet. I have a solution to this that’s pretty simple to execute below called the “Ultra Inventory.”

Your mental baggage stays with you during the entire race…

It’s the default action of our brains; they are machines purpose-built with a single goal: identify problems and keep you alive. This is part of the mental side of ultras. People say that it’s all mental, but what does that actually mean? It means that it’s a battle between the part of your brain that wants to protect you and the one that wants to see you achieve. To your brain, the race is the bear chasing you that’s about to eat you. It will throws doubt to protect your survival. It’s constant mental curve balls to force you to stop!

“Fear does not prevent death. It prevents life.”

My trick is to perform the “Ultra Inventory.” This forces your prediction machine to focus on what you can control vs. the fears you can’t. Starting from head to toe, you do an inventory every 30 minutes. (Set a repeating timer on your phone or watch to achieve this and force focus back to the controllable.)

Keep checking your mental inventory every 30 minutes from top to bottom.

Ultra Inventory – Head to Toe

Head – Am I thinking positively? If not, why? Overheating? Wet my hat or ask for ice at the next aid station. Negative thoughts are a cancer that grows. Change your thoughts, change your world!

Nose – Breathing through the nose. Why? It humidifies, filters, and warms the air. It improves oxygen uptake. It enhances nitric oxide production, which helps to open the airways and improve blood flow. It also reduces hyperventilation.

Chest – Are my clothes too wet or my vest too tight? Am I overheating or too cold? Should I shed or add layers? Do my clothes feel sweaty? Am I standing tall, not slouching? Am I breathing deep and steady into my belly vs. shallow breathing?

Waist / Stomach – If it’s been 30 minutes, eat something. Calorie check-in? Salt? Caffeine needed? Hydration status: Am I drinking enough water? How does my stomach feel: Bloating or GI distress? Let me slow down to aid digestion.

Groin / Butt – Am I peeing clear? Is anti-chafe cream needed?

Legs – Is my pace too fast? Is my cadence high? Am I driving with my knees during my stride? Is anything tight? Change stride to fix pain?

Feet – Are there hot spots? Are my feet too wet? Is it time for a sock or shoe change?

You are keeping your mind busy and preventing issues that could grow into larger problems.

Do this EVERY 30 minutes OR at aid stations. Food is needed every 30 minutes, if not hydration until the end of the race. This process forces you to break mental chatter and bring attention to the current moment. Focus on items you can control vs. those you cannot. I wrote before about how in life, you control limited aspects. In an ultras, there are a few things you can and should control.

If you’ve ever left kids unsupervised, you know they come up with destructive or dangerous games. However, when you provide them with alternatives, they tend to behave more responsibly. As the saying goes, “idle hands are the devil’s workshop.” Direct your mind toward constructive thoughts. Don’t let it wander! Try this in your next race and let me know the results.

Thanks for reading! Interested in coaching for your next ultra event? Find out more info at https://ultraruncoach.com

Where do you draw the line?

Where do you draw the line?

Published by Patrick Durante on October 24, 2024

I was walking down the street. As I passed two people having a conversation, I overheard someone say, “You gotta draw the line somewhere!” The lady stated this in disgust. I had no idea what she was talking about, but I laughed in my head. It got me thinking about athletes and whether they ever say that to themselves. Why would they say it? Where do I draw the line regarding the events and challenges I add to my calendar?

Where do you draw the line in Ultrarunning?

One of the events I think will go way past my line is a “Last Man Standing” event. I’m pretty sure I plan to add that to my calendar for next year. This race will force me to draw the line on how far I go. It will test how long I can keep things under control. What will be the first thing to cross the line? Will it be my body or my mind?

A Backyard Ultra is a unique and grueling endurance race format where participants run a loop of a specific distance every hour, on the hour, until only one runner remains. The standard loop distance is 4.167 miles (6.706 kilometers), which ensures that runners cover 100 miles in 24 hours if they continue for that long.

Each year, you should review your proverbial “line in the sand.” As an athlete, that could mean the biggest distances, hardest events, fastest times, or newest challenges.

Who drew your initial line? Think about that. Odds are it was the sum of past experiences or maybe someone you admired. At some point, you thought, “Well, maybe I could do that.” Maybe you and a friend crossed the line together in a race. You both expanded what you thought was your limit. Either way, you now have a line in the sand, and that’s it. A limit was born. Each year, I return to my running era. I contemplate ways to erase or redraw that line. I want to make it slightly higher or different than last year. A new line that puts me in new or novel situations to experience life.

It’s been a long time since I’ve crossed over “the farthest I’ve gone”

You should be near, above, or sometimes well below your line in training. That means you have easy days, on-target days, and days way over your line of what you thought was possible. That’s because race day does the same thing. If you are pacing it right, you will reach your limit on race day. Then, you will need to decide if this is truly your limit. Was it self-imposed the entire time—a fabrication of your sum of past experiences? The mind wants to know if there is an end to the suffering, but what if there is no finish line? I think that’s why I want to try a backyard event; there is NO DEFINED finish.

If you do ultras, people will tell you all the time that you’re crossing the line in these events. It will be way past where most people drew their line, which was at 10K, half marathon, or marathon. The term “ultra” encompasses EVERYTHING past the marathon. There’s no limit to the length that these races and events can be, and that’s a good thing.

“You gotta draw the line somewhere!” Or maybe you don’t. They keep making longer and longer events; 200-mile races are becoming the norm just as 100s seemed crazy a few years ago.

I am not at the 200-miler event yet; maybe I never will be. But I want to draw the line over 100, so that’s why I want to try one of these backyard events. I want to understand what happens mentally and physically as I cross OVER where I think my conceived limit lies. My furthest distance to date is 105 recorded at Rabid Raccoon. I can’t wait until my foot crosses over where I drew my line and I am in uncharted territory. That’s where the magic happens, outside of the comfort zone.