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Don’t make these mistakes training for your ultra race!

Don’t make these mistakes training for your ultra race!

Published by Patrick Durante on November 8, 2024

I have just completed my first official year of coaching athletes. Here are some of my key takeaways from the past year.

1 – Time to absorb a workout (mostly 2 key workouts a week)

  1. It takes a month to absorb the benefits of a hard workout. Progress is slow. You should have entire training blocks with periodization. The purpose is to elicit a different response specific to your race.  Workouts becoming more specific to the demands of race day as it approaches.  There’s a lag in absorbing the benefits of that workout.  The same with after a race. They are extremely hard workouts, a chance to push and test your fitness, but you need time to recover from them.
    1. That’s what you gain from using a structured training program.  Key workouts with scheduled recovery weeks to absorb the benefits.
    2. Workouts are a trauma to the body.  That’s why recovery, rest, and proper nutrition are needed.  Supercompensation is the process in which you rebuild your body after the damage stronger and faster.
    3. That’s also why you don’t need to do high volume or in the 2-3 weeks leading up to your event.  You can LOSE fitness so you still need frequency and intensity but can cut the volume.
    4. 2 key workouts a week with supporting workouts.
    5. Slow building fitness, so are the changes in the muscles and tendons that support performance.  They adapt slowly, and over time.  It can take years of consistency.
AI image generated using FLUX… It’s INSANE how good this model is.

2 – Racing too much

  1. Racing too much
    1. The number of races on the calendar matters.  Don’t expect breakthrough performances if you’re racing every other weekend. You should have a proper taper for your events, followed by proper recovery.  Racing frequently can go against your training schedule. It may result in suboptimal performance in races. Pick 1 or 2 events but make sure they are spread far enough apart to refocus your training.  Your season only has MAYBE 2 big A races, you can use shorter supplemental races.  
Mistakes were made… She has 1 foot and 5 fingers… Learn how to spot AI images 🙂

3 – 24 / 7 athlete  

  1. Eating late hurts recovery.
    1. HGH production is affected by the presence of insulin in the body, so muscle rebuilding can’t happen if you snack frequently.
    2. Bad sleep promotes injury.
      1. Creating sleep pressure as soon as you wake up, stop sitting
      2. You can’t sit all day, strive for 15,000 to 18,000 steps a day if your have poor sleep.  Maybe your are not tired enough?
    3. Sitting all day tightens muscles.  What will you be doing more in a race?  Walking or sitting?  Ultra runners do lots of walking. They call it “power hiking.” You walk a lot, but you can walk FAST.

4 – Monitor fuel and hydration in training and racing

This same idea for ultras, but you are ALWAYS doing all 3.
  1. Dr Peter Attia says you should always monitor 2 sometimes 3. In an ultra and your season you should constantly monitor this.
    1. What you eat, when you eat, and how much you eat.  The same goes for racing in an ultra this year.  I don’t think most realize how much food you need.  The baseline is 50-60G carbs and you keep adding until you hit your limit.
    2. You need fuel after 20 minutes into your workout to produce the numbers you’re after. Fuel your workouts and train your gut. Eat for shorter runs and get used to consuming calories on the go. Practice eating what you will consume come race day.  
    3. Yes, you can do fasted runs. They help promote fat burning. However, that should NOT be done near your race when you will be eating and hydrating.
    4. I learned the effects of dehydration on performance. Even being slightly dehydrated can have huge effects.
    5. Constant calories to fuel performance.  Most athletes were not consuming enough. 
    6. Higher intensity = increases demands.

Overcome Negative thoughts in Ultras with an “Ultra Inventory”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