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Tag: ultramarathon

Dead freaking last at Eastern States 100

DFL? Dead freaking last? How, what, why? Maybe coach needs a coach! Nobody is immune from a bad race. How did I get here? We need to rewind a bit and go over a series of events that put me in this position. In this race report, I am going to recap a series of events that led me to being in this position. Where did things go off the rails, what fatal mistakes did I make? Before I get into the virtual race, I want to recap the months and lack of what would have made this more successful. This wasn’t my A race of the season; I was more concerned about a last man standing event and pacing my friend at Western States. Eastern States was thrown in as a way to grab my qualifier for WSER. I should not have just “thrown in” Eastern States 100. It’s not a decision you should take on lightly to do one of PA’s hardest 100-milers. While I was doing some vert runs, three different trips disrupted my ability to put in quality training and caused me to miss critical training blocks. It’s one of the reasons I ask people about personal plans as a coach leading up to a race. Vacations and trips can and will disrupt critical training blocks.

Another mistake I made was the decision to place my shoe change after the stream crossing. I opted instead for just a sock change at Hyner. This was a mistake. I knew from prior races that I tend to need a full DRY shoe change around mile 30. This is different for each runner, depending on how their biomechanics work, how much they sweat, etc. I made the call to push my shoe and clothing change to after Tomb Flats. While the clothing change with the poncho worked, the plan backfired for my feet. This is all clear in hindsight, but I wouldn’t make that mistake again on a rocky and technical course. It’s the high amount of friction in wet shoes that did me in and slowed me to a crawl. The amount of pain I had from blisters was just too great. I normally put dry socks in my pack at race start, and I forgot to pack them. That was lesson number one.

There were some things that went right. This was the LONGEST I have ever run, at nearly 36 hours. One thing that did work well in this race versus others was using caffeine only in pills to make sure it was delivered exactly in the dose that I wanted, rather than in Tailwind or some other form. I did have a few cups of Coke, but in the past I have used coffee at aid stations. This kept me alert and awake over the night, whereas the first time I ran this race I was sleepy.

My mental game was on point, but in a split-personality type of way. I was reading the book “Do Hard Things” and this section stood out.

Before leaving the room, the researchers gave each child some coaching on how to persevere. They told one-third of the kids that they should think about their thoughts and feelings and ask, “Am I working hard?” The second third were given the same instructions but instead of saying “I,” they were told to use their name, such as, “Jill is working hard!” And the final group was told to refer to themselves as someone else they looked up to, for example, “Is Batman working hard?” With the instructions clear, the kids were left alone for ten minutes to work, distract, or do whatever they pleased. The six-year-olds who thought in first person, using “I” to reflect on their work, stayed on task only about 35 percent of the time, choosing the iPad for the majority of their ten minutes. The kids who referred to themselves by their name fared a little better, spending around 45 percent of their time on task. But it was the final group, which focused on Bob the Builder, Batman, or Dora the Explorer as the example of someone who worked hard, who stayed on task nearly 60 percent of the time. The more the child was distanced from his inner self, the longer he or she persisted.

“It’s easier to give advice to a friend than to yourself” is an adage that most of us have heard, and it largely holds. Should we quit a job or end a relationship? We’re often too close to the issue to have any sort of objectivity. We wrestle over the decision, with our inner voice offering a mix of justifications and rationalizations. Yet, if we see the same situation with a friend or acquaintance, the answer comes nearly instantly. We tell our friend that she needs to drop that guy without hesitation. This phenomenon doesn’t just hold true with giving advice, but also in helping us persist and navigate internal discomfort. It can be easily influenced simply by changing our grammar.

The six-year-old children were creating what’s called psychological distance. When we use first-person pronouns as part of our inner dialogue, the bond between ourselves and the situation is too tight. When we use third-person pronouns, our first name, or examples of others, it creates space between our sense of self and the situation. We transform into that friend giving advice, not blinded by our connection to the issue. According to work done by researchers from the University of Michigan, first-person pronouns tend to create a self-immersed world, while using words and phrases that create space produces a self-distanced perspective.

So how did I use this? Instead of saying, “You can do this,” or “Come on Patrick,” I replaced it with this image of the coach. Coach wouldn’t fail; coach would not DNF. “I” gave up multiple times, but coach didn’t. I kept referring to myself almost in the third person in this form, like a coach would not fail. A coach is a role model to others and my children, and as I kept talking to myself in the third person, in this image of what I saw as a coach, that is what I think was the defining thing that kept pushing me forward. It was this idea that I’m something greater, that is inspiring, versus just looking at myself as just another runner. I was trying to transcend the “self” and be more of a role model. I was this unstoppable coach, that yes, made a mistake, but he wasn’t going to give up.

At one aid station I asked if they had anything to pop blisters; they wouldn’t give me anything, but they did have a spray bottle filled with alcohol to dry off my feet. That was another way I had done damage control when I couldn’t replace my shoes. It’s actually something I need to remember for the future—a small spray bottle filled with rubbing alcohol felt amazing for wet, soaked feet.

Your crew is more important than you think, even if they are just waiting for you at the end. One of the things that was different for this race versus the nine before it was that my father was not there. This was also a test to see if I could race fully in the solo/no crew division. I did miss him; it did play a factor. When you know someone is waiting for you at the end, anyone is waiting, you find a reason to dig deep. I didn’t have that this race, and it showed. While my dad is older and can’t make it to all aid stations, the moral support that he provides is critical to success. Having a father who’s willing to bring you to all these races and wait for you and help you achieve your dreams pushes you forward in these events. He’s not the only one supporting me; there are many people also at home making this trip a reality. I had to start powering my mind with all the people NOT there that were helping, as well as the actual race volunteers. They were so helpful—you can see in the video the difference they made in my finishing.

An additional item that was a hit in this race was setting up the car as a sleeper after the event. I learned that if you let the car idle with the AC on and sleep in the back, it uses about 4 gallons of gas an hour. I slept very well after I finished, in the back of the car with the AC on. When my feet went south and I was on my way back for the final stretch, it felt great to dunk my feet in any small stream I could find.

In the end, a finish is a finish at Eastern States 100. Initially I didn’t know how to process this DFL, I almost was embarrassed by it. That quickly changed and I was proud of it. To grit it out for 36 hours and be last was an honor. I am glad I recorded the entire thing as well, because I think the video came out well. It shows my struggle, and it shows we are all human, and nobody is immune to having a bad day. It seems like life likes to throw you the lessons you need to learn the most. I am STILL learning to take on these races, but the thing is I don’t give up. I keep improving, and I keep trying, because that’s just what “coach” would do.

Thanks for reading!

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

I narrate this post on YouTube with some running clips. Check it out!

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.