2008 finish line - Pete Leon (50 miler), Rusty Brown, John Fralick (2009 50 miler?) Casey Yunger (50 miler) and Scott Schaeuble
Jonathan, Belinda (Mom) and John (Dad) at the finish 2008.
Some advice to a freind (John Roberts) contemplating running his first 50.
1. At some point soon, you have to say "I'm doing it" Otherwise, you are working against yourself mentally. If you say "I'll see how I feel after the first lap". It's highly unlikely you will head back out into those woods again. It's more mental than physical John - honest. Think about Rockin K. If you had signed up for the marathon with the attitude that you would decide after the first loop, there is just no way you would have headed back out on the course. If however you said, for weeks in advance, and again when you woke that morning, that you were doing 50 miles no matter what, you would have finished the first lap thinking "OK, half way there, still holding it together. Got to eat. Got to get in and out quick. Don't sit down, etc. etc."
2. The next thing is to know what it feels like to run on dead legs. This means April 25th / 26th, three weeks before Berryman, you do back to back long runs. Like a 20 on Saturday and a 20 on Sunday. The point is to start Sunday the 26th sore, tired and brain dead. You will have bad thoughts like "screw this" and "why?". Then, five, six, eight miles into the run you will start to think "wow, I didn't think I could bounce back like this". By the time you reach mile 15, you will be hurting but you will also say "look at me, whodathunk?" Here is the important part John; That Sunday morning, dead leg, feeling will be very similar to how you will feel at the end of Berryman lap No. 1. Sunday the 26th may be even worse because you will have stiffened up overnight. The beauty is, standing there at the beginning of the second loop, the dead leg feeling will be familiar and you will know from personal experience that you can push through it. And you will. You will leave your friends, family, the chairs, food and the starting line and you will head back out there because you will know that you can. That is what the back to back weekend, the Sunday morning, dead leg, feeling will gain you. It's valuable knowledge when your body is screaming at your to stop. The body will do what the mind wills it to do. But the mind has to be prepared and experienced.
So - you need to switch your entry from marathon to the 50 now so that they get that shiny new buckle ordered for you. Then at roughly 5:30pm on Saturday, May the 16th, 2009 you will be honored with the coveted buckle that says "I am one proud, bad-ass, 50-mile, tough course, ultra runner" I can't wait to see you at that finish line John.
Suggestions for race day and the the next two weeks
You asked about food. My suggestion on food is tied to heat. It can get hot at Berryman so you will really have to keep your electrolytes right. I suggest one to two S-caps every hour. Even three if it’s really hot. If your electrolytes get low, you stop processing water and it all goes to hell from there. Your water will start sloshing around in your stomach, you lose your appetite, get nauseous, your temp rises and then you’re just screwed. I would have a little bottle of chilled Pedialyte at the turn just in case. Pedialyte does wonders when you need to get your electrolytes back quickly. It’s at any Walgreens or Costco. The other thing, get your body accustomed to drinking lots of water now. This is so your kidneys get used to the workout. Otherwise they literally get sore, during the run, from processing so much fluid. It freaks you out.
If you have a chance to get out and run in the heat, or just be in the heat - sauna, steam, hot car, etc. I would. Hot runs early in the year are tough, so anything you can do to acclimate would be good. While running, I would carry an ice-water bottle and also a Heed or Succeed mix bottle to refill at aid stations. Use some of the ice water to dribble on the top of your head every so often. This really helps bring your core temperature down and feels great. Then you might consider a bandana that holds ice. You wear it around your neck and let it drip ice water down your back. Check this link Bandana On the same site you can also buy a hat with at little zippered pocket on top to hold ice. I would only suggest the hat if you really struggle with heat. I could loan you mine. I never use it. Let me know.
As for eating. Eat really well the next three weeks leading up to the race. Eat more complex carbs the week before. I’m not a believer in eating huge portions the week or the night before – just quality. The night before, a good dinner of carbs with some protein and then top of the tank at bedtime with more carbs but nothing really fibrous if you aren’t used to it. Even just a Gatorade at bedtime is good. I would eat a decent breakfast. Then a little more, a gel or a bar, right before the gun fires. Drink 20 to 30oz of water before you start as well. I would avoid any dairy on race day but then again I would avoid dairy any day.
Once you start running, the trick is to take in calories every half hour. Be fanatic about this part. Most people who DNF an ultra do so because their stomach fails them, not their legs or lungs. If you have an alarm on your watch, set it for every half hour. You won’t feel like eating later in the race so you have to keep fueling early, even if you don’t feel hungry. Your body’s natural defense, when stressed, will be to stop the appetite and subsequently shut down the body in order to stop whatever activity is stressing it. You kind of have to trick this defense mechanism. Always back up what you eat with more water. A Good plan is an S-cap and some calories, backed up with water, every half hour.
As you get toward the second half of the second lap, anything goes. Soda, candy, potato chips, cookies, whatever looks good - eat it. Simple sugar and caffeine at this point are like rocket fuel. Now is when nutrition goes out the window and you are just fueling. I never drink soda but I always finish races hopped up on Pepsi and Mountain Dew. IT’S AWESOME!
You might struggle with blood sugar. If, during the race, you get light headed, really groggy or kind of foggy, a Jolly Rancher between the cheek and gum does wonders. You might have a couple natural ginger candies with you as well in case you get nauseous. I can give you a couple if you remind me.
If you still get low on electrolytes after all this, you may move past nauseous and actually throw up. If you feel it coming on, just get it over with. Throw up, start over and things will get much, much better from there.
I never was a big fan of gels but I’m becoming a believer. They are handy, slow release carbs, without having to break them down in the stomach. By all means, don’t experiment the day before or on race day though. Eat only what you are used to eating. I can eat most anything, any time, but I have heard countless stories of people trying some new protein powder or something, on race day, and getting in all sorts of trouble.
You are ready. Worse that can happen (above) will set back an hour, maybe two. No matter how bad you may feel though, it always gets better. This I know for a fact and every ultra runner I know says the same thing. No matter how bad it might get, you just keep forward motion and it gets better. My first 50, Berryman, I had a friend pace me on the second lap. At thirty two miles I was literally looking for a place to pass out where I wouldn’t hit rocks or poison ivy. I was shuffling at best and really hurting. At forty miles my wife Tracey joined us and between 40 and 50 I dropped them both! This has been the case for many of my races. There is a mileage threshold, it moves higher and higher as you do more of these, where you go through hell. Like you can’t go one more mile and can’t even imagine the entire remaining distance. Then you just do it…..….and then it really does get better.
You asked about food. My suggestion on food is tied to heat. It can get hot at Berryman so you will really have to keep your electrolytes right. I suggest one to two S-caps every hour. Even three if it’s really hot. If your electrolytes get low, you stop processing water and it all goes to hell from there. Your water will start sloshing around in your stomach, you lose your appetite, get nauseous, your temp rises and then you’re just screwed. I would have a little bottle of chilled Pedialyte at the turn just in case. Pedialyte does wonders when you need to get your electrolytes back quickly. It’s at any Walgreens or Costco. The other thing, get your body accustomed to drinking lots of water now. This is so your kidneys get used to the workout. Otherwise they literally get sore, during the run, from processing so much fluid. It freaks you out.
If you have a chance to get out and run in the heat, or just be in the heat - sauna, steam, hot car, etc. I would. Hot runs early in the year are tough, so anything you can do to acclimate would be good. While running, I would carry an ice-water bottle and also a Heed or Succeed mix bottle to refill at aid stations. Use some of the ice water to dribble on the top of your head every so often. This really helps bring your core temperature down and feels great. Then you might consider a bandana that holds ice. You wear it around your neck and let it drip ice water down your back. Check this link Bandana On the same site you can also buy a hat with at little zippered pocket on top to hold ice. I would only suggest the hat if you really struggle with heat. I could loan you mine. I never use it. Let me know.
As for eating. Eat really well the next three weeks leading up to the race. Eat more complex carbs the week before. I’m not a believer in eating huge portions the week or the night before – just quality. The night before, a good dinner of carbs with some protein and then top of the tank at bedtime with more carbs but nothing really fibrous if you aren’t used to it. Even just a Gatorade at bedtime is good. I would eat a decent breakfast. Then a little more, a gel or a bar, right before the gun fires. Drink 20 to 30oz of water before you start as well. I would avoid any dairy on race day but then again I would avoid dairy any day.
Once you start running, the trick is to take in calories every half hour. Be fanatic about this part. Most people who DNF an ultra do so because their stomach fails them, not their legs or lungs. If you have an alarm on your watch, set it for every half hour. You won’t feel like eating later in the race so you have to keep fueling early, even if you don’t feel hungry. Your body’s natural defense, when stressed, will be to stop the appetite and subsequently shut down the body in order to stop whatever activity is stressing it. You kind of have to trick this defense mechanism. Always back up what you eat with more water. A Good plan is an S-cap and some calories, backed up with water, every half hour.
As you get toward the second half of the second lap, anything goes. Soda, candy, potato chips, cookies, whatever looks good - eat it. Simple sugar and caffeine at this point are like rocket fuel. Now is when nutrition goes out the window and you are just fueling. I never drink soda but I always finish races hopped up on Pepsi and Mountain Dew. IT’S AWESOME!
You might struggle with blood sugar. If, during the race, you get light headed, really groggy or kind of foggy, a Jolly Rancher between the cheek and gum does wonders. You might have a couple natural ginger candies with you as well in case you get nauseous. I can give you a couple if you remind me.
If you still get low on electrolytes after all this, you may move past nauseous and actually throw up. If you feel it coming on, just get it over with. Throw up, start over and things will get much, much better from there.
I never was a big fan of gels but I’m becoming a believer. They are handy, slow release carbs, without having to break them down in the stomach. By all means, don’t experiment the day before or on race day though. Eat only what you are used to eating. I can eat most anything, any time, but I have heard countless stories of people trying some new protein powder or something, on race day, and getting in all sorts of trouble.
You are ready. Worse that can happen (above) will set back an hour, maybe two. No matter how bad you may feel though, it always gets better. This I know for a fact and every ultra runner I know says the same thing. No matter how bad it might get, you just keep forward motion and it gets better. My first 50, Berryman, I had a friend pace me on the second lap. At thirty two miles I was literally looking for a place to pass out where I wouldn’t hit rocks or poison ivy. I was shuffling at best and really hurting. At forty miles my wife Tracey joined us and between 40 and 50 I dropped them both! This has been the case for many of my races. There is a mileage threshold, it moves higher and higher as you do more of these, where you go through hell. Like you can’t go one more mile and can’t even imagine the entire remaining distance. Then you just do it…..….and then it really does get better.
0 comments:
Post a Comment