Ultramarathons — A Beginners Journey

Why would you want to do that? I get asked constantly when I tell people I have signed up for my first Ultra race. For those who don’t know what an ultramarathon is, it is any race over the traditional length of a regular marathon (26.2 miles). The truth is, we have an easy life (Not so easy since Covid-19 reared its ugly head). No matter what challenges are thrown our way, do we really struggle physically? Some do, some don’t, but I believe that when we stop testing our metal, we stop achieving. Since I have stopped competing in Thai Boxing, I felt the need to find another challenge.

It all started with a guy called Jon. This unassuming, sarcastic, Yorkshire born man who apparently has no right to be running ultramarathons is the cause of my believing I can do it. He has run a lot of races, both regular and ultra distance. He will either hate me or laugh at the fact that I would never have pictured him as an athlete, but, I think he would say the same despite his endurance running accolades. He eats microwave burgers, obscene amounts of sweets and chocolate, and is the most blasé person I have met. His words are ‘I paid for the race, so I am going to finish it,’ is pretty much his ethos. His way of thinking is what paved the way for me to attempt my first. His view that anyone can do it, and that it’s not a big deal made me believe I could do it. It is simply a matter of putting one foot in front of the other till you get to the end. I must say though, if it wasn’t for his incessant reminders that it is achievable, I would have quit ages ago. Don’t get me wrong though. The process is long and laborious, but at the same time beautiful.

As children, we are told we can achieve anything, and for a lot of us, this view disappeared with our childhood, but not for likes of Jon. So I began my training. ‘If I can do it, so can you,’ is a cliché phrase but one that I can honestly say rings true. I would never have considered myself to have the ability to complete a distance like this until I started to research the sort of people who complete these challenges. The average demographic of your competitor is forty-three years old, with most virgin ultra runners deciding to complete their first race at thirty-six. When you consider the average age of a football player retiring is thirty-five, it is quite something. I believe it is because these challenges are just as much (if not more) a mental trial than a physical one.

Although I was of slightly above average fitness, my running was limited to the occasional 10k trail run and sometimes 10 miles of road running. Switching that up wasn’t too much of a big deal, especially when you have goals. As I got more comfortable spending time on my feet, I was able to begin pushing it, increasing my distance and spending more time on the trails. The important part of this whole process was not going fast. I slowed my mileage from averaging 7 and a half mins on the road, to 10 and a half mins on the trail over longer distances. One thing that helped me to slow down was my trusty Garmin 235. It tracked my speed in real-time, telling me if I was too fast or too slow every mile. Most of the time I was too fast, in fact, I have never looked at my watch and said ‘Oh, I am too slow. I had better hurry up.’ As you gradually improve, you can up your speed, but you must always remember that it is all about taking it slow and pacing yourself correctly. If you run the first few miles too fast, you won’t complete the ultra.

The last part I will talk about is time. You have to give yourself the time to train. Lots of short runs are excellent training, but you need those hours on your feet that I spoke about earlier. Pushing yourself over time is the only way to know if you stand a chance of completing such a race. It takes a lot of hours, and I have booked holidays from work to be able to run those long training days. Weekends are full of runs, hikes (hikes help with the training too, in fact, I have read that some of the competitors who have run the Barkley Ultra, which is 136 miles of hell, have only hiked as training.) and food, lots and lots of food which is the real reason I run…So I can eat cake. On days at work, during winter hours, it can be challenging to get out on the trails. This isn’t because I don’t want to, just the risk of injury is substantially higher when you are running in the dark (please use a headlamp if you run in the dark). Days like those, I tend to run twice in a day. One morning jaunt, followed by another right after work. That has enabled me to keep my mileage high, without having a huge chunk of my day to worry about.

I know this seems like a crazy amount of time spent running, and perhaps it is. But you don’t have to run an ultra to start reaping the benefits of it, you just need to start running. Trust me, it is good for everything.

Here is a small list of things I have found really useful when learning to run or pushing myself to an ultramarathon distance.

Reach out to the Ultra Community

You will not find a better bunch of people. A lot of these guys and gals are not professional runners, so when you ask yourself, what kind of sadistic people are they, trust me when I say they are the best kind. They run for the love of running. Each and every one of them is fueled by a passion for the trails, and let me tell you, they love people who also want to run! You can find loads of great groups on Facebook and they all love talking about running.

Get yourself a Jon

Just in case I have any readers from the U.S — I’m not referring to a toilet, I’m referring to a person. Now, that hasn’t given you permission to steal my Jon, but what I am talking about, is get someone who will support you and tell you that you CAN do it. There are a lot of naysayers out there, ignore the crap out of them, and run over to those who won’t just tell you yes, but will continue to inspire you to achieve more.

Gear is actually quite important

The right pair of trainers is like gold dust. Take your time when choosing them, if you can go to an expert to measure your gait, do so. If not, ask for advice. I spent my early running life in cheap trail running shoes, then I got my first pair of Salomons, and realised what I had been missing out on. It was love at first step. Running backpacks are such an investment, especially if you like to eat, as I do. Research is key for everything, and ask loads of questions to the experienced ones above.

Enjoy the process

This is the most important one for me. Enjoy running. It is so hard at first, so slow down, find routes that are beautiful and just explore. I started with a few HIKE/RUNS when I began this journey. Running some trail, hiking some trail, and I found some beautiful spots to do it.

I will stop my ramblings now, but if you have any questions about starting running, or getting yourself into ultramarathon distances, trail running etc, please do send questions my way.