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Welcome to the archive of the
ULTRAU TUESDAY EMAIL |
Photo courtesy of Full Send Media. Race by Go Beyond Racing.
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Hi all,
You know how races open registration eleven months in advance and if you are healthy it is so fun and exciting and if you are injured you hear the call and it is like “Hey, want to commit your maybe not so healed self to something ridiculously far into the future and maybe lose some money?” Especially with injuries that you know are not forever, but hang around just enough that signing up for a race makes PT less about healing and more about fast tracking something on its own schedule. Can we get this calf operational by April? What is the glute budget? Could we get stability work done by race time? Your body does not care about early-bird pricing or deferral deadlines, and accepting that is a gift to yourself (and your area for opportunity!) There will always be races that stay open longer, races that don’t sell out and races that will be waiting for when you’re truly ready. So don’t sell out your PT progress just to force a timeline your body hasn’t agreed to. If signing up genuinely motivates you, and you’re okay with the possibility of losing a little money, go ahead, hit the button, ride the hype, let it fuel your rehab. But if you’re the type who will push through pain simply because you paid for a bib, give yourself some grace and sit this one out. The finish line isn’t going anywhere, and getting there healthy is always the better story. NO MATTER THE LOTTERY RESULTS, LET'S CHAT If you or a friend draws a golden ticket into a dream race this lottery season, LET'S CHAT. Getting into Western States or Hardrock, both drawing this weekend, can take a decade, and once your name is called, you want to make sure every detail of your preparation sets you up to stand on that start line with the confidence of a superhero. (or pace your friend like a boss!) And if your name isn’t pulled? Good news, there are over 250 other 100-mile races in North America alone, and I have plenty of opinions on them. Consultations available via Zoom. SNACK IDEAS FOR WHEN YOU AREN'T YET AWAKE If you are struggling with what to eat before early morning workouts when you would rather skip, DON'T skip snacking, at least have something small. Here are a few ideas.
GIVING TUESDAY If you are giving to non-profits this Tuesday, YAY and thank you. Don't forget to check if your employer matches donations so you can double your impact. JOIN ME FOR STRENGTH Please join me THIS Wednesday night for Strength Training for Runners. It is live, to your screen at 5pm Pacific time. Dust off the home weights and get out your leg warmers. Information here.
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HI all,
Every week I get The Growth Equation newsletter (highly recommend), and this week they shared the most succinct definition of mental toughness I’ve seen: “Mental toughness is learning to focus on what you can control.” If you’re a runner in the rain soaked PNW, you’re already practicing this. You lace up after a rough workday instead of bailing. You head out for a long run even when it is dumping sideways rain. You choose to show up, even when the weather or your mood doesn’t. And as we head into Thanksgiving, many of us will get an extra opportunity to practice mental toughness. Make a two-column list. Controllables: your effort, your attitude, showing up. Not controllable: the weather, other people's reactions to your training/job/veganism, family dynamics Give that second column zero mental space. Bring your focus back to what’s yours to manage. It works for running, and honestly, it works for just about everything. JOIN ME FOR STRENGTH Will I see you Wednesday night for Strength Training for Runners? It is live, to your screen at 5pm Pacific time. You can't control how your grandmother insists you have some of that Jello thing she makes, but you can come to the interaction feeling high on squats! Information here. REAL SPORTS THINGS
FOR YOUR LISTENING PLEASURE Need new headphones? Here are reviews so you can buy smart. Please be safe and wear bone conducting headphones so you can hear traffic and on trails or use just one ear bud so you can hear people approach. GO BEYOND If you have run a Go Beyond race you will know Todd and Renee, race directors from Portland, OR. Now everyone knows them with this article in IRunFar. Hi all,
This week one of my athletes asked during strength training whether bench presses are actually helpful for running. I immediately said, nope and then explained why we should do them anyway. When you start focusing on a new lift (or anything new), you’re almost guaranteed to make progress in that area. That’s especially valuable for aging runners who may not be hitting new PRs anymore. Seeing improvement builds confidence and reminds you of what you’re capable of. That confidence does translate back into your running. Plus, maintaining strength as you age isn’t optional if you want to keep picking up heavy things. Run happy knowing that your future self will be a fully self-sufficient cat lady, because kitty litter bags are no joke. And, for the record, upper-body exercises of all kinds help runners by supporting good posture, maintaining form, and powering a strong arm swing. But let’s be honest, the cat-lady explanation is way more fun. JOIN ME FOR STRENGTH Live strength training is FUN! For real, it is fun, no need to leave the house and you can get it done in just 30 minutes. Get started now so you can emerge in spring without regret. Information here. See you Wednesday night, live to your screen, let's go! STAGE RACING If you are working on choosing your next big adventure and are considering a multi-day stage race, say YES! A stage race is a super fun way to see a place, to have a few days to focus on nothing but running and snacking and to be outside whatever your normal day to day is like. Considerations for training and prep are in this article here. I have coached athletes for stage races like this one in the Pyrenees and have run them myself including this one in Morocco. But there are closer ones with this 3-day stage race in Canada, the Golden Ultra, open for registration now, and this one in Oakridge, OR with 60k over three days, why not try it out. If you are interested, GET IN TOUCH and let's chat training! OTHER ADVENTURE IDEAS "Adventure doesn't care about logic." Here is a new way to see Iceland. DANCE BUT GET TO BED ON TIME Who says you can't have a dance party and get home in time for bed for your morning long run? This group's tagline is "Dance party for ladies with sh*t to do in the morning" and while I don't want to go to a dance party, even if it ends early, much respect for the concept and this event is coach approved. FITNESS BANK Do you get in 10,000 steps a day? This bank wants to track you and pay you for your steps. The more steps you take, the more interest you make in your savings account. There has to be a catch here, but the savings account rate seems pretty good. Hi all,
I am back from two weeks in Mexico, where we said yes to everything. Yes to rare mezcals, yes to fiery chiles, yes to every kind of chocolate and yes to that “mountain bike” ride that turned out to be entirely on pavement, with endless hills. Thank you for saving my life orange Fanta. The shift from ocean views and marigold-draped villages to the glow of my computer screen has been abrupt. But like the transition to shorter, darker days, I know I’ll adjust. This time of year, it’s easy to stop saying yes, to retreat under the covers instead. And while I fully support a season of wintering with less work, fewer workouts and less hustle, I don’t want to wake up in spring wishing I had been a little more ready for adventure. One thing I am excited about being back home is hearing the banjo again. Brian started learning last year, but between summer travels and a new job, his practice faded. Recently, though, a coach challenged him to do one thing for just five minutes a day. And the banjo music returned. No waiting for the perfect time, no excuses about being too busy, just five minutes. If he keeps this up until spring, he’ll have 650 minutes more banjo practice than if he’d waited for ideal conditions and skipped weeks at a time. So during this season of slowing down, what’s one thing you could spend a few minutes a day saying yes to, so that, come spring, you’ll be 650 minutes closer to your next adventure? JOIN ME FOR STRENGTH Live strength training is back! Yes, you can join for five minutes or just come for the whole thirty minutes and do what you can. Information here, see you Wednesday night, live to your screen, let's go! 100 WOMEN This may be the coolest account I was not following but now that I know about it, I am obsessed. 100 Women, from the BBC is "putting women at the front and center of news stories." This woman lifting is a favorite. JUMP Plyometrics are exercises that involve jumping, very little ground time and almost no equipment. There are loads of reasons for runners to do them besides the fact that jumping around is just good fun. If you want to add plyometrics to your routine here is a list WITH VIDEOS that is so long, you could do one a day for the next month and there would still be more. RUNNING SHORTS
I have been in Oaxaca, Mexico to witness and celebrate Day of The Dead, Dia de los Muertos, and while this is not my personal heritage, I have been so taken with this holiday. I love the beauty of the alters created for loved ones whose souls come back to be with their families made with photos, favorite foods and flowers. I love that there is conversation around death that isn't only grief filled but joy filled enough to have city wide parades, a carnival set up at the cemetery and bands playing late into the night. I am not sure my loved ones who have departed were here with me in Oaxaca, but I sure hope they are.
I will still be away for Strength Training for Runners live class this week, so celebrate without me and see you again on Wednesday, Nov 12. STRENGTH One more week away from the garage gym and live class with you. But please don't skip strength. Here is a body weight workout from the archives you can do anytime. See you live on Wednesday next week. Put it on your calendar. NYC The New York City Marathon was last weekend and had an astounding 59,226 total finishers. It was an awesome photo finish by the first male runners. The female winner was Helen Obiri and the video of her winning is a split screen with her parents cheering her in and it is a JOY! But the video of the last finisher was incredibly moving and made me realize that they kept the finish line open for many hours past the official cut off and allow runners who want to finish to complete the route on the sidewalk. Amazing. CARBS If you are a pre-race bagel eater, yay, carbs. But if you have coached with me you may know for many of you, I encourage the swap of bagel to Kings Hawaiian bread, the soft fluffy oh so carb filled easy to eat rolls in the orange packaging. AND now the endorsement comes from a nutritionist I trust (and you should follow, let's normalize chowing down a whole bag of rolls carb loading pre-endurance events!) A bagel can be tough to eat and dry where you can smash a piece of Hawaiian bread into the size of a marble and keep going! Try it next race. SOUNDS LIKE MORE THAN RUNNING If you need some content to bring to your runs that is more than running, here is a podcast that I have been enjoying to help me talk about more than just running (but I still come back to a lot of running. Can't stop, won't stop!) Twenty Thousand Hertz is "the stories behind the most iconic and fascinating sounds." Stories like, there is an actual guy who made the sound of the Yahoo yodel, how we got the sound of Jeopardy and how they mix Saturday Night Live on the spot. Two more weeks with no live class on Wednesday night. I am headed to Oaxaca Mexico for Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). A little bit of a travel 180 there, but when you get invited, you say yes!
STRENGTH TRAINING Here is a video of Strength Training for Runners from the archives. Grab a mini-band and get in some strength work this week. PUBLIC HEALTH Last week I sent a link to the Consumer Reports article about lead in protein powders. You have probably seen 100 others weigh in on the subject ranging anywhere from, this is the worst, only eat chicken breasts to chill y'all. One of you dear readers tipped me off to a great Substack, Your Local Epidemiologist who weighs in on lead, (her take, "don’t worry too much") but also has a weekly post on public health that seems like a worthwhile read. NOPE Watch this ride along with the POV camera of second place woman, Hannah Bergemann, at the Red Bull Rampage. When she finished, she was hooting and hollering and I said out loud, "Well, I never want to do that again." VERTICAL KILOMETER Five years ago, Remi Bonnet was going for a sub-30-hour vertical kilometer (aka VK- a race that involves a 1,000-meter (3,280 ft) vertical ascent over a maximum horizontal distance of 5 kilometers). Now it looks like he went 27 minutes and change. Red Bull needs to send up some regular athletes after him to put that accomplishment in context. For you Portlanders, Dog Mountain is almost 5k up and is a little under 3,000 feet of gain. BACKYARDING If you weren't watching, last week was the Bigg's Backyard Ultra, the last person standing format where runners go 4.12something miles every hour on the hour. The winner, Phil Gore from Austria went an astonishing 114 hours and 750km (466 miles). His record is 119 hours, so this is just him doing his thing, I guess! The women had a rad day out with Sarah Perry completing 95 hours and Meg Eckert finishing 92 hours. The previous record for women at a backyard ultra was 87 hours. No live Strength Training for Runners this week, I am in Norway checking out fjords with my mom who has wanted to see a fjord since she was 10!
Instead, here is a video from the archives. NO weight needed, but bring them if you have them. YOU MAY BE FUELING LESS THAN YOU THINK A new study has shown that marathon runners and cyclists are fueling less than they think. Researchers asked marathoners and cyclists for nutrition plans, then asked how much they consumed and then looked through the trash. This review has a good summary of the study. "They not only ate less than planned but also overestimated how much they’d consumed. Even more interesting was that their race-day fueling success wasn’t just about knowledge or planning; it was tied to sleep quality and anxiety levels." "Across the full cohort of marathoners and cyclists, athletes consumed an average of 32 grams of carbohydrate per hour—that’s well below even the lower end of the 60–90 gram per hour recommendation." EVEN PACING If you are planning to go for it at your next race and just 'run fast at the beginning when it feels good', I promise, this is not a winning strategy. Most people start races too fast (even pros!). Even pacing wins the day every time. Check out the data from the women's runners racing at the 24-Hour World Championships in France last weekend. At your next race, be the blue line, UK's Sarah Webster, who went on to the win and set a new record at 278km (172 miles). PROTEIN POWDER AND LEAD The Consumer Reports has done independent research into 23 protein powders and found that more than two-thirds of them contain more lead in a single serving than is safe to consume in a day. "Nearly all the plant-based products CR tested had elevated lead levels, but some were particularly concerning. Two had so much lead that CR’s experts caution against using them at all. The lead levels in plant-based products were, on average, nine times the amount found in those made with dairy proteins like whey." If you are want to see the brands tested, understand more about lead exposure and learn more about the health halo of protein, read up here. SQUEAKY PAPER SNEAKS?
As most of you know, I am a huge advocate of strength training for runners. Enough so that I have been teaching Strength Training for Runners on Wednesday nights for about a DECADE, and for more than four years those classes have been online and FREE to anyone wanting to join! Teaching strength training for runners is truly one of my longest-term relationships and a great joy. And yet, I am willing to bet that less than 10% of dear readers are doing any sort of strength training. I invite you every week (gold plated fancy invitation here) and I am NOT going to stop (so if this is annoying, write back UNSUBSCRIBE).
If this article on how to stick with strength training resonates with you and you want to chat about where to start on your journey to super stable lunges, confident side planks and a whole 401k worth of muscles for healthy aging, get in touch. "Strength training isn’t the problem. Starting is. Most people go too hard too soon, or stay stuck doing too little for too long. They chase someone else’s program, get sore, lose confidence, and fall off track. There’s one more reason: the expectations you carry about where you think you should be on day one, day fourteen, or day forty-five compared to where you actually are." ITS NOT OVER TIL ITS OVER This weekend at the Women's Ironman World Championships in Kona, the top TWO race leaders (and two favorites to win) succumbed to the heat on the run portion, and dropped, one at mile 17 and the other at mile 24 leaving room for third place, Solveig Løvseth from Norway to win it all. And while the heat took out two top pros on the run, second place, Kat Mattews ran hard running a 2:47:23 on the marathon and getting within 35 seconds of first place. So close after 8+ hours of racing. A race is NEVER over until it is over. You never know when 4th place could turn into 2nd! All the details here. Also, Natalie Grabow finished the race at age 80. She started triathlon at age 60 because she was getting injured from only running and taught herself how to swim from a book. ATHLOS If you like track, there is something to really like called Athlos, an all-women's track meet paying the athletes big money and pushing the visibility of women's track in the US which took place last weekend in NY. In the mile the pace setter couldn't keep up! Then the two race leaders were over 100m ahead of the rest of the field. WOW. The event winner of each race won $60,000, heck yeah! WHAT TO WATCH A new film, “Katharina,”follows Katharina Hartmuth as she navigates injury, loneliness and mental health while racing the biggest ultras in the world. Because running isn't therapy. "In the beginning I was for sure running away from things." Something that is a source of real frustration for me is seeing posts from runners who have finished an ultramarathon and then seemingly three days later are off on a long adventure run, are back to training with "just a few intervals" or are so excited after their three days of eating one cookie at night but are ready to "get back in shape". It has become so normalized to jump right into training post-race that it gets praised for being badass or hard core. This is extra annoying to me when I see this from the elite runners as I think it trickles down to amateur runners feeling like they need to do the same. I hear runners having a hard time taking one week off post a 100-mile race. Or runners get antsy at meal times post marathon because they are not working out and will get out of shape or gain weight.
If multiple races in a season, longevity in sport and avoiding injury are your goals, then you need to take time off from hard training and build back mileage slowly post races. Most importantly, you likely need to eat more than you think post-race and not just for one day. If you need a role model, follow this year's UTMB winner Ruth Croft who is back running after a full month off of running and exercise to recover the 100-mile loop in Chamonix. LESS NOISE "You’ve got toughness. What most of us suck at is honesty. Being real about when we’re struggling, injured, too tired, or just not feeling it. Imagine how different running would feel if you could say, “I’m kinda burned out right now,” without thinking everyone at your local group run would judge you. Hell, I bet a whole lot of them would even relate to you. That kind of honesty doesn’t make you soft. It takes some of your self-imposed pressure off and it makes you a smarter runner—and a way more grounded human." Territory Run Co is starting a cohort of people that Run Outside the Noise. It is an online space where you can let go of the pressure of running and embrace the fun and community parts of running. And since it is hosted by a clothing company, there will likely be good outfits. SNACK SMASH
STRENGTH TRAINING Join me Wednesday night for Strength Training for Runners. I want to see you there! Live to your screen, no commute needed. Sometimes everything is going amazing and somethings you have to shut the water off to your house and then realize you have to go to the bathroom in a way that requires a flush, so you run to the bottom of the yard, turn on the water, do your business, run back to the water shut off in the yard and then return in time for a meeting and pretend everything is fine. Hoping that all of you are having a week with unlimited flushes and no rushing into meetings!
STRENGTH TRAINING Join me Wednesday for Strength Training for Runners. THE LINK HAS CHANGED so click from the linked page or HERE. Let's do some lunges. I mean, you can always do this random K-pop workout getting your booty down to an absolute earworm (but if we could dance, wouldn't we have chosen that, not running, right!) Workouts are always free. Live to your screen, see you there! BE AN ALLY It is that time of year when we will be running in the dark. Here is a plea to all runners, but especially male runners, PLEASE BE AN ALLY. Right now, runners who identify as nervous in the dark and runners who identify as wanting to feel comfortable in their neighborhoods NEED YOU! The BARE MINIMUM for being a running ally is to have a light and to SAY HELLO, with words. When a dude runs by me with a serious/mean/strained face without saying hi, it always makes me look behind me nervously. He is probably deep in thought or in the middle of a hard interval BUT I am just not sure. So, I look and look again. Someone saying hi or a wave keeps my HR from creeping up AND, when I am running and all of a sudden someone pops out of nowhere because I didn't see them without lights, it is scary. Light yourself up for cars and for the love of other people out enjoying the streets. SHOULD I???
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All images and posts © UltraU, 2022. Photos by Runnerteri Photography.