Let’s cut to the chase here. No one is talking about this topic. And, yeah, you can hold onto your flimsy idea that “200s are just fast hiking” all you want, but: a) this doesn’t necessarily have to be true, and b) shut up.
Below, you’ll find “Rachel’s Nearly Foolproof Guide to Running Your First Super Long Event.” While I’m certainly not going to claim to be an expert here, I’ve at least figured out some stuff, and honestly, we should be talking about this. Clearly, the drive to go these distances isn’t going away, and if we want to turn around the dumb narrative that these can’t be competitive, we’ve got to start sharing secrets so that they can be.
Note: I’ll be mostly discussing fixed-distance races, because that’s where it seems like there is the greatest potential for growth within the sport when it comes to participation and sponsorship.
Other note: My multi-day experience consists of four 48-hour races and three fixed-distance 200(+) mile races.
Training
Here’s where the back-to-back training runs come into play (or, if you can swing it, the back-to-back-to-back training runs). I think stacking weeks of a couple 6-8-hour/25-30-mile days in a row is the most beneficial way to get used to running when you don’t want to run. Friday, Saturday and Sunday consist of doing anywhere from 20-40 miles, at least three weekends out of a month. Practice fueling, moving your legs when they feel like they weigh 600 pounds and just being out there, for that long and then doing it again. And again. And again. Weekend after weekend. Stack. Those. Bricks.
That being said, I tend to not go hog wild with insanely high mileage during my training – probably 75% of my weeks were anywhere between 80-90 miles, with a handful of stacked 110(+) mile weeks. I think it’s pretty healthy to have one week a month where you “take a break” and do a lower mileage week (again, relative) of 75-80 miles. Trust me, when your usual week is 100 miles and suddenly you’re doing 75, it really does feel easy, which is exactly what you want.
Training specificity also matters. Think about the trail conditions of the area you’re racing in. Is it exposed? Rocky? Humid? Figure it out and try to simulate those conditions, particularly during your longer runs. Also, and I feel like this goes without saying, but learn how to run at night. You’ll be doing it at least twice. Don’t make the first time you realize you’re afraid of the dark (or the animals that live in the dark) be during the race. Also, at some point during the race, you’ll likely find yourself eating what could be considered “a meal,” then needing to keep running. Maybe, you know, practice that. Running after you’ve eaten is worth trying out prior to the race so you know how it feels and can get your gut used to it.
And, say goodbye to your social life, you belong to running now. I highly recommend finding friends who run.
Bonus Section: Training Races
There are few things worse in life than lining up in the starting corral next to someone who says “Oh, this is just a training run for me.” But now, you get to be that person.
I find that doing a few stimulus races during your build can be incredibly beneficial. However, be smart about placement of them during your training. I tend to do a larger effort run (18+ hours) and at least a couple moderate effort runs (8-12 hours) during my buildup to the multi-day and honestly, I treat them like they’re standalone events. Don’t forget though, you can’t thrash yourself so completely that you now have to take weeks off training. The goal of a stimulus race is finishing, but feeling like you could’ve kept going.
Another Bonus Section: Course Recon
If you have the opportunity to go and check out the route, great. If you don’t, there’s tons of stuff out there to glean information from – race reports on Reddit to full-length films, in some cases. Do your homework, however that looks for your schedule.
Sleep
I think there’s two schools of thought here:
a) Plan sleep (around weather windows, time of day, known circadian rhythms, larger fueling times).
b) Do not plan anything and sleep only when you’re essentially a health and safety risk (aka, my strategy).
Obviously, know thyself. If you can fall asleep on a dime (literally, what is this expression?) then maybe planning sleep would work for you. It does not work for me.
My usual rule of thumb for deciding when it’s time to sleep is if caffeine, food, pacers and/or daylight/adjusting your headlamp brightness don’t help, plus you’re slowing down, stumbling a lot or legitimately feel like you could fall asleep standing up, then you need to take a break and try sleeping. Don’t wait for the aid station. Curl up under a tree on the side of the trail and snooze for 5-20 minutes. If you’re at an aid station and your crew can use the time you’re sleeping to do additional tasks for you, maybe snooze a bit longer. It’s all about efficiency and multitasking.
In talking with others throughout my own experiences, I also tend to encourage holding off on sleep as long as possible. Sleeping during multi-days appears to be similar to “breaking the seal” in that once you start doing it, you really want to keep doing it. (But obviously, stay safe out there. Don’t zombie-walk off a cliff.)
Fueling
Multi-days are not casual. They are long, grueling, insane feats of human accomplishment, and you cannot do this on stupid race fuel like gels and sugary garbage, alone. If you do this, you will be throwing up violently or otherwise aggressively ill by mile 110. Gels, drink mixes and chews are great to snack on and keep handy because they’re light weight, usually have sodium and/or caffeine and are calorically dense. But unless you want to destroy your will to live by the halfway mark, I recommend figuring out what real foods you can take with you in addition to the traditional race fuels. Whether it’s McGriddles, mashed potatoes or milk, you need variety, and that means eating protein and fat in addition to carbs. You’ll want to practice beforehand, so you can determine how your body responds to larger meals while still needing to move forward. Don’t forget another one of the basics: electrolytes. Think in terms of IV drip speed, not avalanche, and try to get salt in your real foods.
Pacing
Okay. Controversial opinion incoming, but if you want to win the race, stick your nose in it from the get-go. I’ve spoken on a lot of podcasts about “barely manageable” pace utilization during these things, and honestly, this is something that you have to learn how to do during either fixed-time racing, 100-mile race efforts or long back-to-back days. If your plan is to “conserve energy until the end of the race, then pick off people who started out too fast,” I have news for you: the leaders have already finished the race by the time you reach the last third of the course. Do not “conserve energy for your future self.” Manage your pace so that you don’t crash and burn, obviously, but you aren’t going to feel “fresher” 186 miles into a race because you did a 15-minute pace for the first 100 miles. You’re just going to be 7 hours behind the front of the pack. It’s much easier to set the tone early than it is to try and rally late. Again, I am in no way endorsing starting off at a pace that you haven’t experimented with during training or other races. It’s not advisable to average an 8-minute pace when your usual is a 11:30-minute/mile. Don’t be dumb, but don’t hold yourself back, either. This is a race. Figure out what’s barely manageable and hold on as long as you can. It’s probably going to be about 180 miles longer than you think it’ll be.
Know the course well enough to strategize, whether you’ve been on it or not. Know where the climbs are, so you can fuel appropriately. Know what sections look runnable on paper but are actually rocky, technical hell-holes. Know where you’ll be around what time, so you can have appropriate gear and not die of exposure or cold. Will there be filterable water? Are my feet going to get wet? Not knowing these things will slow you down. Someone who knows these things, but maybe trained a little bit less, will go considerably faster than someone who trained a ton but knows nothing about how the course flows. Be smarter than them.
Crew
Yeah, I don’t know how people do multi-day fixed-distance events without a crew, so we’re going to assume that everyone reading this is interested in having support. Here are some short and sweet tips:
- Pick people who won’t baby you. They will see you at your worst, and it’s their job to keep you going.
- Pick people who you can argue with (and who can argue with each other) but know how to apologize and continue working well together.
- Pick people you are excited to hang out with. You’re going to be spending a lot of time together.
- Pick people who will take care of each other while crewing.
- Pick people who will kick your ass out of the cozy van at 3 a.m., who will keep their personal drama to themselves because they think it might affect your race and who willingly do whatever it takes to get you to that finish line. Your crew is the backbone of your race. They will be your brain when yours has left the chat. They are your spirit when you feel like death. They will keep you moving when you just want the race to be over already. Choose wisely.
- Bonus Tip: Have pre-race meetings to discuss your goals, fears and needs. Let them know, to the best of your ability, how they can manage you efficiently. It’s like a middle school group project, except you’re the project. Tell them how to earn an A.
Aid Station/Race Vehicle Management
Don’t camp out at aid stations. While you’re there, you don’t have to run, which is great. It’ll be tempting to hang out because snacks and friends are there. But you have to leave. Strategize to determine which aid stations are the ones where you’ll be spending longer amounts of time and stick to the freakin’ plan. Spend the preceding miles before hitting aid stations thinking about what you need to accomplish. Change of clothes? Eat hot food? Go into the aid station with a plan, and don’t assume you can figure it out when you get there.
It’s easy during the race to let everything get messy and out of control in your race vehicle, but digging through dirty clothes at mile 185 trying to find clean socks is not ideal for anyone. Keeping the race vehicle tidy is more of a crew task during the race, but organizing gear before the race even starts is on you. Also, I rent a camper van, which is expensive but worth it. It’s a home on wheels. While you shouldn’t be spending that much time inside, your crew will be making it their home while you’re off hallucinating in the desert/woods for days. Give them somewhere to sleep, shower and get some privacy, that isn’t on the side of the trail or in a creek.
Mental Resilience
Events like 200-milers are wild. You can’t conceptualize them as just two 100-mile races run back-to-back. They’re compounded, significantly. Everything can and probably will go sideways. You’re going to encounter new and exciting issues that you can’t even fathom. I don’t say that to overwhelm or frighten, but to encourage preparedness. You can be afraid of the challenges that are going to happen, or you can choose to look forward to them. You’re going to emerge from a multi-day race a completely different person, and you can be mentally and physically more capable than before, or the opposite. It is, quite literally, your choice. Mindset is everything, and I have found that it’s the most important thing – even more than physical fitness. You have to believe you can conquer what’s out there and embrace that you’ll be learning things along the way.
The Little Things
Study the maps. Read the race reports. Watch the movies. Plan the accommodations (in advance). Don’t forget to order shoes, and honestly, order extra pairs. Get your gear in order and have backups for everything. Use your gear, and backups, before race day. Prepare, rehash and prepare again. Have a medical kit, and don’t assume the race will provide you with first-aid supplies. Pack your car early and make sure everything is in there, that way, you’ll realize you forgot literally all your nutrition at home and can save $300 by not buying the same crap that you already had the day before the race. Everyone’s little things are different. Know yours and address them.
Have fun. Or something like it.