Surviving Ultra

Because DFL is still an accomplishment

Tag: training

  • Pocantico Hills Marathon

    The Pocantico Hills Marathon is a trail marathon held in the very scenic Rockefeller State Park Preserve and it just celebrated it’s 5th year. This is my second time running this marathon and one I see myself repeating again in the future.  It’s a marathon that has a very generous cutoff that makes it feasible to hike the course if desired and is thus a great event for a first time attempt at a trail marathon.  The trails are gravel carriage roads with ~2500 feet of elevation gain over the course of the race. It’s a very runnable course. It’s a course I like so much that I took the gpx file from my Coros watch’s recording of the run and created a route in Komoot so I can run the course again in the future (https://www.komoot.com/tour/2678030551). It’s also the type of course I need to focus on more of as I tend to be more of mountain goat than a race horse.  I do really well in ultra’s that are very steep and technical (https://survivingultra.com/2025/04/28/nj-spartan-ultra/), but tend to be very slow at the flatter more runnable courses.

    While I was still towards the back of the pack in this event, I’m happy with my performance in the race as my training had been focused more on leaning out than running over the past few months and I had been in a caloric deficit up until a couple of days before the race.  My performance in the race showed I didn’t step backwards despite not being as focused on running recently and I feel I am well positioned now to start building towards completing a 50 miler over the course of the next year.  Of course, being back of the pack means there is a lot of work to do, but I think my now improved strength to bodyweight ratio has me well situated to start that buildup and eventually go faster and further than before. 

  • Cross Training in Bad Weather

    I don’t mind running in the rain, the heat, the cold, or other less than optimal conditions outdoors as I enjoy being out in nature much more than thought of hammering away on a human hamster wheel. Nevertheless, there are some days where it is just not a great idea to run outside.  For me the criteria for establishing this is based on the risk of injury rather than comfort.  Is the terrain going to be too slippery from ice, is the visibility going to be so poor that I’m at increased risk of being hit by a car, has an outbreak of forest fires made the air quality too bad, etc? The biggest potential training set back I can think of would be to suffer an injury. 

    Thus, on the days that I’m scheduled to run but find myself having to stay indoors (or just in need of a break from running), the exercises I tend to turn to are as follows:

    1. Stair Climber – I’ve found this a great way to cross train for really steep ultras and is one of my go to cross training activities when preparing for hilly terrain.  An hour on the stair climber once or twice a month can be great prep for hiking up hills.
    2. Rowing – This is my go to when I want an activity that will keep working on my aerobic base, but I find myself in need of a break from the impact of running.  I love the total body nature of the workout and enjoy the core endurance aspects of it which can be beneficial in maintaining good form in the later stages of a race. Sometimes I will also use rowing as a way to add in an extra zone 2 workout for the week without significantly increasing the impact forces my body endures. 

    While I know others swear by cross training with a stationary bike, ellipticals, or other indoor options the stair climber and the rowing machine are the two modalities I find meet the two most important criteria for me of providing a benefit and being tolerable enough to stick with for the entire session.  I might even go as far as saying rowing is something that I find enjoyable.

  • Getting Ready for the Next Challenge

    The Spartan Ultra from 2 weeks ago gave me the confidence that I am progressing and improving as an ultramarathoner and that my training is moving me in the right direction, as for the first time I was not struggling to make a cut off.  I suspect, however, part of why I did well was the steepness of the race and the fact that the cutoffs were designed around a course that hiking the majority of it was assumed.  I think I have developed a very high work capacity but that I still need to continue to improve as a runner.  I suspect that I would not have been anywhere near as close to the front of the pack if it had been a race with less elevation gain and more runnable terrain.  To test this, I have registered for a trail marathon in November that features an elevation gain of only around 2.5K feet.  While not flat, this is a course that will be significantly more runnable than my last race and will allow me to test my theory.  When I eventually put a 50 miler on the calendar I want to make sure to pick a course that will play to my particular strengths and weaknesses and so I want to put this to the test. 

    An early November race date gives me roughly six months to train for it and I intend to do so by following a true marathon prep program for the first time, albeit one that maintains an element of strength training.  Given the time I have to prepare for the race, I intend to pursue the following build up in prepping for the event:

    1. Finish the Mountain Tactical Institute (MTI) Max Effort Strength and 6 mile Run program that I’m currently running
    2. Move onto the MTI Max Effort Strength and Aerobic Base program
    3. End with the MTI Meathead Marathon plan which is designed to build more strength focused athletes up towards being able to run marathon distances. 

    If all goes well, I’m hoping be ready to run and not power hike the vast majority of the course. 

  • NJ Spartan Ultra

    I had registered for the NJ Spartan Ultra about 6 months ago as this particular ultra was the first ultra I ever ran and what sparked my interest in ultrarunning.  It was something I had eventually wanted to repeat as a way of gauging my progress and proving to myself that I wasn’t just lucky getting through it the first time. Still, I was on the fence about running this particular race this year as I felt my training was going well and I was unsure about losing momentum with the progress I had been making.  I had some friends also running the race though and didn’t want to let my team down, so I decided to take a bit of break from the MTI program I was 2 weeks into and give it a shot. 

    The course had a different configuration from what I remember from past years’ Beast races and the past Ultra I had done.  According to the elevation map, the course featured almost 12K of elevation gain over the length of the 30-mile race.  It was a tougher layout than what I remember and one that will set my training back by at least a week or two while I recover from it.  Nevertheless, I’m glad I gave the race a shot.  It was the first time I have raced an ultra where I managed to not be in the back of the pack squeaking by the cutoffs.  I passed the cutoffs with a comfortable margin and even though the race was extremely challenging I did not find myself questioning if I was going to make it to the next checkpoint in time at any point in the race.  While some of the improvement can be attributed to having a better idea on how to pace myself from past races and from having some experience with keeping hydration and nutrition in check, my training over the last year has definitely had a positive impact.  The race let me know that I am on the right track and my performance in it makes me feel my 50-mile goal is an achievable goal if I continue to put the work in.  In particular I think all of the rucking up hills, dumbbell step-ups, and Bulgarian split squats that were part of the strength programs I ran had a noticeable effect, especially combined with the fact that the vast majority of my recent running had been on hilly terrain.  The ascents were not easy and sometimes very slow, but nevertheless never seemed insurmountable.  

    Time to rest up and heal for a little bit before getting back to it.

  • MTI – Max Effort Strength + 6 Mile Run

    While I enjoyed the Tactical Barbell Base Building block, I have also long wanted to try a program from Mountain Tactical Institute (MTI).  MTI offers a plethora of different programs designed to meet a variety of different goals, including some running programs which scale to 50 miles.  As such, I could theoretically reach my strength and 50 mile distance goals using solely programs from MTI, which is what landed them on my radar of programs to consider.  Given I want to spend a few more weeks without any major increases to my miles per week (to ensure all knee issues remain behind me), it seemed like a good time to try one of their programs with a similar goal set to my prior base building block.

    The 6 week Max Effort Strength + 6 Mile Run program consists of 2 days of total body strength training combined with 3 days of running.  For this block I will be putting the rucking I used to improve my ability to climb hills aside and running on all 3 running days.  This will result in a small increase in running mileage for me.  More interestingly, the program incorporates some interval runs as well as zone 2 runs and I’m hoping the intervals provide some additional speed improvements for me.

    At first glance the program is higher in intensity than the Tactical Barbell block, using higher max percentages and shorter rest times on lifts, which makes the lifting portions more closely resemble the approach used in many of the strength programs I have done in past. I also really like how it integrates warm-up, core, and mobility exercise into each day’s workout.  Now it’s time to see how my body responds to the different intensity approach when paired with a structured running program (something I neglected for too long).

  • Base Building Finishing Thoughts

    I just finished the last workout of the Tactical Barbell base building phase and I really enjoyed the program.  It was a great way to get myself back onto a structured running program while still continuing to incorporate strength training into the mix. My per mile times have improved over the course of the two months and I think the program was ideal for building a foundation off of which to build on in future blocks.  After a couple of weeks of religiously incorporating the couch stretch and some of the other correctives, my knees are feeling better when running downhill too.  The program and the progress I made has helped me rediscover some of the passion that first got me into running many years ago and I am excited to start my next training block. 

    The most interesting discovery for me, however, was the two day a week Fighter strength template that the base building block makes use of.  It’s a minimalistic template that is designed to be submaximal in order to allow it to be paired with intense conditioning activities.  While minimalistic, however, it’s a template I can still see myself making slow but steady progress with.  While I haven’t retested my maxes yet, the RPE for the weights I was using definitely became easier than it was for the same weight before my base building phase.  While I admit that I did give into the temptation to add some accessory work in the form of dips and chin-ups on some of the workouts, I really liked the submaximal concept.  As miles per week levels begin in increase and the training gets harder to recover from a result, I think the Fighter template will be nice tool in my arsenal to maintain strength. Now onto my next training block which I will detail in my next post.

  • Running Correctives

    With any endurance sport there is always a risk for overuse injuries and injury prevention is critical as nothing will impact training for an event more than not being able to do it because of an injury. Doing a few thousand feet of downhills each week has the potential to become such an overuse injury for me.  I’ve been more conscious of my form and have tried to make a conscious effort to always maintain good posture and to lessen the amount I sit which has helped, but there is always room to do more. Because of my success with alleviating some issues after reading Deskbound, I decided to check out Ready to Run which is also by Kelly Starret.  It provides a series of 12 recommendations to help keep runners injury free and improve longevity in the sport.  Many of the recommendations are simple to implement such as drinking more electrolytes to improve hydration or wearing zero drop shoes while others touch on warm up and mobility routines to address common running problems.  While some recommendations I already touch on (e.g. the couch stretch), I have not been doing them with the daily frequency recommended in the book. 

    I’m going to start incorporating the recommendations in this book into my daily routine and finish out my last 2 weeks of the Tactical Barbell base building program. Once the base building phase wraps up, I intend to continue giving the recommendations in the book a try over the next couple of months but will probably put a temporary freeze on any major mileage increases until I give my body time to properly adjust to the downhill volume.  I will be picking a 10K or half marathon program with similar weekly mileages to what I am already doing and working on running those miles in an issue free manner.  I will be pairing this program with a strength program so I can continue to make improvements in that area as well. 

  • Rucking Cross Training

    When I laid out the Base Building Phase that I am currently running, I mentioned that one of my zone 2 cardio activities was going to be a hilly ruck with a 40 pound vest.  Rucking for ultramarathon prep seems to be a topic that elicits very mixed reviews when you search for opinions on it with some saying it has helped them and others saying the time would be better off spent running.  I think it is a bit more nuanced than “it’s great, everyone should do it” or “it’s a waste of time, just run”.  Here is my rationale for using rucking as a cross training activity and why I think it benefits me.

    Elevation Gain Differences – While I have access to some decent sized hills, sometimes the races I like to run are often in locations that have steeper elevation profiles than I can run on a day to day basis.  I find rucking up the hills I have access to a great way to build the “mountain legs” required to get myself up those steeper race day climbs.  To me it’s the same principle as using an ultra-training program where they have you perform a prolonged period of dumbbell step ups to strengthen and build endurance in your legs, only less monotonous. While I do think there are advantages to dumbbell step ups and do incorporate them in some training blocks, rucking, for me, is a way to gain a similar benefit while getting to explore someplace interesting.

    Not a World Class Runner – One of the common arguments against rucking is xyz champion doesn’t do it.  I think being realistic about where you stand is important though.  A championship runner maybe can run the entirety or at least the majority of their race, but that is not the case for me.  If I’m realistic with myself, I have to admit that there are going to be significant parts of a race where I will probably need to switch from running to power hiking. These parts are significant enough that there is benefit to training the power hiking component as a way of improving my completion time. While it’s hard to say for certain if it has made me a faster runner, it has definitely helped to improve my hiking speed which is a win for my current ability level.

    Lower Impact – For me personally, I find it lower impact than running with the added benefit that it uses many of the same muscles as running but in slightly different way.  The slight difference seems to allow me to add in rucking as a cross training session each week without feeling like I am over training.  I don’t run with the added weight as that much too high impact, but stick to a power hike.

    Functional Core Strength – Rucking is also a great compliment to other core strengthening exercises and helps you build strength and muscle endurance in your core which helps with maintaining good form in the later stages of race. 

    Perhaps if I had everyday access to steep terrain and the time to build up to such a high weekly mileage that running the majority of an ultra was not a question, I would reconsider my approach.  However, as a frequent power hiker without daily access to race-like elevation profiles, rucking is working well for me as a cross training option.