We have all had those workouts where everything goes wrong. Your body revolts, you eat the right combination for a vomit and diarrhea fest, your feet get destroyed, chafing occurs in some really bad places, you bonk like never before or conditions deteriorate faster than a freight train. I used to think this meant I was not a good athlete and many of the athletes I work with struggle with a training session gone wild but….if you change your mindset these can be some of the best workouts you will ever have!
Training is where you practice for the big show! When people are practicing their lines for a show there are blooper reels because they are getting the mistakes out of the way before the final cut. Your training is nothing more than a rehearsal. You should have sessions that go completely wrong. Sessions where you bonk get chaffed, totally mess us your nutrition, and make all of the mistakes!
Race day can throw anything your way. High winds, wild temperatures, flooded or muddy trails, snow, ice, a hydration or nutrition error, chafing, macerated feet, blisters and more. You need to know how to handle these situations to have a successful race. If you never practice adversity you may not be able to recover and it can lead to a drop. It may mean stopping to manage the situation or slowing down but you can still finish and even have fun!
Practice eating and drinking all sorts of things on your training sessions to see what makes you sick and what feels good. You need to practice different types of fueling and hydration at various efforts. Harder efforts will make you more susceptible to diarrhea, vomiting and GI distress so play around with foods that you can handle when pushing hard. This is important for distances 50k and lower. The faster you go the fewer things you will eat and drink because your body will be in fight or flight mode and can’t handle digesting much and caffeine can speed the whole process up. Go easy on the simple sugars, go light on the electrolytes and drink only what your stomach can handle. Playing around with hydration and nutrition strategies during fast training sessions will help you dial this in.
Intentionally go out in conditions that are not desirable. If the conditions are potentially dangerous (below zero, freezing rain, extreme heat) set up a loop from your car or home to use as an aid station and bail out point if needed. You can practice layering, fueling, dealing with wet macerated feet, blisters, frozen bottles, chafing etc. You can have food and hydration supplies, dry clothes, blister care, lube, etc so that you can practice recovering from tough conditions. This will allow you to know what to bring to your race and how to use it.
Challenging trail conditions are common in races during rainy years. Find the right gear to use in these conditions. If you are running it may be shoes with bigger lugs. If you are mountain biking it could be different tires. Get used to the slipping and sliding, splashing mud and unpredictable surfaces. Running and biking through deep water crossings can be challenging but if you practice safely crossing them (not if they are going to wash you away) you will know how to deal with moving through deeper water. Slippery roots and rocks can add a whole new challenge to your event so know how your bike handles in those conditions and how your body holds up.
When you are training for anything over a 50k you can be on the trail for up to a half a day or more than one day so preparing for everything that can go wrong is very important. Practicing sleep deprivation (for all of you parents out there with young kids you know this all too well!) You don’t want to do a bunch of sleep deprived training but you can do some. It will help you manage those moments in your ultra where you are just completely exhausted. Typically in events over 50k you will want to eat more food so taking along real food on your long runs will help you figure out which foods work for you later in the race. As you become more tired you might struggle to digest food and too many bars and gels can make you sick. You can eat small wraps, sweet potatoes, rice, etc. Some people even make their own gels and this allows you to control what you are eating! Looking at what the race you are doing has at the aid stations is important so that you can practice with those foods to see what sticks. Then there is no guessing at the race! You can even set up a small aid station from your house and have soup, grilled cheese, etc to try!
I used to be frustrated when a training session was not what I expected and if it fell apart I was devastated. Over the years I learned that the key to success is allowing these training sessions to be nothing more than an amazing lesson and to be thankful it happened in training and not your race! Changing your mindset is the key to enjoying your training. There is no such thing as a bad training effort. If you got out and tried then it is a success!
If you need help working through injuries, managing your training and learning to embrace the tough days or have someone to help you find joy in your journey reach out! I would love to help you achieve your goals and have fun while doing so! My goal is to help educate everyone I work with in the importance of injury prevention, finding balance and help to make training fun!
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I start my wellness journey?
Simply reach out to me and we can find out if we are a good fit!
How do I get my workouts?
I use the Steady State app to create your workouts. It helps to monitor your subjective and objective data so that I can provide a safe training program for you.
How often do you check my workouts?
I am a highly communicative coach. I will respond to all of your workouts within a few hours.
What is the billing procedure?
You will be billed monthly and can cancel at anytime before your next monthly billing cycle.
How many schedule changes can I have?
Unlimited! Life happens and I want to make sure I adjust your schedule so that you don’t have to worry!
Curious about more details?
Learn more about my endurance coaching.
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