Plan Z

To quote John Steinbeck, “The best laid plans of mice and men oft go awry.” In other words, it’s a good idea to have a race plan, It’s a bad idea to rigidly stick to it.

Most of us have had races where things don’t go as planned. I certainly have (see below). When that happens, be prepared to change on the fly.

Should you have a plan for every race? Yes! You certainly should for an A race. It’s also good idea to have a plan for minor training races. While an A race plan would be targeted to your best performance, for other races the plan should be about meeting your training and/or experience goal.

Do you need a plan for a short race? Yes! The plans for a 5km will be different than those for 100mi, but a plan is still important.

What does a plan look like? Your plans derive from your goals for the race. If it’s an A race, it’ll focus on outcomes. If it’s a minor race, it should focus more on your training effort and things you may be experimenting with (e.g., food, clothing).

• 10km or less – mostly about pace/effort and/or people to follow.
• 1/2-full marathon – add in fuel and fluids, varying efforts at different parts of the run, and what do do if things start to go wrong.
• Ultra – More complexity the longer the race as you add more involved fueling, clothing changes, lights, changing weather, etc.

Shit Happens

Things happen at races. The longer the race, the more likely it is that everything isn’t going to go according to plans. Yet even in a shorter race, things can happen where you need to adapt; e.g., your shoe laces could break, you could find a hole in your socks, you might get a cramp.

First, think through some of the what-ifs. Some issues are known in advance, like weather. The 2018 Boston marathon was cold and wet. Those who prepared properly with clothing, pace, and attitude did relatively well. Bring extra clothing if it’s going to be cold. Plan for extra fluids and electrolytes if it’s going to be hot. Adjust your pace to fit the conditions. Bring an extra pair of socks to a 5/10km, just in case. The more you can plan for in advance, the less you’ll have to figure out in the moment.

However, if you are prone to worry, be careful with this. Thinking about all the things that could go wrong might create more stress. It can help to have someone you know, who is calming and trustworthy, talk through the plans with you. Plan enough, but don’t overthink it. How and what to plan is a learned. You’re going to get some of it wrong. That’s OK. You’ll get better at it.

When things happen, how you react psychologically is more important than what you do. Relax. Take a few deep breaths. The calmer you are, the better you’ll be able to think through the issues to come up with quick and practical adaptations, to make the best of a bad situation. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Keep your spirits up and smile. Your attitude will impact how you manage difficulty.

This can be easier said than done, and how you react may depend on your personality. You can delegate some of the problem solving to someone you trust. Have someone in your crew who knows you, who knows how to lift your spirits, who knows how to kick your butt and get you going if needed.

Adaptation

Make a change. It may not be the right thing, you may not know what the right thing is, but doing something different is better than doing the same thing that isn’t working. If it doesn’t work, try something else. Sometimes, especially in ultras, you may have to try several things before you figure out what’s going to work (see my 2004 race below).

Have tiered goals. If your top goal starts to slip away, you can have something else to keep you motivated to strive. This, however, can be tricky for some people. For some, having a second, third, etc., goal can give you an excuse to back off when you start to struggle or things go wrong. I don’t have any magic solutions to this. It is important that at least one of your goals be about the experience rather than just results.

Sometimes, you might have to drop out. This can be a difficult decision. Weigh the costs and benefits. The pros of dropping out include saving yourself for another day and preventing (further) injury. The cons include living with the failure, the disappointment of quitting. This has to be weighed against the disappointment of finishing but off your time/place goal.

Recently, a friend of mine was struggling at a 100-miler and was well off his goals. He wanted to drop out, but his crew and the aid station volunteers talked him into continuing. He decided that instead of focusing on his own goals, he was going to help another runner who was struggling too. They ran together much of the rest of the race. He turned his experience around by helping someone else.

My two Leadvilles

I raced the Leadville Trail 100 Run twice. Both times I had early and self inflicted stomach issues.

2002: I had been using Cytomax as my fuel of choice. When I opened the last container I had bought before the race, some of the powder was crusty. It tasted fine so I didn’t think anything of it. On my last big training run in Leadville, with that Cytomax, I became nauseous and lightheaded. I attributed it to mild altitude sickness, which has similar symptoms.

I drank a bottle of Cytomax 30 minutes before the start of the race. It tasted normal. However, about an hour in, I started feeling a bit nauseous. I recalled that training run and immediately figured out the problem was moldy Cytomax. My crew had bottles waiting for me at Mayqueen. I told them I couldn’t have any more of that and just took water.

I struggled for hours, physically and mentally. My quads became sore before I hit the Powerline descent. My muscles were dehydrated, even though I was drinking, because my body was pulling fluids into my gut to flush out the bad stuff. I had to walk much of the very runnable gradual incline up Halfmoon road. People I knew I was faster than were passing me going up Hope Pass outbound. I was frustrated. I was beating myself up. I thought about quitting.

At Winfield, I picked up a pacer, friend, who knew how to push me. As we got above tree line, I saw a friend of mine ahead of me. I kept him in sight, an imaginary rope to help pull me over the top of the pass.

As I got close to Twin Lakes, my attitude started to change. I didn’t hurt any less physically, I just stopped caring. I passed people the rest of the race going from 40th to 20th place over the last 40 miles. The idea of passing people kept me motivated. It became like a game – I’d see and/or hear someone ahead, then see how quickly I could make up time on them. I was well off my goal, but happy with how I finished. I even raced some guy for a while going around Turquoise. My pacer and I turned off our lights several times – stealth mode – so that he couldn’t see how close he was.

2004: I finished 3 egg sandwiches about 45-minutes before the start. I thought I would benefit by having longer lasting fuel in me for a long and lower effort run. I’d never done that before and should’ve know better. I paid for it. Blood was being shunted from my gut to my muscles for running so my breakfast was hard to digest. I could feel the eggs sitting in my gut hours into the race.

When I came into Mayqueen, my crew had pre-mixed bottles Endurox R4 (my then fuel of choice) ready for me. As in 2002, I told them I couldn’t take that any more so just took water. At Fish Hatchery, I took a PB&J sandwich as planned. That didn’t sit well. Through successive aid stations, I tried a variety of different things – chips, ramen soup, potatoes, etc. I finally figured out that cola worked; it sat well in my gut, digested easily, and gave me energy. I never would’ve considered that otherwise. I don’t take such sugary fuels or caffeine until much later in the race. I think I ended up getting over half my calories at the race from cola. While that’s far from ideal, that may have been the best thing for me given the circumstances.

I managed the struggle much better psychologically in 2004 because of what I had been through in 2002. I didn’t beat myself up. I know I could push through it physically. I knew I would figure something out if I kept experimenting. I finished strong in 13th. It was far slower than what I wanted to do, than what I was capable of, but it may have been about as good as I could’ve done given the circumstances.

Lessons Learned

When things go wrong, focus on the experience more than the outcome. Enjoy the ride as much as possible. See what lessons you can take away from the experience. Move on and look forward.

In that 2004 Leadville race, Matt Carpenter went from being on record pace to walking much of the latter parts of the race. I even passed Matt a couple of miles from the finish. He easily could’ve dropped out but he wanted to finish, to have that experience of the whole course, to learn lessons for the next time. And, the next time, in 2005, he shattered the course record that still stands.

For more insights and advice, to learn about my coaching and races, visit http://www.runuphillracing.com

Train smart. Have fun. Smile frequently. See you on the trails and roads.