What’s holding you back? What’s keeping your from reaching your goals? You may be doing do all the standard things you’re supposed to be doing – long runs, short intervals, tempo runs, etc. However, are you really addressing the things that are limiting your success?
1: Identify your limiters. Limiters are more than just weaknesses; e.g., speed vs endurance, hills. Such weaknesses are limiters, but there’s a lot more to it. Pause, step back and take a look at your life, your last few racing seasons. Think about the things that have impacted your training and racing.
Make a list. Limiters also include things like:
Lack of experience.
Pacing/race strategy.
Fuel and fluids.
History of injuries.
Equipment.
Work/life stress.
Sleep.
Diet.
Confidence.
2: Classify the limiters. Think about each in terms of how much it impacts you, and how much control you have over it. Plot them in a chart where impact is on the horizontal axis (high impact to the right), and control on the vertical axis (high control towards the top). You’ll have four quadrants. Ideally, everything would be in the top left quadrant (low impact, high control). Realistically, they won’t be.
3: Identify the ones with the greatest impact on your training and racing. The ones you have high control over (top right quadrant), identify things you can do to change how they impact you.
4: The ones you have low control over (bottom right quadrant), think about how you can gain more control. There are some that are difficult to control. For example, if you have young kids, you know they’re going to get sick, you just don’t know when. Take that into account when you set your goals. Build in more time to account for inevitable interruptions. Be flexible with your training plans, moving and modifying workouts when needed.
I cut way back on my running when my twins were born (family had a higher priority). Once they started sleeping more predictably, I wanted to start running more regularly. It was still difficult to run consistently with their sleep and my wife’s varied work schedule. I started getting up at 4:30am, and would run on the treadmill with the baby monitor nearby. Sometimes I’d have to jump off in response to a screaming baby, but I created an opportunity to run more. I moved something from lower to higher control.
5. Look for ways to exert some control over the issue, no matter how small.
For the last few years, I’ve had some ongoing, fairly high-level, background stress. I hadn’t been sleeping well. Once I recognized that, I backed off on my training; you can only train effectively as much as you can recover. I started meditating regularly. It has lowered my stress levels, allowed me to sleep better, and to train more.
I had a client, training for the London Marathon, who observed Ramadan. That meant she fasted from sunrise to sunset, no food or water. Ramadan ended just a few days before the marathon. This was high impact, low control I only found out about this a week or so before the start of Ramadan. I did some research, then came up with a plan that seemed to work for her. She would get up early, workout for an hour or so, then eat before sunrise. And, she would start her evening runs about 30-minutes before sunrise, carry water and foods, then start to eat on her run after sunset. It wasn’t ideal, but we were able to exert some control over the situation and find a way to make it work. FWIW, Sifan Hassan, the 2023 London Marathon winner, also observed and trained through Ramadan.
Injuries: Consistency in training is more important that the specifics. To be consistent, you have to stay healthy, as well as sleep and recover well. It’s better to undershoot a bit in your training, to stay healthy so that you can train consistently, than to push too far/hard and risk injury. You (should) know your body. You know your history.
I had a client, an army veteran, with a bad back from combat. The client didn’t know when their back would act up. My goal was to keep my client healthy and able to train consistently. So, from day one, we went with a run-walk program. This would reduce the risk of the back acting up. We started with relatively frequent and long walk breaks, and gradually lengthened the runs. For the marathon, I had the client do run-walk from the start rather than waiting for their back to tighten up. This worked. They were able to complete the marathon without having any back issues.
After an injury prone early 2023, and very little running during the latter half, I have set modest goals for 2024, but aggressive ones for 2025. This will give me time to ramp up my training more conservatively and safely. I’m taking days off even when I feel OK, and not running through niggles like I used to. I’m not running to exhaustion on my long runs and speed workouts. I’m cross-training (mainly biking and swimming) to build a bigger cardio engine while limiting the strain on my legs. So far, so good. I’ve stayed injury free and have been improving my fitness. I’m not getting faster as quick as I’d like – I have to remember to be patient – but I’m on a good path towards 2025.
Ignoring history and doing the same things will get you the same results. Figure out what’s really holding you back. Identify, then address your limiters. You may not be able to eliminate them all, but even small impacts can lead to big results.
Train smart. Have fun. Smile. See you on the trails (and roads). For more training advice, coaching services, and races, visit
Runners are generally creatures of habit. We can be quite obsessive at times. Yet, often, there are things that we know we should be doing, but struggle to do. Maybe that’s early morning runs, speed workouts, hills, getting out when it’s cold (or hot), running on the treadmill, plyos and core. Typically, these are the things we like the least. Often, the things we hate, the things we avoid, are the things we need most to improve.
There have been tons of self-help books and programs through history. If they worked easily, if there was one best system, there wouldn’t have to be so many, and so many new ones. I certainly won’t add to the pile. I don’t have any new ideas or miracle pills. I will, however, summarize common themes and relate them to running.
We don’t rise to the level of our goals, we sink to the level of our systems. Many people make NY resolutions. NY resolutions often fail. We need to do more than set goals and have desires. We need to create systems to make them stick. Good habits are hard to establish and bad ones hard to break. Once established, habits are relatively easy to maintain.
Make it easy. Build a system. – If you want to run in the morning, wear your running clothes to bed. If you want to read more, put your book in bed. Put your weights and exercise bands in front of the TV. Create a designated space and time.
Small bites – Avoid all-or-nothing. A little is better than not at all. To start, plan for 1 pushup instead of 20, 15 seconds of planks instead of 5min, 10min on the treadmill instead an hour, two 400s instead of 10, 30 seconds of meditation instead of 30 minutes. You can’t improve until you start. Once you start, you’re likely to do more. Van Gogh made a lot of bad paintings, and John and Paul wrote a lot of bad songs. We only see and hear their finished products.
Reward yourself when you do something new, no matter how small. Do so in a way that aligns with your new identity. For example, if you’re trying to lose weight, reward yourself with a healthy snack instead of a doughnut or ice cream. Buying new running shoes every time you do something good is expensive. However, you could get something cheaper (e.g., running socks) which aligns with your running goal (maybe not every time, but every few). You only need the reward while building the habit. Do so in the moment; immediate rewards have a greater impact. If you can’t in the moment, then make note of it (e.g., journal, check-list) until you can get the prize. Writing it down can itself be an emotional reward.
Bottom up: Do the actions/behaviors of the identity you want to become before you become that; i.e., fake it until you make it. For example, in Atomic Habits, James Clear talks about a guy who drove to the gym every day, for a month, before he stepped inside. He was slowly adopting the persona of someone who works out. Every action you take is a vote for that person. It reinforces a new identity. The more you adopt that identity, the easier it will be to do those desired behaviors and drop the undesired ones. Go to the track a few times before you run on it. Go to a group a few times before you join them
Top down: Visualize the end result, not the process. It’s better to visualize yourself crossing the finish line than running the race, for example. If you visualize being, rather than becoming fast, you are more likely to do the things, adopt the habits, that will get you there there.
Visualize with emotion, how you want to feel when you succeed. Our bodies respond to feelings. A vision without power isn’t that effective.
Attach it to another habit. For example, if you need to practice your balance, stand on one foot while brushing your teeth.
Gamify – Put a tally sheet on your fridge and make a check each time you do something, no matter how small. Break up your treadmill run into segments. For example, instead of running for an hour, run for 10 minutes at a time, then see how many 10 minute segments you can do. Mentally compliment youself for each segment. Take a drink of water after each segment, a gel after every two. Later, add a check for each segment you achieved.
Make it fun. Watch a video (treadmill), or listen to music or a podcast that you’ve been wanting and don’t do elsewhere. Do it with friends to make it more fun. Misery (until it becomes a habit) loves company.
Be careful of your self-talk. Have a growth mindset. Instead of saying “I’m not good at,” or “I hate hills,” say “I’m learning …” or “I’m getting better at …”
Setting a goal can motivate you to do the hard stuff. Signing up for a race, however, depends on your personality. If you don’t handle failure well, it can be risky to set yourelf for failure. For some, it may be better to set the goal to motivate you to train, but wait until your training is on track to sign up.
I recognize some of these tools may be contradictory. Try them to find out which one(s) work for you. Be patient. Habits don’t change overnight.
Habits are a lifestyle, not a finish line. Your goals, lifestyle, body changes. Your habits need to evolve with them.
University of Florida junior Parker Valby ran away from the pack to win the 2023 NCAA Division I womens XC championships (she also won the 2023, NCAA 5000m track title). She only runs 2-3 days/week. How was she able to do that with so little running? Low-impact cross training.
Valby had some injuries in 2022 that kept her from running. She adopted low-impact cross training to stay fit, and has kept that pattern up since. Her non-running workouts include:
Arc Trainer (elliptical like, but with a motion that better imitates running.
Elliptical.
Pool running.
Low-impact doesn’t necessarily mean easy. Valby says that she works so hard on the equipment, sweats so much, that they put signs out reading “Caution, Wet Floor” when she’s working out.
Running is a high stress exercise. Such cross-training not only reduces the impact stress, but the controlled range of motion reduces soft tissue strain. It can’t replace running, but it can go a log way to improving your fitness with low risk.
Success in endurance sports is built on a large, aerobic base. A big aerobic base is the foundation of the Norwegian Training Method. An aerobic base can be built on almost any aerobic exercise. Rowing, biking, stair stepper, swimming (Parker was a competitive swimmer before she got into running), and nordic skiing are other examples of low-impact exercise that are great in building your general aerobic fitness.
Low-impact training can be a great way to add mileage without adding mileage. The impacts of running make it hard to ramp up mileage quickly. Adding some low-impact training can be safer. For example, instead of doubling (two runs in a day), substitute the second run with a bike ride or elliptical.
Low-impact is a great way to stay fit when injured. Currently, I’m dealing with lingering bursitis/tendonitis that makes running hard. While I’m letting my body heal, I’ve been doing a lot of biking. Now that it’s getting cold, I’ve started swimming and rowing. I’ll see how that turns out when I can get back to running.
Boulder age group record holder Dan King (4:49 mile at 61yo, 37:54 at the 2023 BolderBoulder, a week before he turned 64) doesn’t run a lot of miles, but does include a lot of pool running, biking and elliptical. And, he stayed fit after a knee injury last year.
There are limits to the benefits of low-impact training. It is great when you’re training for shorter races. However, when you’re doing longer races – marathon and beyond – you need time on feet to condition your legs to handle the distance. Low-impact training can still be valuable
Which low-impact exercise is best? The best routine for you is the one you are most likely to stick with. There’s been some recent evidence about the benefits of elliptical training for runners (see below). Personally, I don’t like the elliptical. It doesn’t feel like a running stride to me. I haven’t tried an arc trainer, but have heard great things about it. I like rowing. I like cycling (I used to be a tri-geek). I like skate skiing. I like ice skating (I used to speed skate as a kid) I like a stair climber and have used it when recovering from ankle surgery. To me, it’s the best simulation of mountain running.
Train smart. Have fun. Smile frequently. See you on the trails and roads.
Adam Run Uphill Racing When in doubt, run uphill! www.runuphillracing.com Coaching for running and other endurance sports. #Bace2BasicsRacing – fun, low-cost races. #runuphillracing
The so-called Norwegian Training Method has gotten a lot of buzz with the success of Olympic and World champion and world record holder Jakob Ingebrigtsen on the track, as well as Olympic triathlon champion Kristian Blummenfelt and Ironman world champion Gustav Iden.
Much of that talk seems to be about the double threshold sessions. That’s a gross oversimplification of the training philosophy and, potentially, a huge mistake for most runners to copy. You don’t have to do double thresholds, and probably shouldn’t.
First and foremost, the Norwegian model (almost every sound training model), is built on a large, aerobic base. The champion Norwegians come to this kind of training after years of mostly low-intensity activities. That’s what’s called building an aerobic base. The bigger the base, the greater the benefit and lesser the risk from higher intensity training. It doesn’t have to be running. According to Jakob’s father, and former coach, any activity by kids will help their aerobic fitness for later when they start to run.
Second, in the Norwegian model, their interval sessions are done at/below the second lactate threshold (LT2). LT2 is the zone 3/4 break in a 5 zone model. Most of Jakob’s intervals are done well below LT2, in zone 3. The ideas behind that are:
The adaptations to Z3 vs Z4 training are similar.
At Z3, you can get more volume than you can at Z4 or Z5.
More volume gives you better lactate adaptation.
Going over LT2 significantly increases stress and slows recovery.
Brief review of LT: Lactate is both a byproduct of, as well as a fuel source for metabolism. At lower intensity levels, the lactate produced is maintained and utilized within the muscle where it’s produced. Once you go above the first lactate threshold (LT1, zone 2), lactate leaks out of the muscle into the blood. This is when your blood lactate levels begin to rise; LT1 is also known as the onset of blood lactate accumulation (OBLA). Lactate is shuttled to other parts of your body, then converted into a fuel. Your brain is a significant user of lactate. The less glycogen (sugar) your brain demands (it demands a lot), the more is available for your muscles. Between LT1 and LT2, your body is capable of utilizing the lactate. LT2 is where you start producing more lactate than your body can process. Your blood lactate rises more sharply. Such high efforts are sustainable only for short periods of time. The longer you are able to go at/below LT2, the longer you’ll be able to maintain your speed in an endurance race.
Many of us learned to do intervals hard, Z5, ~5k effort or faster. These are the types of efforts where you may be hunched over, gasping for air at the end, aka seeing god. Sub-LT2 intervals are easier. Because they are easier, you can do more of them, and thus more training stimulus. For example:
Under the old method, I might do 800m repeats in ~3:00-3:10, with ~1:30-1:45 recovery. At that effort, I might max out at 6-8 repeats.
Under the Norwegian model, I might do those 800m repeats in ~3:20-3:25, with recovery of ~1:00 (lower effort means you don’t need as much recovery between repeats). At that effort, I could do 12+ repeats.
More volume means more time with raised lactate levels, more training stimulus, leading to greater efficiency buffering lactate. A lower effort means less risk of overload.
What about doubles? The idea of breaking it up into two sessions allows for even greater volume, greater training stimulus. If you’re an elite like Jakob, Kristian, or Gustav, where it’s your job, and you’re doing a very high volume of training, double interval sessions make sense. For the rest of us mere mortals, with busy lives outside or training, double interval sessions may be impractical. Even if we have the time, we are busy doing things between the sessions whereas they are resting.
As I started with, threshold intervals are just a small part of their training. The vast majority, and the most important part of their training are long easy efforts. Jakob does to some higher efforts in training – e.g., 2x/week, 30-second hill sprints, at 1500m-3000m race pace – however, those are a small part of his total volume. Very little of his running is done at or faster than 4:00/mi pace (he recently ran a 3:43 mile).
Build a big aerobic base before training fast/hard. That, alone, will make you faster.
Train smart. Have fun. Smile frequently. See you you on the trails and roads.
Adam Run Uphill Racing When in doubt, run uphill! www.runuphillracing.com Coaching in running and other endurance sports. Fun, low-keyed/low-cost races.
Sometimes, life throws us a curve – job change, financial distress, family illness, injury, etc.
Relax. Don’t worry. Blah, blah, blah. You’re going to feel what you’re going to feel, and that’s OK. Rather, let’s talk about how to navigate life’s messes.
If you aren’t able to “train,” aren’t able to get in your long runs or speed workouts, just run what you can. Some running is better than no running. Training doesn’t have to be perfect. Everyone has bumps along the way, misses some workouts, doesn’t hit training targets. Sometimes, good enough is good enough. https://runuphillracing.wordpress.com/2022/06/09/less-than-perfect/
Reassess your training. DON’T try to cram extra training in to catch-up. A missed workout is a missed workout. You can move it to another day/week, but don’t double up to try to get everything in. That will increase the risk of injury. Something has to give.
Reassess your goals. If you have to miss enough training that you can’t meet your goal, shoot for something different that’s may still be challenging, but more reasonable. For example, instead of shooting for a BQ, aim to finish strong. Then, you can use that experience to help you next time. You might also want to pick out another or different target race later on.
Earlier this year, my mom fell and broke her hip. She lives in L.A. My brother and sister also live in L.A. (I’m the one who left). Because of their proximity, they normally handle any big family issues. I was available and they couldn’t put their lives on hold for long, so I went to L.A. to care for her. I was there for a week, then another 25 straight days as she moved from hospital to a rehab facility, came home, and them moved to a senior living facility. My schedule revolved around her needs. My sleep was disturbed as she woke during the night in pain. I ran as I could rather than “trained.”
Remember that it’s just running. Sure, your race goal may be important, but we’re not elites. Running is part of our lives, but it’s not our lives. There will be other races. Life goes on.
Life > Running Family > Running
To add to my training difficulties, my hamstring tightened up on an easy run there. Maybe that was because I didn’t have my non-running exercise devices had gotten out of the routine. Ugh.
Since returning to Denver, I’ve had to reestablish my routines. I’ve refocused on doing the kind of exercise I should be doing all the time, and that I was doing before this, but am sometimes lazy about. This will help to prevent injuries going forward. I’m reacclimating to altitude; my HR seems to be 5-10 beats higher for comparable effort levels than it was a couple of months ago. I’m taking my time regaining fitness – I’m building from where I am, not where I should’ve been. I’m not rushing to hit targets in upcoming, less important races. Instead, I’m building towards goals later in the year.
I have a long history of running so am building off of a strong base. That should help me regain speed and endurance fairly quickly. It’s not just what you do in the current season, but what you have built up over years that’s important.
“The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry,” as poet Robert Burns wrote (popularized by John Steinbeck), Life happens. Be flexible. Keep an open mind. Make the best of a bad situation.
There are some basic principles of endurance training that we all should be following regardless of sport, according to Stephen Seiler. You haven’t heard of him? Perhaps that’s because he hasn’t written a best selling book or isn’t a coach (other than his daughter).
Stephen Seiler is one of the most widely cited researchers and sought after speakers on endurance sports. He has influenced research into training intensities for endurance athletes. His research tends to support polarized training, similar to Jack Daniels. Although, he is evidence based and continues to learn and adapts as he does more research and learns from elites.
Stephen Seiler is originally from Texas. He has been a professor of Sports Science at University of Agder, in Norway, for over two decades. He has done research and worked with teams and sports federations in a variety of endurance sports including cycling, triathlons, cross-country skiing, rowing, orienteering, speed skating, and running. He was a competitive rower, now mostly bikes.
In this article, I will summarize:
Basic training principles for endurance athletes.
Applications and concerns for older athletes.
Interviews with elite athletes including Kilian Journet.
2 LTs and 3 Zones
Lactate turn points are the key physiological factors that should drive training intensity. There are two of them. Briefly, lactate is a byproduct of metabolism, transport mechanism for energy, and fuel source. Lactate, produced via anaerobic/glycolic metabolism, can be transported to other muscles and organs, then converted into ATP, the fuel for muscles.
Lactate Turn Point 1 (LT1) is where there starts to be an increase of lactate in the blood system. Lactate is always present and is produced even at low effort levels. Below LT1, Zone 1 in the 3-zone model image (green), lactate is maintained and used locally. Above LT1, the local muscle is not able to utilize all the lactate being produced so it leaks out into the blood stream. LT1 is also called Ventilatory Threshold 1 (VT1) because that’s where the breathing first starts to become labored, where someone can hear your breathing – you have to breathe harder to expel more CO2, a byproduct of glycolic metabolism. LT1 and VT1 aren’t exactly the same, but they’re close enough. Monitoring your breathing is a great way to monitor your effort with or without a heart rate monitor. Other names for LT1/VT1 include: Onset of Blood Lactate Accumulation (OBLA), Aerobic Threshold (AeT), Maximum Aerobic Fitness (MAF from Phill Maffetone).
Zone 2 in the 3-zone model (yellow): As lactate leaks into the blood, it is transported to other parts of the body for energy including the brain, liver and heart. Blood lactate levels will continue to rise until they reach what’s calls a maximum lactate steady state (MLSS) up to LT2. Zone 2 is also known as Marathon Race Pace (MRP). In theory, you could continue to exercise at MRP as long as you can sufficiently fuel yourself with carbs. In reality, your muscles will fatigue.
LT2/Z3: Once your cross LT2, you are producing more lactate than your body can process. Blood lactate and cortisol levels shoot up quickly, breathing becomes harder (VT2), and recovery takes longer. Exhaustion hits in minutes rather than hours.
Seiler’s 3-zone model (left) is built around the physiological changes at the LTs. However, he accepts that some sports and coaches prefer a 5 (right) or more zone model. There isn’t a significant physiological difference between zones 1 & 2 or 4 & 5 in a 5-zone model. However, there can be value in designating a workout be Z1 so that the athlete doesn’t get anywhere close to LT1.
Most of your high intensity training (HIT) should be around LT2, high Z3 or low Z4 in a 5-zone model. You shouldn’t go into Z5 very often. Above LT2, lactate, cortisol, and other stress markers rise rapidly. Slightly lower intensity intervals allow for more volume and more training stimulus with less stress. Harder isn’t better. So, instead of doing your 400m, 1mi, 2km, etc. intervals almost as hard as you can, do them around LT2, typically somewhere between 10km and ½-marathon pace/effort. The Ingebrigtsen model has Jakob (and others) doing most of his intervals a bit below LT2. This allows him to do a higher volume of lactate training.
Some Z5 training is good when training for 10km, 5km, and shorter events. Such Z5 intervals should be in shorter intervals, with less volume, and be saved until you are getting closer to your goal race. E.g., 4-8 min hard, ~5k effort, with 1-2 min recovery.
3 Zones5 Zones
Buckets
Training stresses your body. Training damages muscles, tendons and bones, suppresses the immune system, impairs your sympathetic nervous system (seen via HRV), creates inflammation, and leads to mental fatigue. That stress is necessary to stimulate adaptation. However, stress should be managed. Too much stress (and not enough recovery) leads to your body breaking down rather than adapting and becoming stronger.
The vast majority of your training should be done at low intensities, below LT1, where stress is lower. There are a lot of beneficial adaptations that take place below LT1 without the added stress from going harder. You become more efficient in oxygen utilization. This pushes out the pace/effort of both LT1 & LT2.
Polarized, 80/20: Seiler believes that most of your training should be in the green bucket rather than yellow or red. However, 80/20 is more of a guardrail than a rigid rule. There are times when your green bucket training might be well > 80% (e.g., off and early season). Also, there may be time when your HIT might be well > 20%, in short blocks, for shorter goal races (e.g., 5km), close to your competition. Remember that racing counts as HIT. However, many athletes tend to do their low efforts too hard, which leads to not being able to reach or spend enough time at LT2. Planned green and red workouts end up being in the yellow bucket. The red arrows below indicate what many athletes tend to do, not what they should be doing.
Recovery tools – e.g., Normatec boots, ice baths, vitamin C, nsaids – that reduce inflammation, blunt the adaptive signal and, thus, the adaptive response. Such tricks might be OK if doing repeated races in a short period of time, like a stage race.
Training Intensity Buckets
Other basic principles of endurance training across all endurance sports
Build your aerobic base first before adding intensity.
Aerobic base leads to higher VO2Max and LT even without HIT.
Base building can be done in other sports. Runners, for example, can build their base with low impact and low intensity cycling, rowing and xc skiing.
Running is different in that the stress from gravity – eccentric load on muscles, and impact on bones/joints – is much greater than almost every other endurance sport.
Sport and race intensity specificity comes closer to your race/season.
Consistency > details. Do the big things right. Worry less about the details.
Success is not just what you do in the proximate season/training cycle. Adaptions over years of consistent training impact the current season.
VO2Max peaks early in life, late teens – early 20s. Economy (speed at given oxygen uses) continues to increase as you age.
Speed training for endurance athletes is different than Z4/5 training. It’s about training your fast twitch fibers to become stronger and fire more rapidly. Do this via short, 20-60 second sprints, with a lot of rest between. Don’t worry about HR or lactate.
Stress is stress to your body. It doesn’t differentiate between exercise stress, a fight with your spouse, or being chased by a mountain lion. Life stresses impact your training and recovery. Training plans assume the best conditions. They should be modified around overall stress, health, weather, etc.
Training Pyramid and Foundation
Masters athletes
As we get older, performance ability declines. This is due to three main factors:
Max HR declines.; 208-.68a. Formulas (e.g., 220-age; or men: 209.6 – .72age, women: 207.2 – .65age) summarize for populations, but there is a lot of individual variation. If you are using max HR, you should get yours tested, or at least have a good idea through experience, rather than relying on formulas. Because max HR declines, LT1 as % of max goes up.
Lose muscle mass (sarcopenia). We lose type 2, fast twitch fibers faster, the ones for speed and explosive power. This is why older athletes tend to move to longer, slower events. This decline accelerates as we get older. We lose quantity, not the quality of muscles; force per fiber stays. We also tend to add more sub-cutaneous fat.
Lose tendon elasticity. He calls achilles ruptures an old man disease.
To counter the loss of muscle mass, older athletes should include strength training. Strength training should not be just sport specific. Strength training is beneficial for overall health. Thus, strength training should include muscles not central to your sport; runners should train their arms and shoulders, not just their legs.
Interviews and Videos
Seiler has a number of good videos on his YouTube channel. This includes long interviews with some elite athletes. Here are summaries of a couple of them.
Kilian Journet: Kilian spends months doing Z1/2. Able to race well at short, high intensity, Skimo races, for example, without HIT, because of his aerobic base and history of HIT over years. He does most of his technical running on easy days. He was raised at altitude but now lives at sea level. He adapts to altitude easily perhaps, because, he has gone up and down so much, his body knows how to adapt. He came to Colorado only a couple of days before last year’s Hardrock, where he set the record. Surprisingly, his hemoglobin levels aren’t that high. He thinks he does well at altitude because of large capillarization and lung capacity rather than blood chemistry.
Nils Van Der Poel: Nils set world records and won gold medalist in both the 5000m and 10000m, at the 2022 Winter Olympic. He spent a lot of time running ultras and racing road bikes before returning to speed skating Even when he did return, he still did most of his training on the bike since ice oval availability is limited, and the body can only so much time in a speed skating position. Cycling simulates skating well. Two of America’s greatest speed skaters were also great cyclists – Connie Carpenter-Phinney (1972 winter Olympics at 14yo, first women’s cycling gold medal at the 1984 Olympics) and Eric Heiden (5 gold medals at the 1980 winter games, then pro tour rider). Nils followed a 5/2 training plan during his Olympic prep. He trained hard Mon – Fri, then took the weekends off. This is not for everyone, but interesting to think about.
I was writing this blog when I came across an interview with Kipchoge where he talks about discipline, ideas that fit well here. I decided to merge a review of that interview below.
It can be fun to go after a training/segment PR, to keep up with a faster friend, to not get chicked at Wash Park, to chase down that guy/gal you always see, to blast those intervals. A little of that is OK, but not too much, not too often.
Workouts First let me define “workout.” A workout is any defined run, not just the hard ones. It can be of any effort or distance. In a sense, every run is a workout. Some of those “workouts” are easy and/or just about getting out and running for fun. Those runs have a purpose. They might be most of your runs during the off-season.
“Training is not about competing,” as Kipchoge says. Don’t go hard chasing down that gal/guy you always see when you’re supposed to be going easy. Put (metaphorical) blinders on and shut down your ego. Know that it’s OK to go slow, to let other people pass you, because you’re doing your thing. Know that maybe you can go get them, but you don’t have to. Know that you can get that segment PR, but you don’t have to.
Training plans should not be rigid. Much of the time, it’s OK to go a little faster/slower, a little shorter/longer. It’s OK to adjust a bit to run with a friend, for example. However, don’t dramatically change a workout to fit a group run. If you want to run with a group and know they run a certain pace, plan your training to fit that pace. In general, it’s better to go easier rather than harder than planned.
Save those hard efforts for when you’re supposed to go hard. Then, it’s about doing what you’re supposed to be doing. PRs are for racing, not training. Go as hard as you’re supposed to. Strive for effort PRs, not absolute ones. For example, measure your progress by how fast you can run a segment at Zone 2 (i.e., edge of easy) or Zone 4 (LT2, aka lactic threshold), not all out. You should feel like you have a little more to give in your 400 or mile repeats. An infrequent all-out effort is OK as long as it fits your training and doesn’t leave you so tired that it interferes with your training in subsequent days.
When it’s time to taper, resist the urge to test your race fitness by running fast. Save your PR efforts for the race. That hard run in the week or so before your target race might damage your success in the race.
Some of you like to race often like I do. Most of those races are not target races. Do them for fun. Do them for training. Remember to stick to your training goal for that run and focus on your bigger, longer term goals. Treat them more like a tempo, a run at a specified pace or effort, rather than all-out. Save you’re a game for you’re A races.
Vitamin N The interview with Kipchoge is long, about 1.5 hours. Some of it is hard to understand with his accent. I encourage you to listen to it at a time/place where you can pay good attention.
First, remember that Kipchoge is an elite. Running is his job. While there are valuable lessons we can learn from him, we are not him. We are not elites. Running revolves around our lives, not the other way around. At least, I think it should.
At his Team NN training camp, in Kenya, he has a billboard with 60 core values. He encourages his (younger) teammates to choose 15 core values, then narrow it down to three. Focusing on those three core values leads to success. This means sacrificing personal passions and pleasures. This takes discipline
Three key factors lead to self-discipline:
Vitamin N – learn to say no.
Set your priorities right.
Avoid complaining.
Saying no isn’t easy. Adopting self-discipline isn’t a one-night event. Rather, it’s a process. It takes time. It takes practice. It takes work.
He doesn’t believe in success. Rather, he believes in in preparation and planning. You can’t sit and wait for success. It’s waiting for you to grab it. You need to:
Be prepared.
Be well planned.
Be ready to grab it.
You need to have the right systems. If you have the right systems and do the work, you’re successful. Success is the process, not the outcome.
If you’re climbing a tree, you are going for branches. Work for a branch. If it’s strong enough to hold your weight, once you’ve achieved a branch, forget that branch and go after the next one. The moment you get it (e.g., world record for him), say thank-you and move on.
When asked about his humility, he says: The moment you chase away ego, that’s the best place to think, the best place to be with other people, the best place to get your training right.
When he wakes up, he just gets ready and runs. No journal. No phone. If he doesn’t feel like running (he is human), he just goes. 10min later, he feels good. After the run, his team has an hour to eat breakfast, shower, etc. No phones are allowed in kitchen and while eating. Only after does he do what the rest of the world wants him to do.
Group runs are important. Mon, Wed and Fri are free running days, no prescribed pace or effort. Run how you feel. Again, training runs is not competition. He will listen to music or podcasts on those runs, not on the hard runs or races. You can listen for an hour and not realize that you’ve run for an hour.
He trusts in the long run. They teach you how to handle suffering. They calm your mind. If something happens, you need to move on. Running is not about legs, it’s about the mind.
Feel the pain. Pain is part of success. You need to work for it (success). Convert pain into a positive thing. In marathon, pain should be there.
He smiles, looks the same at mile 1 and 25, he looks relaxed because he trains to run super relaxed at a high pace.
Why is he able to keep going fast after dropping the pacers and his competitors? He runs his own race. If someone wants to come along, that’s OK. He keeps pushing because he trusts in his training. He’s not worried about losing racing alone.
The night before a big race, he sleeps poorly like others. He doesn’t look at his sleep data on race day.
Before you go to bed, reflect on the day. Did you effect the world on a positive or negative way?
He writes in journals with pen and paper, not on computer. He believes if you write it by hand, you’ll remember it. He writes about his training (everything, not just time and distance), his shoes, books he reads, etc.
No human is limited. This applies to all aspects of life, all jobs, not just running. He believes he can run sub-2 in a major marathon. Few have dared to try. Few have even dared to think about it. He has. He believes that if he has the right systems – nutrition, teammates, [shoe] technology, support crew – he can regardless of race conditions.
I suspect he’ll go for it at a fall marathon next year or 2024. He also wants to win all six marathon majors. He’s won Tokyo, Berlin, London, and Chicago. He’s yet to run or win Boston and NY. He’s planning to run Boston next April. The Paris Olympics is summer, 2024. Perhaps he does NY next fall, then goes for the record at Valencia, Dec, 2024.
Bringing it home We don’t have to live completely like Kipchoge. Running is not our job. We have family, work, school, friends, etc. I have > 3 core values. Running may be one of them but it’s not the most important. I recognize that I’m going to and want to go on vacation with my family, skip a run to take care of a sick kid, go out with friends, have fun. Of course, I want to do well at my A races, but I’m willing to sacrifice a bit for the other important things in my life. I don’t live an ascetic life dedicated to running. If that means I’m a little slower than I could be, that’s OK. Success, my self-worth, it tied to many things in life, not just running.
We don’t have to be perfect. That’s an impossible standard to judge yourself by. As Kipchoge says, it’s a process, it doesn’t happen in one night. I make mistakes, I know I’m going to make mistakes. I don’t beat myself up when I do. I acknowledge it and strive to do better.
Personal Experience Earlier this fall, I did a long run with a friend who was training for a marathon. He did 18. I could’ve stretched to 18 but I would’ve paid for it later. I did 12. I brought my bike, then rode out to meet him for the rest of his run.
I am far from perfect. I sometimes run with the Runners Roost Denver Run Club. There are several (mostly) guys who are faster than me. On my first run back with the group this fall, I hung with them. About 4.5mi into a 7mi run, I realized how much harder I was running than intended and backed off. I missed the lead group at a light, waited through two lights for the next group to catch me, then just cruised back to the store with them. I planned to stay away from most speed for a while – to let my body recover from a long season of racing and rebuild my base. I was more tired than I should’ve been. This forced me to adjust my runs the next few days. In subsequent runs with the club, I’ve made a point of letting the fast group go and hanging back with other packs. I’ve been running with slower runners, but they’re doing the kind of pace that fits what I should be doing. I quiet the voice in my head that says I should be faster than they are to be able to run with others. I get to hang with the larger group before/after. I’ll save running with the lead group until I’m ready for harder runs.
Chasing Squirrels Most dogs want to chase every squirrel they see. We don’t have to. Keep your eyes on the prize. Stay disciplined. Have some fun and go after some PRs, but not too much, not too often.
Train smart! Have fun! Smile frequently! See you on the roads and trails.
Do you look forward to tapering or fear it? “What is supposed to be a relaxing time to rest and recover … [can be] a time of intense anxiety,” writes Stephanie Kinnon in an article titled “The Terror of Tapering.”
Tapering can be stressful. Many questions may be running through your mind.
Should I taper?
Will I lose my fitness if I back off?
Have I trained enough?
Can I squeeze in one more interval session or long run?
When should I start my taper?
How much should I run and how hard?
Pause. Take a few deep breaths. Relax.
Yes, you should taper for a big race. A “big” race is one you want to do well in whether that’s ¼-mile or 100.
Training is a repeated process of stress followed by recovery and build. When you train, you stress your body. Your body responds to the stress by building back stronger if you don’t overstress it and give it time to recover. In the midst of training, you don’t fully recover. You want to recover enough to continue training at the level you need to continue to build your fitness.
For a big race, you want more of a recovery. That doesn’t mean complete rest. It means doing enough to keep your body’s systems primed to race while but allowing your body a greater recovery. No, you will not lose any significant fitness. I’ll get into how below. For now, don’t underestimate the value of fresh legs.
No, you probably shouldn’t try to squeeze in one last hard workout close to a big race.
The question “Have I done enough?” doesn’t really matter late in the game. You’ve done what you’ve done. Adaptation to new stress, new training stimulus takes weeks. It’s the repeated exposure to that stimulus throughout training that matters. Thus, a single extra workout will not add much, but that extra workout could lead to illness, injury, or fatigue on race day. If you think you’ve prepared well, trust your training. If you think you’ve fallen short, modify your goals. It’s too late to fix it.
Don’t add anything new to your training. New means harder and longer as well as different. I like to count back 6-8 weeks from my target race. That’s when I want to be at my peak training level, my longest run and/or hardest speed/hill session. That doesn’t mean I start my taper then. I’ll repeat those hard sessions the last few weeks leading into my taper, but won’t increase them.
Minimize weights and resistance training. The goal of tapering is to have fresh muscles at the start. You’ve done the work. Let your body absorb it.
Tapering is as much art as science. It’s as individual to the person as it is the event. Rather than giving you a specific recipe, here are some guidelines to follow.
Maintain the same schedule if you can. Your body becomes used to rhythms. If you’ve been running 5 days/week, keep running those same 5 days.
Cut back on volume. In general, race week should be < 50% of total volume. If you’re doing a 3-week taper off of 60 miles/week, the final three weeks might be 45, 35, 25. Do so by shortening your runs rather than skipping one. If not sure, err on the side of less rather than more.
Maintain the intensity with caveats. Keep doing your speedwork but shorten the number or repetitions. In general, you don’t need to do them any faster than race pace/effort during taper. If you’re training for a marathon and been doing your speed sessions faster than marathon race pace (MRP), slow them down to MRP. If you’re training for an ultra, I would continue to do striders (You’re not? You should); ~30 seconds with a focus on leg turnover not speed, short, quick strides. Striders are good during the taper for all distance.
The week of, only do easy/recovery runs with some striders and perhaps a short tempo at race pace/effort; e.g., a couple of miles at marathon race pace for a marathon, 5 minutes or so at 5k pace for a 5k.
How long should you taper?
5k – 10k: 1 week.
½-Marathon: 2 weeks.
Marathon: 3 weeks.
50 – 100mi: 3-4 weeks.
These are guidelines, not hard and fast rules. Listen to your body. In general, err on the side of too little than too much. Any fitness loss from tapering will be nominal and more than offset by having a rested body. It’s better to go into a big race a bit undertrained than 1% overtrained, with well rested legs rather than a depleted body.
Knowing the physiology doesn’t necessarily ease the anxiety. Your taper needs to address the mind as well as the body. If you’re anxious and feel the need to do more, it’s OK to add an extra short/easy run or a set of striders. Something short and fast, like striders, can be good at alleviating nerves. Just remember to keep it short and not too hard. If you/your legs feel like they want to run more and fast, that’s good. Do just enough to ease the mind so that you’ll have that feeling at the start line.
Food: As you cut back on training, you might want to cut back on eating, but only a bit. You don’t want to gain weight, but you also don’t want to go hungry. For those who count calories, the calories you burn are not just what you use in training, but also in recovery and basic daily functioning. Your metabolism should already be fairly high from training into the taper. The best way to cut back during tapering is to cut out/back on junk food and snacks, and perhaps slightly smaller portions at meals. Keep the more nutritious foods and less of the empty calories. Indulge after.
Sleep is important in training in general as well as in tapering. Sleep is where your body does most of its repairing and strengthening. Sleep as well as you can to let your body get ready to race. Sleeping well the night before can be challenging for many. If you sleep well in the days prior, you don’t have to worry as much about the night before.
Should you race prior to your “A” race? That depends. A shorter, training “B” race can be a good test of your training and good way to practice for the “A” race. You can try your shoes, nutrition, hydration, pacing, night before, breakfast day of, etc.
If you want to do a “B” race, you can do a mini-taper and recovery. Back off for a few days, perhaps a week leading into the race. Use that week as a down week; most good training plans will include a down/recovery week every few weeks. Use the race as a hard workout, not necessarily all out. Then, take a few easy days after the race. Elites might be able to race a hard ½-marathon 3-6 weeks before a marathon. That doesn’t mean the rest of us can. Note that Kipchoge didn’t race prior to his record breaking Berlin marathon (I think his last race was in March).
Tapering is my second favorite part of training. Training can be wearing both physically and psychologically. I see tapering as a reward for a long stretch of training. It’s a time to rest my body and relax my mind. I realize not everyone thinks like I do. Know that there’s very little you can do to help at this point but a lot you can do to put all that effort to waste. All I can say is trust in your training, trust in yourself. Take all that work you’ve done and make sure it’s ready to use on race day.
Train smart. Have fun. Smile. See you on the trails (and roads).
Pacing in ultras is easy – start out slow, then fade. Just kidding.
Proper pacing is important. Going out too fast or too slow can ruin your (very long) day. However, there’s a lot of room in the middle. You don’t have to be perfect.
Leadville Buckle
Don’t follow pacing charts. Just because a pacing chart says that if you want to finish in 27 hours, you should be at AS2 in 4 hours, doesn’t mean that’s right for you. In general, such pacing charts are an average of what people do run not what they should run. And, they’re an average. There is a wide range of variation around that average. The further from the finish, the greater that variance.
At best, pacing charts can tell you about what finishing time you may have at any given point along a course. Note that if you’re pushing cut-offs early on, it’s likely you’ll be in trouble later. This will vary by race.
Success in ultras is largely about minimizing muscle damage early and managing it later. Much of muscle damage in running comes from eccentric contractions. Eccentric contractions are when your muscles are working when lengthening. Muscles are stronger when shortening. When you do an arm curl, the bulge is from your bicep shortening. When you let the weight down, that’s an eccentric contraction; the bicep is working, controlling the descent while lengthening.
The two muscle groups taking the most eccentric strain are the quads and calves. They help stabilize your body as you land. When you run, your quads undergo eccentric stress when you land – they stabilize your lower body as your knee bends. Your calves work while lengthening as your heel comes down after landing. These muscles work concentrically as you push off. The soreness you feel walking down stairs, after a big race, is from the eccentric damage.
Concentric strain is caused when you push off on your stride. They are more of a strain when climbing and going faster. While you should be aware of this, the greater focus should be on eccentric strain.
The other side of stride is biomechanic efficiency. Biomechanic efficiency is how much of the energy from each stride is carried forward vs lost into the ground and muscles. In general, the faster you go, the more energy is carried forward stride to stride. Of course, faster also increases metabolic (fuel) demands and eccentric strain.
In general, slower is less damaging. However, there is a running (walking is less damaging than running) pace below which your stride can be more damaging. Also, slower is biomechanically inefficient. That shuffle, where you slide your foot forward into the ground as you land and where your foot spends a lot of time on the ground, is inefficient. The key is in finding the right balance between biomechanic efficiency, muscle strain, and metabolic demands.
Start as fast as possible with an efficient, minimally damaging stride, or as slow as necessary to maintain a fairly efficient stride while minimizing muscle strain. Walk when you need to in order to minimize strain, not just because others are walking. Run when you can; it’s faster than walking.
I realize this is vague, but I can’t give you a specific pace. This is something you have to experiment with in your training. This means something going to fast or to slow in training. You don’t learn your boundaries until you push beyond them.
Back to pacing charts – they may get you in the ballpark, but they shouldn’t drive how you race. Learn to run by feel. This takes practice and you’re likely to get it wrong sometime, but you’ll be better off in the long run (pun intended). Of course, if you’re struggling to make cut-offs, then you’ll have to go as fast as necessary to hit them.
This is a guide for those pacing the Leadville Trail 100 Run. Although primarily for pacers, the information is valuable to crew and runners too.
This was originally written in 2004 and has been revised a few times. This latest version is based on my experiences through the years including my most recent experience pacing in 2021, and more recent changes in the race. Use the Outline headings to navigate the different sections. Please send me feedback, comments, suggestions for improvement, critiques, etc., and/or comment on this blog.
I’ve paced and crewed the LT100 Run > 10 times, raced twice with top-20, sub-23hr finishes, and have coached several runners. I’ve worked with runners from all parts of the pack: a perennial top 5 finisher, 25-27 hour finishers, and some who have dropped. I have also crewed at the LT100 mountain bike race. I know the race well and gladly share my insights including some things I don’t think you’ll find elsewhere.
Before we start:
Rule #1: TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF FIRST! You can’t help, and may even hurt your runner’s chances if you end up struggling. Make sure that you have enough food, fluids, the proper clothing, lights, extra batteries, etc. At Leadville, you need to be prepared for varied terrain, rapidly changing weather, and to be out there longer than expected. I’ll talk more about gear in part 3, later.
Rule #2: It’s their race/experience. You are there to be of service to the runner. Put your own ego and personal agendas aside for a few hours to accommodate whatever needs and wishes they have.
Use the Outline headings to navigate the different sections. Please send me feedback, comments, suggestions for improvement, critiques, etc., or comment on this blog.
Pacing Basics: What is pacing? Why pacers? Should/can you pace?
How To and Pacing Strategies.
Pacing Gear.
Crew and Aid Stations.
. Tip: Don’t change at Halfpipe. Change at Pipeline or Outward Bound instead.
Finding a pacer, or runner to pace. It’s possible even on race day.
What is pacing? Briefly, pacing is accompanying a runner during the race. A pacer is part friend, coach, psychologist, nutritionist, and mule (see below). A good pacer can play a big part in a runner’s success, sometimes even determining whether or not a runner even finishes. Ultra running is as much a psychological challenge as it is a physical one. A pacer can do a lot to help a runner through the rough spots.
Muling refers to carrying gear for the racer. At Leadville, unlike most other ultras, muling is not only allowed, it’s encouraged. This can mean carrying food, water, clothing, lights, and batteries. I’ll talk about what and how to carry stuff in the Gear section.
Should you pace? Yes. If you or a friend are still on the fence about pacing, jump in. Pacing is a fun and motivating. You’ll feel their joys and triumphs, their pain and struggles. It can be an extremely powerful experience to be out there with “ordinary” people doing amazing things.
Pacing is also a great way to learn about Leadville and ultras. If you’re thinking about getting into ultras, this is a great way to learn, from the inside, about the course, race tactics, managing crew and pacers, gear, nutrition, the mental challenge, etc.
Can you pace? Almost anyone can. You don’t have to be an ultra runner. You don’t have to be that fast. You don’t even have to be a “runner.” Most racers will be doing a lot more walking than running over the last 50 miles. Even when they do run, it won’t be that fast.
Pacing legs are as short as 4 or as long as 50 miles. You don’t have to be able to go that far. Even if you do end up going longer than you’re used to, you’ll probably be going a lot slower than you’re used to going on your long runs. So, as long as you are taking in fuel and fluids, you may be surprised at how easy it is to go far. My first ultras were done pacing at Leadville.
A good, strong, hiker can make a great pacer. Most of the racers will be walking most of the last 50 miles. If you can hike for several hours, at night, at 10,000’+, you can pace many of the runners in the field, especially over the mountain passes where they’ll likely be walking anyway. I have a friend, who couldn’t run a 60 minute 10k but is a strong hiker, and has paced successfully several times.
There’s more to pacing than just tagging along. In this section, I will give you tips to help you get the most out of your runner, and get the most out of your pacing experience, and how to deal with a struggling runner.
How to Pace
Where/how to run.
Hand-offs.
Talking vs. Silence.
Dealing with a Struggling Racer.
Injured Runner.
Getting Dropped
Everyone has different preferences about where they want you, what they want you to carry, how much they want you to talk, etc. Let the runner dictate the routine and the relationship. If you know your runner/pacer, talk about these things ahead of time. If you’re meeting each other on race day, check with their crew and use the start of your time together to figure out a routine. Regardless of what you may have worked out, be prepared to change. The runner will likely go through different emotional and physical states during the race. Each situation may require a different routine.
Where to run? Some runners like their pacers in front of them, some behind, some alongside. When I’m racing, on a single-track trail, I usually like to be in front with my pacer behind. I like to see the terrain; the unobstructed sight helps me go faster. This is especially true on the steep climbs and descents. Others prefer their pacer in front because it gives them the psychological feeling of being pulled along. If they like to chat, they may want you alongside where the trail is wide enough.
When running behind, you’ll want to stay far enough back so that you have clear view of the trail (you don’t want to be staring at their heels or back the whole way), yet close enough that you can hear them talk, and quickly scoot up to hand them a water bottle, etc. When running in front, look back periodically to maintain a fairly steady gap.
When pacing alongside, I’ll always try to give the runner the inside on curves. This has me crossing from side to side, behind the runner, as the trail curves.
This may change at night. While I generally want my pacer behind me during the day, at night, on rocky single-track (e.g., the Colo Trail from Hagerman Rd down to Mayqueen), I like having the pacer in front. They can pick the better line through the rocks so I don’t have to think about it. And, the extra light in front helps illuminate the trail (light from behind can cast a shadow). There are a few very short sections that are extremely rocky. There, it may help for the pacer to go through first, then turn and shine their lights down on the rocks as the runner traverses them. See more on lights below.
When handing stuff, I use a relay baton style hand off. They’ll tell me what they want. When I have it ready, I’ll move closer and tell the runner to hold out his/her hand. This allows both of you to keep moving while you’re exchanging gear.
To talk or not to talk? That depends on the runner. I’ve seen runners and pacers chatting for hours. Others like to stay stoic and focused. Even then, it’s still a good idea to check in with them periodically and see how they’re feeling. Remind them to eat and drink if necessary, but don’t nag. I’ll ask, “Do you want some water?” for example, and let them decide whether to take it or not. If it’s been a while since they’ve taken fuel or fluids, I might be more firm in my question; e.g., “Hey, it’s been 30 minutes since you last had anything. I think you should have a gel and water soon.” They may ask you to remind them to take an electrolyte tablet at a specific time interval, for example.
Everyone struggles at some point in an ultra. Success at ultras can largely depend on how you deal with the low points. A pacer can help a runner get through those times. However, lifting the spirits of a struggling runner can be a difficult task. There are no simple tricks. Everyone deals with the struggles differently and responds to different tactics. As a pacer, be prepared to try different things and see how the runner responds. Have a few stories or jokes ready. Mental struggles are often caused by physical struggles so make sure they eat and drink. Mental struggles can then negatively impact their running.
Try to keep them moving. Each step gets them that much closer to the finish. Look for and point out milestones and positives; e.g., “good effort on that last hill.” Touching their back or shoulder can help. You’re not allowed to push them, but often a light touch can improve their energy. You can play games with them to keep them moving, such as running to the next tree. One time, I had to negotiate with my runner. We agreed on having him run for 30 seconds (on the flats), with a minute of walking. I tricked him, and had him run for a minute at a time. Even someone feeling strong may need some reminders to run the flat and downhill sections. Remind them to keep their leg speed up. Short, quick strides are usually more efficient and faster than long, slow strides, especially when they’re tired.
No matter how much they are hurting, if it doesn’t hurt any less when they slow down, they might as well go fast (relatively). The sooner they finish, the sooner the pain will stop.
There’s a rare incident that your runner will get hurt between aid stations (AS). If that happens, you first need to make sure your runner is safe, then get word to the nearest AS. In most cases, you should stay with your runner. Chances are, another runner/pacer will be along soon. Tell them your runner’s name and number and ask them to get the word to the AS crew. Some pacers are EMTs and are willing to help the runner. In that case, it may be better to let them stay with the runner and have you run to the nearest AS. Don’t administer medical assistance yourself if you are not qualified to do so. If you are a pacer and come across a lone, injured runner, be prepared to leave your healthy runner to get to the nearest AS as quickly as possible. The nearest AS may be behind you.
In 1999, a friend of mine was pacing someone up the Powerline. His runner became hypothermic. They laid down along the trail and the pacer spooned with the runner to help keep him warm. A pacer, who’s and EMT, came along with his runner. The EMT stopped, while his runner kept going to get word to the AS. They got the runner moving again. He regained his energy and finished strongly.
Occasionally, a runner will drop a pacer (i.e., the pacer can’t keep up). It’s not the responsibility of the runner to wait for the pacer. If, as a pacer, you find yourself struggling to keep up, let the runner know and to tell them to go ahead without you. If you’re the runner, and you find your pacer is repeatedly falling behind, you need to ask them if they’re OK. As long as they’re not injured, if they’re holding you up, it’s OK to go ahead on your own. Even if the pacer is slightly injured, if they are well enough to get to the nearest AS on their own and have enough food, clothing, etc., it may be OK to leave them. Remember rule #1 of pacing – TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF FIRST!
Pacing Gear
3. Pacing Gear
Pacing is different than doing a training run. First, think in terms of time, not mileage. Runners take 2-4 hours between most aid stations (AS). However, a struggling runner might take a lot longer. Be prepared for the worst, both time and weather.
Second, you will likely be going slower than on a training run. Going slower is not necessarily easier. If you haven’t done much hiking, slow running, or power hiking on steep trails, you may be using untrained muscles. You will also be generating less body heat than you may be used too. Thus, you may need more food and clothing than you expect.
Also, the weather in the mountains can change rapidly. Even if it’s sunny when you start, it could turn cold and wet before you get to the next AS. Almost every year, I see people heading towards Hope Pass without a warm shirt or jacket when it’s sunny. And, almost every year, it becomes cold and wet over Hope Pass.
Carry more than enough food, fluids, clothing, etc. to get you to the next AS. Going back to my rule #1, make sure you take care of yourself first. If you struggle, you can’t help your runner. If you are going to “mule” for your runner, carry their food and gear, you’ll also need room for that. I race light, but pace heavy.
How do you carry all of that gear? When I’m pacing, I like to carry a medium size mountain biking type hydration pack. Since you’re carrying for two, I prefer something with more storage than a typical running vest/pack. Try to carry as much as possible for your runner, as much as they’re comfortable offloading. Some prefer to keep their pack/vest on them.
I also like wearing a bike shirt when I’m pacing. I can use the pockets for smaller items that I’ll need to get more quickly and frequently (e.g., gels, gloves).
I try to carry as much of my runner’s stuff as possible. I may use a one or two bottle hip pack for his/her bottles, in addition. I’ve even carried a 3rd bottle in my hand. One year, I carried my runners CamelBak and handed her the tube whenever she wanted a drink. Don’t be afraid to load yourself to make it easier and lighter for your runner. Remember, you’re there for them.
Practice tying clothing around your waist. This can include shirts, jackets and pants. One year, my runner was very cold and left Fish Hatchery wearing a lot of extra layers. He started shedding them as we started climbing Powerline. At one point, I had a long sleeve shirt, fleece pullover, rain jacket, and rain pants tied around my waist, in addition to my pack. Towards the top, it was snowing and he became cold. I ended up giving all of it back to him to wear.
There’s a helpful technique for tying jackets: 1)pull the zipper almost all the way down; 2)take your arms out and tie the sleeves around your waist; 3)pull the zipper up as much as you can; 4)tuck the sleeves inside and roll the jacket up under the zipper. This helps keep the jacket tight and from flapping around.
You might want to carry a small, first aid kit: band-aids, moleskin, Ibuprofen, space blanket, etc. Check with the runner. Carry a watch. It’ll help you judge the distance, and keep track of how often both of you are eating/drinking.
Lights – Carry a light, even if you expect to finish pacing in daylight. Things can happen on the course, and you may be out longer than you think. Carry extra batteries, know where they are and how to change them on the run. Light technology has improved greatly in recent years and the prices have come down greatly, so there’s no reason not to have a bright light or two. Get a light that’s designed more for running, or at least fast hiking. I recommend at least 200 lumens. Lights for use around camp may not be bright enough for moving briskly along the trail. Two lights are often better than one. Put the brighter light in your hand or on your pack belt and the less bright one on your head. Two lights give better vision because different angles overcome shadows created by a single light. Having the brighter light down low keeps the glare away from your eyes. This improved contrast makes depth perception better on rocky trails. A second light also lets you shine the light on the trail in front of the runner on a particularly rocky section, while you can still use the headlamp for yourself. While a hand light is not as easy to carry, a simple handle, even one made out of duct tape, lets you keep the light in your hand while keeping your fingers free to grab things out of packs or pockets. Hand lights are usually cheaper than headlights.
When approaching others, point your light down or too the side, away from their eyes.
Crew and Aid Stations (AS)
A pacer can help save the runner a lot of time at AS. A lot of middle and back-of-the-pack runners say that a few minutes here and there don’t matter, but all that AS time adds up. Even just 5 min in each AS means almost an hour of not moving forward. Most of the leaders won’t spend more than 10-15 minutes in all the AS for the entire race. If you’re flirting with the cut-off times (30) or the big buckle (25), those AS minutes become even more important.
Crew and pacers should be ready to react quickly to change. Many runners make plans ahead of time, but things can change during the race. In both of my races, I had prepared detailed plans for my crew. However, self-inflicted stomach problems meant that I had to improvise.
Don’t forget to take care of yourself. Help your racer first, then be prepared to take care of your own needs. You can always take some extra time for yourself, then catch up to them on the trail. I’ll talk about dealing with crew and aid stations in the next part.
As you’re coming into an AS, you should find out what the runner wants (e.g., food, drink, clothing). Then, just before the AS, you might want to run ahead. If you’re using a crew, find them, tell them what the runner wants, then go back and help guide the runner to the crew. If the runner is using drop bags, run ahead and get the bag from the AS crew, pull out the gear they want, get the food they want, and have it ready for them when they come into the AS. If you’re changing pacers, pass on any vital information (e.g., how the runner is feeling and what they want on the trail) and gear to the new pacer.
Some crews and pacers have use walkie-talkies. Texting and tweeting have become more popular. However, with sketchy coverage, I prefer radios. Because of weak signals, a text update might not be received until much after it was sent. So, if you do text, use the time of day; e.g., “ETA 7:30pm” instead of “20 minutes.”
Most of the time, the runner is better off continuing to move rather than stopping and sitting at AS. Try to get them in-and-out of the AS as quickly as possible. This is especially true late at night, when it’s cold. Your body stops generating heat when you stop moving. Runners can easily become cold and start shivering. Shivering uses up a lot of energy, and it can take a lot of extra time to warm up enough to be able to start moving again. I have seen way too many runners come into OB at night feeling fine, sit down to eat, start shivering within a minute, then end up having to having to lay in a warm sleeping bag for up to an hour. A runner can save time by eating and changing clothes while on the move instead of sitting. Focus your efforts on the runner first. You can hang back to fill their bottles/bladder, grab clothing form crew or drop bags, get what you need, then catch up to them on the trail. The runner doesn’t need to, and shouldn’t wait for you.
If you’re continuing to pace through the next section, you’ll probably need to refuel. If your runner has a crew, arrange to have them carry your gear and food in their vehicle. Pack it neatly and compactly, and so that it’s easily accessible. Ask them to have it out for you at the next AS, if possible. However, it’s your responsibility to take care of yourself. Their priority should be on the racer.
As a pacer, you can also use the AS supplies. The AS will be stocked with the typical ultra fare: water, sports drink, gels, hot soup (e.g., Ramen noodle, potato, chicken), fruit (e.g., bananas, oranges), PB&J sandwiches, chips, pretzels, fig bars, brownies, etc. I’ll discuss how to be quick and efficient in the AS below.
Pacing Legs
Tip: Don’t Change at Half Pipe. Change at Pipeline or Outward Bound instead.
Winfiled to Twin Lakes (TL)
TL to Pipeline or Outward Bound (OB) – NOT HALFPIPE
OB to Mayqueen (MQ)
MQ to the Finish
Winfield –TL
This is my favorite section to pace. There are great views, both from the summit towards town, and behind you, to the south, as you are climbing. Everyone goes over the top in daylight, so you can enjoy the views. It’s also the earliest pacing section, so your runner will be relatively fresh and more likely in good spirits.
Pacers were not allowed on this section in 2021 and it’s not clear whether this will be allowed again in the future. While this can make it harder for the runners, it also significantly cuts down on crowding as this is the one section with a lot of 2-way traffic.
After crossing the creeks, you’re about ½ – ¾ mi from the AS. The trail curves right, E. This might be a good place to leave the runner and go ahead to find the crew. If they don’t have a crew, stay with them to the AS.
TL – Pipeline or OB
This section has the best flow. After the initial climb out of TL, much of it is gently rolling, not very technical, and runnable (if you are able). This is also the section that seems to do in a lot of runners. Maybe that’s because of the time of day or the accumulated mileage. However, if you haven’t managed your fuel, fluids and efforts well, this is where it seems to bite you. Also, Halfpipe seems to be the toughest cut-off time to make on the way back. If you make the cutoff there, they seem to be a bit easier to hit the rest of the way.
DON’T SWITCH PACERS AT HALFPIPE (HP). Crew vehicles are not allowed on the road past Pipeline. Continue another ~2mi to on to Pipeline or another 3mi to OB.
The section from Pipeline to OB is a good short pacing section for someone who wants a little taste of Leadville but is not able to do a longer section. It’s ~3mi and flat.
OB –MQ
This takes you up the infamous powerline, the last big hill of the course. The powerline is a long and seemingly never ending climb. It stair steps up which can make you think you’re almost at the top many times. That can be demoralizing. Also, if your runner is cold and energy lags, it can be hard to move fast enough to stay warm. It’s important to keep them moving and keep their spirits up as much as possible. There’s usually an unofficial but quite extensive aid station at the top.
From the top, you’ll be able to see the lights at MQ. If you’re using 2-way radios, this is a good place to check in with your crew. Cell coverage is very spotty here.
From the top, it’s down a jeep road. After a while, you’ll make a hairpin right turn onto the 2wd Hagerman Rd. It’s almost exactly 1-mi from there to the turn onto the Colorado Trail. This stretch is on a rocky, single-track. You’ll cross a few bridges on the way down. The last one takes you to a dirt lot and then the paved road. It’s about ¼ mi down the road to the aid station
MQ – Finish Bringing someone home can be the most fun and inspiring part of pacing. The trail around the lake is fun to run, especially in daylight, but most runners will be coming through there at night, and most will be walking.
Head down the road for ~½mi, then onto the trail around the lake. This first part is a true single track, rolling and a bit rocky in spots but not overly technical. After the Tabor boat ramp, the trail becomes mostly flat, smooth, and open. This is a good place to stretch out your stride if you have the legs. If you’re coming through this stretch at night, pay attention to the glow sticks marking the trail. You run by several campgrounds, and it’s easy to get drawn off the trail, away from the lake, by campground lights.
The end of the Turquoise Lake Trail, where you cross the road, can be another good place to meet your crew, unofficially. Although it’s not an official crew station, race management is aware that people crew there and condone it (at least they have historically). You cross the road, go down a steep and technical section, then go left on a dirt road. You can also meet people along this road up to the Sugar Loafin’ campground.
From there it’s up the paved road, across the creek and RR tracks, then right onto a dirt road. Note: the coldest part of the course often is where the road crosses the creek, just before the RR tracks, because the cold air settles along the creek. About 1mi along the RR tracks, go left up a short, steep hill. You are now on the “Boulevard.” It’s ~3.5mi from there. Once you crest the steep climb at the start, the road is wide and smooth, and the grade fairly moderate. If it’s raining, it’ll be muddy and a bit slick. You’ll see a streetlight at the end of the dirt road. Don’t get too excited yet. The light is still almost 1 mi away. The road bends left ~80 yards before you reach the pavement. This is 1mi from the finish.
Once you hit the pavement, give it all you’ve got for the uphill finish. You can have all of your pacers and crew meet you at the bottom of 6th, and escort you up to the finish. At the crest of the hill, ~½ mi to go, look for a volunteer on the right side of the street. He/she will ask for your number, then radio ahead to the finish so that they can announce your impending arrival. It’s another 2 blocks down, then 3 blocks up to the finish.
Finding a runner/pacer
It’s not too late to find a runner/pacer, even on race day. There are several web sites that are good for finding pacers.
There are several good places to look for pacers besides Leadville pages including:
Finding a pacer on race day. You can pick up someone to pace at the AS. If you’re looking to pace, show up at an AS ready to go. Make a point to look like you’re ready to go – wear running clothes, carry a pack, have your lights with you. Let waiting crew and AS staff know that you’re looking to pace. As you see runners coming in alone, ask them if they want/need a pacer. Be and look eager but don’t pester. Sometimes a runner will ask the AS crew if they know of any pacers. Announce your presence loudly and make yourself very visible. If you’re a crew, ask around before your runner arrives. If you’re a runner without a crew, ask as you come into an AS. I’ve picked up runners to pace this way twice at Fish Hatchery (now Outward Bound) – once by being ready to go when a runner came in asking if anyone wanted to pace, and another when a runner’s parents talked their son into having me help him. Both times were great experiences for both of us.
Your best bet is with runners in the middle to back of the pack. Most of the top runners already have pacers. Don’t be too picky. Pacing runners of different abilities offers different experience, and a chance to see the race from different angles, but all can be very enjoyable and rewarding. I’ve paced runners from the top 5 to back of the pack.
The best places to find a runner/pacer are at Twin Lakes (TL) and Outward Bound (OB) on the return. It’s hard to find someone at Mayqueen, although you may find someone who recently finished pacing there and is looking to do more, to run back to town rather than taking a ride.
It’s not too hard to get a ride to an AS, or back to your car after the race. Often, you can hitch a ride from town, near the start/finish, out to one of the AS, or from OB to TL. You may find crew/friends in town after the start. You can also make announcements at one of the restaurants in town, along Harrison (Main St), where friends and other pacers will eat before heading out. Most crews are friendly and helpful. You just have to ask.
Leadville, most ultras, can be a very fun and rewarding experience. Pacing (and crewing) is a great way to experience the race without doing it yourself. It’s a great way to give back to the community. Being out on the trails with racers, in the middle of the night, is a great way to learn about ultras.
Runuphill Racing 