On this month-to-month article collection, ultrarunner, race director, and coach Gabe Joyes solutions reader questions on something and all the pieces operating. Be taught extra about this ask-the-athlete column, and you should definitely fill out the shape under to submit your questions for a future article!
On this article, Gabe solutions questions on operating hills, pre-race nerves, gasoline, and extra.
Gabe’s Tip of the Month
Do you’ve gotten a “regular” operating tempo? I certain hope not! Should you run on all kinds of terrain, numerous slope angles, and all of the totally different intensities, you’ll not have the stereotypical “common” tempo. What you should have is a resilient physique that’s not worn out from overdoing anybody explicit coaching stimulus or movement sample, and I might additionally guess that you’ll benefit from the journey and selection in your personal private operating journey!
Various terrain in Wyoming’s Purple Desert results in numerous motion patterns. All pictures courtesy of Gabe Joyes, except in any other case famous.
Hills and Coronary heart Fee
What’s your guiding technique for operating hills however preserving your coronary heart price zones in verify? — Steph
I’m an enormous fan of utilizing the speed of perceived exertion (RPE) scale to find out my operating effort or depth. An RPE of 5 is an RPE of 5, regardless if I’m operating uphill, downhill, over scree, via mud, or on rock strong pavement. The trouble mainly seems the identical, regardless that the tempo may be wildly totally different. Should you hold the hassle the identical whereas operating uphill, you’re doubtless going to remain in the identical coronary heart price zone.
That being stated, operating uphill is actually preventing gravity, which does take extra exertion, so it’s affordable to count on your coronary heart price to creep up a bit as nicely. A terrific query to ask your self whereas operating uphill is, How lengthy may I maintain this effort? In case your reply is one thing like, I really feel like my coronary heart is exploding and I hate operating uphill and I simply need one other rice crispy bar and everybody else have to be doping, then a good way to enhance your operating expertise is to simply decelerate. Operating uphill is tough, but when each time you are feeling like it’s a herculean effort, you simply may be placing an excessive amount of into it.
If you’re not having enjoyable, you could have to decelerate. Picture: Casey Grimle
Pre-Race Nerves
How do you handle pre-race nerves? I discover it troublesome to sleep, eat, and I’m typically only a nervous wreck. I appear to at all times have issues that come up throughout races that by no means occur in coaching. — Nameless
It’s good to be nervous earlier than a race! Sure, you learn that appropriately. Being nervous earlier than a race exhibits that the occasion actually issues to you — it’s one thing necessary in your life. That nervousness is our mind and physique making an attempt to gear up and put together for one thing that we all know goes to be difficult. Direct that additional nervous vitality into motion that will help you put together for the occasion by dividing considerations into two classes:
- Issues which you can management.
- Issues that you simply can not management.
For issues which you can management, get to work on dialing these considerations in! Plan your pre-race consuming, get your footwear and different gear found out nicely earlier than race day, apply a sleep hygiene routine, and decide what you need your race day angle to really feel like. You’ve affect over all of this stuff, and using that energy goes a protracted technique to calming these pre-race nerves.
For the belongings you can not management, first free your thoughts and settle for that you simply can not management them. Second, settle for additionally that in ultramarathons one thing nearly at all times goes fallacious — that’s all a part of the sport. Should you can’t management one thing, why waste vitality on it? What you possibly can management is the way you reply to those variables, so earlier than a race I at all times suggest you “pre-problem remedy” potential obstacles to success.
How will you handle the absurdly scorching climate? What is going to you do when your go-to fueling technique stops working? How will you deal with that man who gained’t cease speaking to you about his marathon PRs? Having a plan forward of time to handle all of those potential issues eases post-race nerves as nicely as a result of you’ve gotten a plan to unravel the issue — even when it hasn’t occurred but.
Lastly, the commonest pre-race concern I hear is, “How do I do know if I did sufficient in coaching?” Within the few days main as much as a race, this thought squarely falls into the class of issues that you simply can not management. Return via Strava, or your coaching log, and try all the effort you set in as it’s straightforward to overlook about all of that onerous work. You may be dramatically fitter than you even understand! If the coaching wasn’t what you hoped for, use that data to dial in your pacing technique and expectations for race day. In any case, you possibly can solely race with the health you’ve gotten, not the health you would like you had.
Fueling
Truthfully, what has occurred with fueling? Just a few years in the past, it was cool to eat nothing whereas operating, and now the trend is one thing like 150 grams per hour (or extra?!) of carbohydrates. I don’t get it. — Confused
Excessive fueling methods are actually eye-catching. In truth, only a couple weeks in the past I volunteered at The Drift 100 Mile, the place I witnessed an athlete who deliberate to gasoline nearly their whole race on Muscle Milk and packets of tuna — a wildly excessive protein eating regimen that I’ve to think about will constipate them up till these snowy western Wyoming trails thaw out. Eye-catching doesn’t imply efficient although, and usually sports activities diet suggestions from registered dietitians have modified little or no since I took a sports activities diet class in school 20 years in the past (60 to 90 grams of carbohydrates per hour, supplemented with lesser quantities of fats and protein for extra-long period occasions).
There are 4 energy in each gram of carbohydrate, so 60 to 90 grams is 240 to 360 energy per hour. In recent times, excessive calorie drink mixes have made it comparatively straightforward to ingest much more carbs per hour than this. So how did we get right here!?
Extra carbohydrates in racing is form of like operating extra miles in coaching — extra is healthier, till hastily it’s not. Additional coaching within the legs is wonderful till you get that calf pressure or iliotibial band syndrome. Extra carbs in your abdomen is wonderful to maintain your tempo snappy on race day, till you’re vomiting, or scurrying to the bushes and by chance utilizing poison oak for lavatory paper.
The sports activities diet business brings in tens of billions of {dollars} a 12 months globally, and it’s of their finest curiosity to persuade customers to maintain shopping for extra. My advice is to be a bit doubtful of social media diet sources — not counting registered dietitians {and professional} sports activities nutritionists right here— which can be searching for “clicks” and engagement, have a product to promote, or is run by an athlete that has one thing to achieve by convincing you to purchase into their particular sports activities diet technique. Keep in mind that a single athlete, or perhaps a handful of athletes, who’re profitable utilizing an excessive fueling technique doesn’t equate to “finest apply.”
Whereas excessive fueling methods may match for sure people, I guarantee you that numerous course information, quickest recognized instances, private bests, and different profitable races have been fueled by all kinds of snacks in varied portions — together with Peanut M&Ms, Doritos, donuts, dried fruit and salami, each form of gel and sports activities drink possible, and naturally the endurance gasoline GOAT: Coca-Cola.
So don’t overthink it or be overly influenced — get on the market and revel in an affordable quantity of snacks and revel in the advantages of being nicely fueled, whereas additionally avoiding all of the distress and gastrointestinal misery of making an attempt to be a excessive carb consuming hero.
Jeff Mogavero experimenting with excessive carb fueling methods in Chamonix, France.
Ending Robust
How do I end a race with out feeling so drained? I see some elites cross the end line not trying drained in any respect. What offers? — Christina
I noticed an unimaginable video from the 2025 Transgrancanaria Marathon displaying Francesco Puppi passing Robert Pkemoi with solely 200 meters to the end. Puppi seems rock strong and ice chilly, and regardless that Pkemoi is transferring nicely, Puppi emphatically cruises previous him on the best way to a different spectacular victory. I used to be amazed to learn a mere two days later Puppi’s put up on Instagram:
“As I noticed Robert Pkemoi within the distance, possibly 30 or 40 seconds forward of me with 3km or so to go, I vividly bear in mind negotiating with myself whether or not I ought to dig deeper, giving greater than I assumed I may give, with a view to attempt to catch him. I at all times have a tough time in these moments. On one hand you are feeling an enormous drive to win, however there are not any certainties, no assurances that pushing tougher goes to assist you to cross that end line in first. The ache you’re keen to just accept one facet, the glory of victory on the opposite.”
It is a well timed reminder that what we are able to see on the surface is just not essentially an correct depiction of what’s going on inside. Despite the fact that it may not seem like it, Puppi was digging deep. Past that, I might encourage you to regulate your racing expectations of what the tip of a race ought to really feel like. In case your purpose is to maximise efficiency, then ending a race or occasion feeling not-so-tired in all probability means there was room to push on for a distinct, and maybe extra satisfying, end line expertise.
Francesco Puppi making it look straightforward on the 2025 Transgrancanaria 47k. Picture courtesy of Francesco Puppi.
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