Tackling the 100 Mile Ultra – You Need Patience, Grasshopper

Unlike shorter races, a Type B Personality is critical to finish well.

Before I start writing this article, here are the common traits of Type A and Type B Personalities:

Type A Personality – Competitiveness, Strong Achievement, Time Oriented, Stressed

Type B Personality – Relaxed, Patient, No Sense of Time, Drifts from One Subject to Another

In all my years of training, racing, and coaching, the 100 mile ultramarathon is the race that has intrigued me the most. Because of the mind-boggling running distance, there is a different philosophy or mindset that surrounds this distance and the people that do it. If you come from a competitive triathlon or running background, I invite you to come on down to an ultramarathon race just to observe and talk to the people who participate in it. The atmosphere in an ultra will “feel” much different than in a triathlon or shorter running event.

Why is that? Because the nature of the runners who do this race have a different philosophical approach in how they approach a race like this than those who do the more normal, shorter races. Unlike what might believe, in the moments before the start of such a race most of the seasoned athletes are totally relaxed and stress-free. Compare that to the moments before a running race or triathlon, even the Ironman, and you'll see people with their “game faces” on; a significant number of them are even stressed out before their race begins.

What makes ultramarathoners more relaxed than athletes in shorter races?

Because unlike an Ironman or a marathon, having patience and being in a relaxed state is absolutely critical to getting through a 100 mile marathon. In my quest to finish my first 100 mile race this year, this has been the toughest hurdle that I have ever faced in my lifetime. I've been trained, once I'm out on any race course, to get to the finish line as quick as possible. The sense of urgency racing a triathlon is what has successfully gotten me to the age-group podium. This same sense of urgency has contributed to failures in my first 100 mile ultramarathon attempt and several other long runs in training. And undoing some of that urgency that has made me a competitive athlete is a very tall order to fill.

In my first 100 mile ultra attempt, I started out what I felt was an easy, 10 minute per mile pace. I was getting all my food and liquids in and felt solid for the first 40 miles of the race. Unfortunately, even a “relaxing” 10 minutes per mile pace was considered too fast for a 100 mile ultramarathon. I realized that at mile 25 of the race, when I was the 30^th person out of 300 to reach the aid station there. While I thought I was running an easy race, I really wasn't because to be 30^th meant that I was in with those who were running this race very competitively. The pace finally got to me at mile 50 when my legs started to stiffen up. Things got a lot worse through mile 60 when my Type A race mentality took my mood south, to the point where I was lashing out at my crew when I went off course at mile 70 and had to run an extra half-mile to get back on course. Finally, at mile 75, at the end of my mental rope and stiff as a board, I had to stop and quit.

What went wrong with my ultra?

I needed to assess what went wrong and how to correct it. First off, I needed to address my pace. If I ask any competitive runner in a club what a 10 minute per mile pace feels like, more often then not I would hear “comfortable” and maybe even “easy”. Then I did some calculations on what type of pace that might be expected to complete the race. Most 100 mile races have a 30 hour cutoff, and most have special awards if runners finish under 24 hours, so I can calculate the pace such:

30 hour finish:

Figure 2 hours for rest and aid station activity = 28 hours of running

So, 100 miles over 28 hours = 3.57 Miles Per Hour

Equals 16:49 minutes per mile pace.

Wow, 16:49 minutes per mile pace just to finish within the cutoff. I couldn't even fathom running this slow. Then I calculated the more ambitious time of 24 hours:

24 hour finish:

Figure 2 hours for rest and aid station activity = 22 hours of running

So, 100 miles over 22 hours = 4.55 Niles Per Hour

Equals 13:11 minutes per mile pace.

Even 13 minutes per mile pace sounds too slow to me. Yet, I realized that I HAD to go this slow in order to finish the 100 mile race and at a decent time. I had to develop a “lower gear” and run slower that what I perceived was the slowest I could go.

That wreaked havoc on my Type A mentality.

So much so, that last year I couldn't bring myself to run 30 miles on a training run last year. Attempts were made to run slower. But I felt like I was going nowhere. I lashed out and recited a few curse words in the process, unconsciously ran faster, then blew up spectacularly before completing the mileage. Wash, rinse repeat for subsequent attempts at the long mileage in training.

At the end of the year, I finally realized that my competitive Type A Mentality is killing me. So, what to do?

What is the classic Type B Mentality?

One of the things I did about 3 years ago was hike part of the Appalachian Trail with through-hikers. What amazed me about these hikers was that they were spontaneous. They only hiked when they felt like it, sometimes only hiking 5-7 miles in a day. They were totally relaxed, in the moment. They knew that they will reach their goal to complete the trail eventually, but never forced themselves to adhere to a rigid schedule or forced to push the pace faster than they wanted to. In other words, these hikers had classic Type B Personality. And those people were the most likely to complete their hike, not their Type A counterparts.

This, I realized, is what I needed more of to complete my 100 mile race.

Approaching ultras with a Type B Mentality

The approach to my long training runs this year is simple; practice relaxing. Stay in the moment. Don't anticipate the time when my run “should” be over. Have patience out there. And most of all, have fun out there. Keep one foot going in front of the other, even in times when things are looking down, and eventually the finish line will be crossed.

I purposely made my first long training run at Bear Mountain State Park, which has some of the toughest trails in the area. Since I knew it would be slow going during the run, it was the best time to practice that patience. Time to shut the stopwatch off and practice going slower than I have ever been asked to do.

The result is that I did very well. I ran over 29 miles over boulder fields, up and over countless mountains, and slogged through endless stream crossings in about 7.5 hours. A quick calculation would have given me a 27.5 hour finish in a 100 mile race. This is great, considering that the Vermont 100 Mile Ultra course is much easier than the trails at Bear Mountain.

I did happen to have quite a titanic mental war at times and resist the temptation to move faster, or bust it up a hill, or run fast going downhill. It is not easy slowing down this much. All competitive athletes have a “minimal speed” in which they feel the urge to accelerate when they feel are going too slow. It's quite understandable; in a normal training run, everyone feels they are not getting any benefits of training by going slower than that minimal speed. The Type A mentality is always alive and well during a normal training run. Think about it. Every time you go out there to do a training run, you know about what time you're expected to finish so that you can go on to do other things you need to do in life. If you start to run late, you might start fretting about it and maybe go at a faster pace.

A Different Approach to Planning for an Ultra Training Run

Doing an ultra training run, one has to do the opposite of the normal training run. I made sure I had the whole day to myself so that I can complete the mileage as fast or as slow as possible without interfering in other things. I turned off my stopwatch and forgot about what pace I “should” be doing. I stopped at certain times during the run, especially when I felt pressured to go faster, and forced myself to relax and soak in the scenery. All these things are Type B characteristics that are sorely needed in order to finish well in a 100 mile ultra.

And because of this mentality, I succeeded in finishing my first ultra training run of the year. I can only expect to get even better at this as I train toward my Vermont 100 Ultra this summer. Hopefully, mixing a good dose of Type B Personality with my Type A personality will be the winning formula that will put me at over the top, and at the finish line of this gruelling race.