Public speaking and talks

Given a talk in Austin, TX, with Liza Howard. Photo: Drymax Socks

Talking at a running store in Oregon. Photo: Amy Sharman

I've been doing talks for a while now and so thought I should formalize it more. I've given talks to running stores, running clubs and the next talk I'm giving is to the Canadian Military. I can cover a variety of motivational, running and ultra related topics, so if you want to find out more, click here.

How to train for...the Comrades Marathon

The Comrades Marathon in South Africa is one of the oldest and most historic ultras in the world as well as being the largest by far. Typically it gets entrant numbers similar to the big city marathons and capped entrants at 18,000 for the 2012 race. That puts it on a completely different scale to other ultras and only the Two Oceans Marathon (also in South Africa) comes close, although events like the Ultra-Trail du Mt Blanc are getting very large entrant numbers across multiple events.

For me, the thing that makes Comrades so special is the friendly, charged atmosphere that starts at the expo and goes through to the finish line. Comrades is THE endurance event for South Africans and past winners like Bruce Fordyce have become legends in the eyes of the nation as well as globally to some extent. The pre-dawn start line is particularly exciting and if you don’t feel the emotion as the locals sing their national anthem and the traditional song that was popularized by miners, Shosholoza, then you must be dead inside.

My love for the race started when I first heard about it from a South African friend while I ran a winter ultra in the UK. The following year I flew to South Africa and finished in 2007 in 7h09m, getting a silver medal for sub 7h30m, which had been my target. I’ve returned in the following four years for four more silvers, with a best of 6h01m in 2010 (my blog write-ups for those races are here: 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011).

I've also written posts on training for Western States 100, Flat 100 milers like Rocky Raccoon and the Marathon des Sables. At a later date I'll do a post on how to train for the Davos Swiss Alpine Marathon K78.

Here are the key things to bear in mind in general when training for and racing Comrades:

What's the race like?

• Alternating directions on the roads either from Pietermaritzburg to Durban, on the coast (the down run) or reversed (the up run)
• 55.5 miles (89km) for the down run with 7,000 feet of descent and 5,000 feet of ascent or reversed +/- over 54 miles (87km) for the up run as each direction has to start on a wide road and finish in a stadium
• Strict 12 hour cut-off with intermediate cut-offs
• Five major named hills (Polly Shortts, Inchanga, Botha’s, Fields and Cowies), but a lot of up and down outside them too

• Temperatures are often close to freezing in Pietermaritzburg at the start of the down then hot (85F or 30C) by the time you get to Durban or more pleasant in the other direction
• Medals depend on your finish time with gold for positions 1-10 (men and women), a Wally Hayward for sub 6h, silver for sub 7h30m, Billy Rowan for sub 9h, bronze for sub 11h and a Vic Clapham for sub 12h
• Multi-colored bibs for first-timers, international runners and relating to multiples of 10 finishes (based around green and stripes); the very cool one is yellow for those going for their green number (first attempt at a 10th finish)
• Once you get your green number, you keep your race number for life and nobody else will use that number, plus you keep that number before then if you don't leave too much of a gap in your runs
• Seeding pens based on qualifying times and they're especially important as overall times and cut-offs are purely based on gun times
• Big prize money attracting the best ultrarunners in the world, including Olympic marathoners, such as the men's course record holder for the up and down runs, Leonid Shetsov

How on Earth do you start training for that?

• It's not that different to a hard road marathon and if you can finish one then it doesn't take much more training, with a similar plan but more focus on long runs
• Still include speed work, as for a marathon, but the long runs need to be slightly longer although not necessarily more than one run in the build up longer than a marathon (it will depend on your previous experience and whether you've run ultras before) - quality of mileage over quantity
• Back-to-back long road runs are excellent training but have to be weighed up against the time it takes to recover; two marathons on a weekend are particularly good and much less stress on the body than a 50-miler in one day
• Include some long, gentle downhills in your training to practice the pounding your legs will take 
• Strength training on the legs is more important than for marathons due to the length and hills, but make the exercises specific to running, not just about building up big leg muscles
• Ideally get some heat training in for the final weeks, even if that's just sitting in a sauna, since the heat can take a lot out of you

What mistakes should you avoid doing in training?

• For Americans and Brits, not understanding kms can be an issue and the markers count down, not up. Make sure you know your conversion for 1 mile = 1.609km. 
• Bad or inadequate nutrition will slow you dramatically. The tables are every mile or so and have plenty of food, but not necessarily what non-South Africans would expect (no gels, for example). So work out what you can stomach in advance then fuel early and often. If you need gels, carry them or have a crew (called ‘seconds’ locally) who can hand these too you.
• Practice hydration in your training runs and try to get an idea of which sports' drinks you can stomach best, ideally trying out the Energade drink that currently sponsors the race.
• The drinks are supplied in small sachets in the race, which you may be able to practice with in advance, but if not, my advice is to nibble the end to create a hole then squeeze out the liquid  into you mouth - I find this so much better than bottles or paper cups, but some find it awkward at first.
• Not training for hills because it’s a road race will cause you significant issues – the course is significantly harder per mile than a typical road marathon.
• For most people, practice power-walking as you will walk and the more you can get better at this, the less energy and effort it will take.

What about tactics for the race itself?

• Like most ultras, people tend to go out too fast, but Comrades has hot spot prizes for runners who get to various points first and still finish which encourages extra speed. So make sure you have a plan and don’t get carried away as everyone around you goes past you in the first miles. 
• The hills take a lot out of you in either direction and for all but the fastest runners, it’s best to walk early and often on them to conserve energy. The main reason for a poor time is slowing down considerably, not going out too slow.

That's what you'll look like if you get a course record.

• Make sure you have a good idea of where the hills are from the course profile, although the official one is misleading and an online profile from someone who has run it with a Garmin or similar is a better bet
• Take the downhill sections easy, especially early on and in the down run, as these can trash your quads and lead to walking. It’s tempting to try to catch up some time but practicing a relaxed downhill stride in advance, with minimal breaking where the legs absorb a lot of the shock, can still allow for good pace on those downhills. Fields Hill on the down run is the longest and still has a half marathon left at the end, so don’t push too hard or you might limp it in.
• Don't get too focused on a time or medal cut-off until very near the end - you'll run your best race and time by running by feel so that you're not adjusting pace constantly based on what your watch says.
• The cut-offs are generous and most people can make them if they pace sensibly and train well, but they are strict and if you're one second late, you miss out.
• Beware the chair, like in any ultra - if you sit down, you'll find it a lot harder to get going again.

How to train for...the Marathon des Sables

I thought it'd be a good idea to follow up on an idea from James Adams about doing a series of blog posts on how to train for some of the world's most iconic ultras. The idea is I can give tips and advice on what the courses involve and some idea of the general principles that would help, given these are often races that people look forward to for years and have very specific, and different, challenges to what you may have run before.

I've also written posts on how to prepare for Comrades, Western States 100 and a flatter 100 miler like Rocky Raccoon. But first the Marathon des Sables or the MdS for short. This is a race I've trained several people to successfully complete, including back-of-the-packers through to Danny Kendall who got the highest placing ever by a Brit at the 2013 race (10th) while training in London.

This race got me into running in the first place and I started in 2006 when the weather was about as extreme as ever, in terms of being hotter and more humid than usual and having sandstorms in the first few days where you could barely see five feet ahead. I didn't finish, as I drank too much water, having never realized that could be an issue, and got hyponatraemia, having to drop out on day three.

It wasn't fun on those first three days thanks to the illness, but then I felt fine as I was driven around from camp to camp then sat around each day. So I signed up for the next available MdS and ran it in 2008 (more details here), placing 13th and the highest position ever by a Brit (since beaten by a 12th from James Cracknell with some slightly more scientific training). So I learned a lot and found out how to run this race effectively, even when living in a cold climate in the months preceding the race and having no hills or sand to practice on locally.

Here are the key things to bear in mind in general when training for and racing in the MdS:

What's the race like?

• Seven days in the Moroccan Sahara, self-supported and running with a backpack for the week's food, cooking equipment, clothing, medical kit and sleeping bag, but water and the Berber-style tent are provided for you

• Six stages of about 10 miles up to about 50 miles (courses vary), totaling around 150 miles, with the long day having a cut-off of almost two days long
• Over 1,000 international runners in the middle of nowhere with sand dunes, rocks and a 'road book' with maps to help you if you miss the pink-sprayed rocks
• 400 support staff of doctors, local Berbers and other race organization people
• Temperatures up to around 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) and no shade during the day
• Most people walk almost all of it and only those at the very front get a large proportion of running in

How on Earth do you start training for that?

• Firstly you look through the kit you'll need as there's a lot of compulsory gear (full rules are here and Article 24 shows the long list)

• Then you need to find a backpack that feels comfortable to run in when full and isn't to big - 35L is about the largest you want to consider and the front of the pack will be more like 20L (note that a front pack add-on is helpful for weight distribution and accessing food etc on the run)
• Trying fitting the kit in to see how much you'll need to leave out - it won't all fit in and you'll have to be frugal
• Having the kit and backpack will give you a better focus for your training as it's important to train for the specifics of the event
• Road running may be all that's easily available to you, but make sure you can get in regular trails too - hills and mud or snow are probably the best bets in winter and give a better preparation for sand than roads
• Practice power-walking/hiking within your long runs as you will be doing this a lot, guaranteed, and it uses slightly different muscles to running
• A great way to strengthen the muscles for the hiking and the backpack carrying is hiking even short distances, but regularly, with a weighted vest or backpack - ideally much heavier than the full weight you'll run the race with (2-2.5x the weight is a good guide)
• Do runs as often as possible with the backpack, gradually filling it up over time to closer simulate the race conditions and muscular requirements
• By running with the backpack fully weighted you'll get an idea of where it rubs and can practice taping (zinc oxide tape is good for this)
• Have at least six months where you commit a good portion of your training to the MdS - even fast road runners who don't train for it specifically are usually very bad in the desert
• Heat training in winter isn't easy but it's only the last two or three weeks that matter most for acclimatizing so that's when 30-60 mins/day in a sauna can help (be very careful with this as it's dangerous and gradually build up to longer exposure)
• If you don't have a sauna, doing your runs in multiple layers of clothing to look like the Michelin Man can work just as well
• If you can find races that include back-to-back days then these are great training, especially if you treat them like stages of the MdS in terms of kit - in the UK races like the Jurassic Coast Challenge and Pilgrim's Challenge are ideal, but just long 20+ mile days on trails back to back on your own or with friends also work

What mistakes should you avoid doing in training?

• Not training with the backpack you plan to use in the race
• Not running on similar under-foot conditions - soft mud/snow are good substitutes for sand even if you're not near the coast or other sandy area
• No heat training - this would make it impossible to run and slow you down very significantly and therefore mean even more time in the baking sun in the race which will drain you even more
• Not practicing power-walking - you will do this more than you expect no matter how fit you are
• Not including hills - the local word for a mountain is 'Jebel' and there several Jebels in the race, no matter which route they use

• Try out the food in advance - freeze dried food doesn't always taste good and you want food you can look forward to at the end of each day so you don't want nasty surprises with a meal that tastes like dog food
• Practice hydration in your training runs and try to get an idea of which sports' drinks you can stomach best, even though your hourly liquid requirements will be much higher in the desert - under- or over-hydrating could end your race and be very dangerous (trust me, I know from experience)
• The correct shoes are important and maybe half to a whole US/UK size bigger is helpful to allow for your feet expanding in the heat, but no more or they just won't fit and will rub immediately
• Choose shoes that are very comfortable as the main criterion, but bear in mind the desert is rocky and some protection in the sole and front is advised and may save a few of your toenails
• Wear those shoes in with at least one 20+ mile run where they feel fine the whole way
• Don't get shoes with a mesh-like exterior that allows sand in easily
• Don't underestimate how important gaiters are for keeping the sand out - home made ones from parachute material that cover the entire top of the shoe and up to below the knee are best

• Learn to use the compass as in the dunes there are no course markings and people ahead can often go wrong

What about tactics for the race itself?

• Take day one very easy as it's for getting used to the race and is short, so not much time can be lost no matter how slow you go - pace the race for seven days, not one
• Look after your feet and see the medical staff for blisters as they will help stop infections by popping, cleaning, sanitizing and taping blisters and have seen over the years that this is the best tactic
• Eat early and often each day while you run
• Vaseline everywhere that's covered (groin, arm-pits, nipples etc) even though it may get a little sand attached to it - given the heat and sweating it's very easy to get rubbed raw and this is not pleasant
• Get the hydration right based on your training and it's best to include electrolyte powders or tablets in every drink instead of just water
• Rest in-between the running as much as possible, although a little, light walking around helps to speed the recovery - a good excuse to socialize
• You don't need a stove (which is heavy) as you can use four rocks instead - there're plenty of them around the campsite
• It's a multi-day race so you need to be eating and hydrating each day not just to get through to the finish but also to build up reserves for the next day
• Each morning the camp is filled with zombies lurching around but your body is very resilient and after a mile or two your legs will be less stiff and you may even find by around day four that you're feeling better than on the previous couple of days
• Most importantly, make sure you enjoy the entire experience and don't be too focused on times or rankings - this is a huge challenge but also something you'll remember for your whole life