10 things you need to know about running 100 mile weeks:
The start of this year saw me take a bit of a 'no excuses' approach to training. This meant hitting milage no matter what. Im not talking about the 'pushing through injury' or 'running when sick' approach- more that if i needed to run 16 miles at 6pm in the evening then i would. My milage has gone from anything from 30-70 to dedicated 100's. Here's what I've learnt so far:
1. Excuses are easy, miles are not. The first week taught me this. I realised how many time in 2017 i must have made up an excuse to stop a run early or not go at all. Once you start breaking these mental barriers down then it becomes A LOT easier.
2. If your aim is to hit milage then just start with focusing on that. Forget speed. I have been running without paying too much attention to my watch, i certainly don't use auto-pause and will never stop it when i take a short break. My Strava avg pace reflects this, BUT I'm hitting my milage.
3. A mile at the front of the week is almost worth two at the back. What do i mean by this? Lets say you want to run 100 miles (your target can be anything... 20,30,40...) if you split this up evenly then its 14.3 miles a day. If at the start of the week you don't hit these targets then you have more to do at the end of the week. THAT SUCKS. Mentally more than anything, try to 'bank' miles.
4. Dont aim to evenly split up your miles. (See above). I find that if you just go for an even split for each day then its harder to hit mileage. If you're feeling good then try to hit a few extra. My first week i had to run 21 miles on the Sunday, my second week i had to hit 9... Still try to plan days where you have a 'long run' (its all relative) so that you can have 'shorter' days too.
5. Food is fun. Ok, so yeah you can eat a lot, but whats just as important is when you're eating. You should already be thinking about your next run before the last one ends. Your muscles are more receptive to glycogen immediately after you've finished exercising.
6. Sleep. Don't need to tell me twice. This has been one of the biggest issues with high mileage. I can survive without adequate sleep if I'm working or doing most things in life, but boy does my body feel beaten if i skip a few hours during these high mileage weeks.
7. Find what makes you happy and use it. For me this is coffee. It might be spending an hour with your kids or your dog, but step out the door with a smile on your face and the running will be easier. As a side note caffeine is AWESOME- it helps your body control pain, and if you're running 100 miles you're going to have the odd bit of pain.
8. Vitamins and minerals will literally change your world. We all feel run down sometimes but with 100 miles a week you literally run until you're down!!! Vitamin C and Iron are the two best combinations for me, this is a slightly broader topic than just a short post but vit c helps iron absorption. I feel like this is one of the reasons that the running is actually giving me more energy. (I am a qualified nutritionist).
9. Dress for the run you have planned not the run you want- every run this year I've been wearing track suit bottoms, leggings, down jacket, hat, long sleeved tee, water proof, gloves. Why? Because the aim is to keep moving whatever the weather. I run loops a lot of the time, so i can strip off easily. Sometimes i strip down and then get tired and put it all back on again as my speed slows right down.
10. You need to fuel every run. As my efficiency has improved and my capillary network is growing i have been able to run further without gels during my runs. However i will always carry fuel no matter how long the run is going to be. Like i said, no excuses.
I hope this is of some help and next week i plan to do a big blog post on the fat loss and muscle loss effects of running back to back 100 mile weeks.
Keep your feet moving.
Max
