This is the second in my series on how not to train for an ultra-trail run! I so wanted to write about how I learnt from my mistakes of last year, aced my preparation, and ran a PB… but that was not to be.
Last year, I started cramping about 20km into the race and saw my pace slow markedly in the second half. The main lesson I took from this, my first attempt at an ultra, was that my training needed to be specific. So, as the Tarawera T50 course is generally over relatively runnable surfaces, for this year I focused more on running at a consistent pace without stopping. Out went the rugged trail runs on the Karamu Trail or in The Goat. Instead, I added some long road runs around the streets of Hamilton into my training plan.
That ticked one of the specificity boxes, surface and type of running, but unfortunately I was unable to focus on another equally important one, sufficient distance. The challenge I had was that I was simultaneously training for an arduous gran fondo cycling event, the Peaks Challenge, so I had to leave time and energy for cycling. I ended up with an 8 week training period and two runs a week, one in the 5-10km range and the other starting at around 15km and building up to 30km. Whilst that was far below what an ultra training plan would recommend, I hoped that the long bike rides and indoor cycle interval training would boost my running endurance and VO2 max.
My longest run was a 32km recce of the course of the T50, at a pace that would have get me round, if I were able to sustain it, in about the same time as last year’s race, 5 hours and 11 minutes. This is an average of 6 minutes per km for the for the 52km course. I also completed a 30km city run on an undulating course at 5 minutes per km and I felt that I could have run further after both runs. Encouragingly, although my legs felt tired, I did not experience any cramps.
The Course
Race Day
As I waited for the countdown to the start of the race at 7am, I felt that if everything went well I might to be able to complete the course in 5 hours.
There had been heavy rain overnight, but it had stopped by 6am and I felt relieved that we would have cool, albeit humid, conditions. I started towards the front of the second start group and even in the first 1-2km, as we ran past the bubbling mud pools and steaming waters of Te Puia, the field began to string out.
(All the pictures in this post are from the official event photographer, Sportograf. It was too damp to get my phone out and take any of my own.)
After we entered the Whakarewarewa Forest, I made an effort to not push too hard, even walking up some of initial hills. A few runners passed me breathing heavily and appearing to be working hard. I’ll see you again in a couple of hours I smugly thought to myself. That sadly didn’t happen; I only saw one of them again!
The rain had made the paths of the forest slippery but it didn’t slow me down much. I passed the first checkpoint at 10.5km in 60 minutes, 6 minutes down on last year, and started the second section along the Puarenga MTB Trail.
At the second checkpoint (at c.21.5km), I was 15 minutes down. That was a lot of time to make back on last year, but so far so good, no cramps. I felt optimistic as I set off around the Lake Rotokākahi “Lollipop”, though I was starting to tire and was being passed by a few people.
It’s amazing how quickly things change. After finishing the Lollipop and starting the section towards the Blue Lake, I felt some twinges of cramp in my inner thighs. I decided to walk up the climb of Jeff’s Link (at km 30) to recover. I was passed by a handful runners. On the subsequent gravel track, I felt more frequent twinges. I slowed to walk again, but all of a sudden every muscle in my legs started cramping. My calves, the soles of my feet, even my toes. I had to stop, stand still and hope it would pass. That didn’t help so I flopped down in the dirt with my legs stretching out straight in front of me. Tens of runners streamed past me.
Nearly everyone asked if I was okay. I was proffered some salt tablets and someone even offered to call the first aid response team! After a few minutes the cramps eased but I knew if I bent my legs under me to stand up they would recur with renewed violence. I rolled into a kneeling position and gingerly tottered upright. The worse over, I started walking up the track – which climbs over a couple of kilometres – and by the top I was able to start jogging again. Looking at my splits I lost about 15 minutes from the stop and the walking.
I knew a sub-5 hour time was out of the question and contemplated pulling out of the race. It just seemed pointless and I knew if I was reduced to mainly walking it would take another 3 hours to finish. However, I remembered from last year that only a small proportion of runners did not finish and ultimately ultra marathons are about how you deal with the almost inevitable problems. I was in a dark place, though the lights had not completely gone out. I kept moving forward.
As we reached Lake Tikitapu (the Blue Lake) I joined the T21 runners from one of the later waves. Had I been still racing I would have felt they were holding me up, but as it was I was happy to carried along in the steady stream of joggers. The heavens opened when we reached the Lake Tikitapu checkpoint – prior to that it had drizzled occasionally – and thereafter some of the forest sections became really slippery.
The start of the descent to Rotorua, after the final big climb, was comical with people trying to hand onto anything to hand – trees, branches, even each other – as they slithered down some slick clay descents.
I occasionally felt my thighs cramping so had to walk up some of the climbs. Notice my flat-footed shuffle in the picture below.
However, by and large I seemed to have recovered. I was able to jog the descents without cramping (unlike last year) and, importantly, after the final long descent the Redwoods I still had energy.
From here it was flat running all the way to the finish.
I glanced at my watch. 5.22. If I ran at around a 5.30/km pace I realised I might be able to finish in under 6 hours. With my new, re-calibrated target firmly fixed in my mind I pushed hard and managed to cross the finish line in 5 hours, 58 minutes and 56 seconds. Not what I had originally aimed for, but satisfying nonetheless. I was 232nd out of 1740 finishers, and 4th in my age group. The winner of my age group took 5 hours and 35 minutes which suggests that the course was slower than last year.
Post-Race Analysis
So what went well? I think I nailed my nutrition as I had energy to push hard in the final 7km. I also had no chafing and only a small blister on the side of my foot which I didn’t even notice during the race. I applied liberal amounts of vaseline to my toes and on the soles of my feet which helped. I had enough fluids, only ever drinking from the two 500ml bottles in the breast pockets of my running vest. I never had to reach for the emergency 500ml I had in the back of my vest. With hindsight, given the many checkpoints, that was probably unnecessary even if the weather had been hotter.
It was the cramps that destroyed my race. I can understand why I started to feel the cramps come on and the fact it happened about 10km further than last year was a good sign. However, I’m not sure what caused the cramping spasms that brought me to a halt. One of my friends had a theory that I got cold once I started walking. That seems plausible. However, I’ve read that it’s not unusual for someone that cramps a lot – cramps are my Achilles heel in cycling events too – to experience a neuro-muscular overload leading to all over leg cramps.
What can I do about it? The weather was very humid so the cramps may have been exacerbated by me losing too much salt in my sweat. But more importantly, I didn’t run enough in training. I only had 6 training weeks were I ran more than 30km with the final three being my three longest at 35k, 43k, and 37k. My aerobic engine was strong from the cycling but my running muscles and trail running durability were weak.
Ultimately I didn’t apply my lesson from last year correctly. Yes, specificity is key, but that needs to cover both the type of running and the distance. What does that mean for next year? For some strange reason I am thinking of having a go at the 100km event, but regardless of my choice I need to focus just on the running and do a lot more it. I definitely shouldn’t enter any long cycling events in March or April!
Nutrition and Hydration
Starting at 45 minutes and then every half an hour, I ate a gel. Over that course of the race these consisted of 4 Beta Fuel gels (containing 40g carbohydrate each), 3 SiS gels and 2 SiS caffeine gels (each with 22g of carbohydrate). I also ate one Ems bite (16g of carbs), and some crisps and half a banana at one of the checkpoints.
Ignoring the crisps and the banana, that works out at about 290g of carbs which, over the 5 hours when I was eating, is about 60g per hour.
For electrolyte replenishment I ate 10 Salt Stick electrolyte chews, one every half hour from 60 minutes in, and with a couple of extra rapidly consumed when the cramps started. These contained in total 500mg of sodium. I also had 5 SiS hydro tablets in my drinks, which, to my surprise now I have checked, each contained 345mg of sodium, much more than the Salt Sticks. That totals 2.2g of sodium.
I drank around 3 litres of water and was fairly dehydrated afterwards so I probably sweated around 4 litres. This research, LB Baker (2017) “Sweating Rate and Sweat Sodium Concentration in Athletes”, shows an average of 36mmol/L of sodium in sweat, which is 825mg per litre. This is 3.3g for 4 litres of sweat. The amount of sodium in sweat varies markedly between athletes, but I’d guess I am above average given that I have very salty, some would say toxic, sweat. So it appears possible that lack of sodium may have contributed to my cramps.
Any thoughts or other theories are welcome!
David Donaldson
You are getting old Mark! Hahaha