From 0 to 100 (Miles) : 5 tips from my first year of ultra-running and training

I’ve been seeing more and more runners with a goal of completing their first ultramarathon, and I want to start making some articles and videos to help prepare you for this challenge and give you some confidence when taking on this huge endeavor.  While I’m by no means a professional, I’ve completed many tough ultras, and having started taking my training seriously about 2.5 years ago, the thoughts, feelings, and emotions I had from attempting my first ultras are still fresh in my mind, so with that perspective I think I can bring you more beneficial tips that the generic “learn to pace yourself” and “hydrate often”.

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For this article, I want to give a summary of how I went from not running at all, to completing my first 100 miler within 9 months. I won’t be going over my training plan in this article, partially because it was similar to many plans you can find online, but more importantly because I want this article to focus on the mental breakthroughs and lessons I learned as I took on challenges that ultimately bult up to getting my first buckle.

I’m hoping this video will give you a baseline for your expectations and hopefully convince you that one of the main limiting factors in completing an ultra is your mind. If an average guy who works a 9-5 desk job can complete a 100 mile race, then you can too.

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Background

The purpose of giving my background isn’t just to set expectations, but to introduce you to my first piece of advice, so my rambling will be worth something.

I’m Mike, I’m 35 years old, and I started training for ultras at 32. I’ve always been decent at sports and have regularly worked out since I was 13, but I’d never really been a runner. There were periods where I’d try to get into running, especially before college when I wanted to be a navy seal, but I think my peak weekly milage was around 15, maybe 20 miles.

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A large chunk of my 20’s was spent putting on weight and using alcohol to cope with stress.  I did very little sports or anything athletic, and was miserable working a job I didn’t like and having a body that looked and felt terrible. I got into shape toward the end of my 20’s by training in Jui Jitsu, Muay Thai & Yoga, and started focusing on using challenges as motivation.

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Essentially up until I was 32 I had a very average endurance background, but had begun getting excited by the idea of using physical and mental challenges to improve myself.

At 32 I decided to get back into cycling to take on a new challenge and also get out and explore. I hit cycling very hard for about 6 months, racking up 100-200 miles a week, and really started to get into endurance training and got interested in bike touring. Long story short, I was on a 240 mile bikepacking trip across Florida, and listened to a few audiobooks on ultramarathons.  I was hooked and the idea of running these crazy distances instead of cycling them, and the day after I completed my bikepacking trip is when I started my ultramarathon training.

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My first advice as I mentioned to in the intro, and one that I discovered during this journey, is that your mind is your major limiting factor in many aspects of life, especially endurance sports.  At the beginning of the trip the thought of running across Florida was laughable, but by the end it I found myself thinking “why couldn’t I?”. About 18 months later I completed a 200 mile footrace across Florida, and while this video is focused on my first year of running, I wanted to bring that up to really drive home the importance of asking “How can I accomplish this?” instead of “why am I doing this?” or “is this even possible?”.

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My First Ultramarathon

Back to my first year; I had… no plan during my first year, except that I wanted to run my first 100 miler within 12-18 months. Everything else was just learning as I went with it, and I won’t go into every individual race I chose, but I signed up for tough events that I doubted I could finish.  My first race was 4 months after I started training, and it was the Vero Beach Octopus 50 miler.  I was going to sign up for the 50k, but I had done a 22 mile training run and knew for a fact I could complete a 50k…but I wasn’t sure if I could finish a 50 miler, and that excited me.

 

Fast forward to the race, and at the 50k mark I felt like I had the shit kicked out of me, I couldn’t imagine going any farther, and I was cursing myself for signing up for the 50 miler.  I chose to at least attempt to get to the next aid station and took it one mile at a time and ended up finishing. If I had only signed up for the 50k I never would have known my limits, or lack of limits, I was capable of.

 

So my next piece of advice I will give you is to not be afraid to fail.  Sign up for a tough event and risk a DNF.  You have nothing to lose and everything to gain, and chances are that you’ll discover that you’re capable of more than you thought. It’s hard to put into words how drained I was at mile 31, and to this day I almost can’t believe I squeezed out another 19 miles.

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So many races...

After my 50 mile finish I was hooked, and also had some confidence built up, so I signed up for Long Haul 100 in January of the following year, 5 months away.  My 12-18 month goal had now dropped to 9 months, and I knew I had a challenge ahead of me.

I signed up for a few other ultra distances races over the next few months, with the intention to test and challenge myself. While I did in fact test myself, I discovered something more important; I was learning an immense amount of information each race.  Nutrition, pacing, strategy, physical changes to my body in different temperatures. Each race was a learning experience where I’d learn what not to do as much of what I should do.

 

So my next suggestion is to sign up for as many races as you can prior to your major goal race. Long runs can teach you a good amount of information, but being in a race with the clock going alongside other runners with their own wealth of knowledge was vital to my success in building up to longer distances. If you look at ultrasignup and runsignup chances are you’ll find cheap local trailraces, but if you search on facebook there may be local groups putting on Fatass events which are pretty much unofficial no-cost ultras where you bring your own supplies and run an ultra with a group of crazy people.

 

"Race" before the race

Finally, in December, 8 months after I started training and one month before my first 100 miler, I had my longest race at 100k. This race was where I wanted to dial in my pacing strategy, nutrition, hydration, and test out some gear. This race, the Skeeter Skoot 100k, had a similar course composition and aid station separation that I’d see at Long Haul 100, so it ended up being the perfect final training run I needed to take me into my 100 miler.

 

So I would suggest scheduling a long run or race 6-8 weeks out from your goal race, with the intention of finalizing every aspect of your gameplan.  Wear the exact same socks, eat the same food, run the same pace, carry the same weight of gear. This is your time to not only build confidence, but find any snags in your gameplan and adjust so that you can reduce the amount of issues on race day. Having these tune up races also helps you overcome mental hurdles when things don’t exactly go your way, so view these races or long runs as a mental exercise as well.

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Long Haul 100

My first 100 miler was awesome, it was a very easy course with closely spaced aid stations, and I met many awesome people.  In fact, I think I over-prepared and built it up in my mind, because all the preparation I did prior to the race combined with the tough races I did leading up to Long Haul 100 made the finish feel…empty. I didn’t overcome any great mental or physical hurdle, I faced very little adversity, I didn’t push myself particularly hard toward the end…I just knocked the miles out and got it done.

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And that brings me to my final talking point which is to temper your expectations. You will face a range of emotions after your first or 10th ultramarathon, ranging from elation to indifference. I was proud of myself and relived that I got my first buckle, but it left me wondering “what’s next?”. I’m going to touch on this topic in another video soon, but after a race I tend to feel depressed, wanting to start training and planning the next big adventure. I cope with feelings of insignificance and the fear of wasting my life, and I use running, racing, and making these videos as a way to challenge myself and make my mark.  There’s no telling how you’ll feel after a race, but be prepared for the urge to take on that next challenge, or maybe you’ll decide that you need to take some time off of running.

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An experiment of ONE

And one final note, I want to mention that we are all on experiment of 1. Your journey will be much different than mine, and your path may take you far from the one I traveled.  Don’t listen to people who doubt your abilities, because they’re either jealous that you have the drive to accomplish something incredible, or don’t understand that our minds are the biggest limiting factor in achieving greatness. Set your own goals, plan your own adventures, and blaze your own path, because you are an amazing person, and are capable of anything.

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I look forward to sharing more videos with tips and information on ultramarathon training and mentality, so please consider liking and subscribing if you found this video helpful.  Now let’s get out there and do something incredible.