Speed work and strength training for ultras

It may seem strange but I don’t actually consider myself a runner.

I say this because I do not have what I call a “typical runner’s”
Mentality, at least as I have been exposed to it.

Until recently I always ran solo. When I joined a local running club last year it was a wonderful experience from the fun social standpoint but it was of marginal value in terms of “learning the secrets of ultra running”.

Why?

Well, I am sure there are exceptions to this but basically runners run.

If they do strength training it is usually pretty much worthless because it originated in a running mag or a book where the person/people who wrote it really don’t understand strength training.

Runners run.

And of course when the idea of strength training pops into running mags and articles it is still a new concept that has not really been tested for results.

Runners read it; they pick up a light weight because it says so in the article. They do high reps because it says so in the article and they do exercises that have nothing to do with running or even function like hamstring curls, because it says so.

Now honestly, since I am writing a book on the topic and it will include a lot of info on this and many other things I have learned by not adopting the typical runner’s mentality, I can’t really go into much detail here.

But here is a hint for you.

How does running differ from walking? Answer that and you might do a better job of functionally training for running.

Also ask yourself why the ultra running crowd is usually stockier and sturdier looking than a typical marathon crowd and you will have the metabolic basis for strength training.

Sorry, have to stop here or the publisher will shoot me!

Ok, onto speed work.

Consider speed work to be the Cadillac of all running training.


Simply put, just about anyone can run long slow distances but very few people can run fast.

Or how about this analogy.

I can teach and coach an average 100 or 200 yard sprinter to run a very fast 10K in 6 to 8 weeks. But give me an average marathoner and let’s see who wins the 10K even after training.

If you guessed the sprinter, I think you are right on the mark. Once again you have to fill in the blanks but some investigative thinking will lead you to some real discoveries for your training and your running as well as making you realize that not all of what is circulated in the traditional running community or the press that caters to them is accurate.

Much of it is flat out wrong!

Wanna see something funny?

Take a group of ultra or even marathon runners who are not professional or Kenyan line them up and ask them to do a 50 yard or 100 yard sprint.

At the end of an agonizingly slow sprint you will see a bunch of people with horrified looks on their faces gasping for air.

You become what you train for and training specificity is a real thing!

You will also see this group try to use the same form to sprint they do in their distance running.

Even the ones who routinely do hill repeats will come out badly.

Wanna see something cool?

Spend a session on sprint form and use a few tools like large elastic bands and parachutes to teach proper form and add fun. By the end of the session you will have reduced their times in these sprints by at least 1 second - many times more.

Ok, distance people - one second may not seem like much to you but remember this is a 50 or 100 yard sprint.

Try it and you’ll see what I mean.

Now they are still not going to be fast but just by adjusting form you make them and yourself faster.

So why, when and how to do speed work?

Well, again I can’t tell you everything or there would be no book after this second Canadian Death Race, but, here it is in a nutshell.

1) Sprint type speed work is used to change up muscle groups and build lactate and anaerobic thresholds. In most long ultra type runs you better not go near those zones or you will be walking the rest of your race. Still, in terms of building the reserve muscle needed for ultras (have you noticed ultra people are a bit stockier than their marathon counter parts?) speed work also hyper accentuates the muscles of running and pushes the cardiovascular fitness levels even though it is not considered cardio.

Finally, in my opinion, because of all of the above it helps injury proof the body.

2) Short intense speed work makes sense at the beginning of your race training, several months out from race day. As you get closer, start lengthening the distances and do longer and longer speed work segments but do not exceed a distance you can recover from quickly. This is not a way to “put miles on your feet!” It’s speed work.

As you may have guessed, I have just given you a little bit of info.
Beyond the fact that I need to keep confidence with my publisher and have new and different content in my book, some of this is still in the testing phase!

No one has ever really tested or quantified what you need to do speed work wise for ultras.

Like so many other things, running ultras falls under the mantra “runners run”.

I hope to change that with my book but I also need to continue to test and improve the protocols over the next couple of months before the race. Simply put, I want to fill the void or gap in the knowledge base for people who want to get into ultra running or improve their performance.

I do not want to write yet another “story book” about running long distances.

There are enough of those.

So stay tuned!

- Doc