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Ioana Barbu on Completing the Beyond the Ultimate Race Series and Adapting to Extreme Environments
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In this episode of the UKRunChat Podcast, we chat to Ioana Barbu, a runner who went from completing her first marathon, to aiming to taking on the entire Beyond the Ultimate Global Race Series across ice, jungle, desert, and mountains, all within a single year.
Having never run an ultra before, Ioana’s first attempt was the 230 km Jungle Ultra in Peru, a brutal, self-sufficient stage race through rainforest terrain. From there, she’s gone on to race in the Namib Desert, the Arctic Circle, the Highlands of Scotland, and the mountains of Kyrgyzstan, often winning or podiuming as she learns on the go.
In this conversation, we discuss:
- How a friend convinced her to "just sign up"
- The realities of racing self-sufficient in remote environments
- Adapting to heat, altitude, and cold with Dr Freya Bayne and London South Bank University
- Overcoming setbacks, from hyponatremia to a dog bite
- What she’s learning about female physiology and endurance
- And how she’s raising funds for Make Some Noise along the way.
🎧 Tune in for a deep dive into resilience, curiosity, and saying yes before you feel ready.
Links:
- Ioana Barbu on Instagram → @ioanabarboux
- Ioana’s fundraising page → makesomenoise.enthuse.com/pf/ioana-barbu
- Beyond the Ultimate → https://www.beyondtheultimate.co.uk/
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Transcript
Introduction and Oana's Endurance Project
00:00:00
UKRunChat
Hello, welcome to the UK Run Chat podcast. This week, I'm very excited to be joined by Oana Babu, who's taken on something so extraordinary, having never really been into ultras until recently. She's now deep into one of the toughest endurance projects out there, completing the entire Beyond the Ultimate race series. She's got one more race to complete this year.
00:00:23
UKRunChat
So we'll be hearing all about how she's gone from ordinary runner to...
Oana's Transition to an Ultra Runner
00:00:29
UKRunChat
global adventurer really winning races oh Anna so happy to have you here today thanks so much for joining us yeah I don't know where to start really because we were just chatting before we started recording and you've never really done an ultra until last year like just talk to us about how you how this started and how you got into your first ultra
00:00:35
Ioana
So glad to be here. Thank you for having me. and That's right.
00:00:53
Ioana
I love that. i love that. So basically I love that anyone can like find out like I did age 35 that you can run an ultra and you're actually good at it.
00:01:05
Ioana
So i was working with Spencer Matthews in 2023 on one of his podcasts, Big Fish. And as we were launching that podcast in recordings, you end up chatting for ages. And he was training to do the Beyond the Ultimate Jungle Ultra at the time.
00:01:21
Ioana
And just going from one thing to the other, I said, I'd love to do something like that. And someday, i use this word someday, and he just looks at me and went like, why not now? Like you and I are the same age.
00:01:34
Ioana
why not just sign up? And he just said, just sign up. So I signed up, committed and yeah, trained for seven months and did my first ultra. But before that, the longest I'd run was a marathon.
00:01:47
UKRunChat
wow
00:01:48
Ioana
I'd done the London marathon and I went into a 230K ultra.
Jungle Ultra Experience
00:01:53
Ioana
I did train for it for seven months, but in retrospect, I would say, I could have done with running a bit more volume before I went into this ultra. But either way, I had a great time on the ultra. I still trained really well.
00:02:06
Ioana
I did really well on it. I just found that, you know, I went into it and i thought I didn't know what to expect. I had zero expectations. I know that when I did the London Marathon, I was for charity and then I trained for that for a long time. And, you know, when you get to like mile 23 and things hurt and you're like, I could just stop now. And then you don't stop. You keep going. You're like, I can't stop on the last three miles. And then I remember with the London Marathon on the last...
00:02:37
Ioana
1K or something like that right at the end. I got really emotional and especially as it was going down 900, 600 meters, 400 meters. It's like the whole atmosphere and everything. I was literally sobbing and i thought I'll have a moment in the jungle where I'll just stop and have a cry. That's just going to happen.
00:02:59
Ioana
And that never happened. Somehow the jungle just told me that you know, I can do this. And because it's so inaccessible, you kind of have to become your own hero in the sense that it's easier it was easier for me, whatever happened, to walk myself to the next checkpoint at a walking speed than to wait for someone to come and rescue me.
00:03:24
UKRunChat
yeah.
00:03:25
Ioana
And it was just one of those things where I was just like, nobody's coming to save me. I'm just going to run this race. And i forgot all about those worries that go through your head and just took one step at a time.
Role of Chris Kink and Tough Ultra Challenges
00:03:38
Ioana
Right. I didn't know what to expect. And like, to be fair, the jungle is an adventure course. It's got everything. It's got over 70 river crossings.
00:03:46
Ioana
So Chris Kink, who's now become one of my best friends, is the race director for Beyond the Ultimate, and he's created this series. And Chris is one of these people who just knows people. His superpower is knowing people and putting people together.
00:04:01
Ioana
and Chris basically ah created this race and he's it's it's it's a tough race. So I went in at the deep end. He has this saying of if you're starting your first ultra, do you I've heard him say this is like, do you start somewhere close to home or like a shorter distance, like maybe do like a 30 miler or something like that?
00:04:26
Ioana
Or do you just burn your boat and go all in? So I think I burned my, I fully burned my boat and went all in for like 230k and picked one of the hardest ultras in the world.
00:04:35
UKRunChat
So,
00:04:39
UKRunChat
wow. Yeah. I mean, so what was going through your mind once you'd you'd press that kind of enter and yes, I've registered. What do you do from there having completed this marathon to go in, I've got to do this stage ultra.
Multi-stage Ultra Logistics and Preparation
00:04:52
UKRunChat
It's not just one day. It's a stage ultra.
00:04:53
Ioana
No, it's multi-state and it's self-sufficient as well.
00:04:53
UKRunChat
trip The other side of the world.
00:04:56
Ioana
So you carry everything you need for the week in the backpack.
00:04:56
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:05:00
Ioana
So that includes your food. It includes your basic medical kit and compulsory kit. And specifically with the jungle race, I think the jungle's got the heaviest pack.
00:05:11
Ioana
Because specifically for that race, you have to carry a hammock and you sleep in a hammock because there's all sorts of creepy crawlies and stuff. So like you basically sleep in this hammock that zips up and it's got like a rain sheet, like a house on top of it, because as Chris put it, it rains in the rainforest.
00:05:30
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:05:30
Ioana
And none of these things were apparent to me in any way, shape or form. So I think with a multi-stage ultra that's self-sufficient, there's three things. So it's your physical training, of course.
00:05:42
Ioana
Then there's a third of it is your mental game. And another third of it is your admin. I hadn't realized the extent of the admin. So i learned so much in that time training for this ultra and I learned 100% more than I knew on my first ultra.
00:06:00
Ioana
So it was one of those where when Spencer went, just sign up, I literally just signed up that day. And it's almost like it doesn't register when you do it. Like I've signed up for a thing.
00:06:17
Ioana
And then you kind of, it's you don't know what
Community Support and Training Insights
00:06:19
Ioana
you don't know. I didn't realize the enormity of what I just signed up for, right?
00:06:20
UKRunChat
Thank you.
00:06:25
Ioana
All by hearing Spencer and like our friend John Belton, who they did it together. They did the jungle together. so Apart from hearing their stories of training and stuff, I had no idea what I was letting myself in for. So in a way, ignorance was bliss.
00:06:41
Ioana
And just as like, i was like trying to be like a really good student, as it were, and joined the Beyond the Ultimate Facebook group where there's a community of people who've done the races or done some of the races or are looking to do the races.
00:06:56
Ioana
And there's a wealth of knowledge in there where you can Google, like search for questions.
00:06:59
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:07:01
Ioana
and find answers to things that you never knew you'd be searching for. So for example, when I signed up for my first ultra, was looking at the kid list of compulsory kids. And one of the things was a bivvy bag. I had no idea what a bivvy bag was.
00:07:16
Ioana
It was that level.
00:07:17
UKRunChat
yeah
00:07:18
Ioana
and So the learning curve was absolutely vertical, but basically signed up literally at the start of December 2023. So I had seven months to train for it until like June 2024 when I did it. is I think it was 2nd of June it started.
00:07:34
Ioana
So I had basically a plan for seven months and trained up to it and... when I went into it, I was already mentally prepared for it in that sense.
00:07:43
UKRunChat
yeah
00:07:44
Ioana
But I almost like also didn't know why I'd let myself in force. So it was like a lot of it was exciting because I was about to find out on the race itself.
00:07:55
UKRunChat
Yeah, i think I think my questions going into a race like that would be kind of how is it going to actually work during the race? Like, is it self-navigation? How does how does that work?
00:08:04
Ioana
So with beyond the ultimate, it's not, they marked the course with like these red flags for the jungle and you follow these flags and like, you can still get lost, but like it's, you follow these flags and they put tracker on you.
00:08:09
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:08:14
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:08:18
Ioana
So every athlete has a tracker they carry. So they know where you are at all times. It does have a safety messaging feature where Basically, you can ask for help if you get lost or if they see that you've got lost, it will start beeping obnoxiously until you pick it up. And at that point, they tell you, you are lost. You need to go this way.
00:08:39
Ioana
So one of the bits of kit is a compass that you carry so they can tell you things like this is where you need to go, that sort of thing. So there is a, like everybody knows where you are at all times, but it's with the jungle in particular, it's definitely a mark.
00:08:54
Ioana
Well, all of the beyond the ultimate races are marked course, but with the jungle in particular, even if you had like, ah like my Garmin,
00:08:57
UKRunChat
no
00:09:02
Ioana
i couldn't really navigate because the coverage of the jungle is so thick, it just doesn't see the satellites in the sky for GPS or anything.
00:09:06
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:09:11
Ioana
It's just like it can't estimate. And the first time I did the jungle, like, you know, there's all this tech around.
00:09:13
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:09:18
Ioana
Like, I had none of that. I wasn't even on Strava, right? So all I had was one of these MyZone's heart rate monitors that goes like you can swap it from a chest strap to an arm strap to a wrist strap.
00:09:34
Ioana
And it literally just flashes a light color at you to say what heart rate zone you're in. So that's all I had. I like I didn't know what distance I'd done because I wasn't clocking distance.
00:09:42
UKRunChat
Yeah. yeah
00:09:46
Ioana
I didn't know. I was just like so like almost went into it going like, let's get the most out of this. And. Let's just see what happens.
00:09:56
Ioana
Like, i had i hadnt I had no idea what to expect. I knew they hack the trails through the jungle every single year because it grows back so quick and the Peruvian team have to literally go and hack some trails.
00:10:05
UKRunChat
yeah
00:10:09
Ioana
And I knew it would be incredible, but, like, I did my first one with no music as well. So it's like, it's one of those where I think it's very different doing a marathon or a half marathon to doing an ultra because the pace is different and the terrain is different.
00:10:24
UKRunChat
yeah
00:10:25
Ioana
And it's, especially in the jungle, the terrain is like genuinely an adventure course. You go under trees, over trees, you pull yourself, the but the hills are vertical, which I also didn't know when I went into it.
00:10:37
UKRunChat
wow
00:10:39
Ioana
That was the thing I found out on the race. And you at points they've put ropes in where you have to pull yourself up on on them and stuff. And like it was just one of those where I've learned so much about navigating trails and terrain and stuff like that.
00:10:57
Ioana
And like my first race, I didn't even take like hiking poles because I didn't know the hills were vertical and I didn't even know how to use poles.
00:11:00
UKRunChat
Right. Yeah. ye
00:11:05
Ioana
I didn't know poles were a thing on an ultra if you need them. So it was just one of those where I'd like done it with like, just pretty much went until all in and just did my best and just found out on that race that actually really enjoyed it.
00:11:21
UKRunChat
yeah
00:11:22
Ioana
seemed I was really good at it So I had ah life incident on that in the sense that I hadn't had a period for like three years or something because of the pill and like because I've got this thing where it's called adenomyosis so it's like it's the periods are incredibly painful so I'd like I don't want to deal with this I'll just take the pill to stop it
00:11:35
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:11:44
UKRunChat
No.
00:11:47
Ioana
learned things about women physiology on that race like I did not have a period in three years and they stayed free first thing in the morning full-on period I was just like the the medic just went like yeah you're the last one of the women to come on all of you have come on now I'm like I don't understand I'm on this pill and this shouldn't have happened and the medics were just really chill and they went like
00:11:51
UKRunChat
Right, okay.
00:12:00
UKRunChat
Wow.
00:12:14
Ioana
yeah, because of the effort stuff doesn't get absorbed doesn't as much as it would be on a normal race. i was like, didn't know that was a thing. body acts very differently when under pressure and under stress, right?
00:12:23
UKRunChat
Wow, no, I didn't know that.
00:12:28
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:12:28
Ioana
It's like, okay, cool. So I'm then like, running this race in like absolute agony.
00:12:35
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:12:36
Ioana
But like, that's when like, because I just went in to do it and I didn't ever like consider I'm going to compete in this first race. I just went like, I want to go in and complete this race.
00:12:49
Ioana
And I didn't even know there was a short course. And on stage five, which is the long stage, is Like there's a short course that's like, I think 12k, like it's 12k shorter if you end up a short course. So I got to this checkpoint where you either go short course or long course.
00:13:08
Ioana
And I just said, i read I got there with plenty of time to spare for the cutoff. And I just said to the medic, I don't need to do the long course because I knew it was a vertical hill, right?
00:13:18
Ioana
and It's like it's 12K or something, but it's not 12K like you're in Battersea Park.
00:13:19
UKRunChat
Yeah.
Challenges in Jungle Ultra and Hydration
00:13:24
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:13:24
Ioana
It's 12K over a vertical hill and it's going take hours. and I was just like, do you know what? I'm in so much pain. I don't want to spend like four hours out there on that hill for like 12K.
00:13:36
Ioana
I just want to enjoy the end of this race. I just want to love my last 10K. So I literally like... The medic was there trying to convince me, no, no, you can do the long course, you can do the long course. And I just went like, I don't need to. I don't need to prove anything.
00:13:52
Ioana
i just had the best time. There was this dog that ran 45k that day. It started at the start with one of the runners and it just like kept having naps at checkpoints.
00:13:58
UKRunChat
Wow, amazing.
00:14:03
Ioana
and picking up a different runner. So when I got into that checkpoint right before the long course, this dog was having a nap there. And then when I left off, left to do the short course, the dog came with me. So I ran my last 10K with this dog. It was great.
00:14:17
UKRunChat
ah that's cute.
00:14:17
Ioana
And literally the dog finished across the finish line the medics put like a cap on it and like a medal on it and there's a cute picture of it somewhere but like yeah i just had a really good time i love that and then as soon as i got to ah like literally as soon as i finished ah chris sat me down the race director chris and he just went like you did really well in that considering it's your first ultra i think you should do the whole series
00:14:18
UKRunChat
Did the dog finish? of
00:14:46
UKRunChat
Wow. Yeah.
00:14:46
Ioana
I was like, do you know what, Chris? I'm in Like, immediately. I just committed I'll do the whole series. and And, you know, it just takes someone, it' it says a lot about the people around you. And it says a lot that Chris just saw that and just said that to me, like, because he backed me. I was like, he's an exceptional athlete.
00:15:06
UKRunChat
yeah
00:15:06
Ioana
If he thinks I can do the whole series, I'm going to do the whole series. At the time, I think like only five people had ever completed the series ever.
00:15:16
UKRunChat
Right.
00:15:16
Ioana
And I didn't know that fact.
00:15:16
UKRunChat
Okay.
00:15:18
Ioana
So in my head, there wasn't a limitation. I was like, great, let's do the whole series. So then I came back and did the desert last year in November.
00:15:27
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:15:29
Ioana
And that was in Namibia. It's the oldest, most adapted desert in the world. And absolutely loved it. Had a great time on the desert. My training, like I just kept training after the jungle, basically.
00:15:43
Ioana
And then i basically had a great time in the desert. I was competing already, loved it. And then just had an incident of the final stage. So the final stage of the desert is 92 kilometers in one go.
00:15:58
Ioana
And at this point, you've already got like 160 kilometers on board.
00:16:01
UKRunChat
Yeah, that's a long stage, isn't it? Yeah.
00:16:04
Ioana
It's a massively long stage.
00:16:04
UKRunChat
Wow.
00:16:05
Ioana
It starts in the dark are like before like way before the sun comes up. I think it's like half four or half five in the morning, something like that. and Because you obviously have to get up and you have to get your stuff ready and like line up at the sideline.
00:16:20
Ioana
It starts really early in the morning, so it sets you off so you get a good chunk done before the heat comes up. And then you've got to 92K. And so I was having a fantastic race like the day.
00:16:35
Ioana
The desert is basically 50. It's all of them are five stage races. So the desert is like 50K, 50K marathon, half marathon on stage four.
00:16:40
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:16:46
Ioana
But it's Chris starts you off at 12 p.m. because he wants to make it harder in the desert heat. and then final stage is the 92k massive one so i had a really good time on the desert i did really well and i got to stage four and you wait around baking in the heat till 12 p.m when you can set off and weirdly stage four was my best stage like i absolutely just loved it i was like ran it all i was like right let's get done
00:17:19
Ioana
put a load of time on people, arrived in camp early. So it was like, i actually feel really good before the last stage, which is where you want to be.
00:17:26
UKRunChat
Oh, no.
00:17:28
Ioana
And then had a great 50k on the last stage. And started, last stage starts in the dark. So you're wearing head torches and like a glow stick on your, on the back of your bag.
00:17:39
Ioana
And there's not really any course markers. There's like some trucks parked on top of the sand dune. and you basically run towards the lights of the trucks of the sand dune completely got lost in the sand dune did an extra t k you know these things happen got there all good had a great 50k and then i just made some rookie errors just shows lack of experience right and it is what it is but that's how you learn by doing things
00:17:53
UKRunChat
oh
00:18:08
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:18:09
Ioana
And I just because my heat training for the desert was absolutely elite. I literally can't fold that. And I did that at London South Bank Uni. My friend Chris Taylor is a phenomenal athlete and he does these um fastest known time records and Guinness World Records with various athletes. So he's recently done.
00:18:32
Ioana
oh uh fastest known time with Elsie Davies uh during the she became the first person to do that circuit of Cornwall she's had the record the fastest known time for six days and eight hours and she's literally just on this this week
00:18:42
UKRunChat
Oh wow.
00:18:50
Ioana
ah Absolutely incredible. And basically, Chris introduced me to Dr. Freya Bain at London South Bank Uni. So she is ah leading in heat acclimation and like altitude acclimation, basically human adaptations to extremes.
00:19:06
UKRunChat
yeah
00:19:09
Ioana
And he just introduced me to her for my heat acclimation training and stuff where you run in a hot chamber, like a heat chamber. at 40 degrees Celsius. And we don't like we've done loads. Normally you do about 10 sessions, like 10 hours.
00:19:24
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:19:24
Ioana
But I've done 15 hours and we've done two hours back to back to train the mental game because in the desert, there you can't hide under and fit anything. There's no trees, there's no nothing.
00:19:35
Ioana
You're just in the open sun. and My mental game was really strong with the heat adaptation. had adapted really, really well. And when I got to Namibia, like I was there like a day before or something. And by the time you'd done four stages, by stage five, I was completely and utterly adapted.
00:19:56
Ioana
And so my rookie error was I didn't notice the heat come up I didn't slow down. and Even though you're feeling good, your body's working really hard to keep you cool.
00:20:10
Ioana
So it was like if it was three different things, it was that it was they say this thing to you out there that you can't drink enough out here, which I kind of understand why they say it if you're kind of a beginner with it.
00:20:19
UKRunChat
right Yeah.
00:20:24
Ioana
But I'd done really good heat training and they even got me to do this sweat test where they basically measure how much sodium you lose through sweat. And they'd done me a plan of how much salt I have to take on on the race every day and how much I need to drink because we're all different, right?
00:20:44
UKRunChat
yeah
00:20:44
Ioana
so
00:20:45
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:20:45
Ioana
We all sweat different rates, different amounts, different amounts of sodium. And they'd made me a plan for me. But like when I go out there, lack of experience, when they kept saying like, you can't drink enough out here I doubted myself. and I didn't stick to my plan. I kept drinking. over hydrated.
00:21:03
Ioana
So on stage five, I was I s think I stopped about ten or five times before the first checkpoint. i was like overly hydrated, going like I keep needing to stop for a wee.
00:21:15
Ioana
why are we doing this in the desert, right?
00:21:16
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:21:17
Ioana
Where their main concern and why and why they say that is people don't hydrate and then they get, obviously once dehydration kicks in, you're in trouble.
00:21:18
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:21:26
Ioana
And like the the medics are very blunt. They're like, right, we'll ask you the color of your weave is champagne or if it's like, if it's Guinness, you're not doing well.
00:21:36
UKRunChat
yeah
00:21:37
Ioana
Do you see what mean? It's like, mine was like so clear. It was like, I'm overly hydrated now.
00:21:43
UKRunChat
but You basically weren't absorbing that liquid.
00:21:43
Ioana
That's problem. Literally.
00:21:46
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:21:47
Ioana
And it's one of those where I hadn't slowed down in the heat. I'd overly hydrated and there was something else. But like, oh, yes, I take i took on too many carbs and I know myself and there's a tipping point for me.
00:22:03
Ioana
where I know that if I go over that, like I get a massive crash. And my blood pressure has been known to like drop like really fast out of nowhere.
00:22:14
Ioana
And I just had this thing, literally exactly 50km, my blood pressure went. I just couldn't but get it back up. I knew I couldn't get it back up. So you know when you stand up too quick and it all goes black?
00:22:27
Ioana
It was that i was like, oh, for God's sake. And like, you know, my friend Kevin, and who I met in the jungle and he then came back to the desert. um He was with me when that happened. And he literally walked me into the next checkpoint, Watergent.
00:22:42
Ioana
And. left me there I died on the checkpoint floor for about an hour with a medic trying to revive me which was great but like we just the medics are fantastic the global expedition medics like they really know their stuff and they're really dedicated to putting the runners back together and getting us to the finish line so the medic I was with was incredible she just Ticked all the boxes, checked all the things off. I said to her, I know I have this blood pressure thing.
00:23:12
Ioana
This is what's happened. And she we just had a chat at one point and she was like, I'm not going to stop you finishing the race. You're not going to DNF this race 20k before the short course.
00:23:24
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:23:25
Ioana
but I'll let you go when I'm happy. So like she put me back together and then i ran another 20K and made it to the short course, like end as it were.
00:23:35
UKRunChat
and yeah
00:23:37
Ioana
And I was just sat there. Like by the time I got there, i was, my blood pressure was so low. i had to pull my sleeping bag out and wrap myself in it. And I was just there going like,
00:23:50
Ioana
yeah, I need to try and perk myself up, that's what the vibe. I just thought, okay, it's only 20k from here to the end of the long course.
00:24:01
UKRunChat
Yeah. Yeah.
00:24:02
Ioana
And again, there's hills and it's not 20k like in Battersea Park. So it's like, okay, do I, I was just looked at the race director and went like, it's only twenty k He was like, if you want to go,
00:24:16
Ioana
please go for it. I'm backing you. ah tried to stand up and it all went black. I was like, no, we're calling it at a short course. And he actually rang me afterwards and said, I'm really proud of you for calling it then because there's no value in destroying yourself.
00:24:31
Ioana
It was the right thing to do. And i literally have no regrets there. But like after that, Chris King comes into the picture again. and
00:24:40
UKRunChat
yeah
00:24:41
Ioana
bearing in mind, I short course the jungle, I short course the desert. So I was like, for God's sake,
00:24:45
UKRunChat
And you've now signed up for the the four the following year, haven't you?
00:24:47
Ioana
for the fall, right?
00:24:49
UKRunChat
yeah
00:24:49
Ioana
And Kriska is like, wanna.
00:24:54
UKRunChat
ah
00:24:54
Ioana
By this point, Chris is one of my best friends already. and he goes like, Iwana, I believe in you. I think you can do this. I think you can be the first person to do all my races in one calendar year.
00:25:09
Ioana
i think you should. was like, God knows why listen to him. but i was like, yeah, all right, let's do it.
00:25:15
UKRunChat
Thank you.
00:25:16
Ioana
And then Adam Kimball is the race director for the desert. And right before the desert, Chris had said to me, I can't wait to introduce you to Adam. He'll match your energy. So when he introduced us, we hit it off straight away. It was like, yes. And Chris was like, what have I done?
00:25:34
Ioana
But Chris then slides down in front of me, going, like, you should be the first person to do all my races in one calendar year. I believe in you. And then he looks at me, and his superpower being putting people together, he goes, you and Adam should train together.
00:25:50
Ioana
So i changed my coach, and Adam's been coaching me ever since.
Coaching Impact and Extreme Environment Research
00:25:54
UKRunChat
Okay. Yeah.
00:25:54
Ioana
And there was something that just wasn't clicking in my training.
00:25:57
Ioana
And as soon as I started training with Adam, Everything clicked, like absolutely everything clicked. I've never loved running more. So it just goes to show like the people around you and picking the right person for you as well to coach you.
00:26:13
Ioana
And literally, we absolutely loved it. So we thought, right, let's start fresh on the new year.
00:26:19
UKRunChat
yeah
00:26:21
Ioana
four races of the Global Race Series, so the Arctic, the jungle, the mountain and the desert. And then Chris has two other races that are not part of the Global Race Series, which are the Highland and Four Rangers, which is a safari race in Kenya.
00:26:37
Ioana
And we'd said, let's do all six in one calendar year.
00:26:38
UKRunChat
Oh my gosh, because four isn't enough.
00:26:41
Ioana
not only complete the global race series, but do the other two as well. And that's what Chris was getting at. I think he can be the first ever person to a complete the global race series in one calendar year and B, do all of my races in one calendar year and you know set the record for how long it takes to do that essentially.
00:26:49
UKRunChat
then
00:27:02
Ioana
And So we just started there and like I trained for the Arctic, started training for the Arctic. And at the time I was chatting to Dr. Bain at London South Bank Uni because I was doing all the extremes in one calendar year I suddenly became like gold dust for the university because they can study adaptations to all those extremes on the same person.
00:27:28
UKRunChat
Yeah, you're a great research project, aren't you?
00:27:29
Ioana
So, we forwarded that to her.
00:27:31
UKRunChat
Yeah. Wow.
00:27:32
Ioana
Absolutely. So, she's doing a research project on it. It's really wholesome because I said, if I do this, I want to do this right. I want to be asking the experts. I don't want to reinvent the the wheel.
00:27:43
Ioana
i'm a so like I'm firmly an athlete, not a coach. So, having someone like Adam coaching me... is ideal because he is not only an elite athlete, but he's a phenomenal coach.
00:27:56
Ioana
So I know that whatever he programs for me, I just have to turn up and do I don't have to invest time in research and effort in figuring out what I should be doing. I can just turn up and do it, which is awesome. Like trust the experts, big fan of that.
00:28:13
Ioana
I said, like, if we're doing extreme environments, because this is the whole premise of the Beyond the Ultimate Global Race series is the hardest in the world in extreme environments. I thought I want to get my adaptations right. I want to give myself the best chance.
00:28:27
Ioana
So we just went all in. i teamed up with Dr. Bain and She's doing a research project on it and it's wholesome that my sessions go towards something like they contribute to academic research.
00:28:39
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:28:41
Ioana
There's not that much data on female athletes either.
00:28:44
UKRunChat
no
00:28:45
Ioana
so that's a bonus because like so and Freya was the first person ever in an adaptation session to ask me things like, where are you in your cycle? Because our hormones work differently in the first two weeks and the second two weeks of the 28 day and and our core body temperature changes depending where we are in our cycle and things like that.
00:29:06
Ioana
no one had ever mentioned that to me, right?
00:29:07
UKRunChat
no
00:29:08
Ioana
Like this was like, I loved that this is being like paid attention to and her students, her undergraduate students and her master's students and her PhD students can come in and
00:29:14
UKRunChat
yeah
00:29:23
Ioana
use me essentially as a glorified guinea pig for the research which is really nice so it's like it's funny because like for the mountain ultra we are doing like altitude training because it's it it gets to over 4 000 meters and they were doing like lactate testing so it's a lot of learning things for me as well which is great because i'm being educated and they were doing lactate testing every 10 minutes they'd come in and prick my fingers and like
00:29:25
UKRunChat
yeah
00:29:28
UKRunChat
so
00:29:45
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:29:54
Ioana
take a little bit of blood and measure the lactate and all this. And, you know, when you're teaching undergraduate students how to do that, they've never pricked people's fingers and they're like, I'm really sorry. And you're like, it's okay, just go for it. Like, you know.
00:30:10
Ioana
And like that was really good because for the Arctic, we did like cold exposure and ice baths. I'd never done that before. So they started me off at like five degrees Celsius for 15 minutes and then it kind of increased.
00:30:18
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:30:25
Ioana
So four degrees for 20 minutes, three degrees for 20 minutes, that sort of thing. And they're standing outside and when you're doing the cold exposure, they measure stuff like every two, three minutes. So quite often because they don't want to accidentally give you hypothermia and stuff.
00:30:42
Ioana
I didn't know how our bodies react to that. So obviously, when you jump into this bath, you squeal like a little girl, which I did. And once you're in it, like your body kind of gets the idea and you start shivering. I'm like, I can't control this, but I'm shivering. And like Preya's standing outside chatting to me to distract me and talking me through it, getting me to breathe and basically explaining what's going on, saying that shivering is a good thing, is the it's the outcome we want because that shows the adaptations kicking in
00:31:18
UKRunChat
yeah
00:31:18
Ioana
And that was really useful information for me to understand, right? And then it's interesting what happens because like once you're in it for 20 minutes, your body gets used to it and you kind of get the idea you're shivering and you can't control it.
00:31:23
UKRunChat
yeah
00:31:32
Ioana
But you get the idea. And then what I didn't expect is when you come out, like you shiver so bad uncontrollably. was like, what is going on? And they shove you in the heat chamber to kind of warm you up really quickly.
00:31:47
Ioana
was like, that's so interesting. I had never had that experience. But the mental experience that gave me and the mental game confidence that gave me was elite.
00:31:58
Ioana
Because then with the Arctic, the considerations are you have to, obviously I had had to learn loads on kit and stuff, but you have to manage your layers really well. So if you get too hot, that's a problem because if you sweat,
00:32:13
Ioana
Then if you get cold, you get hypothermia because you're not drying up again. and then if you don't put enough layers on, then you get hypothermia.
00:32:17
UKRunChat
Right. Hmm.
00:32:21
Ioana
So it's like there's a sweet spot. and It's that thing of, yes, you do just stop in the middle of the trail and manage your layers. Because otherwise, if you leave it too late, it's like...
00:32:33
Ioana
you get into trouble because you come back, go back and fix it. So the medics, the expedition medics have this, ah have some really good phrases. And one of those in the Arctic was be bothered, treat yourself like a teenager.
00:32:47
UKRunChat
yeah
00:32:47
Ioana
so like if you're running and you get into it and you realize oh I'm too hot, actually stop and deal with it Don't go, I'll just put up with it to the next checkpoint because by then it might be too late. You might be like too sweaty. Then you get really cold as soon as you stop.
00:33:05
Ioana
That sort of vibe. So it's like the be bothered thing was really good and like make good decisions is another one they say.
00:33:06
UKRunChat
yeah
00:33:12
Ioana
So you're you're wearing like snowboard goggles or ski goggles and because it's so bright and also at the top of the mountain, like there's a stage where you summit Mount Kabla,
00:33:24
Ioana
It gets windy. Like there's no blowing everywhere. It's called the ice ultra as well. So there's ice everywhere.
00:33:29
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:33:29
Ioana
At one point you do a half marathon on an open lake and it's just straight and you just go. But like with the open lake as well, there's no, you're out in the open.
00:33:41
Ioana
There's no, there's no like tree coverage. So you're actually really exposed. So you've got just be really good at like covering your face with your face mask and that freezes from you. breathing and stuff. It's all those things.
00:33:54
Ioana
And just managing that, because like before, you know before you go out there, you've got to do your research, that sort of thing.
00:34:05
UKRunChat
Yeah. Yeah. yeah
00:34:06
Ioana
And it was so funny, like I did a half marathon in Battersea Park with Spencer just before i went out to the Arctic and he'd started the Arctic, but basically he'd been to the Arctic essentially and he just went like, right, so you're doing the Arctic.
00:34:22
Ioana
My main tip for you is don't take your gloves off to take a selfie. Of course, he was like, I took my gloves off in the Arctic and couldn't feel my hands for a week.
00:34:31
UKRunChat
um
00:34:33
Ioana
I was like, didn't think of that. That's actually really useful.
Arctic Race Preparation and Mountain Success
00:34:38
UKRunChat
Yes.
00:34:39
Ioana
I know it sounds silly, like it's one of those. It's things like you've got these liner gloves because if you're using poles and that, anything like touching metal, your spin sticks to metal, that sort of thing. It's like, I didn't know all this before i i did it. And there's just things like,
00:34:57
Ioana
ridiculous things like you have to wear snow shoes for the deep snow and i'd never worn snow shoes in my life right so what do you do you take them to a beach because that's the closest you can get to snow there's me rocking up in like
00:35:10
UKRunChat
Oh, that's such a good idea. Yeah.
00:35:18
Ioana
born up on the beach and putting on some snow shoes was the dogs people walking dogs like we're like what are you training for i'm like oh this race in the arctic the dogs were so confused that they were just like running around me going like what's this woman doing type of thing confused by the snowshoes. But like, yeah, I went and did some training with the snowshoes on sand just to know what they feel like so I don't just put them on for the first time in the Arctic.
00:35:48
Ioana
You know? was just like, that's one thing. But then... The whole training thing just became really useful because the way the series is set up, it goes, it starts with the Arctic in February.
00:36:03
Ioana
And then you do, then I did, because I was committing to all six of Chris's races of the Beyond the Ultimate races.
00:36:08
UKRunChat
That's right. Yeah.
00:36:10
Ioana
The next one in the calendar year is the Highland, which is end of April, beginning of May.
00:36:13
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:36:16
Ioana
So I had some time in between the Arctic and the Highland. And I just basically thought, right, I now need to switch my head into mountains. That's my next thing, mountains, hills.
00:36:26
UKRunChat
yeah.
00:36:28
Ioana
So i ended up doing these like ah races on like mountain mountain races in like Wales. Like I basically support one of ah the companies that puts mountain races in Wales is called Limitless Trails.
00:36:43
UKRunChat
oh yeah
00:36:44
Ioana
And they are absolutely elite. Like if you want some really good mountain races in the UK, I wholeheartedly recommend Limitless Trails because their races start from anywhere like 10 miles to like...
00:36:59
Ioana
to like over a marathon, your first ultra, if you want to do like a 30 miler, that sort of thing, to 50 milers and so on. So you can get a whole range of it. So if you're just starting to do mountain races, why not start with a 10 miler and then build up? It's just their trails are just amazing. So I've basically lived on the Welsh mountains with limitless trails and then just trying to get as much practice in as I can.
00:37:28
Ioana
and Built up to the Highlands, did the Highlands, won the Highlands.
00:37:34
UKRunChat
I was going to say did very well at it. Yeah.
00:37:36
Ioana
Absolutely loved it.
00:37:36
UKRunChat
Was that a surprise for you?
00:37:38
Ioana
Absolutely loved it.
00:37:39
UKRunChat
was that your goal to kind of do well in it?
00:37:39
Ioana
but like yeah It was, actually. So when I when i met Adam in the desert, we'd gone straight away.
00:37:43
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:37:48
Ioana
And when Chris said, you should train together, like we hit it off straight away. And we were like, 100%, we should train together. And Adam said to me, I want you to have a rest. up and like for two weeks, do nothing, and then we'll start training properly. And um in the airport on the way back from the desert, we were just sat at the chatting, as you do And Adam looked down at my feet because I was in flip flops and went like, this is proper ultra chat, like my feet looked really well.
00:38:21
Ioana
ah he was like, considering you've run your feet look really good. And he just goes like, let's win a lot of races.
00:38:32
UKRunChat
Yes.
00:38:33
Ioana
I was like, let's win a lot of races. Because he was like, if the jungle was your first one and you're already competing in the desert, like two months later or whatever, a bit more than that.
00:38:41
UKRunChat
yes
00:38:42
Ioana
So it was June to November. and when we When Chris said, let's train together, you and Adam them should train together, Adam went like, let's win some races. And then he's on my feet in the airport and went like, considering you were competing and that's your second ultra, let's win a lot of races.
00:39:03
Ioana
So we kind of went into it going like, you can do this. I believe in you. i know I can train you to win these races or do really well and podium them. And let's go, right?
00:39:15
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:39:16
Ioana
Let's do everything as right as we can.
00:39:16
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:39:18
Ioana
Like get the acclimation done, the adaptations done, get the training right, all of this. And like... With the races being all stacked into a year, normally you train for one A race, right?
00:39:31
Ioana
For ages, like I did with my first one.
00:39:32
UKRunChat
yeah
00:39:35
Ioana
Like I trained for seven months and then worked up to that race. Because I'm doing all six in one year, it's become about how well can you recover?
00:39:44
UKRunChat
yeah
00:39:44
Ioana
And Adam's taught me so much about how you don't lose the adaptations, you don't lose the fitness, but it's about how well can you recover between races? Because I had a good gap between the Arctic and the highlands.
00:39:58
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:39:58
Ioana
And then between the highlands, that finishes on the 2nd of May, I think. And then the jungle's the 1st of June. So it's like I literally had such a tight turnaround between the highlands and the jungle and because the jungle's like heat humidity altitude i went straight into the lab with dr bain and we did ah heat training to up to 35 degrees celsius and then altitude training combined and they said the humidity to 50 percent bearing in mind in the jungle is 70 to 100 percent so we did that in the lab so i was already like building the acclimation to altitude and heat and humidity
00:40:30
UKRunChat
Yeah. Yeah.
00:40:38
Ioana
And it's worked out in this ridiculous situation where the Highland was perfect training for the jungle because the jungle hills are vertical and hills in the island.
00:40:45
UKRunChat
Yeah. when of course yeah and
00:40:49
Ioana
And which is ridiculous to say it like that, right? But like, in a way, the universe has arranged this perfectly for me. So the Highland built up to the jungle nicely. I just had to add the adaptations in.
00:41:02
Ioana
So then did the jungle, absolutely loved it. I had incredible competition. So like all week, it was probably the most fun I had on the race because all week I was racing against someone who also won the Arctic and someone who won the Rangers.
00:41:19
UKRunChat
Okay.
00:41:20
Ioana
And the three of us were rotating on the podium all week. So... It was so much fun. And it was like the first couple of stages in the jungle have a lot of road.
00:41:31
Ioana
So the lady who came second, she was really, really strong on the road. And then stage three, the proper like gnarly jungle quick kicks in. And I just took off in the jungle. As soon as I think i was off the roads, I just took off in the jungle. And she slowed down a lot in the jungle.
00:41:50
Ioana
It was just one of those things where like, we we were so close all week and swapping around. It was just so much fun. And it was really good and really inspiring for me to see two other strong women there.
00:42:04
Ioana
I'm like also aware that might be I'm still building a lot of experience at this stage. These women have way more experience than me. So it's like so thrilling to be able to race against them.
00:42:16
Ioana
So I came first in the jungle and then that was the perfect kind of training for the mountain because the mountains even higher altitude than the jungle.
00:42:22
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:42:26
Ioana
And it's still hot because it's july so it's like we kept in the lab we kept the heat and altitude adaptations together we just kept topping it up and because you don't really lose it that quick but like i had six weeks between the jungle and the mountain and we topped up the adaptations and then there's a three-day trek just to acclimatize in the mountain because it gets so high to you 4000 meters and that was elite like you learn so much and like no matter how well you do in the lab there's nothing like you know the gold standard is being out there and the adaptation is just so much better being out there but it's like it's good to see like how it all builds up like people were getting headaches and like
00:43:15
Ioana
the first signs of like altitude when you're out there on the trek. I was like, I'm absolutely fine. I can sleep absolutely fine. Yes, I'm out of breath doing stuff, but my body's still adapting.
00:43:26
Ioana
And that's really good. But like, Chris was actually joking about the people who, because it's kind of compulsory to do some like adaptation before the race for the mountain.
00:43:36
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:43:37
Ioana
Well, it is compulsory, but like if people opt to do it in the lab, that's acceptable.
00:43:38
UKRunChat
yeah
00:43:44
Ioana
So, but Chris was saying, it's always funny to watch the people who show up on the race without the track.
00:43:50
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:43:51
Ioana
Even if they've done something in the lab, it's different when you go out there and you're on the mountain you've got the terrain and all that.
00:43:54
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:43:59
Ioana
Because like, obviously in the lab, I'm running on one of these woodway curves. So the band isn't motorized. So you you're literally a glorified guinea pig.
00:44:07
UKRunChat
yeah
00:44:07
Ioana
on the like or running on the wheel but like that's got nothing on the elevation of the mountain right so it's that thing of once you're hiking a high altitude you're like okay and i think the mountain for me was the one where it really showed how important it is to do things right and learn things so um on stage
00:44:31
UKRunChat
yeah
00:44:35
Ioana
Four, think, yeah, stage four of the mountain. There was this storm that came in hard and fast, took out half the field with hyperthermia. So half the athletes were out of the race.
00:44:46
Ioana
And the mountain's the least accessible one of them all. So basically there's more staff than runners because it's so hard to get anywhere.
00:44:52
UKRunChat
yes
00:44:56
Ioana
And if you're, you know, needing severe assistance, like that could end the race for everyone because if they have to mobilize the whole team. So people are making really good decisions. why our day is day There's a few hills, like obviously it's the mountain ultra, but like there's this checkpoint that's kind of like a welfare checkpoint on top of a hill that's midway between...
00:45:14
UKRunChat
yes
00:45:22
Ioana
the first and second checkpoints. And I'd got to this welfare checkpoints and saw the medics, which are literally two expedition medics with their kid in a tent. said hello, all is well, and they said, oh, it's up and over the next hill. I'm like, great, let's crack on. So I'm running along, running along. i just had that perfect storm where I was in a valley when this storm kicked off and this storm came in hard and fast, there was hailstones, you name it.
00:45:51
Ioana
And I was already my waterproofs, which was great. I was like, this is awesome, fine. I don't need to like change in the middle of the storm because I'm already in it. But can't see any course markers. They've all blown away in the wind. so
00:46:06
UKRunChat
Oh, Yes.
00:46:06
Ioana
The visibility wasn't great. Like for me, it was about three to five meters or something. I just couldn't see where I was going. I couldn't see any course markers. And so I was in this volume.
00:46:17
Ioana
My watch I was navigating on because that you do download the GPX files and stuff on the mountain.
00:46:21
UKRunChat
yeah
00:46:24
Ioana
it's it just lost signals. So the map just went blank. I was like, I actually don't know where I'm going. And I had a blank map and it just said at the bottom, you're 100 meters off course. I'm like, okay, cool. So my train of thought was...
00:46:40
Ioana
The medic said it's up and over, but which hill? Because there's two hills here. i don't want to go over the wrong hill. i don't want to lose elevation. so I thought if I'm 100 meters, of course, let's try walking one direction and see if the numbers go down.
00:46:56
Ioana
or if they go up. So I'm like, right, let's try and walk around and see which way I'm going. so but it just didn't work. It was just like I was walking in one direction. It was going like 90, 80, 70 meters, and then suddenly flicked to your 200 meters, of course. I'm like,
00:47:16
Ioana
maps blank, I can't see any course markers.
00:47:16
UKRunChat
And
00:47:18
Ioana
I got my tracker out and went like, right, I'm just going to need to ask for assistance. So i messaged them to go, um lost essentially. And then eventually they sent me compass directions. I was like, this is perfect. This is exactly what need. So I got my compass out, followed their instructions. And within five minutes, I found the course again.
00:47:38
Ioana
Great. But by this point, because the tracker satellite, so takes ah It takes a while to send a message. It takes a while to receive a message. All the while I'm trying to find my way, walking left, right, up and down.
00:47:51
Ioana
And I'm in the middle of a storm. So even though I'm dry on the inside because I'm wearing waterproofs, I'm getting colder and colder. So by the time I'm shivering and stuff when I'm trying to text them on the tracker and things like that.
00:48:05
Ioana
But this is where it really showed to me that training in the lab and doing the right adaptations really helped me because I knew instinctively and logically that getting in my baby bag and waiting out the storm was the wrong decision for me.
00:48:21
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:48:21
Ioana
I knew that I'm shivering, which means that my body's doing its job to keep me warm.
00:48:21
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:48:26
Ioana
Like it's when you you're so cold, you've stopped shivering.
00:48:29
UKRunChat
yeah
00:48:30
Ioana
You need to worry. And because I knew that I had the confidence to go, i can keep going.
00:48:36
UKRunChat
yeah
00:48:36
Ioana
Whereas I think maybe some athletes may have quit at that point and just bivied up. I was like, I know that if I keep moving, I'll keep myself warm.
00:48:41
UKRunChat
yeah
00:48:44
Ioana
And I know that my body's keeping me warm. So it gave me that extra. extra confidence and courage to just do it so i hiked up this hill and by the time i got to the methics i was hyperthermic but wasn't too far off right so they just took my clothes off and ran me up in some sleeping bags and we had this chat where i was like oh but i'm wasting time by sitting here and they're like you've already lost a load of time in that storm anyway
00:48:50
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:49:13
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:49:14
Ioana
You're literally half, they informed me at that point that half the field was out the race with my dysphermia.
00:49:18
UKRunChat
Yeah. Wow.
00:49:20
Ioana
And they're like, the only reason you're still in the race is because you made good decision and you knew exactly what to do. Take that as a compliment. was like, but if I stay here, I'm wasting time and I'll have less recovery when I get to camp. And the medic just went like, you've got an recovery right here. I was like, fair play.
00:49:39
Ioana
And then like go back, go back, I've got rests. And then of course there was no course markers because they've blown away and my watch just never recovered. I couldn't get the GPS back up.
00:49:50
Ioana
So I just ended up walking the rest of this stage with the medics. It was the most frustrating thing in my entire life because I wanted to race. I had no idea where I was going.
00:49:58
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:49:59
Ioana
it was just like, ah, So when i spoke to Adam, my coach afterwards, he was like, now this is a lesson in stoicism and on all these ultras, there's things that will happen that are completely out of your control.
00:50:06
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:50:15
Ioana
And your job is to just deal with them. Like, there's only so much you can do. Like, you've done all the right things.
00:50:19
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:50:21
Ioana
You've finished the race. And with the mountain, it was just one of those sorts little things. 5K before the end, I got bitten by a wall dog.
00:50:30
UKRunChat
Oh my gosh.
00:50:31
Ioana
As you do, like literally.
00:50:31
UKRunChat
Are you okay?
00:50:33
Ioana
so it's like on stage five, there's three massive hills. I was just before the third massive hill. And there's a load of yurts in the valley with some locals and stuff. So I just like ran past them completely unassuming.
00:50:49
Ioana
Locals waved at me, I waved back. was just running, like having the time of my life running. Because like with what happened on the stage before, I got like three and a half hours of sleep. I got to camp, had a cry.
00:51:03
UKRunChat
sorry.
00:51:04
Ioana
Got three and a half hours of sleep and then at the star line on stage five, I was just not messing about. I was gone. i was racing hard, had a great day again. i was like, right, I'm back up and running, right?
00:51:17
Ioana
Having a great day. Ran past these years, literally 5k before the end. waved at some locals, they waved at me, and the first I knew of this dog, it had its teeth in me, I didn't even see it come.
00:51:31
Ioana
It was just one of those things where I'd never been bitten by anything, dog or anything, in my entire life. That's first for anything, right? I might as well do it somewhere epic.
00:51:39
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:51:41
Ioana
And literally, like, I didn't see it come. The first I knew of it, it already had its teeth in me. I just, it's amazing what our brains do, like the adrenaline kicked in instantly, so I didn't feel it at all.
00:51:54
UKRunChat
yeah
00:51:54
Ioana
It's probably good i didn't see it come because I didn't have the fear of the chase.
00:51:59
UKRunChat
yeah
00:51:59
Ioana
And once the adrenaline kicked in, I literally didn't feel a thing. I just felt the back of my knee numb. And you know how your brain just slows things down. you You hear these stories of people in car crashes and stuff where your brain just those makes a million decisions in a split second.
00:52:17
Ioana
So because I had my paws out, I put them in front between me and the dog and like knew exactly what to do in terms of like you know being firm, being calm.
00:52:21
UKRunChat
Yeah. Yeah.
00:52:25
Ioana
telling Obviously, dog doesn't speak English, but you know telling it to stop in a firm tone is the tone of voice.
00:52:31
UKRunChat
yeah
00:52:32
Ioana
And then backing away, keeping eye contact, walking backwards so it doesn't chase you again. got away from the dog, got on the hill, started hiking the hill.
00:52:43
Ioana
And then I stopped and went, like, they tell you about, obviously, the risk of rabies and how that's 100% fatal.
00:52:47
UKRunChat
ya
00:52:50
Ioana
The likelihood was the dog didn't have it. But if it did, it's not worth the risk because it's 100% fatal. So i just thought, get my tracker let the medics know I need assistance and then crack on. So I just put the tracker in the front of my pocket. It was just phenomenal. And that just shows what good race director Chris is.
00:53:12
Ioana
Chris, basically the minute they got that message of i need medical assistance, because you're relying on preset messages on these trackers. They just have like an OK button and four arrows up, down, left, right.
00:53:22
UKRunChat
right
00:53:23
Ioana
So you just go into a menu and you send the preset message.
00:53:27
UKRunChat
OK, so they don't know what's happened at this point, just that you need help.
00:53:27
Ioana
I knew. At this point, they just got this message saying, i need medical assistance.
00:53:32
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:53:34
Ioana
And the minute Chris was told they got that message from me, he just locked himself in a tent and gave himself space chatting to the lady typing on the tracking team to my tracker.
00:53:48
Ioana
And he was asking really good yes and no questions because he he knew that my present messages are limited and yes, no is a really easy answer situation. I was just so in awe of his knowledge to know to ask all the right questions.
00:54:04
Ioana
So bearing in mind, I'm hiking this hill and because of the adrenaline, I was absolutely monstering up this hill. So dog did me a favor in a way, if I can joke about that.
00:54:14
UKRunChat
Thank you.
00:54:16
Ioana
and As I was hiking up this hill, I knew I'd put my tracker in my front pocket because it'll take five minutes to send my message and it'll take five minutes to send the message reply back.
00:54:29
Ioana
I don't want to be sat here waiting around. I want to be finishing this race. I've got 5K to get it done. Obviously, takes ages because you're hiking up a vertical hill, but you know. So the moment they got that message, I need medical assistance, they dispatched the lead medic with a kit bag up to hike up the other side of the hill.
00:54:50
Ioana
And as they were finding things out from me, they were relaying it to him. which was insanely good preparation, just so much respect for the expedition medics.
00:54:57
UKRunChat
Yeah. Yeah.
00:55:00
Ioana
But then Chris was asking these really good questions. So like my first question I got was, are you too cold because half the field was out with hypothermia the the day before? I'm like, no, carry on hiking. Next message comes through.
00:55:14
Ioana
Is this a wildlife incident? I'm like, yes. Is this a dog bite? Yes. So in those questions, like obviously it took like 40 minutes to get these questions, to get the answer because of the time it takes to send the satellite messages.
00:55:21
UKRunChat
you
00:55:30
Ioana
But by the time I saw the medic, I was already up and over the hill and running it down hard. I saw him, i literally slowed down because I didn't want to crash into him. It's amazing how the adrenaline had kicked in. I couldn't feel any of the bite. It was all numb.
00:55:47
Ioana
I was making all these decisions, like messaging the tracker, going like, I know I haven't got the rabies vaccine, so I know I've got 24 hours. So I must let them know before, as soon as possible.
00:55:58
UKRunChat
Oh.
00:55:58
Ioana
So yeah. And then when I saw him, it's funny what I'm raised to, I saw him and I knew Al for a while because he'd been on my first ever race on the jungle and he'd been in the Arctic.
00:56:10
Ioana
I literally, the first thing that came out of my mouth was, Al, am I going to die of rabies? He just laughed at me and completely dispersed the situation, just kept making jokes, told me to sit down and like, well, clean my wound. And he sat down with me for half an hour cleaning my wound and so on. And, you know, then he was like, you set the pace I run with you. So we ran down this downhill.
00:56:35
Ioana
It's because it's steep. You can run down it but you can't run very fast.
00:56:36
UKRunChat
yes
00:56:39
Ioana
So then you're open towards the end, it opens up in like and like flattens out when you come off the steep downhill. I just I didn't know it was coming, but just sprinted and Al was like, OK, I guess we're sprinting. He followed me along and then you get to this little road you cross just before the finish line.
00:56:59
Ioana
So we stopped across the road and Al just looks at me and went like, sprint finish. I was like, sprint finish. it's like I was actually really proud of myself that I finished the race, that bleeding with a dog bite and
00:57:08
UKRunChat
Thank you.
00:57:12
Ioana
you know, with the sprint finish, I was like, amazing. But just to say how phenomenal the setup is, like as soon as I crossed the finish line, Chris put a medal around my neck, exchanged a few words and gave me a hug, told me he was proud of me, which coming from someone who's a really good friend means a lot.
00:57:32
Ioana
And then before I knew it, he had my poles. He'd taken my poles. free me I was sat down in the med tent that was zipped up with three medics, one washing the wounds, One putting noodles in my hand, which was the first real food I did to eat in that week because you eat dehydrated meals and stuff.
00:57:49
UKRunChat
yeah
00:57:51
Ioana
And then one put a cup of coffee in my hand and went to crack the joke again, like, that's my personal thermal cup. I know where you live because it's on your medical form. I want that back.
00:58:02
UKRunChat
yeah
00:58:02
Ioana
That sort of thing. So within the hour of me crossing the finish line, I was in a car with a medic and the translator to Caracol Hospital to get this rabies jab. And your brain just goes like, it's insane. I've never experienced it before. So the adrenaline kicked in. got I got myself there as soon as I was surrounded by three medics.
00:58:27
Ioana
And someone put a snack pack in my hand and I had the coffee in the other hand and I was in the car. As soon as I was surrounded by three medics, I turned into a five year old.
00:58:37
Ioana
Like literally my brain just went like, right, we're safe now.
00:58:37
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:58:40
Ioana
We don't have to think anymore.
00:58:41
UKRunChat
Yeah, that was amazing.
00:58:41
Ioana
I literally turned into a five year old.
00:58:43
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:58:43
Ioana
I go in the car holding my snack pack and my coffee. got out of the car at Caracol Hospital holding my snack pack and my coffee. And by the time, like, we literally got seen straight away met the doctor at Caracol goes like, okay, what's your name? and I just looked at him like completely blank going like, I don't know, Becky's my medic.
00:59:04
Ioana
I was just, there's a picture of me there, like the medics, one of the main medics, the woman washing my wounds in camp, she just looks at me and went like, Iwana, you have one important job now. Your job is to wear your medal at all times whilst being treated.
00:59:21
Ioana
So there's a picture of me in Caracol Hospital with my medal. I didn't even take my backpack off. I was a kid at school, basically.
00:59:29
UKRunChat
Wow.
00:59:29
Ioana
And I had my snack pack and my coffee. and I was just like, I don't know anything. Becky's my responsible adult. crack on you know and by the time i got to the yeah uk it just just to say how amazing the expedition medics are they'd written of me a full plan because you have to have like four different vaccines that on the day it happens three days later a week later and 21 days later so and you have to have an antidote as well i didn't know all this they'd written me a plan and by the time i landed in the uk
00:59:50
UKRunChat
wow
01:00:06
Ioana
My GP already had the stuff delivered because they'd been sent the global expedition medics plan. So I literally landed and went to my GP to get my second vaccine and the antidote.
01:00:17
Ioana
They literally do not mess about. And like just the NHS is absolutely incredible.
01:00:21
UKRunChat
Yeah.
01:00:23
Ioana
But like it's things like for me, that was like really frustrating in a way that, you know, I didn't know where I was going. Lost several hours on the first stage, on the fourth stage with the storm.
01:00:33
Ioana
And then with the dog bite, like I lost more time. And with Al cleaning my wounds for half an hour on the hill, the woman who came in third,
01:00:40
UKRunChat
Yeah.
01:00:44
Ioana
was half an hour ahead of me, right? So I'd been leading the field for three stages as well.
01:00:46
UKRunChat
Wow. Yeah.
01:00:50
Ioana
So it's like, I know this wasn't a running problem. This was
Reflections on Mountain Races and Training Balance
01:00:55
Ioana
a real lesson in the things out of our control.
01:00:55
UKRunChat
yeah yeah
01:00:59
Ioana
If anything, the mountain's the only one I'm considering redoing.
01:01:02
UKRunChat
i was gonna say i'm already sensing you want to go back to have a proper go at that
01:01:05
Ioana
Literally, feel there's unfinished business there. but like after the mountain, because it built up so nicely, was the Arctic. Then we switch our brain into hills. We do the highlands, the jungle, which is bigger hills.
01:01:19
Ioana
Well, I don't know if they're bigger than the highland, but they're hills at altitude, basically. And then the mountain, to which are bigger hills at higher altitude. And then as soon as I finished the mountain, went like, right, I need to switch my head into deserts next.
01:01:33
UKRunChat
Yeah. Yeah.
01:01:33
Ioana
So the next one is the Four Rangers race in Kenya, which is not part of the Global Race Series. and It's all in support of the rangers looking after the wildlife.
01:01:44
UKRunChat
yeah
01:01:44
Ioana
And they mainly work on obviously protecting the rhino as an endangered species. But like they do a really good talk where they teach you all about this and They basically go like, it's not like we only protect rhinos and if a poacher comes in and wants like a zebra, we're like, yeah, off you go.
01:02:03
Ioana
No, it's like the rhino is the biggest animal here. So then everything else is by nature protected because... Obviously, by protecting the rhino, we include everyone else in this. And it's just really wholesome. And Kenya is one of those where Chris goes, you can't listen to any music because we need you to hear the wildlife and we need you to hear the rangers and take instruction from them if, you know, something happens.
01:02:30
UKRunChat
yeah
01:02:30
Ioana
And it's the rangers are dotted all along the course and they protect us and the wildlife. There's a chopper in full swing. And like I just said to Chris, I've never seen you happier.
01:02:42
Ioana
ah he's like, I get all the toys on this race. like Because it's almost like they have to herd the wildlife with the chopper because these animals are so big and stuff.
01:02:49
UKRunChat
Yeah.
01:02:52
Ioana
At points, the course is like winding. So if someone at the front of the pack is here and someone is like down here it's all in the same loop of the course.
01:03:03
Ioana
So it's like trying to make sure everyone's safe at all times. So there's a lot of logistics there. And my favourite bits were like running up this like track and there's like a load of zebra just chilling there. I'm like, ah okay, I guess I'm going around the stripy horses.
01:03:22
Ioana
At one point there's like zebras and giraffes just running across the tracks. I'm watching them going like... Okay, I'll time my time because I can see the end of this pack of zebras and giraffes.
01:03:37
Ioana
I'll time my pace so by the time I get to where they're crossing the path they will have gone, that sort of thing.
01:03:43
UKRunChat
yeah
01:03:44
Ioana
At no point did I stop to think why are they running? What's chasing them? That didn't cross my mind so perhaps ignorance is bliss. It turns out they're being chased by a hyena I then found out in camp later but you know.
01:03:59
Ioana
it's like and then running that day running down into camp at the end of the day, on the last two, I'm running down this track and like there's two baboons just chilling on the track. I'm like, well, what do I do? I don't want to really interact with them. But luckily they move when they hear you and stuff like that.
01:04:15
Ioana
But my favorite ever bit was I was running up this track and the way the Rangers work is you start all together in the first stage and then you get split into like stage starts.
01:04:29
Ioana
So like because I was leading the race, I was in almost like the like I was meant to be in the top, like top group. But then Chris basically went like, I'll put you in with the the with the main pack because otherwise you'd be the only woman in the top group and it might be a bit challenging mentally.
01:04:52
Ioana
And I was like, that's fantastic. Thank you for doing that. And then so i was starting and then because you're there's the slowest group who are the back of the pack who start first.
01:05:03
Ioana
As you're running, you're catching them up and you're like saying hello to people, overtaking people, that sort of thing.
01:05:08
UKRunChat
Yeah. Oh,
01:05:10
Ioana
and Everyone has one bad day or one bad moment on the track. And there was someone who was in the top group who was having a really bad day that day, and he was just feeling really ill.
01:05:22
Ioana
And I caught up with him and we were running together. And literally, like, as we were running, we got stopped by a ranger who goes like, right, you need to stand by a truck. We've got to move a rhino.
01:05:35
Ioana
we're like...
01:05:35
UKRunChat
water
01:05:36
Ioana
Of course you do. Like, you know, love that. I love that. So they're moving this rhino the size of a building. I'm like, this is the most exciting thing that's ever happened to me on the race.
01:05:48
Ioana
Like, I literally got into camp that day, going like a child, going like, oh, my God, i saw them move a rhino. And some of these camps, like you hear lions roaring and you see monkeys, like there's monkeys on top of the tents you stay in and stuff like that.
01:06:01
UKRunChat
Yeah.
01:06:07
Ioana
It's just like absolutely incredible learning think about what the rangers do and the incredible work they do. And it's just one of those where like on stick, because I was like, I started stage five with 24 minutes ahead of...
01:06:21
Ioana
oh everyone else in the way, all the other women in the race. And there's these two incredible women who are involved with setting up this race from the very start. I didn't realize one of them had the course record she'd set in 2018.
01:06:36
UKRunChat
Oh, amazing.
01:06:36
Ioana
and For me, it was like when I went into this race, I look looked at the women's times from all the previous years and said to myself, I'd like to beat the fastest women's time.
01:06:47
UKRunChat
Okay.
01:06:48
Ioana
I beat it by 22 minutes and Chris rang me afterwards and said, your time would have won all the previous years.
01:06:49
UKRunChat
Wow.
01:06:54
Ioana
I just happened to be racing against these two absolutely incredible women with such a wealth of experience. I just went like, do you know what? Fair play to them.
01:07:05
UKRunChat
Yeah.
01:07:05
Ioana
They put such a shift on the final stage. i was like, do you know what? Fair play. i I've achieved what I've set out to achieve and beat the fastest women's time.
01:07:15
UKRunChat
Yeah.
01:07:16
Ioana
by quite a while, and they've put in there such a shift that they've now come first and second I've come Fair play. That's actually really inspiring to me.
01:07:27
UKRunChat
Incredible, isn't it?
01:07:27
Ioana
It's like, not doing that, right?
01:07:28
UKRunChat
Yeah. Wow.
01:07:31
Ioana
And my bad day on the on the race, not bad day, it was a good day, but it was just... My mentally hard day was the final stage. The final stage is ah i physically absolutely fine.
01:07:44
Ioana
Mentally, I found it probably one of the hardest mental stages I've had in the whole series. And it's because it's straight and it's a packed track.
01:07:56
Ioana
And it's just out in the open, in the sun, straight, no change. I literally was running along going like, I found myself praying for hills. I was like, who have I become?
01:08:07
UKRunChat
Yeah.
01:08:10
Ioana
Because this is a flat straight and praying for hills because it's mentally, for me, it was meant it would have been mentally more exciting to have something, right?
01:08:22
Ioana
It was just one of those. It's like, but, you know, every single race has its own challenges and... before every race I've been going, like, I can't wait to see what this race is going to teach me.
01:08:34
UKRunChat
Yeah.
01:08:34
Ioana
Because inevitably you learn something about yourself. My first ever ultra, I had no idea what i was doing. And what came out of that with is I'm actually good at this.
01:08:45
Ioana
I love this. It's forced me to see that I can be my own hero. Like, it sounds really cheesy, but but like just having that realization on the race that due to the terrain and the lack of accessibility it's easier for me to just get on with it than to wait to be rescued.
01:09:03
UKRunChat
Yeah.
01:09:04
Ioana
it just mentally that just made made so much sense to me and it gave me such confidence. I just like really enjoyed it because I was like, look at me, I get to do this.
01:09:15
UKRunChat
yeah
01:09:16
Ioana
That's cool.
01:09:17
UKRunChat
It's amazing.
01:09:17
Ioana
And
01:09:17
UKRunChat
How would you say you've changed as a runner since doing that first ultra?
01:09:20
Ioana
Oh my gosh, I think training with Adam was a massive game changer because I wasn't getting enough running volume. I was doing loads of strength and conditioning. I was doing loads of running, but not nowhere near enough running before the first jungle and first desert.
01:09:36
Ioana
And the main thing I think Adam and I changed was he said to me, I'm a running coach. I can give you strength stuff, but I'm a running coach. And my volume has increased exponentially and it's that thing of easy runs are it's like you don't need to be killing yourself every day in training right but like it's the more you do an easy run the better you get at it so what's easy today was What's hard today, it's easy tomorrow, that sort of vibe. So by the nature of just doing it repeatedly and consistently, you get faster, you get stronger.
01:10:15
Ioana
So what I might have found hard, like last week, this week, I can do with a lot more ease.
01:10:22
UKRunChat
Yeah.
01:10:22
Ioana
It's interesting to see with like... doing all six races in one calendar year, that I've had so many moments where I've questioned my life choices going like, who am I to try this? was like, well, Chris thinks I can do it and he believes in me.
01:10:38
Ioana
But like, and Adam believes in me and so on. But like, it's one of those things where I have had moments where it's like, there's a reason why no one's done this before, right? It is actually really hard at times. I'm training six days a week. I'm working full time.
01:10:54
Ioana
But like, it's one of those where What I didn't expect is my physical training is on point. Like everything Adam says I do, he's really religious about the rest day, which I've never valued the importance of so much as I do now.
01:11:11
Ioana
I see why he's absolutely religious about it. He's like, if it's a rest day, it's a rest day. No running, full stop. And then we literally do like four days running, one day cross training where it's anything but running.
01:11:26
Ioana
So it's, no, it's actually five days running and then one day cross training and then you're less.
01:11:30
UKRunChat
what's What's your preferred cross-training activity then?
01:11:34
Ioana
I do a lot of high yoga.
01:11:36
UKRunChat
okay yeah.
01:11:36
Ioana
which is good for like training for deserts and that. But also I find the yoga stuff in the hot room actually helps with your muscles and stretches and stuff because everything's warm. You're like kind of getting into it a lot easier than if you're like stiff and stuff.
01:11:54
Ioana
And that really complements like, you know, doing loads of running, getting the stretches in and getting all that in. That's really good. So We've done that. We've done the Stairmaster some days or like hiking or that sort of thing.
01:12:08
UKRunChat
Yeah.
01:12:08
Ioana
And or strength sessions, right?
01:12:11
UKRunChat
yeah
01:12:11
Ioana
Strength and conditioning is still important. Like that's been a game changer for me because I'm 5 foot 2 and 43 kilos, right? So it's one of those where one other big consideration is they're self-sufficient races. So you carry everything you need for the week.
01:12:28
Ioana
And so my pack is not going to be that much different to someone else's pack. If you just put basic compulsory kit and your food, anything else is a luxury item.
01:12:40
Ioana
And so I remember in my first ever race in the jungle, my friend Mark said, did this race as well. And he's a man, I'm a woman. He's like taller than me, stronger than me.
01:12:53
Ioana
Our packs were the same weight. And you we water mine at the time I was weighing 44 kilos and with with water because you have to carry two and a half litres of water. and Mine was 11.
01:13:05
Ioana
So it was a quarter of my weight, right? Whereas Mark just went like, well, know your pack might, it's about the same as mine, isn't it? Mine's like, mine's 11. He's like, fair play to you.
01:13:16
UKRunChat
yeah
01:13:16
Ioana
You're like, what's smaller than me carrying the same weight as me?
01:13:20
Ioana
So like having had a chat to Chris and that, i was like, right, my advantage is going to be having, figuring out how to manage my pack and get as light as possible. So the admin is a third of the ways.
01:13:31
UKRunChat
Ah, yes, so we're back to the admin again, aren't we, that you mentioned right at the start?
01:13:34
Ioana
Literally, so it's not just the physical training, it's the admin, it's the mental game.
01:13:35
UKRunChat
Yeah.
01:13:38
Ioana
I was like, right, with the admin, I'm going to have to be really good with this. And in the Arctic, it was really good because I teamed up with my friend Alex Welch, who won the men's.
01:13:49
Ioana
So he won the men's, I won the women's. I came second overall after him. So because of how it's set up in the Arctic, you basically stay in these huts.
01:14:00
Ioana
and it's firstcom first come first serve so because i was coming in like second after him we were teamed up for the whole week and it just worked so well for us because we knew each other from before and we were both there to win and we were both there like to just focus and not mess around so because we were first in we had the luxury of more recovery time But we'd get in and get straight into the admin. So you'd like prepare your meal, you prepare your kit for the next day. We'd debrief the stage we just done and brief the stage we were about to do, that sort of thing.
01:14:37
Ioana
And we ended up having these silly jokes where every time we used the hand sanitizer, we we'd go like, that's one gram lighter. Like, we literally got to that point.
01:14:47
UKRunChat
Thank you.
01:14:48
Ioana
Every time we taped our backs or whatever, it's like, we've used some K-tape, that's one gram lighter. That sort of vibe. And, you know, your bag gets lighter every day as you eat your food and so on. And there's this, like, I mean, obviously, when you're ready for a half six briefing for a 7 a.m. start, you have to go up really early, like, half five or five o'clock in the morning to, like, get your admin down, pack your bag, all of that.
01:15:17
Ioana
There's this like memory of like us in the heart on stage two at 5am, sat on the bench trying to force like breakfast.
01:15:27
Ioana
That was a dehydrated meal. You rehydrate with hot We're trying to get our breakfast down and we're just both sat on the bench in silence, just trying to feed ourselves like toddlers because your body doesn't necessarily want to eat at 5am and definitely not when it's a dehydrated meal, not some really tasty thing it's like half the battle is getting the calories in and making sure you're fueling and stuff so it's like it's one of those like in the jungle i really picked with doing all these races in one year in the jungle i really hit palate fatigue where like you i didn't know what that was until it hit me right
01:16:02
UKRunChat
Yeah.
01:16:07
Ioana
So it's like this is the second time around in the jungle when trying to set this record. It's like I literally just had to feed myself like a toddler. So I'd come in and set my hammer cup because the admin in the jungle is maximum admin because you basically come in and you have to set your hammer cup.
01:16:24
UKRunChat
yeah
01:16:25
Ioana
And then in the morning you've got pack, your hammock and all this. And because it's always damp, always wet, even if it's a hot day and night, it gets so damp.
01:16:35
UKRunChat
Yeah.
01:16:35
Ioana
Your rain sheet's wet. So you're like shaking off this rain sheet, but there's only so much shaking you can do. And because you're carrying a wet rain sheet, it's heavier as well. So it's like packing all that. And there's like...
01:16:50
Ioana
Literally in the jungle, set up my hammock and then just sit in it and start eating my meal. And it would take me hours, right, to get through this one meal.
01:17:00
Ioana
I would just be like, right, this is depressing if I just go do it. like
01:17:05
UKRunChat
yeah Well, I guess this is, yeah, this has taken over your life in a way then, hasn't it
01:17:06
Ioana
It's just part of the game. And then it's it's silly things like you get in your hammock and by the nature of being in a hammock, your legs are elevated. So we're all there joking how this hammock's perfect for elevating our legs for recovery, that sort of vibes.
01:17:20
Ioana
It's like, who have we become?
01:17:27
UKRunChat
And yeah.
01:17:27
Ioana
It really has.
01:17:28
Ioana
So I'm still working full time and I'm training full time. I've got no social life.
01:17:32
UKRunChat
When do you sleep?
01:17:33
Ioana
It's like, literally, like, I i just try and squeeze in my training right after work.
01:17:39
UKRunChat
Yeah.
01:17:40
Ioana
And then I know that get the work done, get the training done and then get straight home to bed.
01:17:45
UKRunChat
Yeah.
01:17:46
Ioana
Like, it's food and bed. It's like, literally, I've literally become a child. im like, sleep, eat, train. Yeah. trying
01:17:54
UKRunChat
Yeah. But you you are, you're you're an athlete. It's athlete life, isn't it? and
01:17:57
Ioana
literally.
01:17:57
UKRunChat
how are you How are you kind of approaching this year's Desert Ultra then? Because that's coming up very soon, isn't it? The last in the series.
01:18:03
Ioana
That's coming up very soon. like Just one aside is with the training, I think I started the thought, but with the training, with following everything Adam says and taking all the acclimation, all of that's going perfect.
01:18:04
UKRunChat
Yeah.
01:18:15
UKRunChat
yeah
01:18:18
Ioana
And if I look at my watch, my Garmin is telling me I've got the best stats I've ever had. Technically, I'm in the best physical form I've ever been in. My Strava is telling me I've done 1,500% more running than last year, right?
01:18:32
UKRunChat
wow
01:18:33
Ioana
It's something ridiculous.
Desert Ultra Preparation and Acclimatization Strategies
01:18:34
Ioana
It's like what I didn't expect is the mental impact of doing so many races and so many hard races in one year. Like I finished the jungle and I was done mentally. I was just like, I remember coming because I work in podcasts and TV and radio.
01:18:52
Ioana
I came off the jungle straight into something like the US election. or some kind of big political event like that. So because I'm using all my work holiday to do this, I'm taking time off unpaid as well.
01:19:07
Ioana
I've not got like luxury time off to kind of readjust. So I literally landed from Peru and then on a Sunday and on Monday I was back in work.
01:19:12
UKRunChat
No.
01:19:18
UKRunChat
Oh, wow.
01:19:18
Ioana
So coming from one minute you're in this jungle that's so insane and it kind of melts your brain how like it's so loud and there's all these animals like watching you all day that you wouldn't know because they're all hidden. And then you see all these things and like you're in this world that's so different to being in London in a TV studio.
01:19:42
Ioana
coming from that to like ah a significant political event i was just like what's going on my brain was catching up i was like i didn't expect the mental and emotional fatigue i was like we don't talk about that
01:19:55
UKRunChat
Yeah.
01:19:56
Ioana
at all really because to me it was a complete surprise. Obviously I've messaged my coach and got like Adam I'm finding this and he was like a thank you for telling me and b that's completely normal like if you think about what you're doing is there's a reason no one's done it right
01:20:16
UKRunChat
yeah
01:20:16
Ioana
It's like just having that openness and someone want to speak to who's knowledgeable about it. And he just went like, to be fair, some of the elite athletes I know and work with, if they're doing loads of races like this, back to back to back, some of them don't even train in between.
01:20:33
UKRunChat
yeah
01:20:34
Ioana
because you don't lose the fitness and so on. It's like that's so important. And to me, like one big thing of that was coming off the back of the mountain and going into Kenya. I didn't actually realize Kenya was at altitude. It's like 2000 meters.
01:20:48
Ioana
So it's not the 4000 meters from the mountain, but it's still altitude. And people were getting like altitude sickness on stage one. And I was just running it going like it's spicy, but I'm still adapted from the mountains. So this the universe has placed this in my lap because I was like, do do do do.
01:21:05
Ioana
And people were getting like, oh, my God, I'm out of breath. I'm dizzy. So I'm just like running up these hills going like it's all right.
01:21:12
UKRunChat
really going all in can have as it its advantages.
01:21:15
Ioana
Literally, literally it can.
01:21:15
UKRunChat
Yeah. Yeah. yeah
01:21:17
Ioana
And it's like with the desert this year, we just said, because obviously to complete the global race series, you have to do the long course on all of them. So Adam and I just went like, the short course doesn't exist.
01:21:30
Ioana
Like that's why I said to myself in the Arctic, the short course doesn't exist. So obviously I'm already acclimatized for heat because I've been doing jungle heat, mountain heat.
01:21:43
Ioana
Savannah heat for Kenya.
01:21:43
UKRunChat
Yeah.
01:21:45
Ioana
And now we've got a plan to do the proper heat acclimation in the lab at 40 degrees, which is the highest as the heat chamber goes. But like because this is the beauty of having the experts, right? Because Dr. Baines, Freya has basically programmed the entire thing for me and come up with a plan based on the environments we're doing and so on.
01:22:06
Ioana
She's looked at my data and because my data is going towards research and everything, she's looked at my data and went like, because you've been doing jungle mountain Kenya heat training, you've actually plateaued.
01:22:20
Ioana
you're You're fully acclimatized.
01:22:21
UKRunChat
one
01:22:22
Ioana
and you don't lose that so quickly and she was like because we want you to get the extra level for the desert we're gonna do two hours back to back in the heat chamber so instead of doing your normal one hour that's the standard we'll do two hours back to back because that's more stress on the body and that's what's gonna give you that extra little edge And it's just one of those things where I've learned so much in the acclimation process as well that just applies to normal day to day training. So in the heat chamber, when you're adapting to heat, they actually tell you to slow down and walk if you need to. Even if you're feeling good running, if your heart rate is too high, they tell you to slow down and even walk because they want your heart rate to be in like a chill zone, like a zone two or something.
01:23:10
Ioana
because that's when the adaptation happens. If your body's fighting to survive, it's not adapting. But if you're doing like an easy pace, then that's when it kicks in the adaptation and stuff.
01:23:24
Ioana
So, you know, things like you start to sweat a lot earlier. So, you know, that's a good sign because your body's already cooling you down, that sort of thing.
01:23:29
UKRunChat
Yeah.
01:23:33
Ioana
It's the same with day-to-day training, the value of easy runs. That's one thing Chris has said to me is like the value of easy runs. And he has this saying, move well. So even if you like just, you know, go out on the tube, I'll walk the escalator because I'm moving well, right?
01:23:50
UKRunChat
Yeah. Yeah.
01:23:51
Ioana
It's just normal movement adds so much to it and stuff.
01:23:53
UKRunChat
yeah
01:23:55
Ioana
And like, instead of killing myself six days a week, I'll do like a load of easy runs. where i'm getting the volume of running but i'm not killing myself because that's what's allowing my body to adapt and to get better at running if if i can make that analogy so with the desert i'm like i want to race it i want to compete but the primary goal is to complete it right because that's how we set the record and complete the series but i still want to race it so
01:24:09
UKRunChat
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. yeah
01:24:23
Ioana
So I think what we're thinking is make good decisions and don't do silly things like over-hydrating and what we've learned from last year.
01:24:32
UKRunChat
Yeah, you have learned from last year. Yeah, yeah.
01:24:35
Ioana
100% learn from last year, but think for me, the key with the desert is get my admin right. So my bag needs to be as efficient as possible in terms of weight. Technically, the desert bag is the lightest bag of the whole series because you don't have things like blizzard bags that you have in the Arctic and like that sort of thing or snowshoes or whatever.
01:24:58
Ioana
And it's also like the fastest of the races in terms of terrain.
01:25:04
UKRunChat
Yeah.
01:25:04
Ioana
So in terms of elevation gain, the desert's got the least elevation. of course, you've got things like the heat and you've got things like the soft sand that absorbs a lot of and energy and stuff.
01:25:18
Ioana
So I think for me, the plan is consistency. I want to be doing well and consistently for the first four stages. I want to go into the long 92K stage feeling good.
01:25:30
UKRunChat
yeah
01:25:31
Ioana
If I can do that, that's ideal. And if I get my heat training right, I think that's edge, isn't it? Because my coach Adam said this to me last week, actually. He was like, with the desert, the key is who can slow down least?
01:25:48
Ioana
Because in the heat, you all slow down compared to what your pace is in the UK in normal temperature or whatever.
01:25:52
UKRunChat
thank you
01:25:57
Ioana
but who can slow down least and maintain that pace? So I'm just thinking if I nail my consistency, if I nail my hydration, if I nail my pacing, so make sure to get most of like the faster paced miles in before the heat comes up at the start of the day, and then make sure to be disciplined and slow down in the heat. Don't make the same mistake as last year where I didn't slow down in the heat.
01:26:27
Ioana
and lost my blood pressure, right? So it's like, let's not make that mistake again, but also just the heat acclimation, making sure that's done right.
01:26:29
UKRunChat
Yeah.
01:26:36
Ioana
And then Adam just said to me, because he's the race director for the desert, so actually I actually think this desert is going to be really wholesome, because my coach has taken me through this whole series, and he's the race director on my last one.
01:26:39
UKRunChat
Yeah.
01:26:42
UKRunChat
Yeah. That's wonderful.
01:26:48
Ioana
He'll be there when I cross that finish line. And we just both said that the rate the the short course just doesn't exist. We're not even considering it. If anything happens like last year, when you and me are at the short course end, we will take as much time as we need, but you will go and do this long course, right?
01:27:06
UKRunChat
Yeah, you've just got to finish it, haven't you?
01:27:07
Ioana
So...
01:27:08
UKRunChat
Yeah.
01:27:09
Ioana
I've just got to finish it.
01:27:09
UKRunChat
Yeah.
01:27:10
Ioana
I said that to myself in the Arctic at the start of the year. i was like, there's no short course. I'm not even considering there's a short course. so Normally, the short course is on the long stage. And in the Arctic, the long stage is on the penultimate day on stage four. And in my head, I was like, the total of this stage is sixty five k That's the distance.
01:27:32
Ioana
There's no short course. So like in the Desert Hill B, the distance is 93K on the long stage. That's it.
01:27:39
UKRunChat
Yeah.
01:27:39
Ioana
That's what we're budgeting for. And it's interesting. I found this in training as well. When you go in for a long run in training, your body does this thing where there's some brain mass that suddenly occurs.
01:27:51
Ioana
And because you know it's a long run you somehow like spread your pace out a lot better. like If I knew I'm running like an hour or 90 minutes, my pace would be very different to a two-hour session because won't start really hard and then die. right I think being disciplined with that is like really important.
01:28:15
UKRunChat
Yeah, absolutely. i will we We'll all be willing you on, I'm sure, for the Desert it Ultra. When's it happening? It's mid-November, isn't it
01:28:20
Ioana
Yes, the 17th of November is the first stage.
01:28:24
UKRunChat
Yeah.
01:28:24
Ioana
I actually can't believe sitting here with you that I've done five out of six. I was like, I knew like it's six races, right?
01:28:29
UKRunChat
Yeah.
01:28:32
Ioana
But like at the time you just go like, I don't know how I'm going to get through these. And I think that's a key as well. You don't have to have all the answers. I think you learn so much in the process.
01:28:45
Ioana
And it's just surrounding yourself with the right people and the right advice is so important. Like for me, the only way I was going to do this is is by taking the right advice and making that as efficient as possible.
01:28:56
UKRunChat
Yeah. Yeah, you sound like you've got a really good team around you. And I think that's key, isn't it? That was going to be my last question, actually, because I've kept you long enough. Thank you so much.
01:28:56
Ioana
Because otherwise.
01:29:04
Ioana
Oh, please don't worry.
01:29:04
UKRunChat
It's wonderful chatting to you. But what would your advice be for someone who's kind of listening to this and thinking, I'd like to do that, but I could never possibly do that? Like, where where would someone start?
01:29:13
Ioana
You can.
01:29:14
UKRunChat
What would you say to them?
01:29:15
Ioana
Oh, gosh, they could have anyone could absolutely do this 101%.
01:29:20
Ioana
Like one of the most rewarding things for me as well, because I'm working full time, and I'm coming into work. And of course, I've got no social life. So most of my chat is running chat. And I update my colleagues on what I'm doing. And I'm raising money for the charity work supports, global make some noise and so on.
01:29:38
Ioana
So I've had colleagues go, i love what you're doing so much. I've decided to start running again. I'm doing couch to 5k, which is the NHS app and stuff.
01:29:46
UKRunChat
well
01:29:48
Ioana
And they're like, Oh, last week, I didn't imagine I could run for five minutes straight. I've just done five minutes straight. Oh, I've just done my first like 10 minute run. I've just done half an hour. oh I've run my first 5K. And one of my colleagues, she's incredible. She's just really jumped into it. And she's gone from zero to, I've run from 10 minutes straight. That's amazing. To I've done 5K. I've done 10K.
01:30:15
Ioana
Oh, I sign up signed up for a Tough Mother. I'm like, of course you did.
01:30:18
UKRunChat
yeah yeah
01:30:19
Ioana
Love that. And that's just so rewarding because it's not just one person. There's several people who've come up with this.
01:30:24
UKRunChat
yeah
01:30:26
Ioana
and It's like I think the key is for anyone starting is literally make sure you're having fun with it. Because like one of the best things I've ever learned was this thing of where you start running and you start to pay and you go to a pace where you're out of breath and then you back it off and you run at a comfortable pace.
01:30:49
Ioana
And it's like, what's comfortable today will be easy tomorrow. So by the nature of it, you'll just get faster. And if you go like 2K today and 3K tomorrow, it just builds up.
01:31:02
Ioana
And also, i do it for the snacks. Oh, man.
01:31:05
UKRunChat
I love it.
01:31:06
Ioana
Ooh. is
01:31:06
UKRunChat
what' What's your favourite snack on a long run?
01:31:10
Ioana
oh man o There's so many good things. a Real Meal do a really good snack and it tastes nice. Like, I've got to say science in sports snacks are just my go-to, right? Like, they just it just they've just got everything. They've got the hydration stuff so you can put the tablets in your water so you can get your electrolytes and, like...
01:31:38
Ioana
you know technically i'm obliged to say this because like i'm i'm repping science in sport as an ambassador i
01:31:43
UKRunChat
Yeah.
Future Goals and Encouragement for Runners
01:31:46
Ioana
genuinely do run with sciences for it and it's one of those things where you have to find what works for you right it's like often like on a multi-stage race when you're every grant counts
01:31:46
UKRunChat
yeah
01:32:01
Ioana
you've really got to budget your snacks and that. But like having a treat in there is good, right? Like I've discovered on my latest races that having something that's a real treat, like a luxury item is good for the mental brain, mental health situation, mental power, marijuana.
01:32:07
UKRunChat
Yeah.
01:32:22
UKRunChat
oh Oh, good one.
01:32:23
Ioana
I like some melons because they're not that big, they're light and the flavour is just a change.
01:32:24
UKRunChat
Yeah.
01:32:30
Ioana
Like I've known people use those Robinson squirty things into, they they come in little packs that you squirt into your water.
01:32:38
UKRunChat
Oh yes, I've just bought my daughter to one of those yesterday, actually. Yes, they're really handy, aren't they?
01:32:41
Ioana
Literally, those things, like on a race, they just give you a different taste in the water, right?
01:32:41
UKRunChat
Yeah.
01:32:47
Ioana
And mentally, that makes things so much nicer, right? Anything you can do to give yourself a bit of a change, you know Like, it's to it's just so worth being able to give yourself a little treat if you can. Because they don't weigh that much more. But the change it gives you, it's just so worth it.
01:33:07
UKRunChat
Yeah. Oh, thank you so much, Joanna. we We really wish you all the best finishing that desert.
01:33:12
Ioana
Oh, I can't wait to tell you how it is going.
01:33:13
UKRunChat
We know you'll do it. i kind of don't want to ask because I don't want to look too far in the future. But like, how how do you top this? What's what's next for you?
01:33:21
Ioana
o
01:33:21
UKRunChat
Have you got any ideas or?
01:33:22
Ioana
so Yeah, I think so. So with these, they're multi-stage races, right? So like there's an allotted distance every day and the quicker you do it, you get more recovery time.
01:33:35
Ioana
I think the superpower on these is recovery time, being able to get a nap at night, that sort of thing.
01:33:38
UKRunChat
yeah
01:33:42
Ioana
I think my next thing's got to be like single stages, right? So if you look at the spine and things like that, I can start building that up.
01:33:45
UKRunChat
yeah yeah
01:33:50
Ioana
Like I've got friends who go and run the full spine and stay awake for 80 hours and I can't even comprehend that at this stage. So I think building something like that up is a whole different challenge. It's that thing of you've got to just accept it for what it is and approach it.
01:34:08
Ioana
for what it is. It's a different thing. You don't get that recovery time. You almost, I find that a lot harder because you have to be disciplined when, when do I nap? Do I nap?
01:34:19
Ioana
When do I call it? and it's just, it's interesting where it teaches you about yourself as well and how you work personally, that sort of thing, how your body works.
01:34:25
UKRunChat
Yeah.
01:34:28
UKRunChat
Yeah. Oh, okay. We'll be watching.
01:34:28
Ioana
So I think some single stages.
01:34:32
Ioana
madam Adam is American. So we're looking at our American era for next year, perhaps.
01:34:37
UKRunChat
all excited. I can't wait to see what you come up with. Yeah. What do you think your kind of most preferred kind of terrain is at the moment, having done all these environments?
01:34:40
Ioana
We'll keep it posted.
01:34:45
Ioana
know, like, i this is really interesting. Like, I've, literally, my favourite race this year has been by far the Arctic.
01:34:54
UKRunChat
Yeah.
01:34:55
Ioana
I started as a snowboarder and I just knew what it's like. It's just familiar to me. I knew what the types of snow were.
01:35:00
UKRunChat
Yeah.
01:35:01
Ioana
So, watch looking for my snowboard, go I was even wearing my snowboard goggles. And I was like, I knew what the snow looks like. And as a snowboarder, you know, because I used to do loads of backcountry where you hike with your board and stuff.
01:35:15
Ioana
I knew what soft snow looked like versus packed snow where versus medium snow. And people were like falling in, but up to their waist and stuff. And I was just like, fair enough.
01:35:25
Ioana
I'm light as well. But i was like, knew what snow to go on, if that makes sense.
01:35:29
UKRunChat
Yeah, yeah.
01:35:31
Ioana
But like, I think I'm feeling mountains. I'm feeling that... I'm surprised at this, but I'm feeling that the one thing I want to get really, really good at is mountains.
01:35:37
UKRunChat
Yeah.
01:35:42
Ioana
I want to prioritize that next year. And like with limitless trails, I want to like start start getting really good at their races because they're fantastic for, you know, they're hard races.
01:35:55
Ioana
And I want to get really good at them. And then I want to build up like the goal in a few years time. I ah definitely need to get a lot more experience. But in a few years time, the goal is I would love to do Dragon's Back.
01:36:10
UKRunChat
Yeah. Okay.
01:36:10
Ioana
Like when I do that, I want to do it well. I want to be racing for a podium, that sort of thing.
01:36:15
UKRunChat
Yeah.
01:36:16
Ioana
So I'm um under no illusions. I need a lot more experience, especially on mountains. It's a few years away.
01:36:24
UKRunChat
Yeah.
01:36:25
Ioana
but if we're working towards that, you know, there's no reason why I can't.
01:36:29
UKRunChat
No, no. I love your attitude. You've clearly got a talent, but also a thirst for that endurance and the adventure. i just, yeah, it's so inspiring.
01:36:35
Ioana
I don't know where it's come from.
01:36:36
UKRunChat
Yeah.
01:36:36
Ioana
I think it's important not to question things too much at times.
01:36:39
UKRunChat
yeah
01:36:40
Ioana
Just take it.
Conclusion and Gratitude
01:36:42
UKRunChat
yeah ah well we're going to stop there it's been absolutely amazing thank you much yeah I'm sure our listeners will love it it's a perfect long run training podcast to listen to isn't it actually this one yeah
01:36:45
Ioana
You're absolutely incredible. Thank you you I'm so sorry to take so much of your time. nice i was literally, because I work in podcasts as well, like, I'm sorry about your editing.
01:37:01
UKRunChat
it's perfect thank you so much a huge thank you Oana Babu for sharing her journey through some of the world's toughest races and a reminder that The limits that we often think we have are just the starting line often, aren't they? Like yours was just sign up, just get registered and then think. and You can follow Oana's Progress and support our fundraising for Make Some Noise through the links in our show notes or find her on Instagram. Do you want to give a shout out your Instagram handle?
01:37:30
Ioana
Yes, it's it's my name, so it's but it's spelled with an O-U-X on the end, so it's...
01:37:36
UKRunChat
we'll We'll pop it in the show notes.
01:37:38
Ioana
Yeah, pop it in the show notes, no one's gonna remember the spelling.
01:37:39
UKRunChat
much.
01:37:41
UKRunChat
but Oh, well, thank you so much. And best of luck with completing your challenge this year.
01:37:47
Ioana
Thank you so much, you're incredible. I really appreciate you, and I really appreciate this. It's like, probably been like therapy for me.
01:37:56
UKRunChat
It's been lovely listening to your stories, actually. i could honestly listen all day.
01:38:01
Ioana
just sign up sign your boat
01:38:02
UKRunChat
and
01:38:06
UKRunChat
So if you enjoyed this episode, please do share it. Tag us at UK Run Chat and like please let us know what you've taken away from Oana's story today. And thank you for listening. As as always, keep running and keep connecting.
01:38:21
Ioana
you're absolutely amazing thank you