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Steve Till on Ultrarunning: Training, Pacing, Fuelling & Mindset for the Long Run
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Steve Till is back on the UKRunChat podcast for a third time, and this time, we’re going deep into ultrarunning. With decades of experience, over 120 marathons and ultras, GB representation at the 24-hour championships, and countless stories from the track to the mountains, Steve shares his wisdom on what it takes to train, fuel, pace, and mentally survive an ultra.
In this episode:
- How Steve discovered ultras suited him better than shorter races (02:00)
- Training strategies: long runs, back-to-backs, and speed work (20:00)
- The differences between marathon and ultra training (16:30)
- Fuelling and hydration lessons (33:00)
- Pacing strategies for different types of ultras (30:00)
- Coping with low points and the mental game (38:00)
- Listener questions on myths, navigation, training mileage, and recovery (42:00)
- Steve’s best advice for anyone lining up for their first (or next) ultra
Whether you’re planning your first 50k or looking for ways to go further, this episode is full of practical takeaways and motivation.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Steve's Background
00:00:00
UKRunChat
Hello, welcome to the UK Run Chat podcast. I'm Michelle and today I'm joined once again by a very special guest, Steve Till. If you've been listening to podcast for a while, you'll remember Steve's incredible journey from over the summer, which we recorded with him from chasing Olympic dreams in the 1970s to representing Great Britain at 24 hour races.
Recent Podcast Appearance and Ultra Running Focus
00:00:23
UKRunChat
He's completed over 100 marathons and he's more than 600 park runs. He's also recorded another episode with us recently.
00:00:30
UKRunChat
um opening up about his cancer diagnosis and how running's helped him through that. So today we thought we'll get Steve back to dive deep into the world of ultra running because we always get lots of questions about that on our social media and with decades of experience Steve has seen it all so ah we'll be getting his tips and stories and advice to help you on
Transition into Ultra Running
00:00:50
UKRunChat
your own journey. Hello Steve, welcome back, it's so nice to have you back on the podcast, how are you?
00:00:54
Steve
Thank you very much, Michelle. Yes, i'm I'm very well. Thank you very much. Yes. How are you?
00:01:00
UKRunChat
Yeah, I'm not too bad. I've actually just signed up for an ultra next year. So i'll be I'll be listening with kind of open ears for any tips that you can offer. um yeah so all good.
00:01:11
UKRunChat
So you've you've talked before about kind of this this Olympic dream you had when you were younger, when you came kind of last in your in your race at school, didn't you?
00:01:19
Steve
Yes.
00:01:20
UKRunChat
and But you did eventually go on to represent and Great Britain, didn't you, in ultra marathon distance.
00:01:20
Steve
Yes.
00:01:25
UKRunChat
So
00:01:26
Steve
Yeah.
00:01:27
UKRunChat
Can you talk to us a bit about that journey of getting into ultras again, because we did discuss it a little bit in that episode. Do go back and have a listen to that, by the way, if you haven't heard that yet. It's a really interesting one. So what what was it that kind of got you into ultras and that hooked you?
00:01:43
Steve
I just found that as the distance went up, I got nearer the front of the race. So I, found that I had no talent for 800 meters, 1500 meters,
First 24-hour Race Experience
00:01:52
Steve
even 5,000, 10,000. Well, with bit of training,
00:01:55
Steve
well with a bit of training um I was not too bad at them, but um yes, as the distances went up, um I found i i was nearer the front of the race. i was possibly going to win a race. um And it's really by trial and error. um Obviously, as a runner, I did ah a lot of 10Ks, half marathons, eventually did my first marathon um way back in 1980 and dabbled with ultras. I did a few
00:02:27
Steve
south london harrier's 30 milers if anyone remembers those um and eventually thought well i seem to be getting stronger as the race goes on um so finishing a marathon was never a problem for me i thought i'll try a real ultra so i think it would have been 1980 eighty there six, um seven that I entered ah my first 24 hour race.
00:02:56
Steve
um And I came second ah in that and recorded the reasonable distance, 134 miles, I think. um So I thought, well, okay, this is something that I could ah be good at.
00:03:07
Steve
um So I carried on training. um And training for a 24-hour race is obviously quite difficult, particularly when
Joining the British Team
00:03:16
Steve
you've got a full-time job. But um yeah, eventually, so in 1996, I ah managed to get on ah the British team for the European 24-hour championships that year.
00:03:27
Steve
Um, so that was the, the summit, if you like, of, of what I wanted to achieve in running.
Humorous Take on Ultra Running
00:03:34
Steve
Um, and it was really, I mean, ultra, ultra distances are the last refuge of the untalented runner, as I always say.
00:03:41
Steve
Um, obviously there are people who are quite talented, who are like two, 10 marathon runners who then go on to do ultras.
Pacing and Endurance in Ultra Races
00:03:49
Steve
Um, but, um, it's, it's more of a level playing field, I suppose, than your five, to five K 10 K sort of,
00:03:56
Steve
ah competitions, if that makes sense.
00:04:00
UKRunChat
Yeah, it does. I mean, you said, just just taking you back to what your comment was there about you notice yourself getting stronger, ah kind of the longer races went on. Why do you think that is? Is that because you were, were you kind of pacing yourself knowing that you had a long way to go at the start?
00:04:16
UKRunChat
Like how how do you get stronger at the end of a race? I think we kind of need to tap into that a little bit. and
00:04:23
Steve
Yeah, yeah, I think it's
00:04:23
UKRunChat
Like how how do you do that? how How do we not fade at the end of a long run?
00:04:29
Steve
it's It's combination of factors. I think um temperamentally, I was quite suited to the longer race. I was i was ready to be patient, if you like. um I was good at pacing. i was always working out in my head how the run was going, what what speed I was doing. Could I run a bit faster? Should I slow down?
00:04:46
Steve
um So I had energy
Common Pacing Mistakes
00:04:48
Steve
left. But it's also about the training, of course. If you emphasize endurance in training, um your training then you will remain strong towards the end even now and i'm way down the other side of the mountain in terms of um my capability in terms of running even even now i'm strong towards the end of a park run you know or or you know um a mile race um or something like that um so that has remained with me um but it's
00:05:19
Steve
You've got to have the mindset so to be able to do it, to um to be patient, to not not go off so fast. A lot of people try and you know do do the first half of a marathon or an ultra as as fast as they can, thinking that it gives them some sort of security and and they can, um even if they fall apart a bit in the second half, they'll still get a good
Body Awareness and Mental Strategies
00:05:43
Steve
time. Of course, what happens is they fall apart completely and either don't finish or finish hours after they really should have done if they pace themselves a bit better.
00:05:52
Steve
I was always able to hold myself back. um And that was partly my mindset and partly because I'd done the training and I knew in those last few hours or the last hour or whatever it was, depending on the distance that I would have the strength and the endurance and the mental capability to push, push on in those like and in that last part of the race.
00:06:13
UKRunChat
Yeah, it's it's I think it it is. It's knowing that about yourself, isn't it? And having that experience to, I think that's, so I mean, i've I've gone wrong that way in a marathon before, kind of you push and you think, I feel brilliant, I feel brilliant.
00:06:19
Steve
Yeah. Yeah.
00:06:28
Steve
Yeah.
00:06:28
UKRunChat
And then suddenly you get near the end and you think, no, it's, yeah, I've done i've gone out too fast.
Memorable Ultra Experiences
00:06:34
UKRunChat
and So I guess that experience is crucial.
00:06:34
Steve
Yes.
00:06:38
UKRunChat
You know, that obviously takes a while to learn. How many ultras have you done? You must have done a lot.
00:06:43
Steve
um Yeah, I have. i've So i've done 123 marathons and ultras and it's roughly 50-50.
00:06:50
UKRunChat
Yeah,
00:06:51
Steve
So I've done 60-odd marathons and perhaps 50-odd ultras um over the years. Yeah.
00:06:59
UKRunChat
yeah that's that's a lot of learning. is What's one ultra that especially stands out? Well, there must be loads, but you know tell us about one that stands out in your mind as either a really good experience or one where everything fell apart.
00:07:09
Steve
Hmm.
00:07:13
Steve
um Yeah, I mean, I suppose, i mean, ultras for all sorts of different reasons. I mean, ah for scenery, I did the Davos, so the Swiss Alpine Marathon, which is the longest distance, um which is 78k. So I did that in 2008 when I was well past my best even then.
00:07:34
Steve
um But the scenery, obviously, the the the Alps, you know, literally running up and down mountains. which obviously made it quite ah memorable. It was also memorable because I was so near the cutoffs. There were cutoffs about every 10k, and I was within two or three minutes of them at some points. And ah the Swiss were very...
00:07:57
Steve
um Yeah, very organised. And, you know, if you missed it by 20 seconds, you were on the bus back into town. You know, they they didn't give you any leeway at all.
00:08:08
Steve
So it was memorable for that as well, because at a number of points, I thought, I'm not going to make this. I've got to get up to the top of this mountain in the next 10 minutes. i don't think I can do it. um I did it.
00:08:20
Steve
And eventually in the in the like the last third of the race, I thought, OK, I'm all right now. I'm 15 minutes inside the cutoffs. so I'm i'm i'm going to be okay.
Wearing the GB Vest
00:08:30
Steve
So that was certainly memorable.
00:08:31
Steve
I mean, other races, you know, running around the track for 24 hours um is memorable, not for the scenery, but for the camaraderie, for how you feel, for, um I mean, I did one...
00:08:39
UKRunChat
That's tough, isn't it? Yeah.
00:08:46
Steve
I think this was up in Hull when I did my personal best in a 24 hour. um And they had um a disco in the clubhouse. Someone, one of the other organisations, it wasn't anything to do with the race, but it just happened to be um a disco up in in in the ah the clubhouse at the side of the track. And without fail, all of the runners running around the track did YMCA when it came on, you know, when it came on the disco. So that are you you things like that stick in your mind.
00:09:16
Steve
um yeah i mean the lunds to brighton that was that was a great race unfortunately no longer run because of the uh the uh traffic obviously um yeah i mean there's so many really um uh greenwich i mean when i did the national uh ah at Greenwich that was like a mile and a bit lap um and I actually managed to win ah the bronze medal there but we had a very tough fight with two other runners we were all together with about 10 miles to go and I managed to push ahead and and and win the bronze medal um so that obviously sticks in your mind that was the only time I've been drugs tested as well the
00:10:00
UKRunChat
Oh wow.
00:10:00
Steve
so So yes, quite an honour to have someone ah follow you around when you finish the race with um a test tube and ah um a two litre bottle of water.
00:10:04
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:10:12
Steve
ah Because obviously when you've run for 62 miles, it's it's quite difficult to um give them the sample they require.
Mental Strategies for Ultra Running
00:10:18
Steve
um
00:10:19
UKRunChat
Gosh, yeah, I'm sure it is.
00:10:19
Steve
but that So all these things are coming back to me now, now you've asked that question. that
00:10:24
UKRunChat
Lots of memories there. ah
00:10:26
Steve
yeah
00:10:26
UKRunChat
Tell us a little bit more about your GB experience then, because Was that, was wearing that GB vest, was that the end goal for you or did then kind of want to do as well as you could in that experience? How, how did that go?
00:10:40
Steve
Yeah, I mean, to be honest, wearing the GB vest was ah was my target. so um And obviously one one side been selected, then your mind does go on and and you think, well, could i could the team win a medal? Could I do a personal best, you know, et cetera, et cetera.
00:11:00
Steve
The reality was the course kind of didn't suit me. It was it was um quite a hilly lap around the town and I prefer the track or I prefer the trail. So um yeah, so I didn't, I didn't perform,
00:11:16
Steve
very well, i um but um I still did well over 100 miles. um But yeah, it was really wearing wearing the vest that was that was important to me.
00:11:27
Steve
um And, um you know, as I've said many times, you know, I felt if I could if i could wear that GB vest once I could die happy, you know, um that was the real ah pinnacle as far as I was concerned.
00:11:37
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:11:41
Steve
And obviously I tried tried my best for the team for, for great Britain to, um, you know, represent the country well.
00:11:43
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:11:47
Steve
Um, uh, but as I say, the, the course didn't, didn't suit me that well. And my legs got very stiff and, uh, but I, I mean, i kept on going for the 24 hours and I was, I said, did well over a hundred miles, but, um, not, not near my personal best.
00:12:03
UKRunChat
No, no. Yeah, what an incredible experience that must have been though.
00:12:03
Steve
Um, yeah.
00:12:07
Steve
yeah
00:12:08
UKRunChat
So you say you prefer the the track. what What are you thinking about when you're running around a track for that length of time? Like what's what's actually going through your mind?
00:12:15
Steve
Yes.
00:12:18
UKRunChat
That must be so tough mentally. Like it's tough on an ultra anyway, isn't it? But if we're on a scenic one in the mountains, I guess you can distract yourself more.
00:12:22
Steve
yes
00:12:26
UKRunChat
How
Tailoring Training to Race Terrain
00:12:27
UKRunChat
do you cope on a track?
00:12:28
Steve
Yeah, I think um yeah people have asked me this this a lot, and I think, yes, the scenery helps for the first sort of six or eight hours maybe, but after that, you're so tired you could be anywhere. So being on the track is the same as being in the mountains to a certain extent.
00:12:42
Steve
um I suppose the variety means you've got to... and you know running up and down the Alps you gives you things to think about because your um you're looking where you're putting your feet and that's something which obviously you're not doing so much on on a 400 metre track um what what do I think about um ah think about how I feel so I'm in a constant process of mental feedback so how how are my legs how how you know and and you're thinking about nutrition and and um hydration and you know dnaage
00:13:15
Steve
to ah change your shoes and all that sort of thing. And do I need an extra layer? Is it
Differences in Marathon and Ultra Training
00:13:19
Steve
getting colder? Those sort of practical things. But it's more, i find it's more about, um,
00:13:27
Steve
how I'm feeling, how I'm doing. Okay, I've done you X number of miles in X number of hours. Is that good? Yeah, I'm on schedule for a good performance here. So, okay, let's keep it going. And you know yeah yeah, my legs don't feel too bad. I've done eight hours you know and I need to press on.
00:13:46
Steve
Yeah, and your mind does wander. yeah so you you then think about what you're going to be doing next week. Well, not very much, obviously, um after a 24-hour race. um But yeah, so your mind does wander onto other things. But mostly, you i ah i am, and everybody's different. I try to tune into how my body is feeling.
00:14:06
Steve
um so So that's where my mind is is mostly engaged in one of those very long races, yes.
00:14:14
UKRunChat
Yeah, that's a great amount of body awareness to have, isn't it, over that longer period. So you must be very tuned in to yourself.
00:14:21
Steve
Yeah.
00:14:22
UKRunChat
what So what are you kind of what you looking out for when you're kind of doing in these these body and mind checks?
00:14:27
Steve
what I mean, you're looking out for for niggles, for blisters, hot spots where blisters start. yeah You're looking out for that sort of thing. But it's mostly it's mostly about, and um you've practiced this in training so so often, it's how do I really feel?
00:14:45
Steve
Yes, I'm tired.
00:14:45
UKRunChat
Mm-hmm.
00:14:46
Steve
Yes, my legs hurt. um But I'm okay. um i can I can keep this pace going. um it's It's that sort of thing. And it may sound silly that... To say that I'm thinking about this all the time, um as I say, my mind does wander at times, but it's it is mostly that that process of tuning into yourself and seeing how um how you are feeling. um and yeah Could you go a bit faster? Do you need to slow down? Do you need to eat more? Do you need to drink more? Do you need to, you know as I say, put another layer on?
00:15:22
Steve
Anything like that. um And it's surprising how the time does go um when when you're when you're doing that.
00:15:30
UKRunChat
Yeah, it's it's a huge act of self-care that actually thinking about it, isn't it? I guess that's why people love ultras so much. It's such a ah mindful experience where you're just lost in kind of the physicalities of how you're feeling.
00:15:41
UKRunChat
and Yeah. Yeah.
00:15:42
Steve
Yes, yes, yeah. ye yeah it's um
00:15:44
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:15:46
Steve
Yeah, it is an amazing experience. I don't know if it was Zatapek said, you know, if if you want to win something, you run 100 metres. If you want to experience something, run a marathon.
00:15:57
Steve
And obviously, if you want to experience something even greater, run an ultra.
00:15:58
UKRunChat
yeah
00:16:01
Steve
um So, yeah, yeah, it's, it's um I mean, I would i would highly recommend anybody have a go at an ultra.
00:16:01
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:16:09
Steve
And obviously, yeah, you've got to be sensible in terms of what experience have you got already. It's no good going from you know doing a park run to doing an ultra. If you but if you build up, then an ultra is within most people's compass, um providing they do, obviously, a reasonable amount amounts of um the right training.
00:16:30
UKRunChat
Yeah, I mean, ultra marathons are growing in popularity. we We are seeing kind of more people going straight to ultra and kind of skipping the marathon road race event, really.
00:16:41
UKRunChat
and
00:16:42
Steve
Yes.
00:16:43
UKRunChat
So, I mean, what what are the key differences, would you say, between training for ah road marathon where obviously we want to do our best, we want to do our fastest time, don't we, and and training for an ultra?
00:16:53
Steve
Yeah.
00:16:55
UKRunChat
How would you approach those differently?
00:16:58
Steve
Yeah, I mean, I suppose the the classic marathon on the road, um big city marathon, London, Berlin, New York, um it is about the time. So you you're your your training
00:17:14
Steve
includes quite a lot of long runs of 18, 20, 22 miles. Well, you mine did. Maybe people don't don't do that so much, but um yeah, and I would recommend certainly people doing long runs on the road continuously, you know, without, know,
00:17:30
Steve
stopping for endless minutes to get drinks and things. um I think it needs to replicate as closely as possible the experience on race day. So if you're going to be trying to run 26 miles continuously in London or Berlin or or wherever, you need to replicate that as closely as you can in your you know Sunday long runs.
00:17:49
Steve
um And as I always say, it's it's no good then sort of hanging and around waiting for someone to bring you a drink for minutes because that's not what happens in the race. You've got to you've got to run continuously. So that's the the marathon where you're aiming for a time.
00:18:05
Steve
I guess a lot of lot of the ultras now, people will just aim to finish it. And so it's it's more about um getting through it. it's It's maybe running on the flat and downhill, but walking uphill if it's ah um a trail race.
00:18:20
Steve
It's about managing your nutrition much more closely, obviously on a longer ultra, um the need for nutrition is is far greater. You've got to really keep an eye on that and eat before you're hungry and all that sort of thing.
00:18:32
Steve
So it's it's more of a sort of a hike almost than the road marathon, which is much more of ah um a running race.
00:18:37
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:18:41
Steve
um Whereas the, particularly the trail ultras, depending on the cutoffs would be much more, um you know, you can do it in your own time and you can,
00:18:52
Steve
um ah you can go straight to to the ultra rather than building up through the half marathon, marathon um sort of way of doing it. um So yeah, that will be the main main difference really. the the training, um, being much more sort of focused for the
Back-to-back Long Runs
00:19:12
Steve
marathon.
00:19:12
Steve
Um, but for the, the trail ultra, it would be more, I suppose more random if you like. Um, and you know, you can literally, you know, go out for a day in the Hills.
00:19:20
UKRunChat
yeah
00:19:24
Steve
You can stop, you know, at a corner shop to get your next drink or food and that sort of thing. So it's, it's much more informal than the, um training you need to do for a good time on a road marathon.
00:19:37
UKRunChat
yeah so would you incorporate i mean obviously you need to replicate the race that you're training for would you advice incorporating kind of long walks in that or would you just kind of put walking bits into your runs how would you manage that for people
00:19:53
Steve
It depends on your background it and depends on the the the the length of the ultra um and what your capabilities are really.
00:19:58
UKRunChat
yeah
00:20:00
Steve
If you um If you're at a um a stage in your running life where you you will need to walk, then yeah, you you can you can practice that in in your training.
00:20:12
Steve
um Obviously, if you're if you're going for like a a road 50K or even a road 100K, then you would you would try to run that um with only walking for a few yards when you need to take on some serious food or drink or...
00:20:29
Steve
or change your shoes even, um you know, those would be the only times when you're not actually running. And the the training would all go towards um giving you the capability to to keep running, to keep running when you when you're very tired, when you've done, you know, six, seven, eight hours.
00:20:46
Steve
Yep.
00:20:47
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:20:50
UKRunChat
And what about um like back to back long runs? Like say you're training for a 50 miler or 100K, you're going to struggle to kind of get out and do that, aren't you, on on it um a single day, really, realistically?
00:20:56
Steve
Yep.
00:21:01
Steve
Yes.
00:21:05
UKRunChat
i mean I mean, I don't know what your training looked like, actually. Maybe you can tell us a bit about that. But are back to back long runs useful? Are they helpful? Are they best to be avoided?
00:21:17
Steve
No, I think, I mean, you've got to be careful with them um injury, as you have when in all um the training that you do.
00:21:21
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:21:25
Steve
um i mean, one of the most useful um sort of sessions I did, I used to use when I was working, um obviously Monday to Friday, um a bank holiday weekend was... um um a godsend because I would go out and run as far as I could on each of the three days.
00:21:41
Steve
So that was more training for a 24-hour race than 100k, let's say, because I would go out on Saturday, I'd run 50 miles, I'd try and do the same on the Sunday and and the bank holiday Monday.
00:21:45
UKRunChat
yeah
00:21:53
Steve
um And obviously when you... when when you get out of bed on the on the bank holiday Monday and you've run 100 miles in the last two days, it's it's quite difficult to um put one foot in in front of the other.
00:22:03
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:22:04
Steve
But it's very good training for the last few hours of a 24-hour race. um For 100k, it would be slightly less... um extreme than that I suppose.
00:22:15
Steve
um But I would still, um i mean i did things like I'd run 10 miles in the evening not ready eat very much and I'd get up the next morning and run another 10 miles.
Inclusion of Speed Work in Training
00:22:25
Steve
um I would occasionally get up um very early in the morning, I mean two o'clock in the morning, run a marathon, go back to bed for an hour and then um get up and go to work. So I felt that was good training for the overnight um demands of 24 hour race.
00:22:44
Steve
um When I didn't have much time, i would try and make my training in my long runs as valuable as possible. And I would often do this by um sprinting or or running as hard as I could in ah the second to last hour.
00:23:02
Steve
so i if i only had four hours to uh to train on sunday i would you know do the first two hours then i would go as hard as i could in the third hour meaning the fourth hour obviously was very painful but it had it felt more like a six or an eight hour run um it had more more value because i was obviously much more tired than i should have been really in that fourth hour in that last hour um so i would do things like that and i think
00:23:17
UKRunChat
yeah
00:23:27
Steve
for people who you know they've got a busy life they maybe work full-time they've got a family all that sort of thing then tactics like that little tricks like that can um allow you to do the training um for for a longer race whilst taking up as as little time as possible obviously it does take up an amount of time ah but even so and you get more bang for your buck as they say you get the value of an 8 hour race in 4 hours by by doing something like that
00:23:59
UKRunChat
Yeah, that's really clever, that's really clever actually. did you Did you usually kind of incorporate any other speed work into your training week for ultras?
00:24:07
Steve
Yeah, i would I would always do speed work. I mean, when I was in the ah GB Ultra Squad, they emphasised the fact that, um you know, you should keep the speed work going, that um all our gears are ah connected.
00:24:19
Steve
So as long as you do the endurance training, then a faster 5K runner will will beat a slower 5K runner over, you know, a marathon, an ultra even.
00:24:20
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:24:30
Steve
um So, yeah, the the speed work was always emphasised. It was always, um you know, keep the speed work going. Yeah, keep the key.
00:24:37
UKRunChat
Yeah, so what what did your speed work tend to look like? Were you doing kind of very short intervals or was it kind of longer kind of threshold work?
00:24:46
Steve
Um, I tend to do it on the track. I tend to to do, um 10 times 400, 10 times 600, six times 800, very strict ah recovery.
00:24:53
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:24:58
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:24:59
Steve
So I do i do a 10 times 600 with a 200 meter jog. and I do the 600 in two minutes and the 200 meter jog in one minute, which meant I was doing five miles in 30 minutes.
00:25:15
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:25:15
Steve
So I was doing six minute miles, but um I was doing it fast and slow. So it it had, there there were two, two targets, if you like, to do five miles in 30 minutes, but also to make each of those 600s only two minutes long. So I felt that was a ah really good, good session.
00:25:31
Steve
um
00:25:32
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:25:32
Steve
And yeah, my friends would join me for the for the first two and the last two, but they couldn't, they couldn't keep up through the middle.
00:25:38
UKRunChat
sounds It sounds brutal, but yeah,
Strategies for Personal Bests
00:25:40
UKRunChat
it's clear why you've you've been so so successful.
00:25:40
Steve
It was, yeah.
00:25:44
Steve
Well, yeah, I mean, i' i always say, you're not, you know, when it comes to running, you're not in the pain box for too long every week.
00:25:51
UKRunChat
yeah
00:25:53
Steve
You know, yes, the last hour of your long run. Yes, that speed work on the track. But OK, it's only maybe two hours out of... out of your week, which is not too much to ask. if if you If you're going to try and get the best out of yourself, if you're going to try and really do, you know, a good time for a marathon, an ultra, you know, get into teams, get into county teams, get into, you know, obviously the...
00:26:16
Steve
and the GB squad or whatever, if if if the target is is that compelling, then you'll you you will put yourself out there. You will do that hard last hour on your long run.
00:26:27
Steve
You will go to the track and do that speed work, even though it's very intimidating. um Yeah, it's because it's worth it. Because, you know, that, for me, that that g but GB vest that I could see there on the horizon, if I just kept working really, really hard, that was worth worth all the sacrifice.
00:26:40
UKRunChat
yeah
00:26:44
Steve
Yeah.
00:26:44
UKRunChat
yeah I think that's key isn't it it's having goal so whether that is a GB vest whether that is a podium position or whether it's kind of just doing a race that you really want to finish isn't it I think that's key it's finding the right ultra mean there's many there's so many different types of events out there as well isn't there
00:26:52
Steve
Yeah.
00:26:58
Steve
Yeah.
00:27:04
Steve
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.
00:27:05
UKRunChat
yeah could Could we perhaps just talk about how training might differ for them or like obviously a tra ah track race, very flat, very repetitive.
00:27:06
Steve
Yeah.
00:27:15
UKRunChat
Would you be kind of just going out and doing long flat runs for that?
00:27:16
Steve
yeah
00:27:18
UKRunChat
would you What else would you kind of incorporate for a 24 hour event like that?
00:27:23
Steve
Yeah, for a 24 hour race, I would, um yeah, I think you've got to be creative and keep yourself interested. So I would run on ah the trails, on on the footpaths um for ah to train for a 24 hour race.
00:27:35
UKRunChat
yeah
00:27:39
Steve
um I can remember one run, I i ran around 16 miles to a track. I did a 5K time trial the track. I ran another 10 miles to another track, did ah a mile time trial, then ran another Jones, 10 miles home or something.
00:27:53
Steve
So it it broke it up.
00:27:54
UKRunChat
yeah
00:27:55
Steve
It wasn't just a whatever adds up to a, you know, a 40 mile run. it had a bit of ah different challenges there in the middle of it. um I mean, I think, yes, to a certain extent, your training has got to be um appropriate to the ah terrain that you're going to be running on.
00:28:13
UKRunChat
yeah
00:28:13
Steve
I mean,
00:28:14
Steve
Jez Bragg, um who won the UTMB in 2010.
00:28:15
UKRunChat
Wow.
00:28:19
Steve
He famously trained by running up and down Snowdon four times in one day. um So obviously that was very relevant to the ah the mountainous ah train that he would face in the UTMB, Ultra Trail de Mont Blanc.
00:28:24
UKRunChat
wow
00:28:36
Steve
um I know that say Don Ritchie um who um set a world record in I believe so he would train rolling forest trails, but he would do he would do them fast. He would run 31 miles in about three hours. So he he was going sort of faster than 100k race pace.
00:28:59
Steve
So obviously the terrain allowed him to do that. um And as to say, it wasn't wasn't completely flat. It was slightly undulating um forest paths that he would do that on. But that was that's obviously very different from running up and down Snowdon four times in a day.
00:29:15
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:29:15
Steve
um So that the the terrain has got to be appropriate to um your target race. That's not to say you can't have a um a bit of a change if you get, you know, God, I've done this 30 mile run so many times, I'm going to you know go somewhere different, do something do something else, you know, go down. to go down to the New Forest and run around there, go go to North Wales and run up and down Snowden or something, um even though I'm training for a flat 24-hour race.
00:29:40
UKRunChat
yeah
00:29:44
Steve
um you know We are all human, I think. Well, most of us, some ultra runners I don't think are, but I think most of us are human. And I think you've got to sort of incorporate some interest in what you do.
00:29:54
UKRunChat
Yeah, a bit of variety.
00:29:56
Steve
But the majority of what you do has got to be targeted at your target. ah your target um and Just going back to the point you were making before, I think you're absolutely right.
00:30:01
UKRunChat
Yeah.
Fueling During Ultras
00:30:05
Steve
So um if the target you have you know ah makes a light bulb come on in your head and say, yes, if I could just do that, I'd be really happy. And that can be anything. That can be getting in the county team. That can be running 5K without walking.
00:30:20
Steve
That can be you know any any target that really is is compelling to you. um Then that will provide the motivation to do the hard work to get you there.
00:30:31
UKRunChat
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Can we just talk a little bit about pacing an event?
00:30:35
Steve
Yeah. Yeah.
00:30:35
UKRunChat
Like and how, like obviously, I guess it's, is it easier to pace kind of a ah looped event? How would you, how would you approach that, that type of ultra? Because I know we've we've got some looped events coming up kind of this month that are like a 24 hour on a lapped course, how would you approach that?
00:30:56
Steve
yeah
00:30:57
UKRunChat
Would you set off a little bit quicker knowing you've got more energy or would you try and conserve that?
00:31:04
Steve
um I think it will depend from person to person. I think um we can all um i mean let's put it this way my daughter i'm going out to berlin this weekend to support my daughter who's running the the berlin marathon um now she will know what pace she needs to do to get her personal best and she will try and set off at that pace but over overriding that i always tell my athletes i'm a daughter um
00:31:36
Steve
tune into how you feel. If you set off at the pace that will get you a personal best and it feels incredibly easy, well maybe you should be running a little bit faster. if it feels that you're if If you feel that you're struggling, well you need to ease back, otherwise going really struggle.
00:31:54
Steve
So I think it's more about tuning in, as we said before, tuning into how you feel and how that pace feels. um more than sort of looking at your watch or your Garmin and it beeping at you and telling you you're going too slowly or too fast or whatever it might but be doing.
00:32:09
Steve
um Not that I've ever worn a Garmin, of course, um being a dinosaur. um So yeah, it's more more about tuning in to how you're feeling because if you're going for a personal best and you've done harder training than ever before, then obviously you're going to be in on and uncharted territory. You're going to be running fast.
00:32:29
Steve
I can remember when I did my half marathon personal best, um And I thought, well, I mean, that last mile was 520. I'm going too fast. No, I'm not. I'm feeling all right. So that overrides that feeling that that overrides the ah the data you're getting from your.
00:32:46
Steve
um devices which are saying hold back hold back you're going too fast no you're not going too fast you've done the training you're ready for a personal best so yeah you're going to be you know 10 20 seconds faster than you expect to be um and you need to be okay with that as long as your legs are telling you you're okay with that and yes you can carry this on so I've rambled on there have I answered your question okay
00:33:08
UKRunChat
Yes, I think you did. Thank you, Steve. and So talk to a little bit about fueling, because I think this is where a lot of us trip up. So how how should we approach fueling on an ultra?
Managing Tough Patches
00:33:22
Steve
Well, I think, um you know, regular fueling, obviously you need to practice it in your long training runs um if you're if you're going to do an ultra. um As a as i've said to you before, I think, um you know, the sort of the the fueling has changed so much since I was running. So, I mean, I ran for Great Britain um nearly 30 years ago and, you know, science has moved on a bit since then.
00:33:48
Steve
um but it's it obviously should be um regular. Hydration is perhaps more important than nutrition. You've got a certain amount of, everyone's got a certain amount of um fuel in in their system, would be it blood, sugar, or or ah the fat stores. um So you've got that that you can utilise. So um hydration is is even more important.
00:34:13
Steve
um i
00:34:18
Steve
i mean I can't recommend any any specific ah products um because as I say they've all changed since I was um using them. It used to be Lucozade and Jelly Babies and ah for the very longer races then it was anything that you you could actually get down yourself because um you know when you've been running for 8, 10, 12 hours ten twelve hours You can't stomach um a lot of stuff. you've You've got to have what appeals to you.
00:34:46
Steve
um And that might be mashed potato with ah marmite stirred into it um for the for the salt, um because salt's obviously very important.
00:34:56
Steve
um Yeah, it could be all sorts of things. um One thing that we were told and was emphasised in the GB Ultra Squad was um ah the mineral salts. As as you know, it's it's more dangerous to be over-hydrated than under-hydrated because if you're over-hydrated, you've got too much water in your system. It dilutes your electrolytes, your um ah mineral salts, and it's...
00:35:25
Steve
easier to dye, to put it bluntly, ah from that than it is for from um dehydration. So it's very important to keep the salt intake going. um We were told about a product called Dyrilite, which is still around. It's so a diarrhoea replacement um
00:35:46
Steve
supplement um but it has got the perfect blend of ah minerals that that we used um in our hydration um to keep the mineral salts so it wasn't just water we were taking it um yeah and and I suppose it will differ between say 100k and 24 hours. With 100k you need something that you can grab, um that you can take, so it can be mostly drinks. So whatever nutrition you take on board would be probably in in the real form of a drink.
00:36:17
Steve
With 24 hours obviously you've got longer and you've got um you got more you got different support. So you would eat sandwiches or you know have your mashed potato or whatever it was.
00:36:31
Steve
um So it'd be a different form of nutrition really and in the very longest ultras. um there
00:36:37
UKRunChat
Yeah, does it differ at night in how your body wants, like, do you feel less hungry at night? I've never done a night event where I've had to eat that late at night.
00:36:48
UKRunChat
I guess that must be quite tricky to navigate in terms of making sure you're getting enough energy. How do you manage that?
00:36:53
Steve
Yeah, I've never, no, no i I didn't find that I wasn't hungry at night. I was, um yeah, just as hungry during as during the day because I was still obviously, you know, running around and around the blasted track.
00:37:06
Steve
um But so I suppose if it's if it's colder at night, then you fancy more things like, you know, warm soup or... ah the mashed potato, you don't particularly want something that's that's very cold, always going to sort of cool you down. Whereas in the and heat of the day, obviously the ah the reverse is true.
00:37:26
Steve
um But no, i don't I've never and never heard from anybody that because they don't normally eat at night, they don't feel like eating at night on an ultra. I think the the need for energy overrides anything like that.
00:37:42
UKRunChat
Yeah, and I guess it's important to prioritise that as well, isn't it? And to make sure that you are you are getting fuel down you.
00:37:45
Steve
Yeah. Yeah. you know
00:37:49
UKRunChat
Yeah. i excited yeah and Just talk to us a little bit about how you get through the bad parts of an ultra, because they're going to happen, aren't they? If you're doing a long enough race, you're going to hit a low spot.
00:38:00
Steve
Yeah.
00:38:02
UKRunChat
How do you push through those moments?
00:38:06
Steve
I think, um, Yeah, it's it's it's very difficult. I think if you've been there in your long training runs, then you know that you will get through it.
00:38:18
Steve
It's a matter of um keeping the faith, as I always say, of really just knowing that um bad patches will come, but bad patches will also go.
Handling Injuries and Race Dropouts
00:38:29
Steve
um Yeah, there are no shortcuts really to this. and And I think going through bad patches in training is is is an important lesson and then gives you the armory to be able to deal with them more effectively in the race itself.
00:38:43
Steve
um i I think you know you can kid yourself and say, OK, let's just get to 50 miles or 60 miles or 100 miles or whatever it is um and and see how I feel then. it so give you Give yourself an intermediate intermediate target um to get to um so that you're not thinking about the whole race at every moment.
00:39:11
Steve
um Yeah, I don't think there are any shortcuts. I i can't give you a magic bullet on on on um that. There will be bad patches. I think almost every marathon and every ultra I've been in, i have had a bad patch. And your body your body is dealing with um energy systems and they're going to be little ah glitches where you you feel awful for five minutes, maybe, you know,
00:39:37
Steve
um a mile two miles and you've got to you've got to keep the faith and think okay um this will probably go it might not always it might be a bad patch that causes you to you know stop um but most of the time you know your energy system will kick back in your legs will recover and whatever it is that's um the problem at that moment um and you'll you'll be able to carry on um you'll be able to push through it and think yeah okay actually i feel all right now um yeah
00:40:08
UKRunChat
yeah Have you ever had moments in races like that that's that's caused you to stop a race? Have you ever not finished a race that you started? Because I guess it happens a lot more a lot more in ultras than it would in any other race.
00:40:15
Steve
um
00:40:20
Steve
yeah it's most it's mostly um injuries so i've done 1745 races not that i ever count these things um and i've dropped out of four um so i've not but done too badly um and
00:40:32
UKRunChat
Yeah. Wow. That's a pretty good record. Yeah.
00:40:36
Steve
That's not a bad average, really. Yeah.
00:40:37
UKRunChat
yeah
00:40:38
Steve
um He said being very immodest indeed. um
00:40:41
UKRunChat
Thank you.
00:40:42
Steve
Yeah. So the four, I mean, I could run through them. um The four. Yeah. I was, I was injured on at least two of them. Yeah. Two, three. I think all of them, might it was an injury. It just, i I knew I had a slight knee niggle and I did a 24 hour race and after 10 miles, it just wasn't happening. So I, had to call it a day.
00:41:01
Steve
um It was the national 24 hour championships. And I thought, um, you know, it was it was worth giving it a go because it might have been all right, but it wasn't. So that that sort of thing.
00:41:12
Steve
um ah It's never been...
00:41:16
Steve
i've never... i don't think I've ever dropped out just because I was feeling very tired. It was always an injury. Yeah.
00:41:23
UKRunChat
Yeah, but i think I think that can be, that's a good thing anyway, isn't it? like Like we were saying earlier, learning to listen to your body you don't want to cause problems, do you? So sometimes, I guess, needs needs must, and it's better to to not carry on if you are feeling injured.
00:41:32
Steve
Yeah, yeah.
00:41:37
Steve
Yeah, yeah.
00:41:37
UKRunChat
That's important lesson, actually.
00:41:38
Steve
I mean, I i would always err on the side of, you know, finishing a race if you possibly can, because if you if you start to drop out, it can become... a habit and you can drop out actually when you shouldn't shouldn't be dropping out.
00:41:49
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:41:52
Steve
um You can drop out, you know, it might tempt you to drop out when actually if you'd gone on a few miles, you'd start to feel better again. um Obviously, if you've got an injury, if it's if it's something that is showstopper, then you should stop before you do yourself more and more damage or or more ah permanent or extreme
00:42:21
Steve
yeah damage.
Listener Q&A: Ultra Myths and Advice
00:42:22
Steve
um But yeah, so in general, I would say push onto the finish if you possibly can, um unless it's going to do you harm.
00:42:29
UKRunChat
yeah
00:42:32
UKRunChat
yeah no that's that's a good tip because when we will we will get tired in an ultra won't we and we will think oh my god we've got a long way to go but i think you're there to prove to yourself that you can do it aren't you at the end of the day
00:42:43
Steve
Yep. Yep.
00:42:44
UKRunChat
Yeah. and Right. I've got a few listener questions for us then, if that's OK, Steve.
00:42:50
Steve
Yeah, of course.
00:42:50
UKRunChat
So Emma asks on that's Emma Rose 80 on X. She asks, can Steve debunk some ultra myths, please?
00:43:02
UKRunChat
Have you got any kind of myths that are knocking around about ultras that perhaps aren't true?
00:43:09
Steve
ah um I don't know what's... Have you... Do you know of any... Got any in mind? i'm um
00:43:22
Steve
What, that you don't have to train for an ultra or... I don't know. i don't know what an ultra myth would would be, really. um
00:43:30
UKRunChat
yeah that Yeah, I don't know really. and Yeah, let's let's move on to the next one then. So Stephen on X, he's stop, start, run, asks, what mental strategies help you push through the darkest moments in an ultra?
00:43:36
Steve
Okay.
00:43:44
UKRunChat
We did talk a little bit about that, didn't we, before?
00:43:47
Steve
Yeah. I think it's... um knowing that this's not knowing that this need not be terminal. So knowing that, yeah, bad patches will come, um but they also can will will probably go.
00:44:05
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:44:05
Steve
So it's...
00:44:06
Steve
having the faith in your training and your mental ability to say, okay, I'm just going to go with this for the next however long, 10 minutes, half an hour it might be, um but I think I will feel better.
00:44:19
Steve
This will also depend on the race because obviously if you're Climbing up a mountain, you know, it is a matter of just getting to the top because it's a lot be a lot easier going down the other side, um you know, in that sort of, in in that way. Whereas if you're going round and round a 400-metre track, then you haven't got the change in terrain to help you.
00:44:39
Steve
um So it's more about, am I just going through a difficult phase?
00:44:43
UKRunChat
Thank you.
00:44:43
Steve
Have I eaten enough? Have I had enough water? All that sort of thing. um I think it's... It's really about saying, OK, this is probably just temporary. So just let's keep going. Let's make a deal with myself that I'm going to I'm going to get through the next half an hour. If I if i still feel awful half an hour, OK, we need to you know think about it again. Think about it a bit harder.
00:45:10
Steve
but see how it goes and it will probably be a bit better um you know when when you come to the end of that period, whatever
Tips for Ultra Beginners
00:45:17
Steve
it may be. And this will again depend on the race and the terrain and if you're going around the track or if you're going up and down mountains.
00:45:22
Steve
um So I think it's just having that core of confidence, having done the training, thinking, okay, I've got all this running behind me. um I'm not going to stop now um because I know that these things can can go as in as as quickly as they come.
00:45:38
Steve
So, yeah. Just press on through.
00:45:40
UKRunChat
Thank you for that.
00:45:41
Steve
Yeah.
00:45:42
UKRunChat
Yeah. Okay. So back to Emma's question about the ultra myths. I've got a bit more context here. So she says, I suppose I'd worry about getting lost if it's not Marshall carrying food, phone, watch dying and the amount of mileage required in training.
00:45:46
Steve
OK.
00:45:58
UKRunChat
So I guess this is a somebody who's who's perhaps not done an ultra before who wants a bit of reassurance really.
00:45:59
Steve
Root.
00:46:05
UKRunChat
So maybe not perhaps an ultra myth, but maybe just
00:46:10
Steve
Yeah.
00:46:10
UKRunChat
you know, how accessible are ultras to a beginner then? What would we say to somebody maybe considering the first ultra then to not worry about or to how to prepare?
00:46:15
Steve
ah Yeah, I suppose if if it is actually your first ultra and your you' you you're worried about those things, then choose one where the intimidating factors are ah minimised.
00:46:34
Steve
So maybe choose an ultra where you can't get lost, where it is a a loop or something so you don't have to worry about that um so all all you are worrying about is how you feel and you know if you can make the uh the distance um so cut down on on on those um variables on those factors that might bother you and then you can maybe uh graduate when you've proved you can do a distance then maybe um go on to an ultra where you do have to navigate or and you do have to rely on
00:46:39
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:47:06
Steve
um yeah, finding your way in the dark and all all that sort of thing. um I mean, i've never I've never done many of those because I've always been more interested in um the performance, the sort of how fast can I do a certain number of miles rather than now I need to add the ah the navigation on top of all that.
00:47:29
Steve
I've been wrong more interested, if you like, in my body's capability to to run a certain distance in a certain time rather than adding in ah the navigation and that sort of thing.
00:47:29
UKRunChat
yeah
00:47:40
Steve
um So i I don't speak from in a ah ah position of great experience about um you navigating my way across the Welsh mountains, shall we say.
00:47:40
UKRunChat
yeah
00:47:50
Steve
Yeah,
00:47:51
UKRunChat
Yeah, but i think it's just it's doing what you're comfortable with, isn't it? And there are lots of different events out there that can cater for every everybody, really, aren't there?
00:47:54
Steve
yeah. yeah
00:48:01
Steve
Yeah, and as as you get more experience, so you' your comfort zone will expand.
00:48:01
UKRunChat
Just do something that you comfortable with.
00:48:07
Steve
So you'll think, yeah, 12 hours in the mountains, no problem, ah because I've done six hours in the mountains, or I've done 12 hours around the track, or like you know I've put all those bits of experience together, and okay, I'm you know pushing the envelope a little bit now, but um I'm not stepping too far out of what I've done before.
Specific Ultra Training Questions
00:48:25
Steve
So it's it's all about learning and training, so you can train your...
00:48:26
UKRunChat
yeah
00:48:29
Steve
your body is in the same way that you can train your, sorry, you can train your mind in the same way as you can train ah your body to to to cope with the with the physical stuff. So your your mind can cope with the um the challenges of, can I navigate?
00:48:44
Steve
Can I find the next checkpoint? You know, all that sort of thing.
00:48:46
UKRunChat
Yeah. um And what about the element of how how far to go in training and how, you know, if you're doing, you know, maybe 100 miles for the first time, how do you know how far you can go?
00:48:57
Steve
Yeah.
00:48:59
UKRunChat
How how far would you be doing in training? You've got to kind of you still got to find a little bit extra on race day, haven't you?
00:49:05
Steve
Yes, yes. I mean, even a marathon, I would say you just need to do 22 miles. you need to do twenty two miles i've always said, you know, to be able to be able to think okay i can do 26 when it comes to race day so for 100 miles you know i mean all the all the running that you can do you can you should sort of maximize the amount of running that you that you are doing um because obviously 100 miles is a very long way um i think you should do at least a couple of 50 mile runs if you're going to do 100 probably more than that and it depends what your target is if if if you if you want to be competitive um then obviously the demands be far higher if you want to
00:49:37
UKRunChat
Mm-hmm.
00:49:51
Steve
getting a 100 miler and get to the finish, well, that that that's a great target. And probably a couple of 50 mile runs will be sufficient to give you not only the physical ah equipment, but also the mental and emotional confidence to think, okay, this is within my range.
00:50:11
Steve
This is when within my compass to do 100 miles in in one go because I've done 50 and I didn't feel too bad at the end.
00:50:11
UKRunChat
yeah
00:50:17
Steve
you know, it's all about that kind of process of gradually getting yourself um more more used to doing these these longer things. And you can, i mean, we talked before about um back-to-back long runs, and that's obviously useful to do.
00:50:34
Steve
you know, 40 miles on a Saturday and another 40 on a Sunday sort of thing. That's an excellent training for 100 miles because obviously you wake up on the Sunday and and and your legs are tired and it's more like the last 40 of that 100.
00:50:46
Steve
um So that's that's great training. You know, run as much as you can during the week also is is excellent training, but it's really the specific sessions, usually at the weekend, the very longer runs that that will really set you up to finish that 100
00:51:04
UKRunChat
Yeah, thank you. and So we have Duncan on X. He's and at Live2Move and he asks, he says, me and my mates are doing the Long Mind hike on the 4th of October, 50 miles over the Shropshire Hills in 24 hours with 8,000 feet of ascent.
00:51:21
Steve
Right.
00:51:21
UKRunChat
and What one piece of advice would Steve give us? Well, you might have more advice. and Any tips for that? Sounds like quite a hilly one.
00:51:30
Steve
Yeah. um One piece of advice, I suppose pacing really. um
00:51:39
Steve
I suppose you've got to be aware of ah how fast you're going. um Yeah, I mean the terrain, guess, is going to be fairly challenging.
00:51:50
Steve
um So even two miles an hour might be a struggle at times.
00:51:50
UKRunChat
yeah
00:51:55
Steve
um So you've got to be aware of that. um
00:52:00
Steve
Yeah, so 50 miles in 24 hours um sounds doable, but over that terrain, I suppose, yeah, you've got to um you've got to work out your pacing and and keep an eye on it all times.
00:52:07
UKRunChat
yeah yeah
00:52:15
Steve
and um Yeah, not linger too long at any checkpoints, not not not sit down for too long um to eat that piece of cake or that ah bowl of soup or whatever it might be. Keep going as much as you can, because not only will that save time, but it will save your legs from stiffening up if you if you stand or sit down for too long at any checkpoints.
00:52:36
Steve
Again, I don't know if there are checkpoints or whether you need to be um self-sufficient on this particular event.
00:52:38
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:52:41
Steve
But um yeah, keep an eye on your pace, keep an eye on your your speed against that 24-hour cuts off at all times and um don't stop for too long.
00:52:52
UKRunChat
yeah but Yeah, no, that's a really good tip actually, because I think checkpoints can often slow people down. I know I've been caught out there before spending too much time.
00:52:59
Steve
Oh, it's it's so easy. I mean, I've i've done it myself.
00:53:01
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:53:02
Steve
i've I've sat down to change my socks.
00:53:05
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:53:05
Steve
and 10 minutes have passed and and you don't realise it because you're in you're in a different time zone. you know This is after like 18 hours of a 24 hour race and you sit down and and you yeah and you're lost.
00:53:10
UKRunChat
yeah
00:53:16
Steve
you know you and um you know Your up handler, your support team will say, do you know you've been sitting there for 10 minutes? well have I seemed like 30 seconds you know and i was only going to change my socks and changing my socks has taken you know it's taken 10 minutes which has you know lost me a mile um in a 24 hour race so it's it's very deceptive and you need to keep an eye on that
00:53:38
UKRunChat
yeah
00:53:41
UKRunChat
and then we've got We've got one last question then. a Good luck with that, by the way, Duncan.
00:53:45
UKRunChat
and We've got long one last question. So what is the best recovery routine after big ultra? What would you normally advise? What would you do?
00:53:45
Steve
yes good luck
00:53:56
Steve
I can remember when I did my first 24 hour race, I, my legs were so stiff. Um, on the Monday morning I couldn't get out of bed so I had to ring work and um i I think I lied, I think I said I got flu or something.
00:54:13
Steve
um So the recovery routine, i mean it's just try and move about a bit um the the day after. just If you can go for a little walk um that will just help the blood flow around those muscles that have been tortured so much the previous day or so.
00:54:32
Steve
um Obviously, eat and drink. I mean, you know, if you've finished an ultra, that is licensed to eat and drink what you like, really. and But in the immediate aftermath of of an ultra, I would say um certainly hydrate.
00:54:46
Steve
things like I've found things like um yogurt, ice cream, that sort of thing seem seem to be easy to digest and eat and and seem to give you...
00:54:59
Steve
sort of instant energy um after after an ultra, after after a long run even. um So it's obviously keep an eye on the hydration and nutrition.
00:55:09
Steve
Don't try to rehydrate with you know beer and wine and gin. um you know yeah Yes, by all means, do. do celebrate your achievement, but, um, emphasize the, uh, more sensible hydration, uh, shall we say, um, and eat and yeah, move, move if you can. Um, and, um, yeah, I, I would say, you know,
00:55:33
Steve
Walk around if you can, ah hot bath, a little bit of stretching if you if you can, um but you know, you're probably not going to do another ultra the next week. So and unless you're doing something silly like that or you're doing 10 marathons in 10 days where you need a whole different sort of strategy to be able to get through that.
00:55:51
Steve
um then your rate of recovery isn't that crucial. It's just for for your own sort of um sanity and efficiency and being able to sort of get around the office at work or whatever it might be, um then yeah you you need to eat, drink and move a
Conclusion and Final Advice
00:56:09
Steve
bit. That's what I would say.
00:56:11
UKRunChat
Yeah, that's great advice. Thank you, Steve. Yeah, that's it for the questions. and oh Thank you so much for coming on and talking all things ultras with us. is Is there anything we've missed in that chat? Is there anything else we need to think about before we wrap up?
00:56:24
Steve
Oh, I expect so. I mean, you, right right back at the beginning, you reminded me of, um you know, several races that I've i've done in the past. um So i'm I'm sure there are other points I've missed.
00:56:36
Steve
it it You know, for a very simple sport running, which is...
00:56:40
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:56:40
Steve
um basically putting you know one foot in front of the other uh we can endlessly complicate it can't we in with all of these different um things you need to think about um yeah i mean when when i um when i told my friends i was in in the middle of um writing a book about running uh they said well is it going to be 200 pages of left right left right left right um and and in a way that's
00:56:47
UKRunChat
We can.
00:57:05
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:57:07
Steve
In a way, they've got a valid point, haven't they? you know um
00:57:10
UKRunChat
yeah
00:57:10
Steve
Because we yeah we we we make something very simple into something very complicated. um But unfortunately, too to get the best out of yourself, to succeed for yourself, whatever whatever that means for you, whether it's you know doing a park run without walking, whether it's um doing a mile without walking, or whether it's getting the Olympic gold medal,
00:57:35
Steve
um You know, they're there are all sorts of things to be aware of. um So, yeah, I expect there's lots of stuff I've missed, Michelle, but I think you've ransacked my ultra brain fairly efficiently.
00:57:50
UKRunChat
Yeah, i mean, we chatted for nearly an hour there, Steve. So I think I'll let you go for today.
00:57:53
Steve
Yeah.
00:57:55
UKRunChat
But if you're out there listening, anybody, and you think, oh, I'd love to know that, then do do get in touch and we'll put your question to Steve and I'm sure you'd be happy to answer them for us, won't you?
00:58:03
Steve
I would certainly be very happy. And yeah, to anybody listening who's got ah an ultra on the horizon, then all the very best of luck. I hope I've answered um the questions adequately.
00:58:15
Steve
But I'd say, yeah, good luck. Get your pacing right. Get your ah get your rehydration and nutrition right. And, um you know, get to that finish line if you possibly can get to that finish line.
00:58:29
UKRunChat
Yeah, thank you. Yeah, and and let us know when you do as well. We'd love to help you celebrate your achievements.
00:58:32
Steve
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.
00:58:35
UKRunChat
and So that's it for today's episode of the podcast.
00:58:35
Steve
yeah
00:58:37
UKRunChat
A huge thanks to Steve for sharing not only his wisdom, but also many stories from over the years that he's been racing. So if you're thinking about your first ultra or aiming for a new distance, then I hope that this episode has helped you out.
00:58:51
UKRunChat
and So thank you so much for listening. And as always, happy running.