@@mkgreenluv I mean use "but" to help you reframe negative situations into something you can handle, but sure, strength training including squat and lunge is important
1) Be prepared. I create and print-out a race plan in Ultrapacer using aid stations and elevation peaks as milestones and research the terrain and elevation of each segment. I train for the same. I practice fueling, including emulating aid station food. Train in bad conditions and nighttime. 2) I remember that I have two brains: one is for self-preservation and a "meta" brain that knows I'm not going to die and has to laugh off the first one 3) When things get hard, I count to 4 in time with each step. 5) Never stop on a steep incline. 6) When weariness sets in, eat and try to pick up the step cadence 7) I remember that the race doesn't start until there is 20% of the course left to go.
Something I've been doing lately when hitting the pain wall is forced laughing. There's some science behind it. When the pain builds up, just force yourself to laugh out loud. Sometimes I'll point at whats hurting (foot, knee, etc.). I promise when you start, you'll probably start laughing for real because it seems so silly. Seems to really help break the negative mental loops.
That's smart! I certainly use humor a lot myself. My jokes are objectively probably not that funny,... but they are funny to me at the time, and that's good enough to keep me rolling. That's partly why I try to make my race recap with silly movie reference, bad jokes, etc. I'm trying to convey where my head is at during a race - which isn't a perfectly frame and elegant running clip of me in slow motion with perfect form while in the background I say calmly and philosophically how running helps me connect with nature, that movement has freed my mind. Nope... that's really not my experience. I can hardly walk straight and I'm laughing thinking about "GET TO DA CHOPPAH!!!!"
My tip, which you touched on, is to express gratitude. Things don't need to be perfect in order for them to be perfect. Gratitude helps us reframe our perspective and allows us to appreciate what we have, not what we don't have.
One trick is to lie to yourself. Say "I will quit at the next aid station". Then, lie again and don't quit when you finally get there. The relief from thinking you will quit soon sometimes gets you through. It is a dangerous game though!
I lie to myself too! Saying things like "it's fine" or "I'll take a longer break at the next aid station". About quitting, what I tell myself is "alright at the next aid station, I'll decide if I quit. There's no point making a decision now - I still have to reach it!". And then of course, once I'm there, I feel better and feel I can take "one more"
@@runningwithsimon i do that too. tell myself just finish this lap then decide. of course i always decide to do another lap. i always do what i plan to do and what i carry supplies to finish, sometimes more. pushing through the pain is part of the fun, but when things are actually dangerous, quitting is the best option
Love it! I do the same very often too on training run - thinking about what I want to eat or drink once I'm done. Funny thing is that I also notice that it's helpful in assessing my need - I'll tend to think "oh my, it'll be so good to drink a cold lemonade" it's a good sign that I'm getting hot and dehydrated vs "I want pizza!" I'm probably underfueling
That's brilliant! I love how simple that is, and I think you are bang on. I was probably under nourished as I was very hungry by the time I got back home. Thank you for the insight.
Congrats on 10k subscribers!!! My wife and I have been enjoying all your videos for the better part of a year. At first we were like who is this guy?? But we totally love your sense of humor and 90s throwback clips. Keep ‘em coming!
Love it - thanks for following! I just can't take it too seriously. I tried to do a more "serious style" movie once, with narration, slow motion, profound philosophical justification as to what running means to me. You know, more like Billy Yang or Jeff Pelletier-style. And I love their stuff and I could do something more like it too. But I gave up after maybe 2 min - it just didn't feel like "me". So I slapped back some movie references and bang, we're back in business. You'd be hard pressed to figure out which race it was....! Maybe some day I'll grow up...
@@mmg781well, Jeff Pelletier’s channel is completely different than this one, I love his channel too but I take it more like a “documentary” about ultra trails. Simon’s is more a motivational and coaching channel. Both are great anyways
Get to the choppa….. ha. Love it. Love your videos. Ran my first 50miler this summer in tough conditions. The mental game was the most important for me In that run. Looking forward to “starting” next month to train for my first 100miler
Omg, stop, you're painting ultras as roses and sunshine!! 😂😂 Holy crap, that was funny. My non running husband walked by, shaking his head, as you said "sure, I'm bleeding out my ass, but..." 😂😂 This was fantastic, I always wondered what got you through some of your extreme struggle fests. I've always counted on mantras, but sometimes they just don't work. Now I have some other tools! I'm so excited to see you do the 4x4x48! I've been very interested in that... and congratulations on 10k!! I'm thinking at least 25k by the end of the year!
Silly "strength", but really worked many times for me. Just do not push yourself before the race. Tell yourself something like "let's just start and make first 10/20/30 km and see how it will go". First couple of times I was pushed to this mood by sickness just before race, when you feel yourself really not fit for the race and even not sure does it make sense to start or not. And surprisingly it worked very nice. So now sometimes I make this trick even if I'm 100% prepared for the race day. Also it work fine if you want to push yourself and want to achieve some target in terms of faster pace. This work well not only for races, but for hard trainings as well. You can say: "oh, yes, this pace is too fast for the whole race, but let's just start which this tempo and see how long you can keep it".
Another great video. I recently ran a 50 K that was supposed to be just like a tuneup race. Kind of see where I was and I did something wrong. I pulled something in my groin, hip upper hamstring and I got back to where the 26 mile was I had 5 miles to go with the 26 mile was a complete loop and that’s right where my car was And then they told me well it’s only 2 1/2 miles out on the trail and then come back and so and I went I did finish it and the knee part is cause I’m so old I still was second in my age group, so what the heckI knew I wasn’t doing any more damage least I didn’t think so and so I just went through it good video though cause the decisions aren’t easy sometimes
Congrats for pushing through! Hope you are recovering well and it's nothing serious. You know, injury is the one thing that can hold me back due to bad experience. I need to know I'm not going to be sidelined for months because I kept pushing. I've been injured from racing before and well, it sucks balls to be barely able to walk for 1+ month after a race. If I were a pro maybe, but if I do it for fun, I try to draw the line at pain vs. seriously injured. But it's just hard to gauge in the heat of a race. My worst injuries honestly, it didn't feel THAT bad. But it felt "off" kind of pain. Hard to describe
@runningwithsimon: thanks for this video, helped me a lot. Currently at a dark spot (failed 2x at Swisspeaks 360 early on) and have doubts about everything. Worked my b*tt off (in the good way) for 1 year and then failed after 35k of a race 360k long. My legs were so heavy and just was afraid I could not go up the mountain anymore and they would have to rescue me. Stupid me, should have seen this video before. ;-) PS keep making this great content!!!
I'm always more scared myself of not being able to come down. But hey swiss360 is certainly a tough race! Considering doing it some day (I've just completed Tor des Geants - seems like a logical next one)
@@runningwithsimon TOR is easier then SP. SP is really very tough on technical sections, made it first time to 270km but then tripped and hit a rock with my head. 2 years recovery LOL because some nerves were damaged. Well done on the TOR!!
Some day I will. Doing a backyard ultra I'd need to put it as a "real" race in my calendar which I don't have room for at the moment. But the 4x4x48 I'll just do as part of training.
Biggest tip I have always followed is just focus on the next small goal, let’s reach that lamppost, let’s reach that tree, let’s reach that stone. After so many of those mini goals, you get so close to the end goal. Break it down, brick by brick you build a house.
one tip you havent mentioned in the few videos of yours ive seen is increasing miles during training. for example. if i want to go from running 30 to 50 miles then ill start doing some back to backs 20+20 and ill do some single runs of 35. then ill do some back to back 25+20 and some single 40s and so on and so on until i have the confidence to try 50. ill also do some shorter runs with more elevation because i know if i can do 35 in the hills, i can do 50 on the flats. then after i do 50 on the flats, ill do 50 on a more difficult track. this process can take weeks or months and itll get my body and mind used to the distance and push the pain cave farther and farther down the trail
Thanks for sharing. I don't do 'super' long training run anymore myself. Like, I'll never go past 30 - I know for my body it's been counter productive. Even 26+26 is a thing from the past - I was just hurting myself and not improving. But I know everyone is different - a guy like Glaze runs 100+ miles every week in training - which for me would certainly lead to injury on the long run (having done it, I know). Finding that balance is hard, and I like the approach you propose of gradually upping mileage through alternation of back to back vs. super long. Then it's about finding that ceiling of diminishing return, which you seem aware for yourself on your weekly total. Good tip, thanks!
@@runningwithsimon yeah totally agree, everything is a perception, so we do have choices in our mind, I guess it’s about training the brain, without going David Goggins on it! 😂
Good stuff! One thing I've noticed over the years is that visualizing the finish too much during a race actually can be counterproductive and goes against the idea of focusing on the current segment -- be it a mile a time or getting to the next aids. But yeah, can still be helpful, and actually in training thinking about why I want to finish and visualizing the finish helps me get the preparation work in.
Good point! It's true that I also don't start doing that until the later part of the race. I'll often visualize big events that comes with positive. So if it's hot, I'm thinking sunset. If it's cold, I'll think sunrise, etc.
Great channel, it deserves to grow. Excellent video - was a bit sulky after running out of shits to give on a 30k training run today so this was perfect antidote. I think this advice + doing planks + learning how to get Garmin off laps will help in future.
I was going through this during the out and back 4 mile section of the black canyon 60k two weeks ago (blew up my quads around mile 32). Thankfully I didn’t reach the pain cave until the last part but it’s motivated me to improve strength in my quads and really want to give the black canyon 100k a go next year.
You got this! I know it's an aside, but when I did the 100k I really couldn't understand what was the course for the 60k... I was very confused about it. I thought in the past you started from deep canyon and made it to the same finish area, but seems that's not the case at all
It started at Mayer hs on Sunday morning and ended at deep canyon ranch. I’m waiting for Black Canyon 2025 to open so I can sign up…I want that buckle lol. So I’ll use that goal to keep pushing, plan is to run a trail marathon in April and then a 50 miler in December as a major training run for black canyon in 2025.
I think another good mental trick is to cheer on other runners as they pass you etc. it gets your mind off whatever issue you're dealing with (including monotony) and helps inspire your fellow runners.
Bonjour Simon, J'ai aussi appris que tu pouvais te créer un cercle de performance ou de bien-être. Tu te t'imagines 3 idées positives et tu associes un geste physique en même temps comme je marche et respire en touchant ta bague de mariage. C'est semblable à tes inspirations quand tu penses à ta compagne qui t'attends à l'arrivée. Je suis fullblast avec toi pour le renforcement positif. J'adore ton clip du mental toughness des Boys. Bravo pour tes vidéos!
Bravo and thank you. The best trick is Got to get to the chopper! une deuxième place pour les boys. I use another trick. I visualized in my head a routine day with as much details i can remembered.
I remember sometimes thinking about what boring thing I would be doing if I weren't out there running - like folding laundry, or cleaning the bathroom.
Great input/perspective, Simon. Ultimately, one’s mind is key to any activity, especially those that present challenges; in my opinion, if you don’t train it, you will sell yourself short every single time.
There has to be a limit to pushing or to how high i should go with heart rate on how long of an interval dude. I can probably kill myself by pushing and i dont want to die.🤭
These guys (and gals) are a different species! It's absolutely unbelievable to see them run. Like at Javelina, or even worse HURT100, you get to see pros run by. And sure, you're right, it's not like I'm a slow or bad runner at all. I'm pretty decent. But wow ...! I wouldn't even be able to pace them for 1 mile! But that's also part of why I take so much time making tips videos. I think what works for more "normal human being" is a bit different than what works for the Jim-s and Courtney-s of this world. They are absolute beast!
I agree with you that Jim & Courtney are from another planet. I wish I could see them sometime along the way running. However, you are humble! You did a fantastic 3rd place in a 100-mile race. To me, visualization is what keeps me running. We love seeing your videos; they are so unique and different!
Another great video and great advice. Getting from point to point makes things so much more manageable. When I did Silver Rush for my first 50, had a moment of panic at the turn almost getting overwhelmed with 25 more miles to go. Did a reset, reminded myself I already did half, was ahead of my personal schedule, and just went from point to point on the course.
Halfway point is heartbreaking. I never feel like "oh, cool already halfway". What I do myself is also to start counting in reverse - so at the beginning I prefer to go from 9 to 10 miles, (and would NEVER think "ok great, 90 miles left") but at the end, I don't go from 90 to 91, instead I go "only 9 miles left". I know it sounds the same, but to me somehow it makes a huge difference. I think it's because 1 of 10 sounds like a lot, but 1 of 90 sounds like nothing.
Hey Simon, been looking for a good place to learn about Ultrarunning in simplest way as I was training for one. Your videos have been my best resource to make sense of anything in Ultra running. Congratulations on your 10k subscribers, you deserve a million or more … Also happens to be, did my first Ultra marathon yesterday (50km) and I need your suggestion. I took it easy and planned to run slow. However, my aerobic endurance was good even after finish but my legs kind of gave up at 38th km. Any suggestions on how to 1) increase weekly uphills milage , guidelines if any 2) any suggestions on exercises to tackle uphills better ? 3) how to control pace on a steep down hills (I know I’m asking multiple questions and taking your time, but hope to learn to I can do better on my next one and that has 2200 meters elevation for a 42km). Thanks in advance and looking forward.
I think one sad but simple truth about ultra running is that there will ALWAYS be something that hurts or at least end up slowing you down. I think that's inherent to pushing your limits - you'll go as fast and as far until something 'breaks', then we naturally slow down. So the first question is if the break caused you to totally derail (e.g., a DNF, or missing your time goal) or did it simply made you 'work for it' and were you able to keep going. Then after a race, you look not at "did anything slow me down/hurt" but more "WHAT slowed me down/was the 'limiting factor'" and work on that - which sounds that's exactly what you're doing and that's great For increasing uphills capabilities (and downhill), first I don't know if you saw my video about it? Anyhow, you should reserve 1 or 2 sessions a week for hill training where the goal is not pace or mileage, but rather getting this vert in. Your legs will get progressively faster, and you'll get to know yourself better as to what should you run, what should you power hike, etc. Two main type of session will be a more steady and long incline but not too steep hill. And you just push through as long/far as possible at a steady pace. That will help you know your limits too as to what is and isn't sustainable. The other type will be more of a 'interval' type which are hill repeat - you find yourself a small but very steep hill and you blast through, then slow jog down, back up, etc. Not trying to be sustainable here - you go up at the highest intensity you can, use the downhill to rest. The other really important piece is to have strength training sessions with things like lunge, squat, toe raise, steps. Because going uphill is a lot about leg strength, so you want to build your muscles. Downhill - that's hard! Downhill is actually deceptively hard - and at some point, downhills become harder than uphill. Because uphill, once your muscles are tired, you just go slower. But downhill, when your muscle are tired, they aren't able to absorb the hit, and now it's your joint that take a beating. So, if it's a very technical downhill, I would sometimes even just walk. If it's not technical, it's about trying not to 'fight' the hill too much, otherwise your quads work harder than they need. If I know there's going to be a lot lot lot of up/down hill, I'll bring poles and use them on the downhill to try and absorb the shock a little. And similar to the uphill, by building your muscle, you'll be able to go longer on downhill before it gets bad.
@@runningwithsimon Thanks a lot simon this is very detailed. I got into the down hill deception yesterday(Ultrarun), I felt my knees took the beatings(somewhere I saww that we should not restrict downhills as quads will burn if done so). I do internals for hills but we don't have longer hills to run up and test the limits. Also mentioning the exercises helped - lunge, squat, toe raise, steps. I started doing these recently and hope to continue(with more weights). Thanks for detailed explanation, really appreciate it. Looking forward for more awesome content and your experiences.
@@manojsurya i run a lot of steep hills and what i do on downhill to control pace is lean back and dig my heels in and try to put force sideways which is easier if the trail has a berm. sometimes ill switchback, even if its a single track. this is also helpful on uphills esp if its really steep or the traction is bad. usually i like to keep my knees "locked in" going uphill as if i was using poles which i find is less tiring on the knees. sometimes i do use poles, usually in powder. if the traction is bad, i love my peregrine st with 7mm lugs or icebug pytho6 studded trail shoes. its a lot easier to control downhill (and uphill) pace if you have traction. i also try to take it easy on jumps and steps cuz if i tweek a knee, the uphills arent so bad, but the downhills suck and become dangerous
I disagree with some of what you said. My girlfriend is an ultra runner. A few years ago she attempted to run the Halloween Hobble 100 near Statesville, NC. A tropical storm brought massive amounts of rain to the course. The course was lined on both sides with brush so you had to stay on the trail. Somewhere around mile 60 I knew she was in trouble. I told her I would run one lap with her. Most of the course was ankle deep ponds. Finally, when we hit the downhill it was slick mud; it was everything you could do to stay upright. Very dangerous. She quit at 80 miles. I don't know how she made 80 miles. It was an incredible effort. I talked with one runner before the race. His comment, which I will always remember was "I don't do mud."
Good stuff! I did one 50K, Hootenanny. My mantra was, "It doesn't always get worse." I finished; come back from both hip replacements and lifestyle changes. I hope I'm a better role model for my two kids. Thanks, new sub.
Nice - good luck! Altitude can hit hard, not sure if you live at sea level. Hopefully you can spend some time up there ahead of the race. See you up Hope Pass!
Thank you Simon! Keep it coming! You ARE a “pro” to people like me! First 16 miler yesterday in 32 degrees. So much doubt in the first 100 feet, and at mile 7, and mile 12, but all of these techniques work. We CAN take one more step! We CAN problem solve!
keep it up! i did a training marathon in a foot of powder and -20 last winter. talk about fun! what an experience. the trails are beautiful covered in snow. i hope to get similar conditions this year so i can do at least 50k
hahah no no no! That's me being Frenchy lol! 15!!! Possibly 20lbs. Which is >10% very rapidly (so of course, it's a lot of ...well liquid). Basically none stop diarrhea - I went about 20-25 times in a 24hrs period. I was as weak as a kitten crossing that line...
@@runningwithsimon Yikes, what a nightmare! I tend to have a nervous stomach at the starting line so sometimes I take Pepto-Bismol and Imodium before the race even starts. Just because the thought of having diarrhea during the race is so heinous. Lol.
@@runningwithsimon haha! Still that's super impressive that you still crossed the finish line!!! I'd be curious to know what caused it? I get nervous stomach a lot. And some times GI issues because of some fuel.
@uerDev It must have stomach flu of sort. It started the evening before, and was at its peak starting the night throughout the next like 30 hours. So it wasn't nerve or even anything related to the race and/or food I'd eat during. Just very very bad timing. Took several imodium during the race which helped but wasn't enough.
