You may have already noticed this but it’s Ultra-Trail Australia week!! Entries are almost completely sold out after only a couple of days, excitement is high and rightly so! This is one of the biggest events on the Australian trail running calendar with some of the best athletes in the world visiting the blueys to test their trail running prowess. So with enthusiasm at its absolute peak, here’s a few thoughts on a successful UTA training program …
1) Start your training early (the earlier the better IMHO!) – You’ve heard the phrase, “it’s not about the destination it’s about the journey”? Of course you have, everyone has this fridge magnet right? Well this is one of those times when this wisdom applies. Try to focus more on your training than the race day (at least for the first few months) and both your enjoyment of the training and your ultimate performance will be improved. It’s not all about race day. Honestly it’s not! 99% of the UTA experience is the kilometres, friendships and fun before the race even starts. Focussing on your training and starting early is one of the best ways to help create your dream race day.
2) Build the kms gradually – The general rule is not to add more than 10% on your weekly volume week to week. It’s easy to forget this when you see your running friends posting 30km training runs on Strava but be careful. Try to focus on your own training, trust the process and don’t get sucked into chasing Kudos in the short term. Building the kms gradually will help you avoid overtraining, injury and it will help keep your training fun.
3) Make sure you get out on the course! – It’s simple really, if you live on the northern beaches of Sydney, local trails are bad, Blue Mountains are good! Unfortunately many local trails have been transformed over the last few years into civilised walkways with stone stairs and wooden decks. The Spit to Manly walk for example. There’s lots of exceptions of course but you’re best chance for success is to train on the course. Your body (especially your quads) needs to adjust to the extreme vertical climbing and descending in the mountains. The local trails just don’t cut it. The mountains are calling you! ??
4) Run your long runs slow. Even slower than that! – Running too fast is one of the main sources of overtraining and/or injury. Keep it slow and easy to avoid any frustrating weeks of inactivity in your training program. The general rule to getting faster on the trail is keep running slow until your slow pace becomes fast (if that makes sense!) It’s the same principle as your workout becoming your warm up. As your fitness improves things will become easier but you won’t get fitter if you’re injured! Go slow to go fast ??
5) It takes a village! – Find some training buddies. We have some. Find a coach. We have some of those. Find a nutritionist. We can recommend one! Find a Physio. We can recommend one of those too! You need a team behind you to complete a challenge this big. Whether you’re a complete beginner or a pro, finding your tribe can help you achieve your goals. Just like professional boxers, trail running is a solo pursuit, but behind every successful solo athlete, boxer, trail runner or tennis player, there is a whole village of experts and support behind each individual. Ask for help, find a tribe and you will enjoy this journey much more than battling on your own.
Ok, let’s get this adventure started! ???
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