Whether you’re a dab hand at ultra running or your first one is just around the corner, there are a number of things no one ever talks about/you never remember. Well, I’ve tried super hard to remember all of the things that happen to us ultra nutters before, during and after a long run. Some are the reason you say, “I’m never entering another ultra again” and then swiftly forget and others are the ones when you just think, “Damn it, I knew this would happen…”
I’ll try and give you some tips on how to combat the oddities that happen to your mind and body when you are pushing yourself beyond the limit.
1. No sleep
The night before an ultra you are clearly far too excited to sleep. If you are not excited, then you are nervous. If you are neither of those then your head will be spinning as you go through your morning routine and whether you’ve done enough training. You also know that your alarm is going to go off insanely early at around 4am (5am if the race is near your house!) so you spend a lot of time thinking, “Oh my god, I’m getting up so early I better get some decent sleep!” Forget about it, just be grateful for the hour or two of light sleep you will get.
Tip: When you have an ultra booked in, treat it like your wedding day, you know there is no chance of sleep the night before, so get an early night and a decent sleep two nights before.
2. Everything hurts
There will perhaps come a point in your ultra where your entire body hurts. I’ll let you judge between the pain of general body aches that you should just ignore and push through, and the pain of a genuine DNF worthy issue such as a broken leg or ankle (a fellow runner on the Hardwolds 80 broke her leg 5 miles in and still completed the race. My friend’s husband broke his ankle on a long run and still made the finish. This is not advisable).
Tip: Whatever the pain though, DO NOT TAKE IBUPROFEN. This is an extremely dangerous drug to take when your body is under exertion. Bananas are good for cramps, as is staying hydrated. Paracetamol* is fine for muscle pains. Pausing for a stretch can work wonders.
*I have no medical knowledge but I have been led to believe that Paracetamol is safe to use, always check with your GP.
3. Stomach issues
Nutrition is a tough game. You can have the perfect race, not once feeling sick, no stomach cramps and never needing to poop, generally, that side of things just feel great. But inevitably, this isn’t usually the case. You are bound to need a wee, that’s fine, wild wees are acceptable, especially if you’re running through the night with a head torch on and no one else is around to see you, you don’t even need to hide behind a bush, just go where you are. But what if it is more serious? You may find yourself with continuing stomach pains.
If it turns out you don’t need Mother Nature’s facilities, then you may be experiencing this discomfort because you need to eat and drink. Slow to a walk and focus on refuelling yourself. If you feel nauseas, then the trick here is to eat ginger, it will immediately settle your stomach.
Tip: My recommendation for stomach cramps and pains is to find a suitable location and see if the cause of them is perhaps because you need the toilet. Carry toilet tissue and wet wipes with you (and hand sanitiser gel).
4. I’m invincible!
No. You’re not. When you get to a road crossing, you do actually need to stop. The driver of that car doing 60mph really doesn’t care that you’re on mile 36 and you only have another marathon to go. The driver of that car just wants to get to their destination, they don’t know about the ultra taking place today, even if they did, they really don’t care. The last thing they are expecting is for some sweaty, mud splattered loon to lumber out in front of their car.
Tip: If there is a road crossing, tell yourself it is a road, tell yourself you need to stop, perhaps say out loud, “this is a road, I should stop.” Even if there are no cars coming make yourself stop and have a proper look. When you are tired, your survival instinct seems to dwindle, as does your sensory skills and your mental capacity for simple tasks such as crossing roads. Stay safe by playing it safe and err on the side of caution.
5. I can’t be bothered to eat
There comes a stage in an ultra that you just cannot be bothered to eat. There are a number of factors at play here, your fingers are fatter than usual (I believe this has something to do with hydration and circulation) and it’s hard work using them, especially for fine motor skills such as opening a bag of crisps or a snack bar. You don’t feel hungry and you genuinely believe you can finish the race on no food and an empty stomach. Eating is surely just going to slow you down. Stop. Right. There. When these thoughts pop into your head, fight them. Make yourself delve into your snack pack. You have literally spent weeks planning the food that you are going to carry on this run, now is the time to eat it.
Advice heeded, you ungraciously shove a handful of food into your mouth, feeling like a champion because you are ignoring your instincts telling you not to eat but you know better. You begin chewing, ok, this homemade flapjack isn’t as yummy as you thought it would be when you lovingly made it at 9pm last night. Five minutes later you are still chewing. Why is it still in your mouth? Why will it not get any smaller? I’ll tell you why. Your body has stopped producing saliva. Without saliva, food becomes very hard to chew, let alone swallow.
Tip: in the later stages of a race, it will be extremely hard to chew and swallow due to your lack of saliva, wet food is the way to go, if you have a drop bag, stick a pot of rice pudding in it, rice pudding is the stuff of dreams on an ultra! As you eat, take small sips of water to aid swallowing.
6. Itching and chaffing
I will not elaborate too much on this. You know your body well enough, you know where you could have issues. Male running friends of mine have had bleeding nipples from chaffing, a big busted female friend gets chaffing under her boobs, a gentleman I ran with on a race had an itchy bum due to sweat. There are so many parts of the body that could be susceptible to sore areas from chaffing and itchy from sweat and grime, from arms to thighs, to bottoms to men’s testicles.
Tip: Vaseline in problematic places can reduce or prevent chaffing. Sudocreme can help sore or itchy areas to heal quickly. I hear plasters on top of men’s nipples work wonders (just be careful when you peel them off).
7. Still no sleep
You’ve had a sleepless night, you’ve woken up super early, you’ve run more miles than you ever thought you were capable of and you are so very, very tired. You can’t wait to get into bed and have a well earned deep sleep, right? Wrong. Your body is no way going to let you sleep. You know why? Because your legs have not stopped moving all day and they’ve got used to it and that’s why they want to continue moving all night. They are going to do weird twitchy spasm things ensuring that you stay awake, the weird twitchy spasm things actually also really hurt, and because they really hurt, you are going to make bizarre groaning noises sporadically throughout the night ensuring your partner stays awake and curses you for becoming an ultra runner.
Tip: did you know you can bank sleep? Two weeks before your ultra, turn off all screens and devices an hour and a half before bedtime, avoid caffeine and alcohol and go to bed early enough each night so you are getting 8 - 9 hours of sleep. Read a book or magazine in bed to help you relax.
8. I’ve caught a cold!
You haven’t. The day after an ultra, especially if your ultra took place in cold weather, you will have a scratchy throat. It is exactly the same feeling that you have when you are about to get a cold. You are not about to get a cold, you have just spent a disproportionate amount of hours heavy breathing in the great and rather fresh outdoors, it’s just wind burn at the back of your throat, don’t worry.
Tip: stay hydrated with sips of water little and often throughout the day, you may find cold water soothing, or you may find warm tea soothing. The scratchy feeling will have gone by the next day.
9. The munchies, or not
You’ve spent a large part of the race struggling with your relationship with food, you’ve had many varying feelings ranging from hunger to nausea to not being hungry at all. But come the morning after an ultra, you will be so insanely hungry you will go on a mission to eat absolutely everything you can find in the kitchen cupboards. Seriously, three boiled eggs, 3 slices of toast cut in to soldiers and a cup of tea to wash down your pudding of chocolate biscuits is just the start of it. You are sure you will never have a full feeling again.
But hold up, what’s this new sensation come lunch time? You’re ravenously hungry, but you’re also really full at the same time? This is all very confusing. Your first thought when the waiter in the gastro pub that you could have walked to but you made you partner drive you there, was “This portion just isn’t big enough”, but around half way through the meal you quite suddenly feel defeated and you just can’t eat it so. You sheepishly ask for a doggy bag.
Tip: Eat little and often, don’t over-face yourself with enormous meals and make sure you stay hydrated. You may find swallowing difficult due to your scratchy throat so go for soft and wet foods.
10. DOMS
Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness. This invariably happens when you first start ultra. The good news is, at some point along your run addiction route you will stop getting DOMS after races because your body has given up trying to tell you that your passion is totally bonkers. However, when you do get DOMS, what can you expect?
You will find it near impossible to walk down the stairs, the trick here is to go backwards and then as you slightly improve you can progress to sideways whilst holding the banister, you can expect to look like a normal person walking down the stairs 4 days after your ultra.
Sitting on a chair or a toilet requires a lot of groaning but it’s ok, gravity will pull you in to the sitting down position, standing up once again will be more problematic.
Ideally go for chairs with armrests as this will aid you getting up again, and choose a toilet well positioned between a sink and a window so you can use the sink and window sill as armrests, failing that, there is no shame in using your running poles to aid getting up.
Tip: after your ultra, take a bath with epsom salts (magnesium) this will help sooth your muscles. Stretch as often as you can. Switch your mindset so that you belive the pain you feel is actually what being superhuman feels like.
11. Black toenails
A few days after your ultra, when you can finally bend your body enough without wincing to be able to wash your feet properly, you may notice that some of your toenails are black. This is not dirt left over from your mud drenched shoes. This is your toenail telling you that one day, it is just going to fall off. I hope you are not too attached to it as you won’t see it in its full grown glory for another 6 months at least…. oh hang on, what’s that? You’ve signed up for another ultra? It’s further? With more elevation? Ok. You probably will not have normal toenails again.
Tip: Cut your toenails a few days before your race. Smother your toes with Vaseline before the race. Wear nail varnish after the race.
Photo credit: Thanks to the photographers at Maverick Adidas Terrex Frontier North Downs for the awesome images.
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