Great video Lee. I have signed up for July 2023 myself and it will be my first ultra. Your videos are going come so much helpful. Thank you and very well done with your first ultra.
That's great to hear Ariun! Best of luck with the preparation and training and if you have any questions, throw them my way! It's a great race and a really good choice for your first ultra 🔥
Massive well done buddy. Race to the King just went on sale today. It's just up the road from me and was on/off about signing up to it for the last few weeks. Your videos have pushed me to go for it and so I signed up for the 50km (day 1). Now I have a nice real goal set for next year. Will hopefully get that distance in before then in training though. Thanks again for your content - it's really helping me. I am starting to (try) add in 80/20 too.
Very interesting Lee. It sounds like ultras are about survival and avoiding controllable errors around fuelling and pacing. We're enjoying learning about the discipline from yourself and other TH-camrs.
It’s very much about sticking to the plan, getting the nutrition and hydration right and everything else should hopefully fall in to place so long as you get the effort level right. Thanks for the continued support from you both 👍💪☺️
Thanks for your kind words! I'm thrilled to hear that you enjoyed the video. Best of luck to you on your upcoming 100km in the Cotswolds this June! I'm sure you'll do yourself proud. Remember to stay focused, pace yourself, and most importantly, have fun! Let us know how it goes. Cheers!
Great work mate! I found this really insightful as training for my first 100k - is there anything different you would have done in training or anything you think was a key contributor for your success?
Hi Jack, thanks for watching and your kind words. A couple of year on, I've just finished my first 100 miler and reflected on training for RTTS and made a couple of changes so my advice would be: - Dial in the nutrition. Work out how many calories you need, and how often and practice this on your longest runs. - Hydration: it was about 35C+ for most of the day - I wish I had an extra 500ml flask (I had two). This would have really helped in the final few hours. - Remember the 50K guys head off at the same time - I got caught up with 50K group on a narrow section of the course and they were pushing the pace. I stuck with them - not realising they were 50K racers! - Mix-up the terrain on your long runs. Trail/road - find rolling and challenging hills, don't worry about walking them - you will be at RTTS. As for key contributors - a solid block of consistent training was the main factor I think. Get the mileage in, the time on feet and the rest will take care of itself. Good luck!
I had the exact same experience with HR Lee. The first 6-7 miles were on my regular train routes and my HR was around 10bpm higher than normal. I'd say heat and race nerves were probably the cause!
That’s good to hear Adam, it wasn’t just me! Makes you appreciate just how hot it was, even in the earlier hours when it felt relatively cool. Glad we both pushed through 👏💪👍
Amazing work it was my first 100km race as well here and say awesome work ! I’m in similar position running since Dec 2018 by accident helped my condition! High 5 had same stitch at 68k after having one even though tested in training you don’t test it that distance so stuck too Mountain fuel jellies used all their products other than fruit and flat coke in heat at aid station . As 47 this year shocked myself with 22nd in 10h 46 was hoping sub 10 but with heat was not going to go out of zone 2. Anyway fantastic work! Next for me sub 3 at York Marathon 🤨 first road marathon should be tasty! So I raise awareness for AERD and inspire people with it to control i through plant based diet and exercise /lifestyle changes plus right medical protocols as it’s incurable.
First up - amazing effort and an incredible result for you too!! 👏👏👏 You must be over the moon with that and those conditions it’s a really brilliant result. Good luck with the road marathon, I aimed for a sub-3 in my first marathon last October. With RTTS under your belt, and a consistent training block, I reckon you’ll smash it! 💪💪👍👍
Thanks Cilgery! If you're running it this year - good luck! The filming location in front of the wood burner is my temporary 'studio' - we're renovating our house so until I have built the studio in the garage, this will have to do!
Thanks Massimiliano! I left out thoughts on training as I made a separate video about that a few weeks ago - in a nutshell though, I’d mix up the pace in the zone 2 runs (I tended to stick close to low end of Z2) to avoid repetitive strain, I’m questioning the usefulness of back to back long runs and I’d be more disciplined about trying out the nutrition strategy before race day 👍
Some solid advice Lee! I agree with the whole foods tip I found that fruit like watermelon and pineapple worked really well for me. When it comes to the hills I just make the decision to walk them at the bottom and use my judgement to decide if I need to walk it or not. Good advice about your feelings. If you feel good use it before you loose it. Top video Lee! 😎🤘
Cheers Ben - I think you’re right, it all comes with practice, experience and judgements. I think the extra bottle would have made the biggest difference overall.
I have the Salomon 12l vest which cinches down - I don't see why you would need a smaller one - it weighs very little. I also agree about the High-5 gels. I thought they tasted really horrible, and I prefer more gooey gels anyway (- when I have gels - which for long runs is only when my body tells me I need a hit of calories and salt, otherwise I eat 'real' food). I also had the same heart rate issue. Mine was easily 15 bpm higher than I would have expected, from maybe 20-30k in until about about 80k, so it must have been heat-related. I stopped in total probably for about 2.5 hours at aid stations. Whilst I agree that sounds like a lot - because it is a lot - it is what my body told me it needed, and let's face it, I am doing this for fun - and to see if I can do it. I was top 25% of my age, and top 30% overall, and I sprinted the last 5k and overtook 19 people, so I consider the decisions I made on the day to have been correct. I was pleased with my hydration - I had no problems. I also felt I dealt with the heat well. I was expecting it to be hot, so I made myself a legionnaires hat by sewing cloth around the edge of a normal cap - it worked really well - I recommend it! One thing I thought you might have mentioned is the terrain. From my POV, RTTS was just a remorseless series of grassy slopes - arguably a bit too steep to run up, but too tedious to walk up, so I ended up doing a bit of each - it didn't seem obvious what the best strategy was. Thanks for your video - really good, and well done to everyone who turned up at the start line.
That’s a brilliant result, and you finished so strong! Must have been a good feeling reeling people in at that stage of the race. Glad I wasn’t the only one with the high HR - definitely the heat at play. As for the terrain, I’m going to save that for my race review and course description. You’re right about the gradients - it was very tricky to decide whether to run or walk at times. Usually I’d rely on HR and ease the pace to stay in the right zone, but that wasn’t possible so just ran them to feel. 👍
What a great result. Unrelated question: I watched your review on the Slab ultra 3 and was wondering how you feel about them long term? I wanted the shoe for a long time but have been put off by price.
Thanks Lewis! As for the SLAB Ultra 3, they are a lovely shoe, but… not worth the high price tag. The Glide looks similar to me, gets more positive reviews and I think it’s cheaper 👍
I've done a few marathons in mid 30s temps and yeah it gives a big hit to your heart rate. Can't avoid the heat in Australia. If you do another race in heat, add electrolytes to the water. I'd imagine that would've given you a performance hit too. You don't notice it til it's too late.
I started to add extra electrolytes to my water at about midway. I didn’t notice a performance boost, but it tasted way better than usual. There was electrolytes in the powder and gels I was using but clearly, I needed more! Thanks for the tip Edwin 👍
@@TheVeganRunner it's not a performance boost so much as removing a performance barrier. Unfortunately I had to learn it the hard way. 30km run on a 38C day, drinking only water. Pretty bad hyponatremia. Haven't made that mistake again. Edit: oh and I was taking gels too that day. Yes they give you a bit, but nowhere near what you need on a hot day, especially if you're drinking lots of water to compensate.
@@edwin5419 Thanks for the info Edwin, it’s good to learn through your experience too and it shows a gap in my understanding on just how much electrolytes we need to keep going in that kind of heat. Thank you 🙏
Just seen this. I did race to the tower 2022 and those aqua gels were awful. Screwed me over as i thought they would use the standard high 5 gels which are fairly good.
Very interesting videos as I’m running it this yea as my first ultra. Just wondering why you’ve never been wearing your cap 🧢 must have been hard on the head.
I’m sure that fancy fenix watch has a heart rate alarm on it which could of bought you back down to the zone you needed to be in. I go for clif shot bloks instead of the liquid gels for exactly the reason you mention. More like jelly cubes instead of sticky liquid. We only ever learn from our mistakes and it sounds like you have everything dialled in for the next one. I’m running the Thames path 100km in September and that has NO hills! Easier? I’m not so sure!
You’re right Phil, it does - but I think it would have done my head in going off for 10 hours 😅 Also, it wasn’t like I was forgetting to keep an eye on my HR, I just couldn’t get it down to normal levels, even when going downhill. Those clif blocks are very good - will have a think about that for the next one! Good luck on the Thames path! No hills… I’m not sure that’s a blessing or a curse! 😅
Hi , I’m planning to do possibly this , meaning running London and then do maybe this ultra if I get a spot. How did you train from after the marathon till the ultra? We’re you doing back to back long even before the marathon? Thank you
Thanks for your comment - good luck! I jumped straight into an 80/20 100K plan a week or so after the marathon, missing the starting weeks of the plan to make it fit. I've just done that again this year with a similar gap between the marathon and ultra and it seems to work for me. Just listen to your body and ease off if required.
Great recap Lee, just a staggering achievement especially given the challenges you faced with the heat and stitch. I find exactly the same with my body craving natural foods, I ended up eating loads of watermelon and some strawberries for my 50 miler and have never had gels on any ultra as they tend to give me real stomach issues. Really thorough reflections here, super 👍
Cheers Ben, I rarely have issues with anything I eat on the run but will definitely move towards whole foods. There are some baby food like smoothies I’ve tried, so might take those to start with and then grab a load of fruit at each aid station and see what that’s like. Lots of experimenting to do! 😅
@@TheVeganRunner The Ella's kitchen baby food sachets are great if you haven't tried those, a bit heavy if you're taking a lot of them but really tasty
Great video Lee. I have signed up for July 2023 myself and it will be my first ultra. Your videos are going come so much helpful. Thank you and very well done with your first ultra.
That's great to hear Ariun! Best of luck with the preparation and training and if you have any questions, throw them my way! It's a great race and a really good choice for your first ultra 🔥
Massive well done buddy. Race to the King just went on sale today. It's just up the road from me and was on/off about signing up to it for the last few weeks. Your videos have pushed me to go for it and so I signed up for the 50km (day 1). Now I have a nice real goal set for next year. Will hopefully get that distance in before then in training though. Thanks again for your content - it's really helping me. I am starting to (try) add in 80/20 too.
That’s so awesome to hear! Excellent! I’m excited for you ☺️ Let me know if you have any questions about 80/20 - I think you’ll get on well with it 👍
Very interesting Lee. It sounds like ultras are about survival and avoiding controllable errors around fuelling and pacing. We're enjoying learning about the discipline from yourself and other TH-camrs.
It’s very much about sticking to the plan, getting the nutrition and hydration right and everything else should hopefully fall in to place so long as you get the effort level right. Thanks for the continued support from you both 👍💪☺️
Well done Lee! Just seen this! Cracking video. Hoping I can do myself proud on my first continuous 100km in Cotswolds in June!
Thanks for your kind words! I'm thrilled to hear that you enjoyed the video. Best of luck to you on your upcoming 100km in the Cotswolds this June! I'm sure you'll do yourself proud. Remember to stay focused, pace yourself, and most importantly, have fun! Let us know how it goes. Cheers!
Congratulations on a great finish 💯🤙🏽
Thank you 🙏
Great work mate! I found this really insightful as training for my first 100k - is there anything different you would have done in training or anything you think was a key contributor for your success?
Hi Jack, thanks for watching and your kind words. A couple of year on, I've just finished my first 100 miler and reflected on training for RTTS and made a couple of changes so my advice would be:
- Dial in the nutrition. Work out how many calories you need, and how often and practice this on your longest runs.
- Hydration: it was about 35C+ for most of the day - I wish I had an extra 500ml flask (I had two). This would have really helped in the final few hours.
- Remember the 50K guys head off at the same time - I got caught up with 50K group on a narrow section of the course and they were pushing the pace. I stuck with them - not realising they were 50K racers!
- Mix-up the terrain on your long runs. Trail/road - find rolling and challenging hills, don't worry about walking them - you will be at RTTS.
As for key contributors - a solid block of consistent training was the main factor I think. Get the mileage in, the time on feet and the rest will take care of itself.
Good luck!
Amazing video like always.. grats on the milestone that you've achieved and sharing your experience with us !!!
Thanks so much Emre! Appreciate the ongoing support - it really helps! 💪👍
I had the exact same experience with HR Lee. The first 6-7 miles were on my regular train routes and my HR was around 10bpm higher than normal. I'd say heat and race nerves were probably the cause!
That’s good to hear Adam, it wasn’t just me! Makes you appreciate just how hot it was, even in the earlier hours when it felt relatively cool. Glad we both pushed through 👏💪👍
Amazing work it was my first 100km race as well here and say awesome work ! I’m in similar position running since Dec 2018 by accident helped my condition! High 5 had same stitch at 68k after having one even though tested in training you don’t test it that distance so stuck too Mountain fuel jellies used all their products other than fruit and flat coke in heat at aid station . As 47 this year shocked myself with 22nd in 10h 46 was hoping sub 10 but with heat was not going to go out of zone 2. Anyway fantastic work! Next for me sub 3 at York Marathon 🤨 first road marathon should be tasty!
So I raise awareness for AERD and inspire people with it to control i through plant based diet and exercise /lifestyle changes plus right medical protocols as it’s incurable.
First up - amazing effort and an incredible result for you too!! 👏👏👏 You must be over the moon with that and those conditions it’s a really brilliant result. Good luck with the road marathon, I aimed for a sub-3 in my first marathon last October. With RTTS under your belt, and a consistent training block, I reckon you’ll smash it! 💪💪👍👍
@@TheVeganRunner Thanks it’s appreciate and grateful for your comment ! Hope the rest of your season is awesome!
Same to you! Happy running :)
Great effort and a very informative video, thank you!
I was wondering though, why are you sitting in front of a wood burner?
Thanks Cilgery! If you're running it this year - good luck! The filming location in front of the wood burner is my temporary 'studio' - we're renovating our house so until I have built the studio in the garage, this will have to do!
Great video, Lee! You haven’t mentioned anything about your training leading to the race…would you do anything different next time?
Thanks Massimiliano! I left out thoughts on training as I made a separate video about that a few weeks ago - in a nutshell though, I’d mix up the pace in the zone 2 runs (I tended to stick close to low end of Z2) to avoid repetitive strain, I’m questioning the usefulness of back to back long runs and I’d be more disciplined about trying out the nutrition strategy before race day 👍
@@TheVeganRunner Ahh, I’ve missed that video, I’ll have a look at it later!
@@TheVeganRunner Ahh, I’ve missed that video, I’ll have a look at it later!
Some solid advice Lee! I agree with the whole foods tip I found that fruit like watermelon and pineapple worked really well for me. When it comes to the hills I just make the decision to walk them at the bottom and use my judgement to decide if I need to walk it or not. Good advice about your feelings. If you feel good use it before you loose it. Top video Lee! 😎🤘
Cheers Ben - I think you’re right, it all comes with practice, experience and judgements. I think the extra bottle would have made the biggest difference overall.
I have the Salomon 12l vest which cinches down - I don't see why you would need a smaller one - it weighs very little.
I also agree about the High-5 gels. I thought they tasted really horrible, and I prefer more gooey gels anyway (- when I have gels - which for long runs is only when my body tells me I need a hit of calories and salt, otherwise I eat 'real' food).
I also had the same heart rate issue. Mine was easily 15 bpm higher than I would have expected, from maybe 20-30k in until about about 80k, so it must have been heat-related.
I stopped in total probably for about 2.5 hours at aid stations. Whilst I agree that sounds like a lot - because it is a lot - it is what my body told me it needed, and let's face it, I am doing this for fun - and to see if I can do it. I was top 25% of my age, and top 30% overall, and I sprinted the last 5k and overtook 19 people, so I consider the decisions I made on the day to have been correct.
I was pleased with my hydration - I had no problems. I also felt I dealt with the heat well. I was expecting it to be hot, so I made myself a legionnaires hat by sewing cloth around the edge of a normal cap - it worked really well - I recommend it!
One thing I thought you might have mentioned is the terrain. From my POV, RTTS was just a remorseless series of grassy slopes - arguably a bit too steep to run up, but too tedious to walk up, so I ended up doing a bit of each - it didn't seem obvious what the best strategy was.
Thanks for your video - really good, and well done to everyone who turned up at the start line.
That’s a brilliant result, and you finished so strong! Must have been a good feeling reeling people in at that stage of the race. Glad I wasn’t the only one with the high HR - definitely the heat at play. As for the terrain, I’m going to save that for my race review and course description. You’re right about the gradients - it was very tricky to decide whether to run or walk at times. Usually I’d rely on HR and ease the pace to stay in the right zone, but that wasn’t possible so just ran them to feel. 👍
@@TheVeganRunner it was nice to feel strong at the end, as it meant I had some strength left to enjoy the post-run shower, food, and beer.
What a great result.
Unrelated question: I watched your review on the Slab ultra 3 and was wondering how you feel about them long term? I wanted the shoe for a long time but have been put off by price.
Thanks Lewis! As for the SLAB Ultra 3, they are a lovely shoe, but… not worth the high price tag. The Glide looks similar to me, gets more positive reviews and I think it’s cheaper 👍
I've done a few marathons in mid 30s temps and yeah it gives a big hit to your heart rate. Can't avoid the heat in Australia. If you do another race in heat, add electrolytes to the water. I'd imagine that would've given you a performance hit too. You don't notice it til it's too late.
I started to add extra electrolytes to my water at about midway. I didn’t notice a performance boost, but it tasted way better than usual. There was electrolytes in the powder and gels I was using but clearly, I needed more! Thanks for the tip Edwin 👍
@@TheVeganRunner it's not a performance boost so much as removing a performance barrier. Unfortunately I had to learn it the hard way. 30km run on a 38C day, drinking only water. Pretty bad hyponatremia. Haven't made that mistake again.
Edit: oh and I was taking gels too that day. Yes they give you a bit, but nowhere near what you need on a hot day, especially if you're drinking lots of water to compensate.
@@edwin5419 Thanks for the info Edwin, it’s good to learn through your experience too and it shows a gap in my understanding on just how much electrolytes we need to keep going in that kind of heat. Thank you 🙏
Just seen this. I did race to the tower 2022 and those aqua gels were awful. Screwed me over as i thought they would use the standard high 5 gels which are fairly good.
Very interesting videos as I’m running it this yea as my first ultra. Just wondering why you’ve never been wearing your cap 🧢 must have been hard on the head.
It was in my bag the whole time, I don't often run with a cap and didn't feel like I needed and/or plain forgot it was in there!
I’m sure that fancy fenix watch has a heart rate alarm on it which could of bought you back down to the zone you needed to be in. I go for clif shot bloks instead of the liquid gels for exactly the reason you mention. More like jelly cubes instead of sticky liquid. We only ever learn from our mistakes and it sounds like you have everything dialled in for the next one. I’m running the Thames path 100km in September and that has NO hills! Easier? I’m not so sure!
You’re right Phil, it does - but I think it would have done my head in going off for 10 hours 😅 Also, it wasn’t like I was forgetting to keep an eye on my HR, I just couldn’t get it down to normal levels, even when going downhill. Those clif blocks are very good - will have a think about that for the next one!
Good luck on the Thames path! No hills… I’m not sure that’s a blessing or a curse! 😅
Hi , I’m planning to do possibly this , meaning running London and then do maybe this ultra if I get a spot.
How did you train from after the marathon till the ultra?
We’re you doing back to back long even before the marathon?
Thank you
Thanks for your comment - good luck! I jumped straight into an 80/20 100K plan a week or so after the marathon, missing the starting weeks of the plan to make it fit. I've just done that again this year with a similar gap between the marathon and ultra and it seems to work for me. Just listen to your body and ease off if required.
Great recap Lee, just a staggering achievement especially given the challenges you faced with the heat and stitch. I find exactly the same with my body craving natural foods, I ended up eating loads of watermelon and some strawberries for my 50 miler and have never had gels on any ultra as they tend to give me real stomach issues. Really thorough reflections here, super 👍
Cheers Ben, I rarely have issues with anything I eat on the run but will definitely move towards whole foods. There are some baby food like smoothies I’ve tried, so might take those to start with and then grab a load of fruit at each aid station and see what that’s like. Lots of experimenting to do! 😅
@@TheVeganRunner The Ella's kitchen baby food sachets are great if you haven't tried those, a bit heavy if you're taking a lot of them but really tasty
@@timeonfeet I tried a fruit one a little while back, but it only had something like 80 calories - are the ones you tried higher than that?