Are time goals for races a help or a hinderance ?
Is setting a goal time and then working out splits to achieve along the way the best way to approach a race? Is time the best means of measuring your success? A goal can be defined as “the object of a person’s ambition or effort; an aim or desired result”. Is the finishing time really […]
Sodium – do we need it?
The ability to measure our sodium losses in sweat during exercise has led some to thinking that we need to replace at least some of what we lose in sweat to ensure our blood sodium levels don’t fall to levels that effect performance or health. The thinking goes that somewhere between 230-1700mg of sodium can […]
Fuelling for optimum performance in ultras
One of the main reasons for a DNF in an ultra is nausea and vomiting (23% of DNFs at the 2009 WSER were for this reason). Even among those that finished, up to 40% of the Western States field experienced nausea and or vomiting that affected race performance. Stomach problems can sabotage all the hard […]
Is it all about the vert?
“It’s all about the vert” is a common catch phrase for those training for hilly ultras. But is doing lots of vertical all you need to do to perform well in an ultra with large amounts of ascent and descent? With the popularity of training software like Strava it is easy to compare the amount […]
HK100 – Am I good enough?
Mile 27 Coach Scotty Hawker had a break through performance at the recent TNF100. In this blog Scotty takes us back to the Hong Kong 100 where he finally gained the belief that he could compete with the best ultra-runners in the world. The lessons he learnt in this race can be used by all […]
Are you a fair weather trail runner?
Do you look out the window watching the rain pour down and start to dread your run? Clients often ask me what to do if the weather is “bad” for a particular training session. I’m not exactly sure what “bad” weather is. If you are looking for a sport that’s only played in “good” weather […]
Mind over matter?
Does your body or your mind limit your race day performance? We all know that dead feeling in our legs, the feeling of complete physical exhaustion. Mentally we could keep going but our body is saying no more. Or is it? The latest thinking is that the mind controls fatigue much more than the body.
Does dehydration impair endurance performance?
For many years we have been lead to believe that a dehydration level of more than 2% will negatively affect performance and therefore we should drink to limit dehydration to this level. This advice has even been given out by coaches and trainers for years and was the official recommendation of the American College of […]
27 ways to improve your ultra running
Many ultrarunners I know like to keep it simple; put shoes on, head out the door and run. There is nothing wrong with that approach but if you want to improve then the body has to have the right stimulus to force it to adapt and become stronger. Elite athletes aim to leave no stone […]
Observations of an Ultra Coach
What is the difference between the elite runner and the back of pack runner? Is it fitness, training, genetics, mental or some other factor? How can the rest of the field improve without putting in the miles the elite do?