5 Big Lessons I Learned from an Ultramarathon
In November of 2023, I ran my very first Ultramarathon at Smith Rock State Park in Oregon. This course was a grueling 31 miles of insane elevation. These weren’t your typical hills we were running on, we were climbing mini mountains the entire course. It was also the most beautiful place I’ve ever been. Looking out at the view after getting to the top of a mountain was breathtaking. I still remember struggling to finish the last mile, finishing it, and immediately sleeping in the car as my parents drove the 3 hour drive home. Here’s 5 essential things I learned that I wish I knew before I ran the ultra!
Number 1: Consume easy-to-process foods 24 hours before the race. Funny story, I made the mistake of drinking an extra sugary coffee before my race, and my bladder paid the price. Another time my diet was so bad, I ate two McMuffins before a 5k. Once again, paid the price. Don’t be like me. Eat complex carbs and protein before your race, or other food that you know your body won’t throw a fit over. Your body uses the food you put into it as fuel, so choose your fuel wisely. Nowadays, the night before I would prefer to have something like chicken and rice, and in the morning have steel-cut oats and a protein bar before the race. I also really like greek yogurt with berries, granola and honey in the mornings. I usually eat a little lighter before races (think stomach a little over half full), that way I don’t get side cramps but still make sure I’m properly fueled. Figuring out what works for your body (plus how much to eat) can be a game changer for how you perform.
Number 2: Start slow. I promise you’ve heard that before if you’ve ever ran a long distance race. I knew this piece of advice going in, yet I didn’t listen! Don’t be like me. I hope I’ve learned my lesson finally and will start a long distance race at a sustainable pace, but like a dog to its vomit, I love to ignore this advice. The reality is, starting slow allows you to avoid being gassed by the back-half of the race. Rather than pushing in the front of the race, you can use that energy to push in the last half of the race. I promise you, it’s way more fun to push hard in the back half with the energy you have, then to use it all and not have any energy left whatsoever. It feels like you’re running in hell, wondering if you’ll ever make it to the end. Experience also just helps with this, if you’ve run races before you’ll have a much better idea of what your splits can be, allowing you to keep a consistent heart rate and not use up too much energy.
Number 3: Run with other people. This one is a game changer. I know a lot of people want to seem like an alpha and finish an ultramarathon by themselves, but the reality is “if you want to go fast, go alone; but if you want to go far, go together.” The funny thing is, I hadn’t planned on running with other people. My race partner dropped out last minute and I was planning on running alone. Thankfully, I met two guys on mile 7 to run the rest of the race with. I still remember grinding out those last 5 miles and wanting to quit so bad. If it weren’t for those two guys, I don’t know if I would have made it. Some may think that’s an over-exaggeration, but I genuinely don’t think I could have kept myself accountable enough to finish the race. Now I try to implement the rule of two for everything I do. I realized that a lot of times I don’t have the mental toughness of David Goggins, so I compensate by having people to keep me accountable. Accountability keeps me consistent and helps me focus on the goals I am pursuing. It helps me identify my possible pitfalls and so that I can make sure I avoid them.
Number 4: Have ample amounts of fuel. If you haven’t realized yet, I’m just putting my rookie mistakes on blast in this blog. So here’s the next dummy mistake, by yours truly. I ran without a water bladder for my ultramarathon. This one is just embarrassing, I was the only one without a water bladder out of everyone racing. This meant that I had to wait until I got to one of the four fuel tents to drink water. Next time, I will be wearing a camelbak, and will be filling it with water and electrolytes. I will also make sure to have running gels on me at all times. My personal favorites are the GU Energy Gels (not sponsored). If your ultra includes fuel/med tents, which almost all do, these are the best. They will have an assortment of food and drinks for you to consume. It was my favorite to get to a checkpoint and just go ham on food and water. Again though, don’t be like me, bring water with you.
Number 5: Last but not least: Just keep pushing. One thing I learned during my ultra is I can push my body way further than I thought. Your mind will usually give out way before your body does. My favorite example of this is when I hop in an ice bath. Especially for the first 15 seconds, my mind is constantly telling me to hop out, yet my body is able to handle those temperatures for a lot longer than 15 seconds. It’s the same thing with running, I promise you have more in you. Near the end, it really becomes a complete mental battle, but once you conquer it, you begin to own your mind. You begin to realize that your thoughts aren’t your identity. The thoughts telling you that you can’t make it, or telling you that your tired, you can push them out and take control of your mind. This is one of the biggest benefits of running in my opinion. Running not only helped me conquer goals, but benefited my confidence, focus, resilience, and perseverance.
Hopefully these 5 things will help you when you run an ultramarathon, or for whatever goal you try to achieve. Running is one key thing that has made me realize anyone can get good at things with hard work and discipline. You really can achieve amazing things when you just go and do it, then do it again the next day, then again, etc. So whatever that is for you, just go and do it. Go and be amazing at something, we have enough mediocre people in the world. Follow us on instagram @lovelystrengthandconditioning to check out other achievements our athletes are conquering. As always, thanks for being apart of the Lovely Strength Family, peace out!
—Isaiah Lovely