Lucy’s Ultra Success

Jenny Zaremba

Lucy has a very senior job that can sometimes mean long hours at short notice, and times where the high performance demands in the workplace don’t leave much space for quality training that week.

But after some epic performances on the bike with long and mountainous rides, Lucy got the itch to go long on the running too…

3rd time lucky?

She had built up through strong running on trail half marathons on challenging terrain, but two attempts at marathon had been stymied by injury.

So she decided to go large and do a trail ultra!

The Training Plan

Obviously, in order to fit into life the plan needed to be a low-mileage, high strength training plan. Reflecting on the balance of Lucy’s life and some of the previous injuries, we moved to a 3 week periodisation, and a 3-4 runs per week plan, and in the latter stages also moved to 2 full recovery days per week.  In order to make this work, we needed a very focused strength plan to look after the muscle groups that were going to take the strain of the distance and the hills.

Obviously, there are always online programmes that you can follow to get you to a first ultra-marathon. But the challenge of long events is that you spend a long time training for them, and you want to have made the right choices along the way. When you stand on the start-line, it is definitely the case that there is not a single runner on the line who has done every single training session as planned. The question is whether they picked and chose the right ones to get the best out of their body and capabilities, in the context of what they can fit into their life and the many pressures on them. Their day will depend on the impact of those choices, and how the race day variable unfold.

Lucy’s 4 top picks

Having succeeded and looking back at the ingredients of success, Lucy’s top picks are:

1. Picking your course

Reviewing the gap analysis from performance profiling at the time of setting the goal, Lucy knew that mental strength and endurance engine were huge strengths that she could lean on for success.

To play to this, she wanted an inspiring course with a good race atmosphere that was welcoming to first-time ultra-runners. Having ridden the London Revolution Bike Ride, she knew that the trail run would have all of this vibe, as well as excellent feed stations, and the route was places she knew – and had the added benefit of the hardest sections being early in the day.

2. Picking your kit

In the latter stages of training her historical knee injury niggled, especially on downhill sections. The twice-per-week strength training was completely focused on creating the support and muscle activation for success. But we felt that a little more support could help – so 6 weeks out we started to experiment with the ultra-running techniques of running with poles on the hill sections and uneven sections (since this was an event that permitted poles). This proved to be a big success.

3. Picking your focus areas

Within a running plan, there are many different areas that you can choose to focus on. However, with a low mileage 3-4 runs per week plan it is a question of making choices. And sticking to clear prioritisation when life means that you can only fit a couple of runs in per week. The priority-setting that Lucy stuck with was the current England Athletics marathon advice of running economy first, long run second, intervals third and recovery runs last. And always maintaining the specific and focused strength and conditioning plan.

4. Picking your timing

Part of the fun of trail running is managing the unexpected, and Lucy embraced this with runs on holiday that included wading a section of the Northumberland coastline, and exploring the Pembrokeshire coastline using almost every single one of the different hill-running techniques that we had practised in the flints and chalks of the Chilterns!

Race day success

Race day dawned cool but not wet, and Lucy lined up uninjured on the start line (one of the key process goals). Lucy said “as always with long distances, it was a challenge to consume enough calories – but all of the race went to plan, I stayed very consistent, and I am thrilled to have completed my first ultra! I have to admit that I am looking forward to a little time off now and the chance to get back to riding my bike a little more in the near future!”

Great work Lucy!