Endurance running tips

robinph

So in a couple of weeks I'll be taking part in a 24 hour relay event www.tr24.co.uk . It's 10km laps around a trail course and I think there is maybe 8 people on my team, with me potentially doing 4+ laps in that time (depending on how fast everyone else goes and injuries obviously).

Now I realise this is somewhat of a beginner friendly event for entering into the realms of silly distance/ time events, but what advice do you super-long-distance/ duration runners have for surviving such an event over 24hours? How do you get up and run again after a couple of hours "kip" between runs? Do you actually try and get any sleep during the time off? Any tips for running in the dark? How do I stop myself going off at my normal 10km pace on the first lap and then not being able to get going again for the next one? What kinds of food work well? If I do cover 5 laps within the 24 hours am I allowed to call myself an ultra runner after this despite me taking a break several times? How do you prevent your feet turning into one big blistery mess?

ultraman1

How do you get up and run again after a couple of hours "kip" between runs?get up a while b4 ur sposed to run ,have a cup of coffe b4 u go asleep and ull be wired wen u wake up
Do you actually try and get any sleep during the time off? Any tips for running in the dark?wear a head lamp,and maybe do a practice run,or get the other suckers to do the night shift
How do I stop myself going off at my normal 10km pace on the first lap and then not being able to get going again for the next one?go at ur normal pace,uv plenty of rest
What kinds of food work well? burgers,chips or wat ever rocks ur boat,eat wen ur finished ur run and shud be digested by next one
If I do cover 5 laps within the 24 hours am I allowed to call myself an ultra runner after this despite me taking a break several times?thats one for the purists
How do you prevent your feet turning into one big blistery mess?.look after them,bring some duct tape

robinph

ultraman1 wrote: »

How do you prevent your feet turning into one big blistery mess?.look after them,bring some duct tape

Really? I'd heard there was some trick where you taped your feet up, but I thought it was something a bit less "industrial" than that which you would be using? Or does it really matter so long as the whatever tape sticks to the potential hotspots for blisters and prevent any friction?

ultraman1

robinph wrote: »

Really? I'd heard there was some trick where you taped your feet up, but I thought it was something a bit less "industrial" than that which you would be using? Or does it really matter so long as the whatever tape sticks to the potential hotspots for blisters and prevent any friction?

if i get a blister , i pop it(or get eammo to pop it:D) and duck/electrical tape it ..,tape never comes off or moves....

huskerdu

ultraman1 wrote: »

if i get a blister , i pop it(or get eammo to pop it) and duck/electrical tape it ..,tape never comes off or moves....

Three cheers to Eammo. That is devotion.

Gringo78

I'm assuming here that each of your 10k's are adequately spaced out if there are 8 of ye? Assuming that 1 or 2 of you ye are bound to have problems on the day, you should probably assume that all going well you will be forced to do at least 5x10k

I've never done anything like this although I do commute to and from work 10k every day so essentially I normally do a rolling 3 x 10km in 24 hours throughout the week and don't have any trouble. If I was to a run a fast 10km in the morning, I would be able for another fast one in the evening but would suffer then the next morning so maybe plan to do the first 10km pacy or close to flat out, dial the second one back a bit and then hit the 3rd one hard again. You'll be fairly dialled in to the pace for the last 2. If you're familiar with the route and are sure of your footing, the night runs would probably be best suited to your fastest efforts as it'll be cooler.

As regards blisters - dry feet equal no blisters so make sure you have 5 or 6 clean pairs of socks to put on a change each time. A few clean sets of running gear would also be recommended because even though the gear will dry off between runs, the sweat will leave a dried salt residue on the clothes which would exacerbate chafing.

For sleeping between runs, I would imagine that upon finishing a run, a big sugary meal would replenish your glycogen stocks, be easily digested and give you a sugar high and subsequent low which would knock you out and leave you ripe for a nap - I think you're a diabetic though so maybe you'd want to manage that a bit better than I suggested. On the basis that you'll have 3-4 hour gaps between runs, probably better to do all the eating immediately after each 10k leg so thats its completely digested before you start the next.

Putting on compression socks between runs might also speed up recovery between runs.

robinph

That is awesome info there thanks.

I am diabetic so I think you are right that I should ensure I get some food in straight away on getting back from a run. The problem will arise if I've just eaten and taken my insulin and then get unexpectedly called on to cover a leg before I was expecting. Normally, for the sake of simplicity, I have to try and eat up to 4 hours before a run so that the insulin from the meal is mostly out of my system. For this I'm going to have to watch the doses so that I'm able to get up and go again with less advance notice.

There are three teams that we have entered I think, although I only know one of the other guys already. I believe I'll be about the quickest on whichever team they put me in though and we are making them all mixed range of abilities to keep the event less serious and still fun for everyone with other people being a very wide range of paces. The other guy I know is about the same speed as me now, but 15 years or so ago I think he was doing sub32's. It's good to know that although full eyeballs out pace is probably not a good idea, I at least don't have to stick to a plod.