I never thought I would be an ultra runner. And I never thought I would be running I after the age of 30. But life has lots of surprises around every corner. I never thought that running slower could be so much harder and more intense than running fast. Ultra running has opened my eyes. I’ve learnt and experiences a lot and I’m excited to share that with you in this post. I love that feeling of extreme fatigue and nothing left to give at the end of an ultra race and once that feeling has subsided I long for it again. Take a dive into my world and see what makes me tick. Maybe something will resonate with you too. A Glimpse into My Early Days I started running in my early 20’s, with one aim - to run a sub 60 second 400 m. Yes, that’s right, 400m. I had a good go at this and worked myself down from 1:18 to 59:xx. Job done, let’s see how far I can go, is what I thought. But life has other plans. A change of jobs meant I no longer lived near a track, so sprinting was out of the question. I decided to hit the roads and before I knew it I was running 60-70 miles a week, entering half marathons, aiming for 100 miles a week, and setting my eyes on a marathon. When I was trying to be a sprinter I never had any desire to run a marathon. Running 26.25 miles seemed impossible to me. But here I was staring down the barrel of running one. I ran the Dublin marathon in 2010 and I haven’t looked back since. I spent 10 or 11 years working on my marathon time (2:31:00), improving my 10k PB (30:27), and having a decent go at 3000m steeplechase (9:17). But injuries dogged me and my body was starting to feel tired. M Ultra running was a different beast. After thinking my running days were over and I would be winding down, I saw the Ultra Trail de Mont Blanc (UTMB) and I immediately had another grand goal in my sights. The energy came back and I was revitalised. The Birth of an Ultra Runner My son had just been born and I was spending many nights with broken sleep. I must say this wasn’t as bad for me as it was for my wife who did most of the work in the early days. I have this skill to be able to wake up and have a conversation for 60 seconds and then fall immediately back to sleep and not remember a thing about it! I was up early one morning and decided to flick through YouTube to see if there was anything good to watch. I came across the live feed from UTMB. I heard names like Courtney Dawaulter, Jim Walmsley, and Kilian Jornet. These people were running 100 miles in the alps, climbing 10,000 metres and moving for close to or longer than 24 hours. If they could do all this with no sleep, what could I achieve without any sleep? I was certainly getting used to it and I decided I wanted to push myself. So I increased my weekly running mileage. Admittedly my pace slowed down slightly, but I found a new energy in my running. I was easily running 100 miles a week. This is something I had only achieved once before without injuring myself. I started running to and from work and this made it easy to keep my mileage up. In now run 100 miles plus most weeks unless I’m preparing or recovering from a race. This routine was difficult at the start but when my body adapted I was ready for my first ultra. I entered a 50 mile trail race in the Brecon Beacons and Black Mountains in mid Wales. I led for most of the way but ended up taking a detour and running an extra 5 miles towards the end, losing my lead and finishing 3rd, around 18 minutes behind the joint winners. This was the hardest thing I had ever done. Feet throbbing from the pounding, quads screaming from the steep up and down hills. But that feeling of nothing left at the end is something I don’t think I can do justice with words. You just need to experience it for yourself. Behind the Scenes Insights My life as an ultra runner starts with early mornings. I’m up at 4:30 most days of the week for a quick coffee, maybe a very short stretch if I’m feeling a bit tight, but that’s rarely the case, and then off on my morning commute to work. This ranges from 7.5 to 13.25 miles depending on the day of the week. Running to and from work easily gets me up to 80 miles by Friday afternoon, meaning I only need one long run on the weekend to get me to the magic 100 miles. The weekend run is slightly different. My Saturday morning run is tuned towards whatever race I’ve got coming up. If I’m running a trail race I’ll hit the trails and focus on climbs or downhills depending on what the race is like. If I’m running a road ultra I’ll get my carbon fibre shoes on and hit the road for a tempo run, anything from a marathon to 40 miles. And if it’s a track race I’ll get down to the track and log some hours running round in circles. I get out early on Saturday morning so I can be done by 9:00 am, leaving the rest of the weekend to spend with my family. Sunday is almost always my day off running unless the week has been ended up panning out slightly differently than planned or I’ve got a race. Since becoming an ultra runner I’ve transitioned from an omnivorous diet to a vegetarian and then to a vegan. I eat mainly whole foods that my wife or myself make at home. I avoid processed foods (basically anything in a package), and eat lots of greens, plant based protein, and herbs and spices. Evenings are one of my best times when the running is done and it’s time to hit the kitchen an whip up a tasty plant based meal for my family. My wife and son still eat meat so I always make a dish that can work with both plants and meat, and then we enjoy mealtime as a family. People often say it’s difficult to cater for all and it can be challenging but we manage it. There are plenty of cookbooks around these days with some very tasty and nutritious means so there really isn’t any excuse. You just need to plan and then execute. Conquering the Trails and Races I’ve loved my transition into ultra running. It’s a different king of hard. Road running is all about pushing yourself and running hard and fast for a couple of hours in the case of a marathon. But in ultra running, especially when you get out on the trails, the terrain and the weather make it a whole different ball game. I do still enjoy the road races and my favourite 2 ultras so far have been the Barry 40 mile track race and the Anglo Celtic Plate 100km. There’s something very rewarding about pushing yourself as hard as you can on the road for 4, 5, 6 hours. It’s a true test of endurance and I enjoy the looped element of these races. You don’t need to carry much food or kit around with you, they’re almost flat races, and the atmosphere is supportive and encouraging. I love road ultras. The trails are a different animal. My favourite trail race has been the Dragon Coast 100. It’s just you, the trails, and the elements for just under 20 hours in my case. It’s all about keeping moving, getting through tent tough parts, and finishing. This race was great, it started in the afternoon meaning I ran through the night. I saw some places I’d never seen before and I haven’t seen since, despite living in the area, and there’s an amazing feeling when you’re running at midnight and the early hours, knowing that not many more people are doing what you’re doing. Navigating Injuries and Recovery Most of my injuries came in my running career before I became ultra. Running fast requires more rest and with a full time job it’s difficult to fit this in and still keep the mileage high. Looking back I would have kept my weekly mileage lower and maybe I would have been more competitive, but the experience of balancing work and running built my mental resilience and that is a key weapon in my ultra running arsenal. I had three bad stress fractures as a regular runner. One of them even stopped me waking for 6 months and running for 12. But again, these lay offs developed my resilience. I immediately found another way to maintain my fitness. One legged cycling, aqua jogging, swimming, battle ropes, boxing pads. Believe me I tried it all. I even cycled when I was out in a half leg cast, but when I turned back up at the hospital to have my cast changed after 7 days because it was stinking and sweaty, I was given a stern reminder to rest. These experienced taught me about self care. They taught me how to listen to my body, know my warning signs, and avoid injuries. I can distinguish pain from soreness and that’s another major weapon for a runner of any distance. Unfortunately it something that you can only gain from experience. Every experience has made me the runner and person I am so I wouldn’t change them at all. But now that I’m ultra runner, the pace is slower, meaning the recovery is shorter, and I’m able to keep the mileage high and manageable. The Power of My Support System I’m so grateful to have an amazing support network around me that makes it possible for me to be an ultra runner. My wife and son are an amazing support and they put up with my early mornings and run commuting. We’ve worked the latter into our daily routine now and being flexible around this has really helped the two parts of my life to gel and work together. They’re always at my races cheering me on and making me smile after difficult sections of races, and they even help out with crewing when they can. My crew is usually my parents and my brother. They do an amazing and selfless task of keeping my bottles filled up, getting my food ready, and handing it to me when I need it. They travel around with me and give up their time to help me run, and give me one less thing to worry about on race days. I would be able to what I do without their support and it’s a great way to still spend time together as a family even though my brother and I have fled the nest for some years now. A Message to Fellow Runners Ultra running has become more than a sport for me. It’s given me a chance to carry on being active and healthy and has inspired me to live a healthier life so I can spend more quality time with my family and those I care about. It even provides opportunities for me to share unique and rewarding experiences with my family and I’m so grateful that I stumbled into this world. If you’re already hooked on ultra running, trail running, or just running in general, good on you. I hope that you find the same benefits that I do. If you’re thinking of stepping up to ultra running remember, it’s hard, but it’s worth it for that feeling at the finish line. Push the boundaries, do hard things, and never stop. You won’t regret it. Conclusion Deciding to delve into the world of ultra running has been one of the most important decisions I have ever made. I’ve learned lessons in balance and perseverance and it has made me a better father, husband, and son. I encourage you to take action and move towards whatever is pulling you towards it. Find a balance with it and your existing commitments, learn the discipline to keep going and achieve the goals that you set yourself. It will be hard in the beginning, but when you get to the other side of hard, it will be worth it. For more insights into my life as an ultra runner tune in to my latest YouTube video below. Don’t forget to subscribe to my channel and share for more awesome running and healthy living insights. Tune in to @ultradan87 across all social media channels and let’s go head first towards our goals.
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