Blogging with the stumps

Statesmass - riding that ultra wave

Thu, 27 Jun 2024 22:20:41 GMT

It's that time of the year again

It’s every year that this "little" race is happening in our backyard so to say. But not every year we are a part of it. Rather not every year we are actively participating. I’m talking about Western States 100. Viktor has been putting his name into the lottery since 2018.

What is Western States 100?

You might be curious what it is, if you haven’t heard it before.
“The Western States ® 100-Mile Endurance Run is the world’s oldest 100 mile trail race. “ ( https://www.wser.org/ )

This run starts at the Lake Tahoe basin - Olympic Valley and ends in Auburn, Ca. Where runners have to traverse different types of terrains. Climb the escarpment at Olympic Valley , then run through the high country, entering the canyons (where the temperature will bake you) before crossing the river and running the rolling hills of the final part to the finish. The run finishes at Placer High School track in Auburn.

It’s a unique race - where the number of volunteers is way bigger than the number of runners. As per regulations only about ~360 runners can toe the line of this race as it is crossing Granite Chief Wilderness (about 4 miles of the course at the beginning).

This is a net downhill race, which is a great recipe for trashed quads ;)

As a runner you have to finish in under 30 hours. If you get it done in under 24 hours , you’ll get a silver belt buckle, if it takes you in-between 24-30 hours you’ll be awarded a bronze buckle.

Is it hard to enter this race?

Well, with the growing popularity it is getting harder and harder to even get into this race. With the growing number of first year applicants the changes for the 2+ year applicants dissolve . So, Yes it is hard and it’s getting harder. But with a certain amount of luck you could get in with one ticket only.

www.wser.org - applicants counts

How to get in?

Win a golden ticket race - there is a list of golden ticket races with golden ticket awards to 1st and 2nd (at times even 3rd) in each category.
Run a qualifying race and get selected in the lottery
Come to the lottery and get a playing card (bicycle card) - probably better chances than having to wait for the lottery
And the best chance to get in as early as possible is to buy raffle tickets - you can buy as many as you wish. If you get selected from the raffle you get to enter the subsequent year of the lottery. So let’s say in the 2024 lottery you get selected, you’d be running in 2025. These tickets are transferable, but you still need to run your qualifying race.

Why is this year special for us?

This year again we will be part of the crew for a Slovak athlete. Martin has been waiting for his appearance at the start for 9 long years (counting in the one year COVID race break, 8 years of qualifying resulting in 128 tickets in the ballot ). Every single year he had to do a qualifying race to continue accrue tickets in the lottery.

We were by the side of the first Slovak runner (Tomas) , Viktor was pacing the second Slovak runner (Marian) and this year we will be again providing crew and pacing support to Martin (who paced Tomas in 2017).

We were spectating the race multiple times before, after we moved to the U.S.

2016 - Jim Walmsley pushing through Foresthill - youTube link (that is mee on the side of the trail)
2017 - Tomas running WS100 - 2017 WS100
2022 - Marian chasing the silver buckle - youTube

How to follow the race

The organization is doing a great job streaming the race day coverage to youtube.
Tune in on June 29 2024 and you’ll see ( https://www.youtube.com/@WesternStates ).

Ultralive.net - tracking of runners

Instagram stories

To follow Martin on his journey, check #368 on ultralive.net .

Merry Statesmass!

Can heat training help you?

Wed, 29 May 2024 16:57:43 GMT

Just a couple of weekends back we were participating in Quicksilver Endurance runs. Viktor was running the 50k and I was getting ready to pace my runner. The day wasn’t that hot at first (in the morning), but as the sun rose up it started to bake the runners. The overall drop rate was about 41%, whereas the percentage is way higher in the female group. I’m not saying this is purely due to the heat, but it was one of the factors.

https://ultrasignup.com/results_event.aspx?did=109628

But could heat training help you with your performance, that is the question.

Theory and protocol

The main goal of heat training is to get you ready for racing in hot conditions. But note that there are additional advantages tied with heat training. With heat acclimation protocol we’re trying to optimize the physiological response to heat:

Increasing plasma volume - which in return optimizes cooling as we are able to dissipate more heat on the skin
Lower heart rate during the exercise is another response to heat training protocol
Optimization of sweat mechanism which is again used to lower the core temperature

In general is heat acclimation happening within the initial two thirds of the protocol duration. Suggested heat exposure ,for initial adaptation, should be around 10 days, where the athlete would be exposed to heat on a daily basis. Body will respond to the impulse within the first ~6 days.

To maintain the level of adaptation it is suggested to reimplement the stimulus every 3 days.

There are multiple ways that you probably may have seen within the endurance sport community:

Overdressing - putting on extra layers that will increase the core temperature during the exercise
Natural heat - exercising in hot environment
Dry sauna - getting exposed in sauna post workout once the core temperature is already elevated.

There are more but these would be probably best applied to us, regular athletes.

In terms of stress the sauna exposure produces the least added stress on the athlete, with adequate results ( comparing e.g. 1hr run overdressed against 1hr run + 30 mins in sauna).

General rule of thumb is to apply this intervention approx. 21 days before the designated race and follow through with reintroducing it every 3 days after that.

Note that the intervention can start even earlier, ~6 weeks ahead of the race, this will give you as an athlete the headspace if something unexpected happens during the final phase of your preparation (travel to the venue, and other stress factors during the final weeks).

Other options to deal with heat

When exposed to heat, it is important to lower your body temperature. First line of defense would be choosing light colors for your gear. Having a head cover with the possibility to stash ice in it is another good idea. Ice bandana/sleeve around the neck is another option to increase evaporative cooling as the ice on the neck/shoulders is melting and trickling down the body.

As the body uses skin and sweat evaporation for cooling there are some possibilities too:

Apply ice or sponge bath on your arms
Use arm sleeves and fill them with ice
Putting ice into the sports bra

Internal cooling with consuming cool liquids, but note that consuming something extremely cold with ice shards in it might create GI trouble for the athlete.

Personal experience

I used this suggested approach last year, while I was getting ready for Cool Moon 100k. My assumption was that since it is happening in Cool, Ca I might need all the heat acclimation possible. The weather was not cooperating completely as the outside temperatures were oscillating and we did not have constant heat, where we live. Therefore my choice fell on the treadmill + sauna combination. I was usually having my workouts for the first 10 days on the treadmill, followed by a 30 min session in the sauna. After I finished the initial 10 day protocol, I took a hot bath after workouts every two to three days, to get exposed again and maintain the acclimation

When the race day came it was considerably cooler than expected and also due to the above mentioned intervention I was able to move pretty well during the race day. I would do the same if I were racing in hot conditions again.

For more information :

https://www.jasonkoop.com/podcast/heat-training-interventions-with-coach-ajw

https://trainright.com/heat-acclimation-when-to-start-and-how-long-it-takes/

Coach-Athlete relationship

Mon, 22 Apr 2024 22:38:12 GMT

Having a good relationship with your coach/athletes is important

The coach-athlete relationship is a two way street. It is important that the coach is there for the athletes as they need them. But also there is a level of self sufficiency expected from the athlete on the other side. I’ll explain what I mean by that later. This is more of an analysis of what I’m looking for in athletes or eventually coaches (when I’m looking for one myself).

Athlete

As a coach, what I’m looking for in athletes is that they are willing to communicate openly. I consider communication being one of the most important building blocks. Why is that?

First and foremost the athlete should communicate all the goals, that shouldn’t be met with discouragement but rather encouragement from the coach
Second would be letting the coach know if there is anything hindering the training. Such as schedule changes or possible injuries, when the work amount needs to be adjusted
Third point in my opinion is that the athlete should be encouraged to think for himself.
The training might be designed in some way to establish the proper development towards the athlete's goals. But again we are returning to point #2, when there is a problem and the athlete needs to do some adjustment on the flight to the scheduled workout, he should be encouraged to. Simple example would be when the athlete is tired from previous sessions, he would go ahead and dial back the overall load on a scheduled session. Or rather do a recovery type of workout rather than pushing through and digging a bigger hole.
Four, a very important point is to know where you are and what kind of skills you have. Don’t be discouraged by other athletes' level of sport activities. If you are starting or coming back after a longer break it is good to start from zero and slowly climb up, seeing the progress rather than start too high and not be able to keep up with the training.

Many times I’ve encountered athlete’s that are too goal oriented and are pursuing it by any means necessary. And here we come to the coaches responsibility to diligently analyze the athlete’s workouts and spot when the athlete might be going way above his ability to recover. The more feedback after the workout the coach gets, the better the next workout could be. If you are not telling the coach how you are feeling and how it went, the coach can’t prescribe an adequate level of the subsequent workouts. Also if you are feeling any pain during the workout it is good to speak with the coach and find the best way to train without the pain.

Coach

As mentioned above, a coach should be the guide for the athlete. Providing a vision on how to achieve their goal. While sharing the structure with the athlete, the coach becomes a kind of a guide. During the first weeks of the training process the coach should be able to set or reset the expectations. But this shouldn’t happen in a dictatorial way. As such the coach should be presenting the following personality traits:

Compassion - needs to understand the athlete and his position in different situations
Flexibility - the training program should not crumble because the athlete needed to skip couple of workouts
Firmness - should be able to push the athlete reasonably
Organized - a good system gives the athletes a support system, where they know what to expect and when.
Attentive - providing feedback and examining the workout outputs as well as subjective notes from the athlete. Using the cues to adjust training.

All in all the relationship needs to be mutual. You could pull it through as a type A athlete, but if there is no personal connection I think you’d miss out on a lot.

Also everyone starts at different starting points, and everyone is different. What would work for Wik (my husband) , wouldn’t work for me and there shouldn’t be a cookie cutter approach for both of us. So athletes shouldn’t be comparing themselves against their peers, rather compare yourself against “yesterday’s” you.

If you are looking for a coach, send us a message and we can hop on a call to see if it would work.

Crewing vs. pacing

Wed, 20 Mar 2024 23:02:38 GMT

There is some difference between crewing, being crewed, being paced and pacing

Crewing

I have been crewed many times, and I have crewed countless times. We as a family like to go out and help at the aid stations. It is great giving back to the community after you’ve taken so much during your own races.

Crewing takes a toll on you almost as much as racing, but not physical of course. While we were waiting for different races for Viktor, it beat us up mentally to wait for the next update, if he’s ok and everything is good. Many times the crew needs to stay up through the night, while waiting for the athlete at the aid stations. What is important during that time is that we as a crew take care of ourselves. We need to make sure to ingest enough calories, to drink enough water throughout the day and eventually if needed to take a nap to sustain the day.

So I have been multiple times on both sides of the wall here. And can tell that volunteering at an aid station might be easier than crewing as you are on one spot only focusing on your duties. While crewing it takes a toll to move around the course to catch your runner (especially if it is a 100 mile race).

On the other hand I have never been paced during a race. Up until last year at the Cool Moon 100k. I knew my family would be there at the race as they always are. But this required a logistical overhaul, as the kids can’t stay alone in the house during the race for Viktor to pace me. So I reached out to Brenna, a long time triathlon friend. It took some courage to ask for help, as I try to always rely on my family and especially on myself. But this was different, I felt I needed that extra support. Lucky for me Brenna agreed and we were able to squeeze in a training weekend on the course two months shy before the race. Knowing what we can expect, we were more or less ready for the race day.

Before the race we sat down and created a document with aid station timings, pace charts which I exceeded at first, but on avg I met the expectations that we set up for myself. To my surprise my crew was there more times than we agreed. Luckily the course consists of multiple loops intersecting in one central place. And the next surprise came when Sam decided to pace me for the penultimate lap. And so we got to the main point (pacing and being paced).

Being paced

As I picked up Sam, I was already pretty much tired. It was his first time and Viktor instructed him to take care first and foremost of the runner. At the first aid station I asked him to take care of himself first. I overstepped a little as I didn’t want him to eat to many gels from the AS and rather take some pizza and real food. But I learned here: Don’t be bossy on your pacers, their intentions are good. And sometimes you can throw them off guard.

In one of the sections between aid stations he mentioned “We have 16s to …..” . I immediately panicked as I knew I was on pace, but within a short while we knew what he meant. Lesson nr. 2: Don’t mention any time constraint as you can get the runner unintentionally into more stress.

Then I picked Brenna and everything went on smoothly all the way to the finish, although I wasn’t able to run as much as I would like to.

For my first experience with pacers I would like to highlight the fact that both my pacers were super concentrated, making sure that we are following the course (making sure to miss any marking) and looking for nonverbal cues on how and when I’m safe to be talked to… :)

Pacing

This year our Tri club seems to be going for some upgrade in terms of the trail running experience and plenty of members signed up for Quicksilver 100k (local WS100 qualifier). While it is a hard race it gives you the advantage of being a “home” race. Tatiana reached out to me if I would be open to pace her for the first section (about 13 miles). I immediately panicked as I’m way slower than her and wasn’t sure if I can offer her any positive experience. To be honest Viktor assured me that I should be fine and I can get her to the next pacer without any issues (worst case I can get dropped).

I’ve run multiple sections of the course in previous years and we’ve crewed Quicksilver 100k for Viktor in the past too. So I started thinking about what I need to know before I jump on this ship. It’s a completely new experience and responsibility.

I agreed, but this doesn’t come on its own. I started to look at the Aid station chart and the individual cut-off times. I need to commit to get to a training run with my runner and maybe to sit down with both of them (Tatiana - runner, Brenna - other pacer) to go over some strategy.

Some key things that we will need to focus on as pacers:

Being on course (don’t miss course marking)
Being on time (stay ahead of the pacing strategy)
Making sure that the runner stays cool during the day
Have headlamps ready (just in case)
Making sure that our runner is eating and drinking properly
Crew needs to be ready - relay any special needs
Make sure that we take care of ourselves during the run ( same as point #5 but focused on us)

I’ll probably be adding to the article new information after the race as right now everything is so theoretical. We will see if it is as fun as being paced.

PS : staying organized is probably as important as the points above, therefore we're taking our Victory Sportdesign bag with us.

Why do we need strength training

Fri, 10 Mar 2023 23:59:28 GMT

Most of us know that strength training is important, but that doesn't make it any easier to do it. It may help to know why strength training is so important and all the ways it can help you look better and feel better. Check out my favorite reasons to lift weights and get motivated to start strength training today.

It helps you lose fat
It makes you stronger
It reduce your risk of injury
It increase balance, stability and flexibility
It boost confidence
It lowers blood pressure
It adds challenge
It makes your life better