Listening to Jason Koop and Dylan Bowman at the Joint Dynamics ultra running night was super informative. For anyone looking to improve their ultra-running, here were the key takeaways from the evening:
- There's no shortcuts - you have to do decent mileage on an annual basis, and work in a bit of intensity too. Rest is important too, but only if you need it.
- Coach Koops sees his role as helping ultra-runners avoid the various stresses (cardiovascular, muscular, GI, environmental etc) that can impact performance or make you DNF. All of these should be solvable with more training.
- You can train your gut, just like weights, with training runs at race intensity but bumping up calorie intake. Some runners can do up to 480 calories per hour for a couple hours.
- A running coach only makes sense if you are in your third or fourth year of running and your performance has plateaued. You can figure out lots of easy gains when you start by yourself.
- Be selective and pick races that inspire and motivate you, and make you want to put in the work. This is the best way to get better.