Multi Day Events

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Experience From - Bob Slate , Karl King , Doug McKeever ,


Bob Slate

Rich Schick wrote:

"Each day of a multi day is approached by considering the next day's run and the total days/distance to be run. It is very similar to planning a high milage period of training except that instead of the goal being to build yourself up, it is just to maintain the status quo. The only day that can be approached like a single day event is the last day. As for running a hard workout the day after a marathon or ultra, why? What have you to gain but to prove you can endure pain? Rest is going to be a lot more beneficial at that point."
This year I participated in two multi-days. Each was a stage race in which one had to cover a specific distance from point A to point B, sometimes within a time limit. Just as the Tour de France has different stages and time trial days, I think one has to look at what each stage of a multi-day requires. One might have to run pretty fast when there is a short mileage stage following a long day, if you're competitive. If you just want to finish, it doesn't matter, as long as you make the cut-offs. You have to eat in preparation for the subsequent days, in any event.

How do you prepare for this? Sue Olsen runs two 40 mile days back to back to prepare for 48 hour races. Mark Williams runs some pretty fast back to back 20 mile days. James Zarei runs mega mileage to and from work. I try to pile it on on weekends, and run up the mileage total during the week by lots of consecutive to-and-from work commute runs. The message seems to be it helps to put a lot of stress on the body to simulate what the race will be. That's not "race day", that's "race dayS."


Karl King

A guy who did a run around the perimeter of Lake Michigan a few years ago came to me for advice on energy input and anything else that might help him ( he was not an ultra runner of very experienced runner, for that matter ). One of the things I told him was to not get depressed if he felt great fatigue on days 3 through 5 because his body would adapt thereafter. I wrote this all down so he wouldn't have to rely on his memory.

On the third night he was in bad shape and ready to cash it in. In desparation he pulled out the sheet I'd written for him and refreshed his memory. He took the advice and went on to finish his round-the-lake run. He told me afterward that once past the third and fourth days he picked up dramatically.

The phenomenon is common in those who do such multi-day events. As I recall, Dr. David Horton had the same experience on his Applachian Trail run. Perhaps the good Dr. will share his experiences with us.


Doug McKeever

Karl wote:

"On the third night he was in bad shape and ready to cash it in. In desparation he pulled out the sheet I'd written for him and refreshed his memory. He took the advice and went on to finish his round-the-lake run. He told me afterward that once past the third and fourth days he picked up dramatically.

The phenomenon is common in those who do such multi-day events."

My only experience at multi-day running, other than successful completion on schedule of numerous long trail fastpacks in the Cascades, was a rather dismal performance at the 1989 Lewis and Clark Trail Run across Washington, which despite the name was all on paved roads. The daily stages averaged about 63 or more miles (Jim Thatcher, help me out here with the statistics!), which is getting up into the "Howie Zone" (sorry Howie Brennan, I mean Al Howie in this case). I survived the first day in Ok shape, but the second day was 74 miles and it did me in when I took an 800 mig Ibuprofen to kill the pain in the tendons from running on the cant on the road. As Suzi says, MISTAKE. I ran hard the last 25 miles, but when the Ibu. wore off, I had damaged a lot of tissue. The searing pain was the worst I have ever felt! The third day I was reduced to a miserable walk, 38 miles in 14 hours, not even finishing the stage. The fourth day, when I couldn't even get to the bathroom in the morning without crawling, I knew my attempt was over, but by then only about 3 or 4 of the original 30 or so soloists (this was primarily a relay...they'd run their tenkay each then go to the pub...the devils!) were left. Only two made it all the way in the prescribed 8 days, 505 miles....Adrian Crane (of course) and the guy from Florida (later Oregon) who walked every step..can't recall his name right now.He co-organized the run across America. Jessie Dale Riley, that's it....Powerbars and 20 hour days.

The point?

Those of us who got so severely thrashed on the early days of this run never survived long enough to experience the peak that you say is a common phenomenon after the valley.

Dang. I really wanted to finish that sucker. David Lygre went back later and did the rest of it on his own, unofficially. He got through the first 4 stages, I think. But he too never lasted long enough to climb out of the valley you speak of.

This summer will find my good running bud' Richard West and me trying to run across the North Cascades on the Boundary Trail, about 160 or so miles in 5 days. That should be quite reasonable, with shorter stages although in really rugged country, so hopefully if we pace well in the early days, we'll experience the "peak of which you speak."