Though marathoning and ultramarathoning could sound related, the shift from one to the opposite is something however clear.
Marathons are usually run on paved roads, whereas ultramarathons can span throughout quite a lot of terrains, demanding a shift in focus from pure cardio energy to power administration and technical talent. Whereas a street marathoner’s cardio engine and operating financial system present a powerful basis, navigating diet, gear and uneven terrain turns into vital for an extremely.
2020 Olympic marathon medallist Molly Seidel is one athlete making the leap from the street to the paths. After competing on this yr’s TCS New York Metropolis Marathon on Nov. 2, she is about to compete on the Black Canyon 100K in February 2026. With the change in distance comes a significant shift in coaching as effectively, now guided by American ultrarunning coach Cliff Pittman.
In an interview with TrainingPeaks, Pittman shared some ideas and insights into how he’s serving to the 31-year-old 2:23 marathoner put together for her first extremely.
Don’t deal with an extremely like an extended marathon
Based on Pittman, the most important mistake he sees novices make in ultrarunning is approaching it as simply an prolonged marathon.
“Marathoners can typically get away with delicate dehydration or underfueling, however in an extremely, these errors can have catastrophic penalties,” he mentioned. “Moreover, the gear and terrain at these races can considerably alter biomechanics and muscular load. Changing into accustomed to these components is vital for efficiency in longer occasions.”
For Seidel, her coaching plan progressively integrates these features in order that when she strains up at Black Canyon 100K, nothing feels international.
Preserve constructing in your strengths
Seidel has traditionally excelled on difficult programs and in robust circumstances. The Olympic marathon in Tokyo, the place she gained bronze, was scorching and humid, and the 2020 US Marathon Trials in Atlanta, the place she completed second, featured loads of elevation acquire.
Pittman mentioned the method they’ve taken from a marathon to a 100K is rational: give attention to threshold coaching and fatigue resistance. “Her periods now progress from threshold efforts to sub-threshold paces (e.g., Zone 3 to Zone 5) to enhance sturdiness for the long term,” he mentioned. “She can be finishing for much longer runs, transferring from two to a few hours on the street to 4 to 5 hours on the paths.”
To start her Black Canyon construct, Seidel will deal with longer steady-state efforts, comparable to 2 × half-hour in Zone 3 throughout lengthy runs. Because the race approaches, these efforts will shift to the again finish of her runs, coaching the physique to run quick when glycogen is depleted and psychological fatigue units in.
Practice for resilience
Whereas velocity is effective, Pittman says ultrarunning relies upon extra on psychological resilience than simply uncooked tempo. “Success in ultras requires greater than expertise,” Pittman mentioned. “Runners must know how you can preserve pushing once they suppose they don’t have anything left, and that is precisely the a part of the game that Seidel appears able to embrace.”
Researchers and consultants typically say that operating is about 80 per cent psychological on the elite stage, and for Seidel specifically, dealing with adversity when issues go fallacious has lengthy been one in every of her strengths.
