In order to train for a mountain race while living in the Midwest or any other flat terrain type of area you have to commit yourself to the boring training regimen of utilizing a treadmill that is capable of going up to 12 to 15% incline or even preferably one that goes up to 30 to 40% incline. Also you have to train in the stairs if at all possible going both up and down the stairs utilizing these two things along with a few others is really important depending on the distance of the mountain race that you are attempting. You have to scale the durations of your workouts, for example, I have been training for a mountain 50K with over 11,000 feet thousand of climbing so I was on the treadmill and the stairs four hours upon hours. If you are training for a shorter mountain race you need to do shorter more up-tempo sessions. You should also be finding the hilliest possible routes to be getting your easy runs in on or even long runs for that matter. Ideally you also need to be doing supplemental work such as lunges, bodyweight squats and some sort of core and ab strengthening exercises. You need to be diligent about doing core and hip strengthening exercises because more than likely you will be doing a lot of pounding on your body on downhills and having a strong core helps eliminate fatigue and cramping in that area. Lastly, just being in the best possible aerobic shape helps too. Again, making sure your training is geared for the specific distance you are going to be racing.
I'm sharing this with people because I got this question a lot at the Speedgoat race. I'm sharing these tips so that other flatlanders maybe won't be so intimidated by such a course. It is possible to train for one effectively. Also to maybe challenge yourself to get out of your comfort zone a bit. If anyone reading this had alternate questions or comments please feel free to comment below and maybe I can help, thanks, till next time.
Check out my Strava Link: https://www.strava.com/athletes/2617345
Great post. Have you ever considered altitude tents or masks? Are they worth it? Also, side question, as an elite stair climber, how well do you think some of the best mountain / ultra runners would do in some of these stair races (thinking of someone like a Joe Gray, etc) - or is it just different / specific enough that they wouldn't necessarily dominate (the shorter duration too..)? Would be great to see some of them compete, but guessing it's just not on their radar?
ReplyDeleteIve tried the masks and they are just uncomfortable and really don't make any sort of aerobic changes physically to your body they just get you used to breathing in more shallow breaths while putting out work. Which is something I guess but its just not for me personally. I feel you can get a much better advantage just being the most aerobically fit you can possibly be. Tents are just too expensive and not worth it to me in my opinion. It would be interesting. Joe actually did a stair climb at the then WaMu tower in Seattle back in 2010 and went 5:29 for 56 floors. The next year I tied his record of 5:29, but Joe has a much bigger aerobic engine than I do. Specifically Joe, I think would do really well in stair climbing. There are others though that can compete or get close to him in the mountain races but wouldn't do as well in the stairs. Some of your better Ultra guys would still do well but not as well as you might think especially the shorter sprint climbs. I don't know if well ever know though because theres no money to be made in stair climbing and sponsorships will never work well in the US as long as the races remain fundraisers.
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