Podcast - The 5 Secrets ALL Ultra Runners NEED to Know
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[00:00:00] At some point. Your body is going to be so depleted. It will literally shut down
if you're not giving it the vitamins, the minerals, the electrolytes, the salt, the fuel that you need. Yes, you can mentally push through it. And if you read books, like can hurt me by David Goggins are never finished by David Goggins. He is the king of pushing through, but even David Goggins. ~When he. But even David Goggins, once he realized how terrible you feel. Uh, ~once he realized how terrible he felt. Not having the right nutrition after doing a couple of these races, he always has the right nutrition, just because the first couple of ultras that he did, he was not prepared with the right. Fuel doesn't mean that that's what he should have done.
Welcome to the athlete with asthma show. I'm your host, Johnny Havey, an ultra runner endurance athlete. And yes, a guy who's had an inhaler prescribed since birth. Despite doctors telling me I could never play soccer, nor run [00:01:00] a marathon, let alone 100 K ultra. I proved them all wrong. This show is where I share everything I've learned from breathing techniques to mindset shifts to help you become the athlete and the person you truly want to be.
So if you're ready to achieve your goals, despite limitations, let's get started. Today. I want to share with you the five secrets, all ultra runners need to know.
Growing up, the only running you would see me doing was either on the soccer field. Or playing with my friends. I didn't really have any desire. To run for fun.
I was definitely not thinking about running marathons and back in the nineties. Oltra running was [00:02:00] super, super rare.
Now, even though ultra running has gone mainstream. There are way more marathon runners out there than ultra runners. ~And ~this ~really ~brings me to the first secret. All ultra runners need to know. If you truly want to run it, you will run it. If you don't. You won't. What do I mean by this?
Well over the last year, I've had a couple different health. Challenges. Come about.
Back in April 20, 24. I actually lost. Vision in my right eye. I went from being able to see 100% out of my eye to. Nothing. Now today I can see almost a hundred percent, but what this did is this caused me to go through ~tons and ~tons of medical testing. Because this [00:03:00] is not a normal thing. People lose vision when they have migraines.
~If you faint. ~There's different reasons to lose vision, but this was literally a hundred percent vision to zero like that.
So when my vision didn't come back within an hour of this happening, I knew ~that ~it was something more serious. So I immediately went to ~go ~see my optometrist that obviously if you're watching on YouTube, you can see that I wear glasses and I've gone to an optometrist since fourth grade. So I was just like, okay, something going on with my vision. I should probably go there. So I went and. They actually did a very good job of helping me out. They ran some tests and. They ultimately told me to go see an ophthalmologist they told me that something was going on in my retina. So the back of my eye. And they sent me to a retinal specialist who was an ophthalmologist nearby. So I went to go see him. And [00:04:00] ultimately where all this went is I got diagnosed with something called a C R V O a central retinal vein occlusion. ~And what ~this basically ~is, ~is a blood clot that has formed ~in the retinal vein. And what this really is, is it is a blood clot that formed. ~In my retina. In a vein blocking off. Blood flow. ~Okay.~
And what that basically did is it caused my vision in the middle of the center of my eye to go away. And when it first happened, I couldn't see at all. And now today I'm almost a hundred percent and I promise you, I am going to get to a hundred percent vision. Well, what causes a blood clot in the eye? At that time, I had my ophthalmologist, my optometrist, and I ended up going to see a couple of medical doctors as well. And they were all worried that maybe I had some sort of cardiovascular issue. ~Okay. So here's where I'm going with this. I started doing. ~
~ ~I started doing multiple tests on my cardiovascular system.
Now I'm an ultra [00:05:00] runner, so I wasn't too worried. I'm like I ran 50 miles, six months ago. I'm pretty sure that my cardiovascular system is fine. I also embraced the three pillars of healthy living that I teach in my healthy living guide. Movement tracking and accountability and the tracking I do. I eat very healthy.
~I track very healthy eating. So I wasn't too worried. ~Well test after test after test, I did a ton of different blood tests. Testing different markers.
I did an ultrasound on different arteries and veins.
And then I did something where they stuck a camera down my throat to take pictures of my heart. Well, all the tests came out normal until we did this test taking pictures of my heart. Before I even went in to take this test. I was in the prep area and I was talking to one of the doctors. ~And the conversation came up. Regarding running. ~He asked me what kind of running I do.
I shared that I'm an ultra runner ~and he asked like, okay, cool. ~
~So where are you? Okay. ~
~ ~He asked where [00:06:00] I was from. And I said, ~you know, ~I'm from. Colorado. And, uh, I told them that I'm an ultra runner and we really hit it off. And he told me he was a marathon runner and I asked, wow, man, that's awesome. What. Like what's your time. ~Like ~I've ran multiple marathons and I'm pretty slow marathon runner. My marathon time. My best time is just over four hours, about four hours and 15 minutes. And he was like, you know, me and my wife were into it and I've ran a three hour marathon before and I'm like, great. Are you going to do an ultra.
And that's when I realized this first secret. He's like, no, man, I really, I, I just. ~Aye. I ~don't see the point. ~I. ~I have no desire to do it. I am used to doing marathons. I can run a three hour marathon. But doing an ultra is just something that's not even on my radar. So I pushed them even further. I was like, well, what about a 50 K 50 K is only [00:07:00] five more miles in a marathon. And he's like, you know, I just, I can't wear out my head around the training. And, you know, ~um, ~I live here in Chicago when there's not many trails around here, so I'm usually running on roads.
So. Yeah, I don't even, I can't even ~really ~wrap my head around doing an ultra. And to me, I'm just like, okay, you're running a three hour marathon. You can run an ultra. You can run. ~Uh, ~50 K ultra, you could do a 50 mile ultra. All you need to do is get the miles in. But
he didn't even seem like he liked the idea of doing an ultra.
And he was a little bit worried about me and the type of mileage and running that I was doing. I was telling him, Hey out. Going to be running a hundred miles a week. And as I get to my peak weeks for this hunter K run, then I'm running. And he just seemed really in disbelief. So after the exam, I was in the recovery room waiting to get [00:08:00] discharged. ~And. ~He comes out and tells me, Hey Johnny. So we went in there. And it looks like you have a hole in your heart. So you're probably not going to be running. Your ultra and September, this is like three months after this test. And really, I don't know if you should be running ultras. ~Really ~ever again. Well, My initial reaction because I was still kind of coming out of surgery.
They gave me some. Madison to kind of knock me out while they did the. Exam. So. I didn't really know how to respond. So I was like, oh, you know? Yeah. I mean, I bet I'm fine. Now within a week, I had talked to a couple other doctors and I ended up getting cleared. ~Okay. ~They were at one point talking about filling the hole in my heart [00:09:00] pudding. Like a patch basically. ~To fill the hole. ~But. What we ended up doing ~is, ~is nothing. Evidently 20% of people end up. Having a hole in their heart.
And most people don't even find out that they have one, unless they're doing a test for something else. ~And ~since I was doing a test to ~really figure out what was going with. And since I did a test to really ~figure out what was going on with my eye, that's the only reason why we found it. ~And it first. ~
And at first one of the doctors thought there was a correlation.
Well, ultimately we found out there was not a correlation between the hole in my heart and what happened with my eye. So I ended up getting cleared to not only. Run ultras again, but to run my hunter K race in September. ~Well, one thing that ~ well, one thing that's been rattling around in my head since I did this test and met this guy.
Was. If you truly want it. You will run it. And if you don't. You won't. And you'll make. Every excuse in the book. [00:10:00] Why you not only. Aren't going to run it, but. Someone else also. Isn't going to run it. So, if you are going to be an ultra runner,
This may be the biggest secret. If you want it, you will run it. And if you don't, you won't and be prepared for other people. To tell you that you shouldn't be doing it. So what's the biggest difference between an ultra and a marathon? Well, In my opinion, you can run a marathon without training and you can finish it. Because marathons at this point are extremely mainstream. It's kind of the starting point. When you get to ultra running. And the reality is from a physiological standpoint. Um, marathon. Is very different. From a 50 K. And a 50 mile race and beyond you would think. Okay. A 50 mile [00:11:00] race is just two marathons. So just think about how tired you are after a marathon and double it. But that's not the case. You see? Every mile that you tack on, on top of a marathon. Is not linearly harder. It's exponentially harder. So a double marathon, a 50 mile run is not twice as hard. It is exponentially harder than a marathon. The compounding effect on your body. Isn't linear. So, this is why when people look at 50 Ks and 50 mile runs, They're in the right.
You were in the right and thinking, oh, you know what I do marathons with. That's where I stop.
They are physiologically. Correct. So when you do start training for these longer I
just know that your body needs to physiologically change, which is why it can take [00:12:00] months, years. To build up your base miles. To feel good after these races. The first time I ran a 50 mile race. I not only didn't want to run an ultra again, I didn't even want to run a marathon again. That's how bad I felt. Then a few months ago, I ran a a hundred K race and I ran it much faster than I ran my 50 mile race. And I felt fine. So because I had 2,500 more miles under my belt and I had ran a 50 mile race before. Another thing that supports this big difference between a marathon and ultras is, ~did you know. Okay. In addition, ~did you know that ~the best runners in the world professional, ~the best professional runners in the world? Don't run ultras.
Y. Well,
There's significantly more money.
In running marathons, then ultras. Now this is slowly changing. But there are [00:13:00] professional. Marathoners all over the world that support their families by running marathons. Because they get paid for it. This is talked about in detail in the book, the rise of the ultra runner. ~And. ~
And why the best marathoners in the world. Don't actually like to run ultras. They ~actually ~did ~an experiment, ~multiple experiments that they talk about in the book. How ~they took the professional ultra. Where ~they took professional marathon runners and have them tackle. The top ultra marathons in the world. And in numerous cases, the runner stopped. Not because they couldn't physically do it, but mentally they got in their heads. They said, you know what.
My foot hurts. It's not in a lot of pain, but it's starting to hurt. I don't want to get injured. Because. My family. Is [00:14:00] relying on me to do this.
And even if I win this race, I'm going to make significantly less money. Than I do running marathons all over the world. So, this is a real thing. There is a boundary that exists between a marathon runner and an ultra marathon runner. And really it comes down to this one secret. If you truly want it, you will run it.
If you don't. You won't.
And this brings me to the second secret. Four word is a pace. I learned this when I first started climbing 14,000 foot mountains, now I have asthma. So I had to like anything. I do all the ultra running. I've done playing soccer. When I was a kid, I've always used the concept of progressive overload to increase my cardiovascular aptitude. For the specific activities. Okay. So when I first started [00:15:00] hiking 14,000 foot mountains, I was in really good shape, but I wasn't in 14,000 foot mountain shape yet. Main reason is because the higher above sea level you go. The less oxygen there is in the air and the more red blood cells you need ~in order to adapt. And. Actually ~in order to adapt and bring oxygen to your body. The higher you go. Well, when you have asthma, The effects are even stronger. Okay. So when I first started hiking fourteeners I was humbled by how hard it was even based on how good a shape I was with all the soccer and yoga sculpt that I've done over the years. Yoga sculpt being a combination of yoga and high intensity interval training.
So what I learned though, as I did ~three, four or 5, 6, 7, ~14,000 foot peaks, and ~I ~started to get faster. Is. The people. That got to the top and [00:16:00] finished the hikes first. Weren't. The same people going the fastest.
Let me say that again.
Just buy. Mere speed alone. Just because you were the fastest marathon runner in the world, ~just because you have a fast marathon time. ~Doesn't mean. That you can even finish. An ultra race.
It's interesting. Isn't it? What I ended up learning is the people that got to the top of the 14,000 foot mountains. First. Were those who kept going.
For me, I would push really hard and then I'd have to stop, catch my breath, manage my asthma, and then keep going. And that's how I did it for a long time until I learned this and I learned this. From a father and son. Who had climbed every single fourteener in Colorado. So in Colorado, there's somewhere between 52 [00:17:00] and 58, 14,000 foot peaks, depending on. Which list you look at.
And they shared their secret with me. So like, Hey guys, you pass me on the way up and I never caught you. Can you tell me your secret? And they're like, What's your name? I'm like I'm Johnny.
Like Johnny. The secret.
Is keep moving. So instead of going quickly then stopping and catching your breath refueling, and then going again. Just keep going. Just move slower. And I'm like, okay, well, that kind of makes sense because I feel like every time. I refuel all. I'm like there for like three to five minutes. And then I push again.
I got to stop. So yeah, maybe mathematically by just as long as I keep moving, I'll be good.
Well, I combine that with during COVID. I really got into riding the Peloton. And I specifically. Got into following the ~specific ~[00:18:00] trainer, Robin Orizon, who is an amazing marathon runner and ultra endurance athlete. I think she. Focuses on marathons more than ultras, but she's done her fair share of ultras. Well, what she says in almost every single one or for classes on the Peloton. Is forward. Is a pace. As long as you keep moving forward.
You're going to get there. And this. Is a secret that I live by in ultra running. First marathon I ever ran. I was injured. 16 miles in, I had excruciating pain shooting down my left leg. And, ~uh, ~I told myself at that moment I could stop right now. Or I could keep moving forward.
And I will ultimately get to my 26.2 mile finish line. Now this was a self-made marathon, [00:19:00] so I didn't have a time limit or anything. I was just running 26.2 miles on trails.
And even though I was in pain, I ended up walking the next nine miles. I ran a little bit here and there. And then I ran the last mile of the marathon. And finish the race, took me six and a half hours. It's my worst marathon time ever. But I finished. And I taught my brain. That I can do this. And that really set the foundation for everything I've done since. Because I made that choice to forward is a pace I'm just going to keep moving. Another example. And my a hundred K race this past year. At mile 37. My left hamstring completely seized up ~it cramped up. ~
~I was not getting it. ~I was not taking in enough electrolytes enough salt. I was fueling really well. My calories and carbon take was very good. My water intake was very good, but my electrolyte and soul intake was real bad. And I [00:20:00] swear I could barely walk. But what did I do forward is a pace. So I kept walking. I was going to rubbing out the area. And eventually I got to a point after walking for about a quarter mile, I could start jogging again. And I got to the aid station. I fueled up with salt and I kept going, and then I just kept making sure that I was drinking enough water, getting enough. Calories and carbs and getting enough salt.
And I don't end up winning the race. The forward is a pace. So you can even have instances like that. Forward as a pace, even if you have to walk. Can I talk and other shows and other videos. About how the walk run technique. Is one of the best techniques to become an ultra runner. Because as long as you keep moving forward, forward as a pace you will finish and ultra running, especially when you first get into it is really about finishing the mileage. It's about hitting the mile marker. Then the next time you do it, you can worry about setting a personal best and even [00:21:00] placing, okay.
The forward is a pace.
Hey friend, I wanted to take a moment to ask you a quick question. Are you struggling to lose weight due to your asthma? If so, I get it. I used to run marathons and still kept gaining weight. It wasn't until I learned about the three pillars of healthy living that everything changed.
So I put together a healthy living guide that you can access absolutely anywhere. free by clicking the link in the description. This guide shares these amazing three pillars of healthy living that you can easily integrate into your life to start [00:22:00] losing weight and live healthier today. Click the link in the description or go to Athlete with asthma dot com forward slash healthy dash living dash guide to grab your free copy.
Now, let's get back to the rest of the show.
My third secret that all ultra runners need to know. Is to manage your energy output. By watching your pace versus your heart rates. Okay. So I ran. A hundred kilometers in 12 hours. This ends up being somewhere around an 11 and a half minute mile. Including breaks. A year prior, I ran 50 miles in 13 hours. That [00:23:00] is a lot slower than a hundred kilometers in 12 hours. Well, after doing my a hundred K race and winning it, I told myself, you know what, I'm going to start pushing pace.
Yes, I was doing an 11 and a half minute mile on average with my stops and refueling breaks. But I'm like, I want to start training. Closer to an eight minute mile, and I want to start doing eight minute miles for half marathons. ~Okay. ~Typically when I'm running an ultra, ~I actually, ~my pace not including breaks is somewhere between a nine and a half minute. And 10 and a half minute mile.
~That's where I average. ~Yeah, it breaks. That's how we get up to that 11 and a half minute mile. ~Well, What I'm trying to do now is go from. Well, ~what I'm working on now is going from that nine and a half minute mile. Down to an eight minute mile. ~Well, ~what does this mean from an energy output perspective? For me at a nine and a half to 10 and a half minute mile. My energy. I'll put
~is. ~Ends up being somewhere between 130 and [00:24:00] 150 beats per minute. That ends up keeping me. In zone two for my heart rate. Now for those of you that don't know very much about. Heart rate zones. There's multiple different ways to do this. But there's really anywhere between five and seven heart rate zones. Peloton teaches seven. And I've heard five zones top more broadly. Well zone one. Is your all day pace. ~Okay. So your heart rate is. ~So your heart rate is at a level that you can maintain all day. ~Okay. ~Zone two. Is a little bit faster. This is kind of your fat burning pace. It's faster than your zone one. It also is kind of ~a ~close to an all day pace. You're going to need a lot of fuel. You're going to get more tired. You're going to be starting to [00:25:00] use fat. As your fuel source, if you're not continuing to take in calories. Zone three, we start getting close. To the anaerobic. Zones. Aerobic means with oxygen.
Anaerobic means without oxygen. Well, once we get to anaerobic, it basically means that your body isn't getting enough oxygen. To fuel itself when we're aerobic your body. Is still getting enough oxygen to fuel itself and you're not going to have very much lactic acid buildup ~in your body. ~But once you get to anaerobic, that's where lactic acid starts occurring and your body just isn't. As efficient with its energy output. Okay. So for ultra running, we really don't ever want to go into the anaerobic stage of energy production.
Until maybe the last mile or a couple miles of the [00:26:00] race. If you want to work up to these faster paces, what you need to do is train your body. To have a lower heart rate at the faster pace. For me, my zone two, which is where you want to do most of your miles and erase.
You're probably going to be. Zone to climbing to zone three. You're not going to want to go into zone four or five until that last bit. If you still have the energy for it. But what you really want to do is stay in zone two. So for me, 130 beats per minute, 140 beats per minute. That's really where I want to be. Okay. And right now, my pace is about a nine and a half minute to 10 and a half minute pace to maintain that heart rate. Well, one week after my hunter K race, I decided, you know what, I'm going to go out.
I'm going to run 12 miles. ~And I'm going to push for an eight. Minute pace. ~And I'm going to push for an eight minute pace. Well, I didn't bring any fuel with me cause I'm like, you know what? I've done 20 mile runs without fuel before. [00:27:00] Cause I like the train. Under nourished a lot of the time. Okay. When I'm actually doing a race, I never do that.
~Why do that? Right. ~I always have 200 to 500 calories per hour when I'm racing. I make sure I have plenty of fuel. But when I take runs, especially shorter runs and for me, a shorter run is anything ~really ~under 15 miles at this point. ~ I'm just like, Hey, ~I'm not necessarily going to bring fuel with me. Well, I do not recommend doing this. If you're running a pace that you never ran before. And really you should always have fuel with you because why not? You don't have to eat it, but at the very least, you may as well bring something like the scratch gummies or the scratch chews, ~which I'll talk about further, a little later on in this. ~
Which we'll talk about further, a little later on.
Well at an eight minute pace, my heart rate jumped up to 160 beats per minute. Okay. And when I was going up hill even closer to 170. What does that mean? That means that my body is working a lot harder. My heart is working a lot harder. My [00:28:00] body is being less efficient with energy it's burning calories faster. It's burning up my energy reserves. And I personally have not trained my body to use fat as a viable energy source, as much as other people have.
Okay. So I got to a 0.9 miles in, cause I wasn't fueling myself nine miles in. I hit the biggest wall that I ever have at that distance. I never bonked this bad. Nine miles into a run.. At least since I've become an ultra runner, maybe the first time I ran nine miles, it was really tough, but nine miles is nothing.
When I run 62 miles for races now. So. When I ended up happening is since I didn't eat any calories.
And I didn't really build myself up to a point where I could run mile nine at an eight to [00:29:00] eight and a half minute pace. Cause I'm used to doing nine and a half to 10 and a half minute pace, which this is literally a one to two minute pace faster than what ~I'm usually doing. That ~my body's used to. So I completely burned out. And if I hadn't already built my mental skill of getting through these walls, I probably would've ~just ~given up. But I knew I was three miles from my house and I knew I could get there.
So I dropped to about an 11 minute pace and I got all the way home. ~I could not hold. The eight and a half the ATA, ~I could not hold an eight to eight and a half minute pace. That's why this is so important. ~When you become an ultra runner. ~As you become an ultra runner, you will see that it takes lots of time to build endurance.
It takes lots of time to build up mileage. It can take months, it can take years. Okay. But even though you're building up mileage, even though you can run 50 miles. And feel fine the next day doesn't mean that you can run 50 miles in an eight minute pace. It doesn't [00:30:00] mean that you can run a half marathon in eight minute pace or a faster pace for you. So, what you need to do is instead of doing what I did, which was okay, I'm all of a sudden going to go from running nine and a half to 10 and a half minute mile pace.
I'm all of a sudden going to go down to ~an ~eight and a half minute mile pace and see kind of how it goes.
What you need to do is work up to it. So another thing I've been doing is in shorter runs like a five mile run. I've been playing with a seven minute and even lower pace, but I'm not doing it the whole time. I'll run a seven minute or lower pace ~or subs all. I'll run a subs or run a seven minute ~or a sub seven minute pace. And then I'll go back up to where I feel comfortable around nine and a half to 10 and a half minute mile pace. It's interval training. ~So just know that when you are. So ~just know that as you become an ultra runner, manage your heart rate, find the heart rate that works really well for you.
For me, it's 130 to 140 beats per minute. I hold that I can run that pace for 12 hours. ~Okay. ~But you [00:31:00] have to manage your energy. So it's not just about eating enough. It's about managing your energy output and you do that with pace versus heart rate. Now my fourth secret that all ultra runners need to know does have to do with fueling ~though. ~
It does have to do with eating. I think it goes without saying that you need to eat a lot when you are running an ultra marathon. When you were running a marathon, you need to eat a lot. When you're running a half marathon, you need to make sure you're getting enough energy in you.
So you can hold that really fast pace. Well, when you're running 50 K 50 mile, a hundred K a hundred mile and beyond, you need to literally make eating your full-time job. During that run. You're not just running, you're eating. The problem is. At some point. You're not going to want to eat anymore. It may be that your stomach can handle it.
It may be that you can't [00:32:00] swallow anymore. It may be what happens to me where I can't shoe anymore.
During my first 50 mile run. I was so tired of chewing cause I was shooting pretzels. And even with homicide day, maybe pretzels, wasn't the right thing to eat. Since then I no longer go to pretzels is my go-to fuel source. All day. Pretzels are still nice to have at some point throughout the day because he got carbs and salt on one. But at some point. You're not going to want to eat, but you need to eat.
So the secret here is how do you make sure that you were continuously getting fuel, getting the calories you need?
The recommended amount being between 200 and 500 calories per hour and somewhere around 60 grams of carbs per hour. How do you make sure you're getting that without actually having to eat?
Well this past year while training for my ~a ~hundred K race. ~This was. ~
~Well this past year, well, Well, this pasture all over. Well this past year while preparing for my a hundred K ultra. ~This was one of the problems I was trying to solve. And then I eventually figured out I was [00:33:00] advised by my running coach at ~run. Infinite, go look them up. Go look them up on. Go look them up. ~Run infinite. That I needed to get. My fuel. Through my liquids. Through my water through my Camelback. Okay. I always bring my own Camelback for ultras. I don't rely on just water bottles. Or what they provide.
I always bring my own Camelback and my own nutrition in general, because I have a lot of allergies. And as an athlete with asthma allergies can really throw off. My system,
well, I was used to bring my own Camelback and I'm used to putting, you know, all my hydrator in there. I use. Liquid I V which I have linked in the show notes and the description below the YouTube video. If you're watching a YouTube. And I'm used to bring gummies. Like the scratch choose. Okay. Scratch energy choose, which I also highly recommend.
And I have linked in the show notes. And in the description, if you're watching this on YouTube, [00:34:00] Well, what I had never heard of was something called. A super. Carb. Hydrating powder. ~Okay, ~this is a super high carb hydrating powder. In a serving. You have 400 calories. ~Okay. ~So, what I learned is I could take this powder and put four to 500 calories in my Camelback.
And then in between labs, cause it was a five lab course.
I would swap out Camelbacks and have another four to 500 calories of just this in my Camelback. And then I have another two or three of these, which the liquid IVs has about 45 calories each and my Camelback. And then I also learned that liquid I V does not have enough salt for me. Because I sweat so darn much in these races that I actually need to add salt tablets, ~separate ~or salt packets, separate. But the key here. Is I [00:35:00] knew from experience that at some point I wasn't gonna be able to chew well, It happened differently in my ~a ~hundred K race. About a marathon in I no longer even ~a ~could stomach the thought of food.
Okay. My chewing was actually fine. My stomach was acting up though. I couldn't ~actually ~get myself to swallow and get solid foods into my stomach. So I kept doing gummies. I was able to get gummies. And these gummy packs have about 160 calories. ~And ~a pack. So I was just like putting them in shoeing what I could and squirting them down with my water,
which had all this super high carb tauter in it. The super high carb powder made it. So I didn't have to worry. About eating as much. And especially when I got to the final lap. I had enough calories in my system. That eating was just kind of a bonus at that point. Before my last lab, I actually two pairs.
And then I brought a [00:36:00] pair with me. Cause fruit was actually going down really well. But by having your calories in liquid form, you take the pressure off of yourself. To always be thinking about. Well, when do I need to eat next? A lot of very serious ultra runners will actually set timers on their watch or on their phone to remind them to eat every 30 minutes or to remind them to eat every hour. I've tried this. It just doesn't work very well for me. I rather just eat when I want, or when I think about it. My rule is if you think about eating. Eat, and then mixing that. With having powder, having your calories in your Camelback is a game changer.
~And this. Not only helped me fuel for my. ~This not only helped me fuel for my entire ~a ~hundred K race. And gave me enough fuel. So that the next day I actually felt fine. ~Versus when I did my first. Versus when I did my first 50 mile. ~Versus when I ran my 50 mile race a year prior, I was crawling around the next day and felt terrible. I also won the race.
I had enough [00:37:00] fuel and I was hitting my fuel markers so well throughout the race that I won the race. And the last mile and a half, I ran a sub seven minute mile after already running 60 miles. And that brings me to my fifth secrets. All ultra runners need to know hydration electrolytes and salt. Okay. I think it goes without saying that you need to drink a lot of water and the hotter it is outside, the more water you need to drink. I also think it goes without saying that you need to have some sort of electrolyte mix. In your water. Because, yes, you can get away with a 5k 10 K half marathon, and maybe you can even get away with a full marathon without having something like this. You will not get away. With an ultra. Without electrolytes. At some point. [00:38:00] Your body is going to be so depleted. It will literally shut down
if you're not giving it the vitamins, the minerals, the electrolytes, the salt, the fuel that you need. Yes, you can mentally push through it. And if you read books, like can hurt me by David Goggins are never finished by David Goggins. He is the king of pushing through, but even David Goggins. ~When he. But even David Goggins, once he realized how terrible you feel. Uh, ~once he realized how terrible he felt. Not having the right nutrition after doing a couple of these races, he always has the right nutrition, just because the first couple of ultras that he did, he was not prepared with the right. Fuel doesn't mean that that's what he should have done.
He is the first to admit that he did not fuel properly. He's still finished. Cause he's one of the most mentally strong and Durance athletes in the world.
But your body needs the right fuel. It needs the right hydration. So for my a hundred K race, I already told you what happened a mile 37. Okay. I [00:39:00] had all of this going on. I had my super high car powder. I had my gummies. My significant other made me cheese, less pizza. Cause she's, for me, creates a lot of inflammation in my body. She made. Homemade bread.
I had different sandwiches, a hummus sandwich, a sun butter sandwich. I had a butter sandwich. I prepared. I even had these chocolate muffins that I really liked prepared. I had all this prepared. ~Okay. And she was putting two to three of these and every single water. ~And she was putting two to three of these in every single Camelback that I had.
So I was getting plenty of electrolytes. I thought. And then a mile 37, I cramped up and it's because I wasn't giving enough salt. I was sweating like crazy. I think I had drank like 14 liters of water at that point. And even though I was drinking enough water, my body wasn't holding onto it because I didn't have enough salt. ~So just no. That it's not enough to trust. ~So just know that it's not enough to assume that just because you're buying electrolytes and by the way, I still love the liquid Ivy electrolytes. They go down really well for [00:40:00] me, just because you have the powders doesn't mean that you're getting everything that you and your body needs.
~Everyone. Is everyone. ~Everyone's body's different, ~which is why, even though I'm linking. To the hydration. Which is why, even though I had linked to the fuel that I use.~ Which is why, even though I link to the fuel that I use in the show notes and on the description, if you were watching this on YouTube, It doesn't mean that this stuff will work for you. You need to experiment and you need to know that at some point you're probably not going to get enough salt.
I thought, Hey, I'm covered. People talk about salt tablets, all this stuff. I've been doing this for like four years and I'd never had a problem. And mile 37, I had a problem. And now you will never see me do a run that is longer than a marathon. Without salt. I know I can finish a marathon with my liquid Ivy electrolytes ~and with my scratch high carb. ~And my scratch super high carb powder. But, you know what, I'm even gonna start using salt for marathon.
So I always still have a link in the [00:41:00] description for some Himalayan pink salt, but really any type of salt will do. For your runs. ~Okay. ~Now, the last thing that I learned as I got into running. Is that even though people tell you that if you're running marathons, if you're running ultras, you should always be eating. This advice, isn't always correct. Before I got into running, I weighed somewhere around 170 pounds. I got into running around my first marathon, ran it in six and a half hours. Then I ran my second marathon and I ran into four and a half hours. Then I got to my third marathon ~and my third marathon was ~about nine months to a year after my second marathon. I had been training. I'd been eating like crazy because people were telling me to do that.
~And I was eating healthy too. Cause. And ~I was eating healthy too. I was eating homemade meals cooked by my amazing, significant other. And whenever we go to my parents' house on the weekends, my mom cooks and my mom's a nutritionist. The food was really high [00:42:00] quality. But when I ran my third marathon, my time dropped, I went from running a four and a half hour marathon to running a five-hour marathon in addition.
Cause you're probably wondering, well, maybe it was. Harder terrain. Well, the train was actually easier. When I ran my six and a half hour marathon and my four and a half hour marathon, I did that a mile above sea level in Denver, Colorado. When I ran my five-hour marathon, I was at sea level. Okay. I was in Hawaii at sea level.
Very little vertical feet gained during that run versus the marathons I did back in Colorado. So my marathon time dropped by 30 minutes. I was devastated at the end of this run. And at the time, I wasn't aware that I actually had put on significant weight. When I got back to Colorado, I went to my yearly physical and they weighed me and I weighed close to 200 pounds. Almost 30 pounds more than what I weighed when I first got into running. That's crazy ~and this but this, ~but this [00:43:00] is not an isolated occurrence. I've heard many people who have gone into running or working out ~and. Or working out in any way. ~
Actually gaining weight because we're told he eat.
Well today I weigh 155 pounds and I'm still able to eat whatever I want. Yes, I do indulge in Costco, hot dogs. And I scream from Costco every now and again. And sometimes I even go to Culver's and get cheese curds in the Curter burger when it comes on the menu once a year. ~Now.~ Now, how have I been able to do this? Well, I created what I call the three pillars of healthy living. To learn.
Number one is movement running is movement pillar. Number two is tracking. That's actually tracking your caloric intake. Remember we talked about one of the secrets today, tracking your energy output. ~Okay. ~So tracking is huge. You need to actually know how many calories you're taking in and how many calories you are burning. [00:44:00] And then number three is accountability. Accountability really holds all three pillars together.
Well, I have a gift for you. ~And it is my. ~And it is my healthy living guide where I go through these three pillars of healthy living and help you integrate them into your life today. It's only a three minute or less read, and I guarantee you that you will be able to at least integrate one of the three pillars into your life immediately.
And because I want you to have access to this guy that right now I have it linked in the show notes. And it is also linked in the description. If you're watching this video on YouTube. Thanks for listening and watching. If you're on YouTube. I'll see you in the next one.
Thanks for tuning in to the athlete with asthma show. I hope today's episode inspired you to overcome any perceived limitations you may have. Remember, your health and wellness journey isn't about [00:45:00] perfection. It's about progress. So I invite you to take a small step right now towards your goals. And if you found something helpful here, make sure to subscribe, leave a review and share the podcast with others on a similar path.
Until next time, keep challenging yourself and redefining what's possible.
