| How Is an Ultramarathon Possible? |
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| by Diet Detective Editorial Staff | |
| Tuesday, 04 July 2006 | |
Some people are given to running 30 miles, 50 miles and more—because they like to.
How do they do it?On the outside looking in, it's an obvious question: How can anybody possibly run 30 miles, 50 miles or more at one time? On the inside looking out, the answer is pretty straightforward: "Your body will achieve whatever your mind permits it to," says Lisa Smith, whose first ultramarathon was the 135-mile trek across Death Valley, California, in the middle of July called Badwater. She was the second woman, and fifth overall, across the finish line.
Smith had several years of marathons and triathlons (including the Ironman distance) under her belt when she undertook the first Eco-Challenge, a 350-mile team adventure race, in Utah in 1995. That's when people started telling her she'd make a great ultramarathoner. And she, of course, thought they were crazy. Still, "I'm such an adventure seeker that after thinking about it for a month, I decided to try Badwater," she says.
"I learned that I am good at it and really love it because it takes you so deep inside yourself," Smith says. "You learn amazing things about yourself." At the same time, "the courses are beautiful. The people you meet along the way you stay in touch with the rest of your life."
Smith continues to race ultras, and she trains other people for them too. She says she can help anyone train to complete an ultramarathon. "Anyone can do it, even if you have to walk." One secret is cross training. Smith prepares not just by running, though she does run five to seven hours at a time (with some walking). She also trains with activities such as mountain biking, swimming, jumping rope and hiking with packs. In addition, she puts a lot of stock in power walking to help muscles recover and maintain control on descents.
The minimum training commitment for an ultra (which is anything up to and over 50K, or 31 miles), Smith says, is an hour a day during the week and two to three hours each day on weekends for four to six months. That's just the physical training. The mental training is something else altogether. "Instilling belief in people is one thing that I love to do," Smith says, but it can only be taught up to a point. "You have to be willing to go there. I had no idea when I started that I would be great at [ultramarathons]. I needed to find out for myself."
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