Running an ultra is hard, but if it's on your bucket list.
Maybe you've signed up to do one in the future or you're thinking about it.
We've gone straight to professional ultra runner Tom Evans, winner of UTMB
CCC, to get all of his top tips for ultra running.
And if you stick around to the end of this video, I'll be sharing with you my one
top tip that I used to win CCC at UTMB in
2018.
So make sure you hang around for that.
First, though, please do hit, subscribe and tap that bell icon.
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If you haven't heard of Tom Evans, where have you been?
He has got so many accolades to his name, probably best known for winning
CCC at UTMB.
In 2018, Tom burst onto the ultra running seen in 2017, running
the Marathon de Sables after having a cheeky bet with a friend.
I love that story and then ended up getting the
best European time in the races history.
Just a casual little first race there for you.
Amazing.
Since then, he has grown from strength to strength with some of his achievements, including first
place and course record at the Tarawera 100 k winning UTMB CCC
Breaking records on the Coastal Challenge, Costa Rica and South Downs
Way 50 And even covid couldn't stop Tom while we were all at home
feeling sorry for ourselves.
Well, some of us were doing backyard marathons.
Tom went one better and did the three peaks on a treadmill.
Brilliant.
So if you didn't know before, you are certainly going to want to know Tom now.
And the good news is I am here with him to pick his brain about all things ultra running.
Tom, thank you so much for joining us.
No, I am.
Yeah.
Honoured to be be back on the show, so thank you very much.
Mhm.
So we're gonna kick off with the big question.
If you had one tip for your fellow ultra runners, what would it be?
I think for me, the most important thing is to set a goal and
Once your goal has been set, you can then plan your training around that.
So for me, I find that specificity is the
key.
And in order to be able to train specifically for of course, you need to replicate
the terrain that you're training on, so but it But if you live in the UK and
you're planning on a race in Chamonix, you might not be able to get out there the whole time.
So it's thinking slightly outside the box.
And what my top tip for that is to print out and laminate the
course profile for the race that you're going to do.
And then you can then do it on the treadmill with the right incline, and you can set the speed for
me.
That helps to keep it, keep it fairly interesting and keeps me motivated when things are tough and I'm
stuck in the UK
Okay, so once you've hit the trails, then any tips for our
runners out there, I think the first thing is to keep your head up and for your eyes,
looking forward a lot at your feet down below you.
That's such a weird thing to do when you're running because you obviously want to see where your
feet are going.
Do you ever worry that you're gonna trip like, have you got any tips for the more nervous runners?
Yeah, I think the great thing about running on the trails is pace doesn't matter, and
you run on how you're feeling and you listen to your body.
And I think if you are a little bit more nervous on the trails and there's a bit of a sketchy
bit, then you can slow down.
You can walk, and if you need to compose your watch, but
actually I tend not to, because it's all part of the learning
experience, and the more you do something, you'll improve at it
and fast forward.
Six months and the bit that used to walk on you'll now be running on.
Pacing is such a crucial part of racing, but I know that over long distances it can
become increasingly difficult to pace yourself, especially if there's a range of elevation.
Actually, normally I end up with, like a bit of a slow death march towards the end cause I've gone out too hard.
So what are your top tips when it comes to pacing for ultras, especially on trails.
Yeah, and a painting is painting is incredibly important.
And when I'm training on the trails, I use a real combination of
pace and feel.
Some days they will match up together and be exactly how
I thought.
And then other days they won't be.
And for me, having features such as Pace Pro really
allow me to better understand my body and how fast I'm moving, whether that's
on flat terrain inclines and declines, and typically when
I'm running, I do like to run at a fairly even effort.
So far, my pace pro it is.
It is fairly even.
But what I will always do is save a little bit in the tank for
that final downhill because training sessions aren't complete
until you've completed it and races aren't won until you finish them.
So, Tom, speaking of hills, your watch can actually help you with the ascent.
So what are your tips when it comes to running uphill?
So I think I get asked this question a lot, and there are a
lot of people who do not like running up hills, and
for me, I have a mantra of control, the controllable.
And when you were running up hills of the normal question people get our
people ask is how much longer have I got?
And for me with Climb Pro?
What that does is one.
It gives you that that real time information of how much longer the climb that you've got
to do.
And that's really motivating, because you know how much longer you've got to work
for, and also when you're planning training sessions or when you're looking at the
roots of a race, if you've not got the luxury of going out and running the course
before, you can see everything on your computer and then on your watch
when you're when you're in the race.
So, Tom, what are the things that we can do is runners to improve our efficiency when
it comes to running uphill, I think that's the key word efficiency.
What we want to do is to run faster with less effort,
and when we come talking on hills, the best way to improve your efficiency
is by improving your technique.
So might have three top tips would be, firstly, to increase your
cadence, take shorter steps, but more of them.
Secondly, it would be armed drive.
You can drive your arms.
Your legs will follow where your arms are going.
And then my third point is that you need to look up.
We spoke about it earlier, but actually looking up keep you nice and tool.
You'll find it easier to breathe and you will become more efficient.
Mhm.
So let's talk about navigation.
Have you ever got lost out on the trails?
I know I have.
Yes, I have being ex military.
I have got lost quite a bit.
My map breeding is not the best.
And But now when I go out on the trails, I always have my
maps feature, um, up just just so I can't
get lost because one, it helps what?
It just knows where you're going.
People like knowing what they're doing.
And you like those controllable factors and no one wants.
No one wants to get lost.
And especially if you're in 100 mile race, you don't wanna get lost because you don't want to run anymore,
Miles.
So make life as easy as you can for you, And it will give you that warm, fuzzy feeling
that you're in the right place and every step you're taking is getting you closer to the finish
line.
Okay, so I think you and I both know that ultra running.
It's kind of an all day picnic.
You're out running.
You have some snacks, you go to do some more running, you have some snacks.
So how do you make sure that you are fuelling correctly when hydration and
nutrition plays such a key role in these long races?
I think you're right.
I think nutrition and hydration is key to success.
Whether you're there to to win a race or to finish a race and
taking on that nutrition that is specific to the individual is really
important.
And there can be certain times in races where you may forget to eat and forget
to drink.
So, actually, for me, having a feed and a
hydration alert through my watch just gives me that gentle nudge, that gentle
reminder to keep consuming my nutrition
and my hydration products.
And, like I used the example of in
CCC and at UTMB, there is a 13 mile downhill section.
People don't like running people, so people don't like eating when they're running downhill because your stomach
is going up and down so people forget to eat you, then get to the bottom of the valley.
You've got a big climb, so people get there and they're not talking and they're really
tired.
And they have not got the nutrition, and they really slow on the uphill.
So all of that hard work that they've done to get there they can't put into place.
So making sure that you can consume these different foods,
whether it's in liquid form, what's in solid form, yeah, is really important.
And the only way to get good at it is to practise in training.
And you can then put that into practise when you race.
Because most people d n a.
From races because of stomach issues, and you don't want that such a controllable
factor.
You don't want that having an impact on your day.
So as runners, there is so much data and different metrics available to us.
Is there anything in particular that you take into consideration when you're trail running?
Yeah, I think sometimes it's great to go out on the trails and to just listen to your
body, you might be really tired.
It might be a recovery run, and listening to your body sometimes can be the best way.
And for me, listening to myself will always be a factor.
But like you said, we've got so many different metrics that we can use, and there are a
couple that I find really, really useful.
So, for example, heart rate heart rate is brilliant, and
for me, every training session I do serves a purpose.
Whether it's a slow, easy recovery run or it's a tempo
or its intervals.
Your heart rate zone for that is so important, and to be able to see what zone
you're in, an individualised heart rate zone is really important to
make sure that you are training the right effort and the light intensity
for what you're supposed to be doing.
Because what I tend to find is people, and I have done it myself,
is I run my easy runs too fast and my heart rate zone is too
high.
So what I have done is I have I have changed and I have individualised
training zones.
My heart rate zones on my garment.
I'm then making sure that I am ticking every single box, and I'm making
sure that I'm progressing in the right ways that I should be, he said.
There are a couple that you pay attention to.
What's the other?
So pace.
I think pace is still.
Yes, it's not as relevant on the trails, but actually, if you know right, I normally run from.
I come home from here to here that we still be flat bits on the trails.
And if you know right, I'm very comfortable running it seven minute Meiling.
Then you can kind of relate to.
And actually, if you see that you're going really fast, actually, you can afford to back off a little bit.
Or actually, you feel right.
I can I can push this up and everyone loves chasing times and things that can be really
motivating for you.
If there is a a segment that your friends have run on and actually want to run faster, you
can work out how quick you need to run because we are really competitive.
And actually, if that helps to motivate you want to run, then that's fantastic.
So when it comes to training for an ultra what are the things that we could be
doing to help?
Support are running that aren't running.
Yeah, so in a runner's career,
whether you are a professional runner or you're just doing it because you love it, you will have
setbacks and you will get injured myself.
For example, I am pretty injured at the moment.
I've just had knee surgery, and but I'm still able to train.
And you can still find things that you can do in order to either maintain fitness
or to improve fitness and to help recovery.
And that's if you're injured.
But if you're training for, if you are able to run, there is only so
many miles so many hours a week that you can run.
And, yes, that is the most important part of your training.
But there is still lots of accessory work that you can do on the side.
So whether it's finding an extra two hours of aerobic training that you can do on the
bike or it's doing some strength sessions in the gym, and what these strength sessions
will do is they would teach your body to recruit muscle fibres.
That's what strength training does, so actually, you're able to use
100% of the muscles in your legs when you need them.
So actually, the load the workload is spread out.
If you've got 100 people doing a job or 80 people doing a job
to the same standard, the 100 people are gonna finish sooner.
There is more efficient, which is what we've spoken about a lot, and we want to be as efficient as possible.
And that's what strength conditioning does.
So what tips do you use to help keep you motivated during training for such a long
race?
So training for a marathon is really tough purely because of the
nature of the race.
It takes such a long time.
And if we're training specifically, we're gonna be out for such a long time.
So there are a couple of different mind tricks.
I guess you'd call them for me to stay motivated during my training.
I guess their the first.
The first thing I do is I just break everything down.
And if I'm if I'm raising 100 miles, I don't see it as 100 miles away.
So I see it is either 10, 10 miles or 4 25 miles,
or whatever you want to do just into these bite sized chunks to make it a bit more manageable.
And then another tip that I learned a couple of years ago that I now uses instead
of tracking my training in mileage.
I track it in time because running 100 miles in the
UK in London is very different to running 100 miles in the Alps and the
output will take more than twice as long.
So how can you track the training?
So by doing that and what I do is I log all of my training both
online and in paper.
But training for me is more than just training.
As a professional athlete, training is a huge part of my life, and
my sort of personal life and my professional life sort of mix into one.
It's pretty difficult compartmentalise everything.
So what I do is I journal and I diary.
And yes, some of it will include training and how I felt in training sessions.
In other words, how I felt during the day because it's such a huge part.
And if you are training for an ultra marathon it can become sort of all encompassing.
And it can seem like there is so much to do.
So actually, by doing this by tracking everything, then
yeah, it can help.
Keep motivated.
When? When you do have a bad day, you can look back and see how you dealt with the previous one, and you can then look
forward on to how you're going to how you're gonna challenge in the next one.
So, yeah, I think it's a really useful tip.
I've learned loads from sitting chatting to you about ultras, But for those people who have
hung around right until the end, we did promise you a very top tip from
Tom, which is the one thing that you think helped you in CCC
In 2018.
I think with this, people are going to expect Oh, I wore this or this was in my
training.
But if I'm being completely honest, the thing that I think allowed me to win CCC
was patience.
And by that I mean not working too hard, too early and sort of
using and working with my pace.
If I felt bad, I'd slow down if I felt good, I'd speed up and just being
really, really patient because a race isn't finished until you cross over that finish line
and you can't control what other people do.
But you've got to be able to seize that opportunity if it presents itself and if you are patient and
you should keep your cards close to your chest and you can play them when you need to
and it does become tactical.
So yeah, I think patients and I took the lead at CCC
with 30 minutes of running to go eight kilometres left of 100 kilometre race.
And so yeah, the pacing was my pacing was really good and that pacing came
from me being patient and attacking the race when I could and like
Tom said earlier, leaving a little bit in the tank for the end to Tom.
Thank you so so much.
It's been great chatting to you and getting all of the tips for ultra
running.
So have you guys signed up for one?
Or maybe you're thinking you're a little bit keen now.
Let's no in the comments below, if there are any top tips that you have for us, if you've done one
before and we'll see you next time on The Running Channel.