“Unconventional training equals unexpected results. And it could go either way.”
- What I kept telling myself during a 60km trail ultra at the end of this summer after dividing every day I could eek out away from work between climbing, alpine pursuits, trail running and a rare mountain bike rip.
I had the pleasure of a base of climbing back in May with a two week climbing trip. When I came back I surprised myself on some routes I had been eyeing. I felt like my upper body got stronger.
In June, I started increasing my running volume and made friends with the trails for a double run then scramble or a double scramble then run. I got familiar with my favorite hills for most efficient repeats and vert per driving time.
In July, the weekend alpine adventures began and I was packing running miles into midweek long runs. Then challenging my legs with a heavy pack a few days later.
In August, things got serious and I started thinking about how much I should compromise running for mountaineering. I got in my highest volume run week, then went for it with the alpine objective I had been pinning for and wasn’t sure was possible given conditions. We bagged the objective and coming out I thought, well now all I need to do is taper.
The taper was actually a rest. I feared being over-trained, having experienced showing up to a race in that state before. I abandoned the taper plan and let my sore legs recover. My body slumped and I questioned if I would rally to carry out what I had put into training for my ultra.
I showed up, did the race, and had a blast. My results were unexpected to be sure, but what I really got out of it was meeting my aim of applying what I brought from my love of outdoor sports to building a new experience on the trails.
Here’s some of what I learned:
Taking care of my body:
Early in my run training, my calves seized and my ankle range left no room for push off. I needed to take a week off running to stretch. I compromised with some vertical hikes and calf stretching slab climbing.
Unexpected physical cross over:
My heavy alpine pack ended up being the muscular endurance workouts I needed to supplement my trail running goals.
Unexpected mental cross over:
Surprisingly I progressed with my trad and alpine climbing this summer, despite being stretched thin. In my climbing I taught myself to let go of thoughts about achieving on a route. This transferred over to my long runs when I thought my pace was too slow yet letting it go allowed it to pan out for a quality run by the end of the day.
Respecting my energy:
I rested some consecutive days that may have been consecutive hard days because my body told me so.
Being present with others:
I got energy out of showing up and enjoying banter from friends who made me laugh.
I wanted to create a new experience that grew out of where I came from and that happened. It served my bigger goal, which is always to be connected with and not attached to expectations or results.
Does unconventional training lead to unexpected results? I would say it does, but you never know in which direction…
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