My yoga teacher once told me, “My injuries were blessings in my life.” I wasn’t sure I fully believed this at first, but after my recent experiences, I now understand, believe and value this statement.
Navigating a knee injury has been challenging, but at the same time, insightful. It has opened my eyes and mind to a new way of training as it was my only option as I prepared for one of my most intimidating races - the Cocodona 250 - this past May.
The day I got confirmation that I had an entry to race at the Cocodona 250 was exactly two months prior to my flight to Phoenix, Arizona. I had a very short time to prepare for my longest race ever, but somehow I believed it was possible. I hadn’t been running much at that time, but I was very active, as I regularly teach yoga and strength classes with Team Peak Run Moià (the local group in my town).
Ironically (or not), about two weeks following the confirmation of my entry I got injured. I went for a 15km run and when I got back home, my knee started to swell. At first it was just swelling, but it didn’t take long for pain and stiffness to set in. I rushed to the physio. The evaluation didn’t identify anything serious so we figured a couple of days of rest should resolve my issues. I followed the recommendations of the physio, rested, and then went for a 30km easy run. The run felt fine and I was encouraged. However, once I finished, the pain and swelling came back, but this time even worse. This is when I knew there was something wrong. I went back to the physio and, together, we made a plan.
The fact was, I couldn’t take any more steps backwards because there was no time. However, the unfortunate conclusion with my physio was that I should not run on my knee. Wait a minute. Can you see the irony in this? I was about to face a 250 mile race when the longest I had ever run before was 100 miles. On top of taking on this new challenge, I now couldn’t run.
“Should I give up?” This question seemed to keep crossing my mind. But due to my frustration, I fortunately could discard this thought right away. “Instead of focusing on what I can’t do, I´ll focus on what I can do.” This was the new mindset that I held onto and channeled into the design of my new training schedule. I decided I would train to be the fittest I could be, from head to toe, without running. My tool? Cross training. More specifically, HIKING. I thought that if it is a 250 mile race, it is inevitable that efficient and sustainable hiking will be critical. I now had my revised training mentality, my customized training design and had analyzed what would be needed in the race and how to best simulate this in training. Here is when I decided that I will absolutely be ready for what the race would bring; even without the traditional format of using running as my primary method of gaining skills required and maximizing fitness.
So when I was training, my focus on hiking was different. It was never a casual walk because there was a purpose to it. My main goal was EFFICIENCY.
The first few days were hard because my muscles weren’t ready to handle many kilometers at a faster hiking speed. I was definitely sore in this first phase of training! I realized that in some past ultras, when I was reduced to hiking, my muscles weren’t ready for it which resulted in this same soreness. So for Cocodona, improving my POWER HIKING became a large focus.
I wanted to make it fun, so apart from doing long hikes with and without poles or with and without added weight, I added very steep hill repetitions. I have a hill near my house that was perfect for this. It is technical and steep, and I could achieve hard repetitions that were up to three minutes long. When I got to the top, my legs felt like pudding and I was out of breath. I created a workout where I would do these hill hike repetitions ten times. This workout definitely left me feeling like I had absolutely worked my legs and whole body. I knew this was a great workout and felt confident it would lead me to being more prepared for a 250 mile race.
I also saw that doing back to back cycling-hiking workouts could be a valuable combination. I began going for a long ride (3 to 4 hours) and then immediately transitioned into a 15km / 9 mi hike. Cycling would give me that “heavy legs feeling” that I would experience later in the race, and then I focused on keeping the “efficiency speed” with my hiking, when all my body wanted was to go for a relaxed walk.
Treadmill hiking was also a complimentary workout I used. I focused on holding fast paces (as fast as I could hike) at a 20% grade for 40 to 50 minutes. I eventually progressed to a 25% grade to continue to add additional challenges to my training.
At Cocodona, I didn’t have any expectations other than finishing the race. Leading into the race, I still wasn’t even fully sure that I could complete it. My running mileage was very low, and although I was consistently putting in between 4 and 5 hours of training a day (using Cycling, Hiking, Yoga and Strength), this was still a very nontraditional build up for an ultra running race like this one.
Being able to compete for the podium was something that had never crossed my mind and was a huge surprise to me, so I dealt with it in a very rational way: I did what I had trained for. I ran when I could, and I hiked when I had to. I based myself 100% on the Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) and kept my effort under control. Because I had specifically trained for it, my “normal” hiking pace was fast. Despite being tired, sleep deprived and in pain, I was still efficient and could keep the momentum going. I attribute the outcome of this race to my consistency with cross training. Ultimately, I listened to my body, focused on all that would be needed to finish Cocodona 250 and ensured my headspace could remain optimistic, confident and focused solely on what I was doing, versus getting into a spiral caused by comparison to others.
Overall, this was an incredibly valuable experience for me as an athlete and as a coach. There really is no such thing as “traditional training” as every individual needs and can tolerate different regiments. What may cause injury for one athlete, may allow for optimization and high performance for another. The mind is a beautiful thing, when we can block out the “extra noise” and simply be present with ourselves and be confident in what we are doing. This was an incredibly valuable takeaway for me; in my training, but in the actual race execution as well.
Coming Next: Part 2 of this article will provide more specific recommendations on how to organize your training to prepare for a 200+ mile race or event and the recommendations to improve your hiking efficiency.
Manu Vilaseca is a Running Coach at Peak Run Performance and a professional trail and ultra runner with the Craft Elite Team. Manu has been a top mountain runner in the world with 2 top-ten finishes at the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc (UTMB), a top 5 at the Sur les Traces des Ducs de Savoie (TDS) and a top 3 at the Cocodona 250. Coach Manu has a background in multi-disciplinary training, as she regularly includes trail running, cycling and yoga into her own training as well as for her athletes. Coach Manu also is fluent in English, Spanish, Portuguese and Catalan, which makes her an invaluable member of the Peak Run Performance coaching team!
For more information, check out our website at: https://www.peakrunperformance.com/
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