My experience with Mike Foote's Big Vert plan from Uphill Athlete

Why I tried it

To get ready for ultras with lots of climbing, specifically, the Ultra Montseny I did on 10 April, which ended up being 78km with over 4700m+, and an ultra I'm doing this October (100km with 6600m+).

I'd also read Training for the Uphill Athlete and wanted to try out a plan with this type of training: with a focus on strength and elevation gain.

Starting point

My recent history before starting the plan:

• mainly training on the flat with at the most two runs a week on the trails
• had done a couple of ultras with a moderate amount of climbing (both around 65 km with about 2500m+). I did the last one in 2019 (my last race, actually). I'd gotten muscle cramps in both these races. This is one of the reasons I wanted to try a more strength- instead of a running-focused approach: to beat the cramps!
  
• had good aerobic base after consistent, just-trying-not-to-get-injured training for a few years
  

Caveats

I did 19 weeks of the plan in the lead-up to the race, but I:

• did only two out of the nearly weekly hill sprint sessions
• did a lot of but not all the prescribed ME (muscular endurance) workouts
• did only two Z3 workouts (plus two on the bike)
  
• didn't do either of the mid-week long runs
• did less vert each week than prescribed according to goal race
• ignored a lot of the days off as I like to run nearly every day
• did long runs that were probably shorter than prescribed according to goal race

Why the deviations from the plan?

My body couldn't handle everything in the plan.

This kind of training was new for me, and I had to adapt it on the fly owing to niggles, especially in my calves, Achilles and feet.

However, I didn't feel overly tired or fatigued and any stage. This kind of training actually felt quite easy. This made it frustrating that the niggles didn't let me do more.

Even so, I trained consistently, having at the most one day off from running here and there owing to niggles.

To adapt the plan to my niggles, I mainly just cut the length of runs and skipped the more intense stuff (i.e. hill sprints and Z3 runs) as needed.

Training done (excluding the last week and the race: 18 weeks)

• average weekly elevation gain: 1772m+ (total: 31,896m+)
  
• average weekly time run/hiked: 7hr 31min (135hr 18min)
  
• average weekly distance run/hiked: 55.8km (1004.4km)
  
• average weekly total training time: 11hr 2min (running, strength, isometrics and cross-training)
  
• longest run (by time): 4hr 6min on 6/3/21
• longest run (by distance): 27.4 km on 20/2/21 (36% of race distance)
  
• biggest run (by elevation gain): 1531m+ on 6/3/21 (35% of race elevation gain)

Result: it made me stronger but slower, at least on the flat

 

1. It got me used to this kind of training (lots of vert and strength work)

I went from averaging just over 1200m+ a week to around 1900m+. And I can now easily do 2500m+ a week.

Next stop, 3000m+ a week!

2. No muscular problems or cramps during the race

The plan made me strong enough to handle all the climbing and descending without a hint of muscle cramping during the 13 plus hours of the race, whereas I had gotten cramps in the previous two ultras I'd done.

However, conditions were ideal for running this time, so maybe it wasn't the training but just the weather.

Even so, this race was twice as long in time and elevation gain as those other ultras, so the training probably did have something to do with it.

3. I got slower on the flat

Here's the comparison between an AeT test (using the Uphill Athlete drift test) I did at the start of the plan and one I did after my goal race:

	Date	Test time	Avg pace	Avg Hr 1st 1/4	Avg Hr 1st 1/2	Avg Hr	Avg pwr	Pa:hr	Pw:hr	EF
1	3/12/20	60'	5:04	145	145	145	253	1.33%	1.44%	1.74
2	24/04/21	60'	5:11	151	151	152	247	3.33%	2.57%	1.63

I did have a headwind for the last 40' of test 2. But even so, I was clearly less efficient in the second test, going slower at a higher average heart rate. In neither case does it look like I'm was at my AeT threshold (probably 155 now).

I half expected this slowing down.

After all, I went from running mostly on the flat (at mostly easy paces) to running on the flat only for recovery runs.

Also, I was definitely not, and aren't now, aerobically deficient, so just staying in zone 1 on hilly terrain (which I did most of the time) was not going to help me on the flat as it might if I'd been untrained.

So I got worse at something I wasn't doing. Logical, I suppose. Although I did hope that the downhill running might keep my efficient on the flat. Alas, it wasn't the case.

4. Did I get faster climbing?

I don't know. I will redo my AnT test to see if I've gotten faster over that course.

But the AnT test might not be a valid indicator of what I probably got more efficient at on this plan.

The AnT test, at least on the course I did it on, is a measure of running uphill at threshold pace, whereas my recent training has probably got me better at moving uphill on steeper slopes at an aerobic pace.

I'll retest anyway.

What's next?

I'm going to do the plan again in preparation for a 100km ultra with 6600m+ in October (Ultra Pirineu). 

This time, I'll up the weekly vertical gain (hopefully averaging over 2500m+ with weeks of over 3000 m+) and add in the hill sprints and Z3 if I can.

I'll think about adding in a Z2 run on the flat each week or so. See if I can arrest that efficiency slide.

UPDATE 05/07/21: Caveats to whether I really got slower

Some time after writing this post, I realised using the AeT test I mention above might be flawed for testing whether I got slower for three reasons.

First, I had breakfast and coffee before this test whereas all the previous tests had been done fasted. This surely meant that my HR was higher than if I'd done it like all the others: i.e. fasted.

Second, it might not be a fair comparison as I was comparing doing the test after not having run in this way for over four months with the last test of this type I'd done after having done four or five of them. I'd had practice and had clearly gotten better at this type of run, which does seem to get my fitter. Perhaps I'm suited to it or it's because I hardly ever run in zone 2 so there are lots of benefits to be gained.

Third, in none of the tests prior to or this last one had I found my AeT: I'd always aimed to low. So the comparison was always going to be speculative.

Either way, I'm pretty sure I got slower and less efficient on the flat. So I'm still going to (and have in fact) add in some flat Z2 training. It seems to get me fitter and running faster on the flat. And this is useful even for events with lots of vert.

Signed up for Vall del Congost trail marathon

 So I'm currently signed up for:

• Xtrail Alella (21km, 1050m+), 2 May
• Vall del Congost Extreme Trail (43km, 3050m+), 5 September
• Ultra Pirineu (100km, 6600m+), 2 October

I'd also like to do:

• Barcelona Trail Races Gran Trail Collserola (77km, 2955m+)
  

Recovery from ultra, about nine days

I could run a few days after, but I didn't feel back to normal until the second Monday after the event. So about nine days.

The sore muscles had gone in a couple of days, but niggles in my left calf and right foot reared their heads on different days. Both quickly over with, though. Gym sessions and isometrics helped.

So, one cycle of the Big Vert plan down, one to go.

I'll have a few weeks transition and then get back into it.

This time with more vert, hill sprints and Z3 --- the things my body couldn't handle the first time around.

The voice in your head that you hear in ultras

That little voice inside your head you start to hear when you embark on something uncertain and awe-inspiring, like an ultramarathon.

I started hearing it last weekend, in the Ultra Montseny, an hour or so into the race.

It became more insistent until it was the only voice in my head, and it stuck around until an hour or two before the finish, when I heard it less and less. It's job had been done.

"Protect your legs on the downhills." "Remember to eat and drink.", "You're doing it!" "Well done!" "Nice work!" "Keep it up!"

It was like having a coach in my ear, telling me what I needed to be doing and urging me on.

On and on it went, talking me through the entire part of the race when everything was uncertain. I wasn't sure I could do that distance without destroying my legs. I'd never done a race that long or with so much elevation change.

Novelty and uncertainty

I'd like to have this voice booming in my head more often. It's always there, I think. But it normally doesn't say much, or is drowned out by other voices.

But it'd be great to have this voice coaching me through my day, keeping me on the straight and narrow, away from distractions and time-wasting.

But I don't think it works like that. The circumstances need to be right for this voice to take control and be the only one in my head.

What are those circumstances?

Novelty and uncertainty. It also has to be something important. It has to matter.

This is when I've heard it before.

On a skydiving jump that went wrong (and just about on every other jump but particularly that day) to in just about all long and ambitious runs or races I've done, from road marathons to ultras.

The first time I remember it taking over when running was in a trail marathon, my first marathon of any kind, in Segovia, Castellón.

I was just under halfway through. Running well, but with cramps coming on. From then the voice took over, telling my what to do, how to make the most out of that situation. Talking me to the finish line and through some tough, cramped-filled kilometres.

But it goes when I don't need it any more. When it's bored, I think. Given how much it seems to like novelty and a challenge.

Last weekend, when I was nearly up the biggest and second-last climb of the day, I started to hear it less. I still had a couple of hours and one climb to go. But the voice was no more.

The result was certain --- I was definitely making it to the finish line, mostly intact --- so it had nothing else to say.

The last couple of hours were a struggle, perhaps more so than the previous ones, but there was no uncertainty, no challenge. So what use would that helpful voice have been?

I could conjure it up. But it wasn't the same. It wasn't coming in and taking control as it had for 75% of the race

How to hear that voice more often?

To hear that voice everyday, I guess I'd have to put myself in novel and challenging situations that matter everyday. The "matter" part matters. Self-imposed deadlines ain't going to cut it. Or would they?

Maybe I could cram more into my day. Make life tougher so that the voice came out more often.

I'd have to give myself no outs, though. Hmm... Easier said than done.

It's also probably why I like running and doing races, challenging myself in some way to hear that voice. It feels great to be in that mindset. You are focussed, not thinking about anything else but the challenge at hand.

Just got to make sure I sign up for another race, I guess.

Ultra Montseny 2021: it actually happened, and I ended up going!

View from the first summit of the day!

 

Despite the Covid restrictions being turned up a notch just a few days prior, the Ultra Montseny 2021 went ahead as planned on Saturday, 10 April.

I even turned up and took part! I wasn't sure I could with the new Covid restrictions, but I went anyway and am glad I did.

My longest ultra so far

• just under 78 km with over 4700 m elevation gain
  
• in 13 hours 40 minutes.
  

That's a lot longer and harder than I'd done previously (66 km, 2500 m+ and 7 hr 30 m), nearly twice the time and elevation gain.

The course was pretty tricky, too, with lots of craggy rocky sections and sharp climbs and descents

But I got through it pretty much in shape all the way to the end: no cramps, blisters or niggles; refueling well all the way; still with energy and spirit to keep moving forward.

My pace slowed more than it might have towards the end, but this probably only added 20 or 30 minutes to my total time.

Why did my pace slow?

Don't know. I was tired on the climbs, but I had no muscular problems and wasn't going that much slower than earlier on.

Where I was really struggling was going downhill. But I don't know if it was my feet or muscle or mental fatigue (couldn't work out where to put my foot!).

On the right track with training

All the elevation gain, hiking, and muscle endurance and strength work I've been doing following the Big Vert plan from Uphill Athlete for the last four months seems to have worked, despite the teething problems and niggles I had changing over to this kind of training.

Even though I didn't do all the volume and strength work (hill sprints and Z3 training) I wanted because my body couldn't handle it, I had no muscular problems at all during the race.

With this experience under my belt, the next time through the Big Vert plan, I'm sure I'll be able to do more of it and get more out of it.

Altra King MT 2.0s were great!

• no blisters
• good traction in the tricky conditions (rocks and roots, sometimes wet and muddy
• great drainage: after stepping in a stream and soaking my foot, the water was gone in a flash

Although I have one doubt with these shoes over this distance and time.

What if the slowing of my pace over the last 10 km or so had to do with these shoes having less cushioning than is typically recommended for ultras? (Apparently the King MTs aren't designed for long events.)

It's hard to tell because I'm not sure why I slowed towards the end. It might have just been general or muscle fatigue.

It would be a shame if the shoes were at fault --- they have become my go-to shoes on the trails of late, even more so than the Altra Superior 4.5s, which I've found don't fit my foot as well as the King MTs do or the Superior 4.0s did.

Anyway, this was a long and technical course (lots of rocks under foot for so much of it). So even if it were the shoes, I could probably do most other races in them without a problem.

Trekking poles work! (At least on a technical course like this one)

Even though I haven't had much experience with them, the poles helped a lot. I'm sure they're partly the cause of me not having any muscular issues. I also like they way they let you use your upper body far more --- trail running becomes a whole body sport!

My descending could be improved

I took it easy all day going downhill to save my legs, letting people go by on the descents and mostly catching them up on the climbs.

This approach appeared to work as I had no muscle problems at all. But I don't feel I could have gone much faster downhill anyway. I felt plain clumsy sometimes. This might have been because of fatigue, but I think I could do better going downhill. It's also something I've ignored of late.

So perhaps I'll start running some downhill stretches with intent each week.

In events like this, I will always be cautious descending to save my legs, but if up my ability, I might be able to make my safe pace a little faster.

Fantastic organisation of the event!

It went like clockwork, even with all the changes imposed by the pandemic.

The volunteers were friendly and helpful, despite being out there by almost alone (there was zero public this owing to the new restrictions) for so many hours in the not-so-great conditions for standing around (great for running, though).

The trail markings were good, with clearly placed ribbons that were plentiful where needed.

Magical scenery

Especially deep in the forest on such a grey day! The views weren't so great, but that's a reason to come back.

Optimisation versus mental toughness

The experts on training and running will tell you to get the little things right: to optimise recovery, nutrition, training and sleep.

However, optimising and getting used to having things close to perfect a lot of the time can make you a worry wart and collapse into a pool of silliness when things start to go wrong.

Take sleep, for example.

Say you organise your life to get fantastic sleep most nights. The day you don't get it — likely to be the day you most need it — you worry excessively that you won't be up to the task. If you're used to not always getting a good night sleep and doing whatever it is you have to do regardless, you'll worry less (and perhaps sleep better as a result).

And there's another problem. The things you do to optimise sleep can make it harder to sleep when everything doesn't fall into place and when you will probably most need to sleep as well as you can despite the circumstances.

If you need a totally dark and quiet room at the right temperature while wearing earplugs next to someone who doesn't snore too much, you will have a crisis the day you don't have these things.

In fact, when you don't have much stress, you should actually be training yourself to get by in not perfect conditions.

This applies to everything else — nutrition, recovery and training.

Of course, the main thing about running training is to avoid injury. So you don't want to skimp on optimising in that area. But don't worry if everything else doesn't fall in place every day. It's a good test and training in itself. Training for real life.

I'm thinking about this a day before an ultra for which I'll get at best four hours of sleep (I'll be getting up at 3 am).

Plus, there has been an added stressor with this ultra. With the regional government ramping up the COVID restrictions in the past two days (now we can't leave our county without a good reason as well as not being able to go out between 10 pm and 6 am), whether the race would go ahead and whether I could do it were both in doubt.

The race will go ahead. Although I'm still not sure whether I'm allowed to go as I'm not a "federated runner". This is a grey area that the organisers have not been able to give me a straight answer on.

However, it should be okay. Either way, I'm going. I'm decided now, but this has given me an extra thing to worry about and try to sort out over the last couple of days — sending emails to people, keeping an eye on social media and printing out forms for if the police pull me over at four in the morning.

As usual, conditions are not ideal. I did my last ultra on less sleep than I'll get tonight, and I've run and done other things countless times in similar conditions.

However, of late I've been so lucky with getting things like recovery and sleep right, that it's a rude shock to be back in the land of stress and little sleep.

So I think in stressless times I should push myself closer to the edge on a regular basis. I also need to do more things in my day. In fact, cramming more things in my day would be the simplest way to add stress when none is coming from external forces.

This would be a blessing in two ways.

First, I'd get more done.

Second, I'd get used to living further away from any state of optimisation. So when life gets in the way at key moments, I'd be much better prepared.

So in the future, less focus on optimising and more on getting things done and mental toughness.

How long should your longest run be?

I mean when training for an ultra, as a percentage or time, distance or elevation gain or the event.

As I mentioned here, the longest runs I've done for my upcoming ultra have been just over a third of race distance and elevation gain.

Is that enough?

Maybe, although I would have liked to have had a run of at least half distance and elevation gain.

However, this ultra is more a training session for a 100-ker I'm doing in October. So this will be one of the long runs I'll do for that.

When October rolls around, I'll at least be able to say I did a long run of about 3/4 distance and elevation gain.

The last ultra I did was in 2019 (65km). That's 85% of this race, but I guess it's too long ago to say it was training for this race. Or maybe not.

Training done for Ultra Montseny 21

Premià de Dalt

 

From Monday, 30/11/20 until Sunday, 4/4/21 (one week before Ultra Montseny, 76km, 4374m+)

Figures

• average weekly elevation gain: 1772m+ (total: 31,896m+)
  
• average weekly time run/hiked: 7hr 31min (135hr 18min)
  
• average weekly distance run/hiked: 55.8km (1004.4km)
  
• average weekly total training time: 11hr 2min (running + strength, isometrics and cross-training)
  
• longest run (by time): 4hr 6min on 6/3/21
• longest run (by distance): 27.4 km on 20/2/21 (36% of race distance)
  
• biggest run (by elevation gain): 1531m+ on 6/3/21 (35% of race elevation gain)

 Not much intensity

• only did two hill sprint sessions
• only did two Z3 workouts (two more on the bike)

Mainly because of niggles; upping the vert turned out to be stressful enough. I had planned to do more as per the Big Vert plan I'm following.

Quite a bit of muscular endurance (ME) and lots of strength work 

• did a lot of strength work: improved calf strength out of sight (hopefully this will prevent injury); got back into squating and deadlifting; started single-leg exercises
• would have done more ME sessions if I'd realised they were supposed to be the building block for the Z3 workouts, i.e. as I didn't end up doing most of the Z3 sessions; I could have done more ME work instead
• isometrics to get over calf, Achilles and peroneal niggles (worked a charm and is my new secret weapon against tendon and muscle niggles)
  

Built up elevation gain

From averaging just over 1200m+ a week to around 1900m+ for this year. And I can now comfortably do 2500m+ a week. This would have been an overreach previously.

 

I thought I'd be able to up it to 3000m+, but at least I have that number well within reach for my next cycle of the Big Vert plan leading up to the Ultra Pirineu.