GED
"I had the confidence on the start line. For the first time I was able to set a goal which was beyond just finishing"
From previously aiming just to get to the finish line of an Ultra to now confidently running at a good pace for the duration.
Picking up a silver medal for placing in the top quarter overall!
Ged has absolutely smashed his goal of the Glasgow to Edinburgh Ultra. Completing 93km within his target time of between 10-11 hours.
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STARING POINT
When Ged came to me initially he was already well into his running. He has previously completed the Pennine Barrier Ultra Race. However he admitted that he had came last during the race and wants to feel more confident and prepared for the next race.
He was looking at a number of races at the time but hadn't booked anything at this point. His weekly training consisted of sporadic running mileage which didn't have much structure. He often struggled with tightness in the calves and this would sometimes become a limiting factor for his training. Ged knew that strength training would help his overall performance and injury prevention but wasn't currently doing any strength and conditioning work.
With all of this in mind, we stripped everything right back and went through a movement screening process to find Geds weaknesses and strengths. From this is was clear that he had some restriction in his ankles as well as some weakness in his core.
From the information gathered I was able to create Ged a very well structured plan tailored to him which worked on these weaker areas and continue to build overall strength and conditioning for running.
THE PROCESS
Ged selected a race - the Glasgow to Edinburgh Ultra. I laid out a simple running structure which allowed him to manage his strength and conditioning around his running without to much fatigue.
Due to Ged being relatively new to the strength and conditioning aspect we started off with very low volume and intensity - focusing completely on form to ensure he was carrying out the movements correctly and improving overall motor control. The key was communication at this point to monitor how the strength work impacted his ability to recover and manage his running weekly. We adjusted and adapted his training where necessary to ensure he continued to progress and build solid foundations in the gym.
His running volume started relatively low and gradually added to this each week in manageable chunks. This allowed Ged to nail his weekly distance goals.
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6 weeks in we dropped off one of the gym sessions to allow him to focus more on his running volume and intensity as we progressed. His initial Base phase lasted 8 weeks overall. We then progressed into a build phase for 4 weeks where we increased weekly runs to a total of 4 runs per week and 2 gym sessions per week.
We split his training down to -
Gym + Intervals Monday
Medium Length Run Tuesday
Rest/Short Recovery Run Wednesday
Gym Thursday
Tempo Run Friday
Long Run Saturday
Rest Sunday
We built this for 3 weeks and then de loaded on the 4th week reducing weekly volume before moving into his peak phase. For Geds Peak Phase Ged was now hitting some big weekly volume, 80km week 1, 86km week 2 and then finally 72km week 3 before heading into his taper week of 31km and then race week included stead walks and spinning on the bike prior to race day.
THE RACE
To ensure the day of the race went well we had placed in kit check/practice runs for Ged to nail down and tweak his race it ready for the day as well as testing nutrition protocols. Ged said he had real confidence on that start line, something which he has never felt before.
He was able to run the entirety of what was a 93km race!
He said he thoroughly enjoyed the experience which was clear from how fresh and happy he looked mid race in the photo on the right.
Then there's the PBs he smashed. He got Personal Records during this race for 50k, Marathon and 30k distances!
Overall he came 8th in his age category and claimed a silver medal for his position and time.
Check out below -
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