New Obsession Unlocked
Throughout my whole running career I was always the classic “The Longer the Better” type of runner. I’ve always been pitiful in the 400m, not good at the 800m, okay at the mile, and successful at whatever longer was at the time. In High School that means the 2 mile, in college that means 5k/10k which quickly grew to marathon… and 50k. Speed always being my weakness and endurance my strength- I used to think, “maybe one day I’ll discover 100 miles is where my true talent lies.”
Well, I am 30 years old, one day is now! Although I am determined to keep speed development as part of my training, I love trail running and long days in the mountains with my wife and friends way too much to allow training for shorter distance PR’s to be possible. 3 years ago, Lea entered my life full time and along with her came more hours running, more elevation change, and more aerobic fitness. I always knew I would commit to long-ultras at some point in my journey, and I have officially reached that point! Pinhoti 100 Mile is the local classic, and this year lined up with my work schedule. Lea and several friends had already run it before, had good things to say about it, so Lea and I made the decision to go for it! New obsession unlocked.
Pinhoti 100 Training: Vvo2 —> VvoZ2
My trail running journey began in the Bay Area circa 2016, and there was one man who owned almost every strava crown in the region: David Roche. I have followed closely his training, racing, and coaching ever since and lucky for me David famously transitioned into his long-ultra era at nearly the same time. Thanks to David’s unprecedented transparency with every little thing he puts in and get out, I now I had a perfect blueprint to follow, to extrapolate into my own training/life context.
Velocity at Vo2Max (Vvo2) is a term used by running coaches that essentially means 5k fitness. How fast can you run at max effort for 15-20 minutes? Velocity at Z2 (VvoZ2) is a term I have only really heard David say, but it could be more common in cycling? This is essentially the speed you are running at Zone 2 effort. Z2 is a buzzword right now that can be measured in many different ways, but I use heart rate (HR). I have tracked my HR consistently and accurately for 4+ years now, and have been able to rely on my numbers to give me a useful Z2 range: mid-130’s to low 140’s. In theory, pending muscle breakdown and glycogen depletion Z2 could be kept indefinitely. This framework provides an oversimplified yet clear 100 mile training objective:
Be as fit as possible: The faster your Vvo2 the faster your VvoZ2
Train to delay muscle breakdown as far into the race as possible. Yes you still have to train like an ultrarunner too, you can’t just be fast.
Figure out how to keep your glycogen stores as full as possible.
I mostly focused on these basics and I was mostly successful. Similar to the majority of the running population, training had to fit into the margins of a busy life. I did not do as much strength and core as I wanted, I did not do as much heat training as I wanted, I did not do as much cross-training as I wanted, and I certainly did not nail every workout as I wanted. But here is what I did do:
Found a life partner who understands what it takes to race 100 miles. Lea and I run together when we can, but she also sacrifices the limited time we have to spend together to let me get more miles in and go faster on days I need to push a little harder. Everything I did below would not have been possible without Lea’s support.
Ran consistently (and not just for this training block, but for years on years stacked up!) Sometimes this means for me I only get 4 miles in instead of the 10 I would like. Something > Nothing
Strides every week and at least one quality workout! A couple of my proudest:
Uphill Treadmill, 40’ progression up to lactate threshold, then 2x10’ at lactate threshold for a total of 4,000 feet/ 5 miles in one hour.
12x400m in 1:14 average w/ 1:30 rest
Got all the big days in! It’s hard to know where the point of diminishing return is with volume and 100 mile training. I don’t think there is a correct answer, and I think it will always change person to person and in different phases of life. This is what I was able to fit in!
7 weeks out: 85 mile week, 25 mile verty trail run on Saturday and 13 mile quality trail run on Sunday.
5 weeks out: 18 Miles quality LR on hilly roads (18 miles @6:47 pace w/ 1,500ft of gain)
4 weeks out: 75 mile week, 50k Race with 7,000 feet of climbing on Saturday, and forced quality 12 trail miles on Sunday
3 weeks out: another verty 25 mile run with 5,000 feet of climbing
2 weeks out:90 mile week, jumped in the Chattanooga Stage Race with my training buddy Will, tried to dial in race effort and race day nutrition: 20 Miles Saturday, and 25 miles Sunday
1 Week out: one more bigger weekend: 17 on Saturday, and 10 quality on Sunday
Made a nutrition plan early in the training block and practiced it on ALL of my Long-Runs.
Ate as much or more than I planned to during the race on LR days for “gut training”
Practiced same exact setup as race day plan: Raide belt- gels in the front, fluids with drink mixes in the back- eat 1 Gel every hour on the hour, sip/drink to thirst every 20 minutes. Play around with higher carbs per hour and higher sodium per hour limits.This much practice with my exact nutrition gave me the confidence to attempt all gels and all drink mixes for the whole race.
Put together an All-Star Crew.
Cheif: Hunter Lenninger. Few people have more experience at ultra endeavors than Hunter does. I crewed Hunter for a race in the summer, he had stupid fast aid stations and I knew he could help me do the same! He was also kind enough to bring his van, tote everyone around, and navigate Bama Backroads.
Pacer 1: Will Sickenberger. Training partner in Chattanooga, brilliant mind backed up by a laid back demeanor and excellent sense of humor. More than capable of keeping up with me mid-race, even if I'm breaking records.
Pacer 2: Charlie Haney. 3 Time Pinhoti Finisher, course expert. Perfectly sarcastic amongst long suffering days.
Jonathan: Best man, someone I’m not afraid to be vulnerable with, flew in from DC for me. Worked out because Jon got to witness the beginnings of my bathroom stops.
Lea: Already one of the best Ultra Runners of all-time from the South at age 25, the person who knows me best in this world, and my teacher in grit, passion, and perseverance.
Pinhoti Race Day: Strategy —> How it went
Pinhoti 2024 ended up having a pretty stacked men’s field! I knew going into it that I was not guaranteed a podium spot. The weather was unseasonably warm, 100% humidity at the start over 80 degrees in the afternoon, less than ideal conditions could make it a game of survival.
The competition:
Drew Antonisse: Running acquaintance of mine, Georgia native residing in Telluride CO, mountain monster- several 50 BIG MOUNTAIN Mile Wins and Podiums.
Cole Crosby: Several road 50ks in the 3:05 range, and more recently, the Cowboy 200 miler in 42 Hours (sheesh)
Andrew Higgins: Defending champ from 2023, with several 100 mile finishes on his resume.
Ryne Anderson: Another 100 mile veteran, including a Hardrock finish THIS summer
Zack Jordan: 2024 Cheif Ladiga 100- 16:36 + several other 100 finishes and podiums
Peter Kazery: Lots of fast 50ks + Pinhoti podium in 2022
The strong field and the fact that this was my first 100 mile and only second time going past the 50 mile mark did produce some nervousness, however I was able to contain the nerves by sticking to my strategy in execution and in belief. Whether it was true or not, I believed that I had the fastest VvoZ2 in the field, I believed I had done the needed volume to run all the way to the finish, and I believed my nutrition plan would work. All I had to do then was run Z2, trust myself to be tough enough to keep doing it when it got hard, and drink my bottles/eat my gels. Simple stuff right?
The plan never works as expected… but if you don’t have a good plan, you have no platform to make adjustments from. Was my plan good? Yes. Did I have to adjust a little on the fly? Of course.
Brock Rotter Photos
Running Z2
Over the entire race I averaged 132 HR which I am pretty stoked on! 18 hours of that much output is pretty mind-blowing to me! The race started out faster than anticipated and remained more tactical than anticipated through almost 50 miles with lots of lead changes. My HR was floating higher than I planned, peaking at 148 whilst going up Mt. Cheaha and trying to make an early move to win the race right in the heat of the day. Despite running pretty hard, Drew was still out running me which was a good lesson in Ultra-Racing—it's still racing!
Keep doing it when it got hard
I did see a lot of HR fade in the 2nd half of the race, as my muscles broke down and the weather cooled off (as expected). However, I was still getting up to 140’s on climbs all the way to mile 80, and had some sections where I felt like I was moving really well. Drew had built a 10 minute lead on me, and at times I seemed to be flowing well and maybe making up some time.. After mile 80 I got pretty stuck into 11 minute miles, despite still “running” all the climbs and trying to open up on the downhills, and pumping my arms comically hard the breakdown had set in. I’m still brainstorming if I had stuck more strictly to Z2 in the first half, if I could have maintained it longer in the second half. All things considered I finished the race well, ran 95% + of it, and made it through without any major problems or crazy lows. I held it together enough to break 18 hours, with plenty of whining to Lea about how slow the miles started to go by the last 12. I am very happy to have survived to the finish running, Drew thrived to the finish! He put a full 40 minutes on me in the last 12 miles and was knocking on the door of sub 17 hours!
Drink my bottles/eat my gels
Final Nutrition Numbers:
Fluid: 17,000ml (4.5 gallons) (~950ml per hour)
Sodium:20,600mg (~1100mg per hour)
Carbs: 1674 (~93g per hour)
I was worried what would happen intaking this much after 10 or so hours, but intake was never an issue. Gels went down easy. I had planned to eat one gel per hour and rely on drink mixes to make up the rest of my carbs for about 90g per hour. About halfway through I decided to add a second gel into the mix per hour because I was feeling a little bonky and felt better soon after having a gel. I was reluctant to change my plan, but encouragement from Will while pacing me helped me take the leap. I think I probably overestimated the strength of the Aid Station Roctane mixes and needed to make up for it with an extra gel. Although I never experienced nausea or stomach pain, between mile 70 and the finish I did have to make 3 bathroom stops, and could have taken many more had I not been determined to make forward progress. Maybe only liquids in =only liquids out….
Long Distance Boi
Although I suspected long ago that 100 miles might be a good fit for me, there was definitely a part of me that wished it wasn’t so. I thought if I just finished the race and checked that box, I could go back to racing shorter, more fun distances. Unfortunately, I loved the process, felt like I was in my element on race day, and put up an impressive debut 100 performance. I am excited to pick another 100 mile race, put another plan together and give it another go. New obsession unlocked! I am proud of my training, proud of the performance, and proud of my overly-analytical brain, but mostly I am proud of Lea and I for continuing in the good fight for joy. Survival in this world comes through the mundane tasks, and it's so hard to fit in the things we are actually passionate and excited about. Lea and I work really hard at this trade-off, and I’m so proud of us for continuing to make special days, special moments, and purposeless projects the driving force of our lives.
Brock Rotter Photos
For Nerds Only
Compiled Pinhoti Spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1IyP_EcdLxip7QFrjCKSP9GdFoawmdAKs9xFxIrl28zE/edit?usp=sharing
