Episode 502: Backyard Ultra Records & Recovery | Phil Gore

Yeah.

It is an interesting thought because if it's a physical thing that limits your progress, then you sort of go back to the drawing board and thinking, "Well, how can I make the area that failed stronger?" But then you're also extrapolating that out to five, six days at this point, so it's, like, hard probably to kind of think about, "Well, what do I actually do to improve that and make that so it doesn't fall apart?" And, um, I'm sure you've got some ideas around that.

Are you thinking about anything different in your training that would help prepare for that? Is it gonna be mostly, like, more specific downhill running work, or is there a strength routine or something like that that you're thinking about that might be helpful with that particular area?

Yeah.

I think I probably need to spend a bit more time in the gym.

Like, I, I do get in the gym, uh, but it's not a priority for me.

Um, you know, if, if I'm having a busy week or I've got a few things on or I'm picking up extra shifts at work, the gym is normally the first thing to go.

Like, with my running, like, no matter what, each day I'll get my running done.

But with the gym, I just don't really enjoy it as much, so it's, it's harder for me to stick to a routine with that.

Uh, so I think that's probably, probably my biggest area that I can improve on, is just being more consistent with that gym work and focusing on those leg strengthening exercises.

Um, in terms of hills, like, I do a lot of hill, um, like, interval work, where I'm sprinting up the hills, but then I'm just walking back down.

So, like, I'll still get downhill running when I go for my, like, long trail runs and, you know, I've got the ups and the downs and that.

But when I'm actually doing my interval sessions, it's like sprinting up the hill and then nice easy walk back down.

So I could probably be a bit more specific with including some downhill, um, you know, repetitions, um, instead of just, yeah, focusing on the uphill.

Do you think there'd be any-- Obviously, you're dealing with pacing here, and if you start going too slow in very runnable sections, that can start to compromise other things that you need to be doing between laps.

But I was wondering about just i- 'cause the downhill running is gonna be the most eccentric loading movement you're doing out there, so I wonder if there'd be any value in, during the race itself, picking and choosing your battles with the running down versus walking down the hill in the race itself, if that would be something that could potentially limit the damage to some degree and allow, allow you to go further at the end of the day.

Yeah.

And I did actually start walking the downhills towards the end, um, just because it was putting more pressure on my quad.

Uh, but I think I definitely need to, um, include that earlier on.

Like, maybe every second lap I'm walking down the hills.

Um, yeah, because in, uh, at the start you don't notice it.

You're just like, "Oh, this is easy, like, gravity's doing half the work here." Like, you know, I'll just-- You know, this is an easy section to run, so I'll run down this hill.

And yeah, you don't notice it lap to lap, but it's just one of those things that it just gradually builds up.

And when you're out there for, yeah, like, six days, um, that's all gonna add up.

So I think being a bit more conscious from the, from the start of not running down every single hill, um, and taking it a bit easier and, you know, even-- I, I would always walk the uphills, but I think even running up some of the hills and, and walking the downhills from early on could, uh, make a difference.