She did it! This episode recaps many of the physical and mental insights Elena picked up while racing for over 29 hours at the world's most competitive and well-known 100-mile ultramarathon. We cover: what the energy in Chamonix is like during race week; how Elena prepped mentally and physically in the days and hours leading up to the race start; what the experience is like for crew and spectators; how she mentally and physically navigated feeling worse than expected in the first 20 miles of the race; how she dealt with insane weather conditions including rain, mud, cold, and snow through the night; the story behind the broken pole; what the last 30 miles felt like once she realized she was going to finish; how Elena is feeling now; and what's next on her running and racing scene. We also hit an interesting insight related to Boston Marathon registration and pregnancy race deferral policies at big races. This was such a fun episode to record, and we're so psyched for Elena on her huge accomplishment (did we mention 18th in the world?!)—check it out!
Information on pregnancy race deferral policies:
Challenge of the week:
Katie: Related to season planning – (a) identify one of your limiters, (b) reframe as something you are excited to get better at, (c) brainstorm three things you can do or change to improve. Can help to get a coach’s perspective as you do this!
Related: how to know something is a limiter. Many different ways, but some include something you feel always holds you back in training/racing/recovery; something you have a lot of anxiety around in training/racing; parts of a race where you feel you are always getting passed relative to other people (e.g., bike in triathlon, technical downhill sections in ultra, etc.)
Examples of common limiters: sleep, nutrition, time management, or sport-specific skills
Elena: say “I’m Awesome” multiple times on your next hard activity and see what happens :)
Gear pick of the week:
Katie: Veken packing cubes (cheap random brand I found on Amazon and a life saver for all travel). I put these in my Patagonia Black Hole duffel 55L and can crush anything from overnight trips to 3-week vacations
Elena: On CloudUltra Pro Shoes– ran the whole race in them and not too many feet issues! And Desitin for anti-blisters!