Off Duty, Military Health and Fitness - Air Force Times

Distance junkies

Army Capt. Zach Keefer averaged about 17 minutes per mile in his race last June. And he felt pretty darn good about it. After launching from the starting line, it took Keefer only 28 hours, 32 minutes to reach the finish line.

Did you do the math? Yep, that’s 100 miles. Nonstop. And it’s certainly not a mission for everyone: Among the thousands who made the cut to get into the 36th annual Western States Endurance Run, almost half dropped out before reaching the end.

Forget marathons. Those are warm-ups. This endurathon begins where a marathon’s 26.2 miles end.

Extreme endurance sports — whether running, biking, swimming, or all three — aren’t for everyone. But military people are naturally drawn to any sport that separates the men from the boys and the strong from the mere mortals. Only 70,000 people complete an ultra-marathon every year.

The Western States Endurance Run is one of the toughest foot races in the world, traversing the rocky Sierra Nevada spine in California, twisting from Lake Tahoe’s Squaw Valley through more than 41,000 feet of up-and-down hardscrabble elevation changes.

“It’s an emotional roller coaster,” says Keefer, a Black Hawk helicopter pilot.

“But you get through it like you get through a long deployment. You can’t think about the whole event; you just have to take it piece by piece and push the negative thoughts out of your mind.”

Western States is one of many ultraraces in the U.S. Among the more notorious is the AdventureCORPS Badwater Ultramarathon — 135 miles from the July-fueled furnace of Death Valley to the thin air of Mount Whitney, Calif. Brazilian Marcos Farinazzo, 40, was this year’s winner, finishing in just less than 24 hours.

Wheels and water

Extra-long distances are not just for runners.

There’s ultracycling, with races that make the Tour de France look like a pleasant ride through the French countryside. Take the Race Across America, or RAAM, an annual 3,000-mile test of metal and muscle from Oceanside, Calif., to Annapolis, Md. Racers average 300 miles a day and finish in about 10 days — most log only a few hours of sleep a day. (The Tour de France is 800 miles shorter and takes three weeks to finish.)

Special Operator 1st Class (SEAL) David Goggins, a legend in ultrarunning circles and “Runner’s World” magazine cover model, plans to take a stab at next year’s RAAM.

“In ultrasports, I’ve grown to find out it’s not about what place you come in; it’s about how hard you try,” Goggins wrote on his blog.

“Every day, when I see my reflection, I see a man who is not yet satisfied.”

Meanwhile, ultraswimming takes distance swims of one or two miles and extends them beyond the horizon. It’s not uncommon for ultraswimmers to go 25 miles and beyond in a single all-day outing.

Combine all three sports and you get Ironman races. Originally conceived as a challenge among a group of Navy SEALs, these heavy-duty triathlons combine a 2.4-mile open-ocean swim, a 112-mile bike race and a full 26.2-mile running marathon.

Of course, now ultraversions are available: Double and even triple Ironman races multiply those feats into tests of endurance once thought impossible.

Taking it easy with LSD

Marine Gunnery Sgt. Dennis Miranda, a veteran of several 50-mile ultraraces, created his own event last year. As a nod to the Corps’ 1775 birthday, he created a 177.5-mile race — dubbed the Esprit de Corps Ultra — last October to raise money for wounded Marines.

The team ran about 40 miles a day, capping the last day with the Marine Corps Marathon.

His training runs were designed to get his body used to spending hours on the road. He used a technique called Long Slow Distance, he says, “emphasizing on slow.”

In real terms, that meant 10- to 15-minute miles on runs ranging from 10 to 22 miles a day.

Cross train

Before even considering ultrasports, athletes should already have a solid core, says Mike Caviston, director of fitness for the Naval Special Warfare Center at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado, Calif.

“With modest levels of fitness, you can knock out a marathon, but ultra is a whole different thing — you can’t cut any corners,” he says.

Bones and ligaments have to be able to withstand brutal wear and tear, and abs, lower back, lower ribs and basically all major trunk muscles that support the legs and arms need to be well-honed.

“You definitely need to be doing strength training and probably some yoga for flexibility,” Caviston says. The ultrasport itself “should never be the only thing you’re doing.”

Miranda began his regimen with basic weight training three times a week and then started a daily dose of CrossFit workouts, ideal for building core strength.

The team coach “would create an intense workout challenge every Friday to keep things interesting,” Miranda says. The weekly blaster, which he dubbed “Fight for Freedom Friday,” was “challenging, but also fueled our competitive spirit.”

Keefer says regular biking did wonders in preparing him for the Western States’ big quad-blowing downhills. “Cycling works your hamstrings out more than just running alone will ever do,” he said.

Feeding the fire

Most ultrarunners need to take in about 300 calories per hour, even while training, experts say.

“If you’re not fueling, you’re going to find yourself broken down and stranded 20 miles away from your house,” Keefer said.

High-calorie boosters like GU and e-Gel are easy to stuff in a CamelBak for shots of energy.

Keefer said he alternates between the two every half-hour and tries to throw in an occasional sandwich for variety.

“You need to experiment to see what foods work for you and what doesn’t,” he says, adding that practicing feedings during training helps ensure you don’t forget on race days.

“People tend to not eat when they need it the most,” Keefer says. “If you’re not staying focused, you’ll forget to eat and just think you can muscle through. There won’t be any immediate repercussions, but the next hour, you will feel like crap and then you’ll be playing catch-up the rest of the way.”

To protect against “bubble guts,” he packs a few tabs of antacids and Pepto-Bismol. “Diarrhea can be a show-stopper real quick,” he said.

And, of course, water is critical. While the body’s needs can vary, 35 ounces per hour on the road is a good rule of thumb, Keefer says.

While he normally steers clear of caffeine, he loads up on it during race day. “It does provide a significant boost,” he says.

Boosts are good. Especially when you’ve got your sights set on a double Ironman, he said.

“That’s next,” Keefer says, but it’ll have to wait for a yearlong deployment to Afghanistan. Not the greatest place to train, he says.

“Not a lot of opportunities to work on the swim, but I’ll try to make the most of it,” he said.

What are you made of?

While ultras may seem like ultimate tests of individual strength, many walk away with a deeper appreciation for their reliance on others.

“You cannot do these things by yourself,” says Army Capt. Matthew Heisey. “My wife crews for me at every race, and knowing she’ll be at the next aid station, even if it is 30 miles away, helps keep my focus.”

There is an undeniable sense of accomplishment that comes with finishing long runs, says Alabama Air National Guard Lt. Col. Elmer Norvell, who’s logged 50 marathons and about 20 ultras.

“We all have important milestones — our first kiss, marriage, the birth of a child,” Norvell says. “Your first marathon is another one of those things you’ll never forget. Get out there and run it, walk it, crawl it; you will always feel good about doing it.”

And whether it’s a marathon or ultramarathon, he says just about anyone can do them.

“I’ve seen amputees finish,” he says. “On my last 100-miler, I got passed by a 62-year-old at the 70-mile mark. There’s only one absolute requirement to do these things — you have to just really want it. Certainly anyone in the military who’s not on a medical profile has very good odds of being able to finish one; you just have to train for it.”

Those who participate in ultra-athletics often say they provide a crucible of character as much as a test of physical endurance.

“You have to come to grips with your soul,” Heisey says. “If you go and run for 10 hours, you will have a point where you learn who you truly are. Running these distances is not natural, so you will see very quickly what you are made of.”

Do you have what it takes?

Most ultra-athletes employ a methodical approach to training that helps them reach the summits of their target distances. To prepare for big runs, Army Capt. Zach Keefer, who has competed in the Ford Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii, said he usually breaks down his training over six months, using a decidedly easier-said-than-done, three-step plan: base, build and peak.

Base

This is where you rack up a solid foundation of miles on the road. For a 100-miler like the Western States, Keefer starts with about 30 miles a week. By the end of two months, you should be logging 50 miles a week.

“You don’t want to be doing anything less than 10 miles in any one session, but probably no more than 13 miles at this point,” he says. Running unit PT is fine, “but it doesn’t count toward your workout. It’s more like a light snack.”

Build

The next three months, you want to be consistently building on total mileage every two weeks. “It starts to get hard getting longer runs in during the workweek, so I usually run heavy on the weekends,” Keefer says.

Two 20-mile runs strung together within 24 hours helps the body get used to the all-day-and-night pounding that’s coming. Shorter 10-mile runs should focus on pushing speed to improve oxygen intake — or VO2 max — and build your anaerobic threshold with muscle-blitzing lactic acid. By the end of the build phase, you should be hitting about 70 miles per week, with no single run of more than 50 miles.

Peak

The last month, training gets scaled back down to 35-40 miles a week, with the last week or so tapering off down to just enough to burn off nervous energy.

“Devote a lot of time to stretching,” Keefer suggests. Mental preparation is also key. “You can underestimate the importance of thinking through every aspect of the race.”

He says it can mean the difference between burning three minutes at an aid station or “only spending 50 seconds.”

Through it all, Keefer says, the most important thing is to listen to your body and not injure yourself.

“It’s better to show up at the starting line undertrained than injured,” he says.