How to Train for Ultra Running

Ross Litherland is a fell runner of over 20 years. Between 2007 and 2015 he became completely engrossed by the legendary Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc (UTMB), finishing it four times and with one DNF. He has also completed the Traces du Duc de Savoie (TDS). These days he is still found fell racing around his local Peak District and the Lakes.

It’s Friday 28th August 2015 at 17:58 in Place de l’Eglise, Chamonix - the start of the UTMB. This is it: eight months of training, racing, and hard work have led to this point. The butterflies have been building from the moment I woke at 6 am and the adrenaline is peaking as the first notes of Vangelis’s Conquest of Paradise start to play. I’m struggling to understand why I’m so nervous. After all, this race is not going to be over any time soon; I’ve got a long, long way to go before its conclusion.

I can’t smile at the crowd or get excited; the task is far too daunting. In any case, high-fiving and whooping now will only mean I’ll have less energy in reserve when it starts getting tough. Which it will, at some point. Better to focus on one thing and one thing only: moving forward.

The truth is, I’m petrified. I wouldn’t mind, but I’ve been on this start line plenty of times before. Why does it feel like there is so much riding on it? Then I remembered that this is the biggest Ultra-Trail race in the world and that at this moment, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

Having completed my first Ultra-Trail in 2007 and my fourth in 2015 I thought I’d finally got over my Chamonix addiction. Yet as I write this, I’m only eight weeks away from the start of the famous TDS (les Traces du Duc de Savoie - UTMB Mont Blanc). So, I'm sharing the lessons I've learned, mostly the hard way, on how to prepare for an ultra run.