Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Ian Torrence
Troubleshooting On The Run, Part Three
Welcome to the third part of our ultrarunning troubleshooting series. Check out Part One and Part Two as well! Here, we continue to cover the most commonly asked questions and issues that both newbie and veteran ultrarunners encounter during competition. Though many of the answers and remedies are well known to most, we often fail to implement them. Use these reminders to help you avoid or overcome race-day glitches.
Troubleshooting on the Run, Part Two
In Part One of this Troubleshooting on the Run series, we began discussing remedies for some of the most common race-day blunders and maladies, while this series wraps up with Part Three. Included in this article is another set of ultrarunning problems we hope to help you sort out. Topics covered include: Foot Problems Chafing Running at Night Murphy’s Law Trailside Litter Race-Day Diarrhea Foot Problems To continue moving, we must maintain the health and durability of our feet.
Troubleshooting on the Run, Part One
Races rarely go according to plan. No matter how much we prepare for our next event, there will undoubtedly be some unexpected hurdles. The longer the race, the greater the chance of mishap. I’ve certainly had my share of trailside glitches, as have many of the athletes I work with.
Running Periodization: It Isn’t Rocket Science
Periodization isn’t just a training methodology reserved for running coaches or elite frontrunners. Every athlete can learn and employ the basic principles to achieve race-day success. This training framework provides well-timed, realistic, and varied workouts that aid an athlete in reaching his or her optimal fitness level by race day and lowering the risk of injury or burnout.
Cross Training for Runners
“If you want to be a better runner, most of the time, running is your best path to success,” says elite trail runner Chris Vargo, who has set course records at the Whoos in El Moro 50k and Golden Gate Dirty Thirty 50k and has been the winner of the Crown King Scramble and Way Too Cool 50k. He continued, “However, my problem is that I really love to ride and ski! I prefer them.” As a runner who’s put in a ton of training miles and raced a lot, Vargo’s draw to cross training is uncommon.
Unbonk!: How to Prevent Bonking During Ultramarathons
If you’ve ever found yourself “bonking” during a long run or race, then runner Dana Pearcy’s story might sound familiar. She entered and participated in a local 35-kilometer trail race as a training run. She finished the event but had to gut out a bad patch that lasted for several miles. “Around mile 14 I started feeling really dizzy and the trail became blurry and surreal looking,” she recalls. “My mind was having trouble processing the trail as I was trying to move across it.
Treadmill Training: Welcome to the Machine
“I have a punishing workout regimen. Every day I do three minutes on a treadmill, then I lie down, drink a glass of vodka, and smoke a cigarette.” — actor Anthony Hopkins I steered clear of the treadmill during my early running career. They weren’t necessary — an apparatus reserved for yuppies and gym rats. I was a tough ultrarunner who ran outside no matter what; the worse the conditions the better.
Running and Recovery
Common complaints include: ruptured muscle fiber, inflammation and soreness, stress hormone elevation and disruption, a suppressed immune system, connective tissue wear and tear, fatigue, irritability, loss of appetite, weight loss, fever, headache, diarrhea, dizziness, increased resting heart rate, loss of sleep and sex drive, and leaden legs. All of these are symptoms of an improper recovery from a heavy training cycle or race.
Post-Ultra Downtime: How Much is Enough?
Many of my articles for this column have focused on how to get yourself to the finish line of an ultra in the most efficient and effective way. Today, I want to tackle a different dilemma: How should we recover from an ultra and, specifically, how much time should we take off from running? A common formula states that you should take one day off for every mile raced. For example, a marathoner would take 26 days off from running after race day.
Two-A-Days: When and How to Run Doubles
I was first introduced to two-a-days, also known as doubles, in high school, though I wasn’t the one doing them — our top runner was. He hadn’t trained enough over the summer and this was our coach’s method of getting him in shape quickly before the crucial end-of-season races. In just three months, the team witnessed the transformation from him in off-season fitness to one of the top runners in the state. At that point in my running career, I couldn’t fathom the notion of running twice in one day.
High Altitude Training and Racing
A guide to preparing, training, and racing ultramarathons and other endurance runs at altitude. Support us! iRunFar may earn a small commission from affiliate links in this article. Learn more. When Sir Roger Bannister, a neurologist and the first person to break the four-minute mile, was asked what he thought it would take to become fully acclimatized to altitude he responded, “There are two ways.
The Difficult Art of Peaking for Running Races
How to properly peak for a running race, including ultramarathons. Support us! iRunFar may earn a small commission from affiliate links in this article. Learn more. The final weeks before an event are the toughest to get right. The common notion that all hard work must cease and inactivity must ensue is incorrect. It’s also foolhardy to continue amassing mileage and tough workouts as race day nears in hopes of improving fitness.
Don't Let Downhills Be Your Downfall
This image below from Run100s.com (which we think first appeared in the November 1988 issue of “UltraRunning Magazine”) is one of my favorites because it demonstrates the ruggedness of several well-known North American 100-mile events as they existed at the time. Each race has its own unique profile, but they all share a common theme: challenging topography. Though each race has numerous ascents, success will ultimately come to the best downhillers. Let’s face it.
Ultramarathon Training Volume
Training volume is the ultrarunner’s top concern. Without a solid endurance foundation, those 50-mile, 100k, and 100-plus-mile races will be extremely difficult to complete. However, overdoing the miles can quickly lead to our undoing in the form of injury, chronic fatigue, and poor performance. The goal is to develop an approach that will challenge you but create only positive training benefits. Volume Is Good It’s true! Increasing weekly mileage brings increased performance.
A Newbie’s Guide To Ultramarathons
Advice for new ultramarathon runners on easing intelligently into the sport. Support us! iRunFar may earn a small commission from affiliate links in this article. Learn more. The transformation from first-timer to experienced ultrarunner is an evolution that can’t be rushed. After my first ultramarathon 30 years ago, I couldn’t climb or descend stairs without holding onto walls or people for support, and I had to crawl into the bathtub.
Sprint-Based, Hill, and Predictor Workouts for Ultramarathon Training
The fourth and last category of workouts — we’ve already covered endurance-, stamina-, and speed-based workouts in past articles of this column — is sprint-based training. These workouts enhance the body’s ability to run very fast when the muscles are inundated with lactic acid and improve running economy by developing the coordination between the muscles and the nervous system.
Speed-Based Workouts for Ultramarathon Training
Why and how to use speed-based workouts in your ultramarathon training. Support us! iRunFar may earn a small commission from affiliate links in this article. Learn more. Ultrarunners are tough. We must be in order to fulfill the demands we ask of our bodies and minds during long distance events. Undoubtedly, there comes a time in most races when an ultrarunner’s mental and physical mettle is put to the test.
Stamina-Based Workouts
Distance is not the ultramarathon’s absolute challenge. Rather, the challenge lies in covering the distance within a limited timeframe. Most everyone reading this article could complete 100 miles in several days without much issue; however, running 100 miles in less than 30 hours would be a much greater test. Add to this the component of competition, and the objective becomes even more demanding.
Endurance Based-Workouts for Ultramarathon Training
The long run: It’s the chance to spend hours on your favorite routes and do what sets us apart from most other runners — to run far. Elite marathoners seldom run more than 24 miles in one session, but ultrarunners typically run farther than that on a regular basis. There are three endurance-based workouts that can enhance your staying power over ultramarathon distances.
Essential Elements of Successful Ultramarathon Training
It’s the day before your ultramarathon. Equipment, clothes, powders, and gels are spread from wall to wall. You painstakingly divvy up these supplies among drop bags, knowing when and where they’ll be most beneficial during tomorrow’s race. You understand that these bags and the supplies they contain are instrumental in getting you to the finish line. Were the components of your training as precisely placed in a running schedule as those drop bag items were across the race course?
High Country Running: The Flagstaff Marathon returns
Ian Torrence (center) has run the Flagstaff Marathon four times. IAN TORRENCE, courtesy IAN TORRENCE Special to the Daily Sun In 2012, my good friend and Flagstaff local Brian Tinder set off to run all three of northern Arizona’s marathons: Sedona, Whiskey Row and Flagstaff. In so doing, he not only completed each marathon, but won them all.
My Brother, Chris Martinez – iRunFar.com
[Author’s Note: In the late 1990s and early 2000s, I wrote a column for UltraRunning Magazine called “Twenty-Something” that profiled up and comers in our sport. In a November of 2001 column titled “Chris Martinez: Running for the People,” I discussed my young, newfound friend’s background, goals, and passion for the sport of trail running.
The Mindset of an Ultramarathoner – PodiumRunner
Lying in the grass, I stared up though the pine branches at the white, pink, and red lined sandstone cliffs that make up the rugged Mogollon Rim, a 200-mile long 1,500 foot high escarpment that winds its way through the heart of Arizona. Too bad I was supposed to be running, not sprawled out 37 miles into this rugged mountain trail ultramarathon, the Zane Grey Highline Trail 50 Mile.
Scratching the Surface: Preparing for Poor Underfoot Conditions – iRunFar.com
Physics wasn’t my strong suit in college. However, after graduation, when I really got into the trails, I took the science to heart. Off-road running is one physics problem after another—occurring between 150 and 180 times a minute! Every time you plant your foot, you perform quick calculations involving body position, speed, and various earth surfaces to ensure a solid, successful landing.
Preparing for Steep Events When Mountains Aren’t Available – iRunFar.com
Living in a place that’s flat shouldn’t negatively affect our chance of success in any race, including events with significant slopes. Though vertically toughened legs are necessary, they don’t need to be built in the mountains. Incorporate these modalities into your next training cycle and you’ll forge a steep-proof body. Treadmill Hiking Whether you love them or hate them, if you live in a place without hills, a treadmill is an effective tool.
Mustering Motivation – iRunFar.com
Even if you love to run, sometimes it’s just easier to stay tucked in bed or, after a particularly trying day at work, veg out in front of the television than head out the door. A good friend and longtime ultrarunner once told me, “Nobody’s ever sorry they ran once the workout’s over.” Why then, is it so tough at times for us to find the drive to lace up our shoes? Our mind can play nasty tricks.
Quick Turnarounds: Recover and Train During a Full Race Season – iRunFar.com
The belief that one should recover for one day for every mile raced translates into a month-long break from serious training and racing after a marathon, two months after a 50 miler, and nearly four months following a 100-mile event. That’s a huge chunk of time to be away from what we enjoy doing most.
Treadmill Training: Welcome to the Machine – iRunFar.com
“I have a punishing workout regimen. Every day I do three minutes on a treadmill, then I lie down, drink a glass of vodka, and smoke a cigarette.” –Actor Anthony Hopkins I steered clear of the treadmill during my early running career. They weren’t necessary—an apparatus reserved for yuppies and gym rats. I was a tough ultrarunner who ran outside no matter what; the worse the conditions the better.
The Emboldening Time Trial – iRunFar.com
For many, a time trial conjures up visions of a Tour de France cyclist dressed in a unitard riding hunched over an aerodynamic bicycle—head down, teeth gnashed, and legs churning as fast as possible. Because every second counts in the final results, his heart rate is pegged, muscles burn, and the entirety of the trial is spent deep in the pain cave. Runners of all distances can utilize time trials as well.
Periodization: It Isn’t Rocket Science – iRunFar.com
Periodization isn’t just a training methodology reserved for running coaches or elite frontrunners. Every athlete can learn and employ the basic principles to achieve race-day success. This training framework provides well-timed, realistic, and varied workouts that aid an athlete in reaching his/her optimal fitness level by race day and lowering the risk of injury and/or burnout.
Cross Training for Runners – iRunFar.com
“If you want to be a better runner, running, most of the time, is your best path to success,” says coach Chris Vargo, the course-record holder for Crown King 50k, Whoos in El Moro 50k, and Golden Gate Dirty Thirty 50k. “However, my problem is that I really love to ride and ski! I prefer them.” As a runner who’s put in a ton of training miles and raced a lot, Vargo’s draw to cross training is uncommon.
Take It Easy: The Benefit of Backing Off – iRunFar.com
“To be a wise runner, you must learn that if the previous training session was hard, regardless of what your mind tells you or what you imagine your competitors might be doing in training, you must allow your body to recover so that it can restock its energy stores and repair the microdamage caused by the previous day’s heavy training.
No Shortcuts: The Importance of the Long Run – iRunFar.com
The long run sets us apart. It’s the hallmark of distance runners as no other sport incorporates a workout consisting of so many hours of ground pounding, leg beating, and heart-and-lung-busting practice. Increasing the duration of one or two weekly runs will improve your performance. Several beneficial physiological adaptations occur by running farther: We tangibly experience these fitness gains in several ways: A long run’s duration should correspond with the athlete’s current ability level.
No Shortcuts: The Importance of the Long Run
A guide to the importance and execution of the long run in endurance running. Support us! iRunFar may earn a small commission from affiliate links in this article. Learn more. The long run sets us apart. It’s the hallmark of distance runners as no other sport incorporates a workout consisting of so many hours of ground pounding, leg beating, and heart-and-lung-busting practice. Increasing the duration of one or two weekly runs will improve your performance.
Sleep: The Missing Ingredient – iRunFar.com
We train hard and eat right in an effort to improve our performance. However, we often ignore the greatest performance-enhancing tool: sleep. By simply incorporating more of it into our daily lives we can become faster, react quicker on rough trail, power uphill, and recover rapidly. What’s more, it’s free, convenient, and legal. The importance of sleep is nothing new to the iRunFar audience.
Don’t Stress Out: Understanding Training Stress – iRunFar.com
During the 1940s, in a laboratory at Quebec’s Université de Montréal, scientist Hans Selye discovered stress—our body’s primal reaction to infection, harsh environmental conditions, threatening situations, and/or physical and mental challenges. Selye named his theory of stress the General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS). In essence, GAS has three phases. The first stage is punctuated by alarm, the realization of real or imagined danger.
Worth The Effort – iRunFar.com
[Editor’s Note: After more than a year’s hiatus, Ian Torrence has returned to his coaching column, “Your Ultra-Training Back of Tricks.” He’s been writing about trail and ultrarunning for longer than many of us have been running it, so he deserved a break. Welcome back, Ian!] As a college freshman, I was forced to quickly understand and implement effort-based running or suffer the consequences.
MASTERING HILLS: PART 1 CLIMBS
Get our Tuesday Training Tipsdelivered straight to your inbox.? Your privacy is ?protected?.
MASTERING HILLS: PART 2 DOWNHILLS
Get our Tuesday Training Tipsdelivered straight to your inbox.? Your privacy is ?protected?.
Remembering Todd Ragsdale
It’s Hardrock 100 time! Read our in-depth 2022 Hardrock 100 preview and, then, follow along with our Hardrock 100 live coverage starting on Friday! Ian Torrence memorializes Oregon trail runner Todd Ragsdale who died while trail running in early 2016. Support us! iRunFar may earn a small commission from affiliate links in this article. Learn more. “So what do you think, Ian? Could a guy run a mountainous 100-mile race barefoot? Yep, Pine to Palm 100 Mile will be conquered barefoot.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with Ian
Contact Ian, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack