UltraCoach

New article! Heat acclimation can take its toll on the body, so how can you make sure you recover well between sessions? This is especially important if your heat acclimation coincides with your taper, as is the case for many people.
Share with anyone who has a race in hot climate coming up!

Heat Acclimation: How to Recover Effectively Between Sessions? As heat training surges in popularity it is important for athletes to know how to prepare safely, and without negative performance impacts.

I wrote a piece about my return to the Marathon des Sables in 2025. Who else is going?

Marathon des Sables 2025 - Returning to the Desert In 2025 I will return to Marathon des Sables for my 5th edition. My intentions with running win the desert this time are clear.

How to Pick the Right Equipment for an Ultra Stage Race - The G2G Ultra Podcast In the 15th episode of the G2G Ultra Podcast we chat with Elisabet Barnes, 2nd place at G2G in 2016, and ultra running coach. While stage racing is similar t...

I'm very happy to announce that I am now one of the recommended coaches for Grand to Grand! If you are thinking about taking on this challenge and would like a helping hand to get you prepared for the start line, I would love to support your journey. 🤗

Beautiful but cold bike ride this afternoon. Autumn is definitely here! 🍁🥶 Noticed that I haven’t been riding for a while, it was quite the lung buster to do the first 7km straight uphill 😂😂🥵 That’s what you get when you live by a mountain, haha.

Hope you’re having a good week! 🌸

This is Liz, 69 years old. Liz finished the HALF MARATHON DES SABLES in Fuerteventura a few days ago. Three days of self-sufficient racing, with a backpack, over challenging trails and sand (43km+13km+23km).

Liz was timed out last year and not able to finish. To be able to return and get the medal meant a lot to her and is down to her strong will and discipline to reach her goals.

The main goal is to tackle her unfinished business in the 250km MDS in April in 2023, and after this milestone she can feel more confident that she will succeed.

Liz has worked on her strength in the gym, tackled some niggles with physiotherapy, and has done walking with gradually increasing duration and backpack weight. She has also lost weight in the process which has helped her get faster.

Liz sets a great example that it’s never too late to attempt to reach your goals and dreams. Her achievement also demonstrates that these races are for everyone. You do not need to be a fast runner. If you dream of doing an ultramarathon / stage-race, chances are you too can do it with the right training and preparations.

I hope that Liz will inspire some of you to pursue your goals whatever they might be. Join me in congratulating her on this fantastic achievement! 👏🥇🎉💕

What are your questions about setting a goal for the MDS? Join me LIVE on Instagram 28th Sep and I will answer plus share my tips for how you can set yourself a realistic goal.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CizpZuyoh8j/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Preparations for the MDS look different depending on what goal you have. Because of this it is really useful to get clear on your goal as early as possible. It can be just a rough indication at first, and you can refine it as you go. Too many people say “I just want to finish”, when in fact they can and should be much more specific than this. If you don’t know where to start with the goal setting, join me live here on the 28th for some tips and Q&A. What questions would you like answered in regards to goal setting for MDS? Comment or send them in DM and I will answer in the live. . . . . . #mds #mds2023 #marathondessables #ultracoach #goalsetting #ultrarunning

I have created a checklist for the MDS. It's like a project plan that you can personalise to your own needs but which provides a guidance to what needs doing when. You can also apply it as a template to other similar stage-races. It's free and you can read more and get it here. I hope you find it useful!

The Marathon des Sables Checklist When preparing for the Marathon des Sables it can really help to have a clear timeline of events. Here is my Marathon des Sables Checklist!

Our running trip with Kompass Trails to Gran Canaria returns in 2023, 28th Jan - 2nd Feb. Here are a few snaps from our trip earlier this year 😀.

Join me, Sondre Amdahl and Didrik Hermansen on world class trails in the spectacular mountains of Gran Canaria.

We cater for a wide range of abilities so you don’t need to be fast (but if you are that’s fine!) We have a lovely group of people signed up and only a handful of places left. Don’t wait too long!

Gran Canaria offers some of the best trails a runner could wish for. We love this island and can’t wait for the next edition! 🥰🏃‍♀️🏃🏃‍♂️🌄

👉 Go to https://kompasstrails.com/gran-canaria-camp-2023/ to learn more / sign up.

Happy running!

It seems like it’s only yesterday I wrote about the but almost 6 months have passed since the last edition. Now the race is back to it’s normal spring schedule, although this year it is an exceptionally early edition starting already in March. If October was the hottest edition on record, this edition is likely to see more modest temperatures and perhaps even chilly nights. 🌌

Participants are now in bivouac. They arrived yesterday and today they will go through administrative checks in camp. This typically involves:

✅ Handing in main luggage which will be stored until the race finishes
✅ Having a check of mandatory equipment & food. This needs to weigh between 6.5-15kgs and include compulsory items as well as 14000kcal of food.
✅ Receiving salt tablets & tracking device
✅ Handing in the medical certificate & ECG report

After this is done they are left with just their race gear but will get dinner in camp tonight before self sufficiency starts tomorrow morning with the first stage.

You can track the race via the marathondessables.com website and you can also write messages to competitors. Receiving a message is an incredible boost even if from a stranger so if you have some spare time, why not cheer a few people on next week! 😊🙌