Mastering Ultra Running | Tips From The Best Ultramarathoner In The World

whether you're a seasoned ultra run or brand new to the world of ultra running you are going to want to watch this klian Jour yes klian Jour is about to share his top ultra running tips in case

you wondering who Killian is he is arguably the greatest Ultra Runner of our time he's won the prestigious Ultra tront Blanc four times he has won of the highest VO2 max recordings ever of 92 he

casually ran up Everest twice within the space of 6 days without oxygen he's also a six-time sky Running World Series champion the list goes on he Kil thanks for joining us today no thank you for

coming we've just finished actually An Almighty run not in uh Killian's uh books but it was for me um so I'm quite appreciating this little sit down now but I'm Keen to uh pick your brain on

some of your top ultra running tips which I'm sure you get asked all the time um but yeah do you have any that you could share with us yeah well first I think it's h it's to when we go to to

training is to know that ultra running is is a lot of hours so uh that needs to to also respond into into the training so volume will be key I think and volume don't needs to be running specifically

you can be cycling you can be skiing you can be doing other and run the sports but in general like if we want to not fail at the last hours of an ultra like

I think volume it's it's key so put the focus on that um and also like if the race is in the monage where we will have a lot of elevation

that will be very different from if we train the flat the muscles will work very very differently so we need to put that onto into the training and if we unfortunately we don't live in a place

like this where it's easy to to go up and down like I think we can work uh our masses like uh doing stairs and doing uh

doing downhills uh maybe in roads even if it's not very very steep just to to to break the masses that way because I think that's quite a growing Trend people obviously and it's an amazing thing they're going to do these

incredible Ultras in amazing parts of the world um but they they're not experiencing that on a day-to-day basis and it's that downhill isn't it it's not the uphills that gets people it's the

downhill yeah down really and especially like going down and up again and down again and up again I think this transition from up to down it's it's where most people gets uh Reef so I

think like uh training that it's uh it's very important that can be in today's St like if you do a long running session on flat where your legs are suffering a lot and the day after you are doing like a

session where you start with a with a downhill and then an uphill like try to break it into different sessions but to really think about yeah work when your muscles are tired it's very important to not only when you are fresh when you are

fresh everybody is capable of running fast the problem is when you are tight when your legs are are suffering so put that into training on a way that then you need a lot of time to recover afterward don't do that every day but to

do it every now and then so your your muscles have this memory of like being damaged and and able to to run fast and also like during a Ultra race like it's

normally we all have our plan about everything nutrition like I will eat everything like that uh uh during the race about like the pace we will keep about uh all the gear I'm crying but

it's always things that it's always problems coming on so to train the unknown it's very important not to to train sometimes and don't know exactly

what's going to happen uh I think it's uh it's very important for when you are in the race and problems occur and that can be of any sort like uh uh digestive

problems or like uh that you hurt one muscle uh a bit too early or like that uh you are feeling that way or that it's

bad where coming if you in the training are adapt to to to change that will ease much more the race I think yeah I'm interesting you're touching on nutrition

and we were speaking about this actually earlier um normally when we do events from you know coming from a Tron background we talk about you know 90 100 G of carbs per hour and it's very kind

of like black and white but actually for an ultra because of the terrain you're talking about changing that continually through the event yeah especially because if it's an ultra is like uh

let's say like 100 miles it can be 20 hours for the first ones 30 40 hours for for the the most of the people so you you yeah you need to have some variation

too for for the GU to handle it and just for like uh yeah mentally uh because for a short race you can be eating uh quite a lot but uh that for for the long time

it might cause some some problems especially if you are not uh used to it so like uh to to think okay when is when I need more cars that probably is in the in the harder section maybe in the

uphills maybe in this place that you want to push but the rest of it like May it's better to to to decrease the amount of carbs and and to add some it can be

some fat in in there or also like the the source of the of the food like you can maybe save the gels for these moments where you need very fast energy

and in a Ultra like maybe you can take uh boiled potatoes or boiled rice like in moments where you want to ease down a bit the the the stomach and keep uh keep

putting food on it what's your go-to out of interest uh like for me it will be very different from race to race I think that's what it's like if it's an altitude the the the the gut responds

differently than if we are in in low altitude go for do Noir potatoes altitude and then uh mashed potato yeah like yeah but also like how many like

when it's moments that I want to really push hard in an ultra like then I can go up to 200 120 gr of car per hour uh so that's uh mostly on gels and ring that's

good while running running it have also like I think if the fitter you are the more open is your metabolism so you can put more food without any problems the less

Feit you are you need to train more the the G to to handle all these all these uh intakes but then like uh in many parts of the of the race and an ultr

will take like a mix of like avocado uh with uh nuts and uh that more on fat side or like a boiled potatoes also uh

yeah so so to keep to keep the balance between between both of them that's really interesting because that's kind of the part we don't always see we see you whz through Aid stations but it's very hard to see what's going on so that's quite interesting um kind of on

the technical side then because obviously all of us have watched videos of you descending super fast attacking on uphills is there anything you do to kind of practice that or is it just for

you maybe it's hard to say cuz it's just years in the mountains yeah yeah probably easiest way is like to train a lot in the mountains but uh yeah uh I think it's ways to to work and I think

like especially if you are going down to try to to think it's not about the muscles all the time it's more about yeah the the connection between the the a the the muscles and the and the feet

uh is what makes the most difference especially because if you are more relaxed going down uh you will use less energy so that you need to to know to not be focusing running on your feet but

to look farther ahead uh so you you can yeah see what's going on and and and find the best way to to run and for that I think exercise is on like trying to remember what's in the five six 10

meters ahead of you uh and and and switching like the the like like in the car like short ones long ones short ones long ones and and and yeah to switch from looking more into the feet to

looking further and that we can do training uh every time to to try to to focus on on looking further I think it's it's kind of a hard thing to get across to People by know means your standard but yeah he's like you you just want to

break on the downhills and slow yourself down but obviously you're creating more tension more more muscle damage but actually when you kind of Let Yourself Go it's easier but you feel out of control perhaps so it's and and often

like when you are trying to hold back like your muscles are like uh working a lot and then it's also easier to to to fall because you are imag more tension while when you are relaxed also like you

can try to to to put good good music and try to dance when you are running down so you relax the body like to to be a bit more flexible so we just like good

good song Choice what would we go for that's that's to everybody you want to have yeah some B to go faster yeah no but yes just to have like yeah some to

think about relaxing and to looking further I think it's uh it's very important cool and then final one then um kit and I know this is a very broad

question but um like obviously for me coming into Ultra only a few years ago um I didn't really understand the need for polls and things like this like can like polls for

instance what what is the benefit to them and do you use them a lot in your races um and when should you not and should you use them yeah I think it's two things like people coming from Road

running they are kind of ashamed to walk and like first it's like no walk is okay like and many times you walk faster than running so like it's it's train you're walking I would say that also like

train walking that's that's very important also interesting something I've picked up it's like actually also then trying to train yourself to run just even in the small even if it's 20 M when it levels out because you you kind

of get into a rot of just walking so it's kind of you need to train this transition to to force yourself to run again yeah but uh but then the pulse especially if the if the race has long

uphills it just like it takes energy like uh yeah you are using more the upper body uh so it it takes some energy out from the legs so it's it's good to

to use them I would say especially if it's long uphills but also you need to especially poles you need to to train with them like it's uh you see a lot of people going with poles the first time

in the race and they they don't know how to to use them they put them like uh like not in a good way so they are able to push so either you practice skiing

and then you know how to use it or you go and train like with PSE to to get the movement well because if not you will use more energy than than uh yeah than if you are not having PS yeah brilliant

um and why do you normally store them out of interest cuz there's so many different ways you I think to find the the best like I I often like store them just in the in the waist here you got some little NS on the back in the pants

but uh Some people prefer to have them in the in the backpack um I think that's more like what you use but I think in a Ultra it's mostly also like to get get very used about this this movement

because you will be many hours with like the poles or like where you have the food uh what kind of food you eat so get used to all these things because you will spend a lot of hours with that so

you need to feel very very comfortable yeah and uh and especially in Ultra like I would say the race starts halfway like if it's 100 miles the first 50 miles it's just a long warm up like if you

think that uh that the race starts at the beginning like you will be like completely burn at at Midway and then it's possible to finish so like just think that you need to to to get to the

halfway as fresh as possible and then you will start to suffer so like if you are very comfortable with everything your gear your nutrition uh your pace uh

through like 50 miles and then it's like okay let's race now it will be much easier and and you will probably enjoy much more the ultra than if you are racing from moment one and and having

some yeah some uncomfort from the from the start thank you Killian some amazing tips I've definitely taken a lot from that don't forget to check out our other video that's just previously come out

with Killian taking me for a little run up from down a hill behind it didn't go very well for myself um you did well oh thanks well do check that out and if you've enjoyed today's video please give

it a thumbs up give it a like and see you next time