I recently wrote an article about race scripts for the German running magazine Laufzeit 5/2023. Obviously, it’s in German language, but some of you might see this as a feature, not a bug. It’s available everywhere now, you might want to grab a copy.
CCC
I first came across the concept of race scripts for my first 100k ultratrail in August 2021. The race I had picked (or that picked me, for that matter) was the CCC, which is part of the exuberant UTMB event in Chamonix, France. Often called the “not so little” little sister of its 100-mile sibling, it features a whopping 100 kilometers of mountain running in the most beautiful alpine landscape, alongside a total elevation gain and loss of close to 6200 meters. Every ultrarunner’s wet dream. But also a tough nut to crack.
In 2021, the idea of running such a long distance, or time, was absolutely intangible to me. In fact, it still is. At the same time, I am constantly searching for security and predictability, especially within the unknown.
After watching countless YouTube videos of shaky GoPros and smartphones to get an idea what CCC is all about, I understood that it makes more sense to visualize my forthcoming mountain adventure myself. I took the elevation profile, added all aid stations (especially the ones where I would meet my crew), browsed the internet for significant photography of the most important sections of the race course, and threw it all on the largest whiteboard in my apartment. Here’s what I came up with:
I then went through CCC in my mind a couple of times and tried to imagine, how it would look and feel like to run into La Fouly, climb up to Tete aux Vents or cross the finish line in Chamonix in the middle of the night.
A nice practice, that made running 100 kilometers much more concrete. However, it was, once again, my coach Karim who brought this to another level with the following advice:
“Don’t visualize perfection. Visualize failure and manipulate it!"
In practice, this means not picturing myself running the racecourse on a wonderful day, feeling strong from start to finish with not trouble whatsoever. Instead, I imagined pouring rain, twisting my ankle, completely running out of energy, dehydrating, falling over, having a massive headache, breaking a running pole, throwing up everything I eat and freezing terribly.
After I painted the most evil devil on the wall, I then visualized how I resolve these problems during the race. It kind of goes like this:
On the climb up to Grand Col Ferret you fall over and graze your knee. What do you do about it?
“I stand up and check if I am injured. I clean minor cuts and scratches with the alcohol pad from my first aid kit and cover them with bandages. Meanwhile, I say to myself, ‘It’s normal to stumble and fall during such a race. I’m glad nothing serious happened.’ Then I drink a few sips of water, take a deep breath and continue my race.”
In the end, I not only got a more realistic picture of what the overall experience will be like, but also a specific game plan for the countless things that can and will go wrong on race day.
Western States 100
I also did a race script for my first 100-Mile race, the Western States Endurance Run, one year later in 2022. This was clearly harder because there is much less footage on the internet, especially of how the more remote sections of the racecourse. And even after I found some material, I still had no idea how it would actually feel like to run so many hours in such intense heat. Spoiler: It looks much easier in photos and videos than it is in real life.
Western States clearly showed me the limits of what race scripts, or any other mental tools, can contribute on race day. In the midst of the all-pervasive heat, I lost touch with everything I had learned and trained for during my month-long preparation. I zoned out into pure survival-mode and at times not even that seemed to be sustainable, anymore.
Mental preparation is a powerful tool and I would always recommend it to anyone entering a race that leaves them in awe. However, Jason Koop was very right when he wrote in his groundbreaking book “Training Essentials For Ultrarunning”:
“Fitness is your first weapon.”
So whenever I have to choose between standing in front of a whiteboard or lacing up my shoes and heading out for a run, I would go for the latter.
Everything not Running
Results are in! Thanks to everyone who participated in last week’s Das Z Letter survey. Almost a third of my readers took the time to answer my curious questions. That’s pretty remarkable, to be honest. It really helps me to further point Das Z Letter in the right direction.
Oh, and the winners of the five 20€ Willpower shopping vouchers have been informed. Congrats, you lucky runners!
I will share more of the learnings in the future, but here are a couple of quick insights:
Most of you read Das Z Letter every time it comes out
You are most interested in my personal blogging, race reports and mental aspects of running
You almost exclusively read Das Z Letter in your email inboxes
More than half of you also listen to the Das Z - Sprachnachricht and would like me to invite exciting guests
You’re old (just like me, haha!)
And then there’s been some really heartwarming personal feedback like this:
“Somehow, the z-letter became my ritual to start the weekend in the right way, thanks for that.”
Thank You ♡