Zulu W Run 80km Interview – Randy Travis

Randy Travis is an American ultra runner based in Bangkok, Thailand. He has prepared himself for Sunday’s Zulu W Run in Kanchaburi by alternating speed sessions and shorter races with long runs such as the almost 70 kilometer Runventure from Bangkok to Ayutthaya. In this interview, Randy gives his take on ultra running in general and the Zulu W Run in particular.

You’re running the Zulu W 80k race on Sunday, are you ready for it?
I am as ready as I can be. I have been running long distances to prepare my legs for this event for about 3 months.

What anticipations do you have of the race?
I always have an expectation for the time I think I can finish the race, then I hope it will be fast enough to win. For this race 80km, I think I can finish in under 7 hours. I would be really happy if I could finish in 6hrs 30min. There are allot of things that can go wrong in such a long race, everything has to go right to finish in that time.

How do you prepare for this kind of distance?
I think its important to do back to back long runs. Like 35km one day and 35km the next day. Running on tired legs will prepare them for ultra long distances. If you want to run the race fast as well, you do need to train speed work. Running long all the time will make you slower, and running fast all the time will wear you out and you wont be able to do your long runs. So finding a balance is the key.

In brief, what does a normal training week look like for you as an ultra runner?
I run 6 days a week, and about 3 days I run twice. I try to do 2 sessions of speed work, and 1 really long run on the weekend. In the months heading into this race my long run was 70km, and I would still try to run the next day when my legs were tired. Each week I would try to increase the pace of the long run. Its important to let your legs heal in between the hard workouts, so although I would still run, the pace would be slow.

Looking ahead, what are your major events for 2014?
I am planning on running the Columbia trail masters 50km in January and the North Face 100 in February. If I am performing well in these races I am considering doing some international ultra races after that.

Lastly, any suggestions for someone thinking of trying ultra running?
Ultra running is a different sport than track. Its even different than marathon. To run ultra distances you have to understand more about how the human body works, how it produces energy and how it hydrates. There is a reason that most of the top ultra runners have out of the ordinary diets such as fruitarian, raw vegan, paleo. Anyone who has ran continuously more than 50 or 60km knows there is something more that goes into transporting yourself long distances by foot. Just remember that you can do it, some people even argue that the human body was designed to do it.