VLAD’S KEY TIPS FOR LONG DISTANCE RUNNING

Getting your nutrition right is CRITICAL!
Try products when under stress BEFORE the event.
Be FLEXIBLE – try something slightly different e.g. Pop in a different flavoured sachet
Be sure to start taking fuel ASAP! Don’t wait an hour or two – it’s a mistake that will come back and bite you!
Strongly recommend 1 x STRENGTH session per week
Alternate weekly between glutes and quads focus
Get a longer weekly run in, finishing on road to allow faster cadence & better form adaptations
Practice race day mindset with visualizations
Some runs need to be solo in case you’re out on your own on race day

We first spoke with Vlad Shatrov running coach for RunLab in November 2021 when he ran “The Great North Walk” (an extremely tough trail linking Sydney to Newcastle). 272km, 7930m vert in 38hrs 40minutes, achieving a new FKT (Fastest Known Time). During the second morning (having run through the entire night) Vlad was given Fuel X All-in-one Endurance Fuel to drink & CrampFix to stop him from cramping. Since then he’s been trying the different products & flavours himself and with his athletes at his larger supersessions (training sessions of 4 plus hours in duration).

Competing at an elite level and coaching runners for over 15 years, Vlad combines experience and an in depth knowledge of running with his passion to help runners strive to achieve something otherwise possibly out of their reach. Best said by his favourite Runlab quote “Achieve Your Impossible”

Vlad can you tell us how you prepared for the Great North Walk run?

Well it was a little challenging to say the least. Covid lockdowns meant that I couldn’t run the course sections that I wanted to prior to the event. So in addition to my many solo long runs- usually on Friday morning between 35-50km, a lot of time was spent talking to runners and clients who had previously run sections of the course to better understand how long it may take me to do each section. Hours and hours were also spent building my race plan (a comprehensive document which included gear required, expected ETA at checkpoints, crew checklists, mental strength strategies and so much more) I was privileged to have a group of crew and runners that supported me on this epic adventure.

You have some phenomenal marathon times. Which one was your favourite & why?

Just one lol, all of my solid performances have helped me continue to train, race and coach by offering new opportunities and learnings. The World Marathon Majors are amazing experiences. I’ve only got Boston to do. I have so many memories from them all, however the Berlin Marathon in 2015 would have to be my pick of my marathon experiences to date.

With your coaching, what do you instill into your athletes?

The want to try and achieve something special. I encourage all of our runners to take on something that seems daunting at first and help set them up for the best chance of success with a combination of our physical and mindset training sessions.

For an event like UTA100 what type of sessions per week do you suggest?

Of course firstly It all depends on your goal for the event, running history and training availability (at least 4 weekly runs including a longer run), however – I strongly recommend (in addition to your planned weekend runs)
A strength session – (almost entirely body weight only) weekly, with a focus on functional exercises and alternating weekly between a glutes and quads focus. This will still allow you to train well that week, but better condition you to the demands of the hilly UTA 100km course. Secondly ensuring that you get a longer weekly run in. I would strongly recommend that this run sometimes finishes on road (allowing faster cadence and better form adaptions) and that you practice your mindset preparation for the event employing strategies such as visualisation to prepare you for the big day, this means that sometimes at least parts of these runs need to be solo.

How important is it to get your nutrition right when running long distances?

It’s critical! But allow yourself to be flexible. Whilst you may have trained with a certain flavour or concentration mix and fuelling strategy, come race day you need and will sometimes want to supplement or even try something slightly different. Give yourself the ability to do this by popping an alternative flavour sachet in your hydration vest and or drop bags in case you just need to try something different. I think the key is though, making sure you start taking in fuel ASAP, waiting an hour or more when things feel comfortable is a mistake that will come back and bite you hard later on.

Have you found the Fixx products beneficial in your training & recovery?

I have. I’m still yet to try a couple of the flavours honestly BUT I’ve found that they are easily taken on in training and racing. Make sure you try the products when you are under stress in a session (before UTA). I recently used the Crampfix Shot when I started cramping and almost instantly I was provided the same relief I got when I took it in the GNW FKT attempt, it works.

Achieve Your Impossible With RunLab

RUNLAB IS ALL ABOUT RUNNING

RunLab specialise in group running training sessions and online training. Their goal is to engage and coach those runners that are committed to “achieve your impossible” just running alone won’t deliver the result a Runlabber strives for.