Bad Ultramarathon Logic

Ultra logic can be as faulty as ultra math.

(And we know what bad ultra math can do.)

Take these five logic examples from my weekly coaching sessions with clients:

“Everyone is running fast, so I need to.”

“Everyone is talking about how much they dread the next climb - I’m starting to worry.”

“Jane is ahead of me and she’s usually behind - everyone is ahead of me.”

“I must be doing something wrong, I’m so far behind everyone else.”

“Faster runners who were ahead of me are dropping here - what makes me think I can go on? I’d better drop too.”

In the moment, these feel so intensely true you react without thinking and end up with a result you don’t want - burning out because you ran too fast, wearing yourself out worrying about a dreaded climb, feeling discouraged the whole race because you think you’re last and slow, or dropping because everyone else is.

We don’t question these statements because they seem so true, but they’re not. They’re all based on the same error in logic:

“What everyone else is doing is right and if you’re doing something different, it’s wrong. Therefore, you need to do what they’re doing.”

It’s not true. 

“Everyone is running fast, so I need to.”  What actually matters is how you’re running compared to cutoff or goal pace. The speed everyone else is running is irrelevant.

“Everyone is talking about how much they’re dreading the next climb - I’m starting to worry.” Just because they dread it doesn’t mean it will be hard for you. They could have built it up in their minds. What actually matters is whether you’ve trained for it and factored it into your race plan.

“Jane is ahead of me and she’s usually behind - everyone is ahead of me.” The race is between you and cutoff or goal pace. Whether everyone else is ahead or behind you doesn’t matter.

“I must be doing something wrong, I’m so far behind everyone else.” There isn’t a right way to run a race so how everyone else is running isn’t necessarily right for them or you. What matters is whether you’re executing your own plan. 

“Faster runners who were ahead of me are dropping here - what makes me think I can go on? I’d better drop too.” Just because a bunch of runners are dropping doesn’t mean it’s a good decision. A good decision is running on and finishing your race.

Since the faulty premise behind all these statements is the same, so is the solution - keep running your own race to your own plan, because how anyone else is running has nothing to do with your race. 

Learn to spot bad ultra logic like these examples, then re-focus on the things that will get you to the finish line on time and tune out what everyone else is doing. 

You’ll be calmer and more confident.

And it will literally save your race.