The Six Stages of Ultra Running ...and Why They Matter

Any ultra runner that has pushed themselves beyond their limits knows that there are very distinct mental and physical stages that they go through over the course of a long run or race. However, we rarely think about what the stage is, why you are there, what your next stage will be, and the ramifications it will have if you don't do something differently in a very short period of time. Your awareness and understanding of these Six Stages can make or break your success in an ultra distance race. The progression through these stages is largely dependent on such factors as the runner's conditioning/training, the length of the race, the intensity of the effort (i.e. heart rate and time in anaerobic status), temperature, course difficulty, elevation/altitude, calorie intake, hydration, mental toughness, etc.

So here are the Six Stages of Ultra Running:

1. Exertion

2. Exhaustion

3. Suffering

4. Coping

5. Breakdown

6. Shutdown

While the stage progression will likely follow a distinct and sequential order, it is very possible to go both up and down this "ladder" based on changes to any of the above referenced factors. For example, if a runner finds themselves moving from the Exhaustion to the Suffering stage, they could back down their pace, lower their heart rate, increase their calorie consumption, lower their body temperature, or address any other factor that might be causing the movement up the ladder.

Let's analyze these one at a time.

1. Exertion

Exertion starts taking place the minute you start the run or race. The degree of your Exertion, however, is largely dependent on everything that you did in preparation heading into that day. One of my favorite sayings for an ultra race is, "Start off at a snail's pace, and back off." Every ultra runner knows the toll it will take on you if you go out too fast, and this is one of the leading causes of the DNF (Did Not Finish). Your best bet is to start from the very first minute at a pace that you believe will largely be sustainable through the entire race. However, even with that, it is highly unlikely that you can sustain a pace through an ultra (or certainly nothing over a 50 miler). And for those that think they will start out slow and have a negative split (finishing the second half of the race faster than the first half), they are most always mistaken...but the strategy of starting out slow, to minimize Exertion, is most always a good strategy. You will especially need to think about Exertion from mile to mile, and sometimes even from step to step. If you get to a steep or technical section of the trail, ask yourself how you can change your approach so that you aren't exerting anymore effort and energy on that part of the trail now than you would on the easiest part of the trail. It is usually not worth the extra expended energy to push yourself hard up a hill, or even to jump over a large rock just to maintain an equal pace. Each of those movements will add up and take away your valuable time spent in the Exertion stage.

2. Exhaustion

When you get to the point where you can't maintain your pace on an equivalent area of terrain, you are likely moving into the Exhaustion stage. The hope is that the movement into this stage doesn't happen until you are through roughly 60 - 70% of your race, as once you move from Exertion to Exhaustion, it is can be a slow process to go back to Exertion, short of resting your legs or significantly cutting back on your pace and energy expenditure. The Exhaustion stage is when you start to see runners walk, as they are either knowingly trying to rest their legs, or unknowingly just trying to hang on. First time ultra runners often begin contemplating dropping out of the race at this stage. They simply don't see how it would be humanly possible to complete the race when they still have so many miles left to go. What they don't realize is that they are only into the second stage of what might be experienced on that given day. But once again, by slowing your pace, resting your legs, and doing a thorough assessment of everything else that might be affecting them (i.e. calories, hydration, etc.), they could potentially either stay in this stage through the end of the race, or they could try to make this stage last as long as possible before moving into the next stage.

3. Suffering

Here is where the real self-reflection starts, and where you separate the runners from the ultra runners. If you are trying to be even remotely competitive in the race (even if just against yourself), you will experience the Suffering stage. It is more of a question of when, how often and how deep you will go into this stage, rather than if you will go into this stage. If you haven't experienced what is often referred to as the "pain cave" in training, this may well be the end of your day. I always recommend runners to experience high levels of discomfort in training so that you can be more comfortable with pain and discomfort in racing. But when you start Suffering, it is critical that you take any and all steps to pull yourself out of this stage, and move back down the ladder to the Exhaustion stage. Run through your head-to-toe checklists, and assess everything you can think of that may be causing you to be there and that can get you out of this stage. However..."Houston, we have a problem". If you are in this stage, you may not be thinking clearly and thus may not fully understand your own needs (unless you have been through this stage many times in the past). A pacer, crew or even aid station personnel can be a huge help here. Listen to them with everything you have. Work hard and diligently to pull yourself out of this stage. And give it time for everything you are doing to work. If you can, keep moving forward, even if at a slow walking pace. Avoid sitting down (or laying down) if you can possibly avoid it, though sometimes you have no choice. But most importantly, do not make the decision at this point to drop out of the race. Remember, you are only at stage 3 of 6, and you still have a chance of moving yourself back down to stage 2...but it will take a lot of work. Be prepared to "embrace the suck" and test your mental toughness.

4. Coping

If you become very good at dealing with the misery and pain that you undergo in the Suffering stage, you could actually move into what I refer to as a Coping stage. The best I can describe this stage is that your mind shuts off all of the pain responses, and simply lets your body just take over. That's not to say that you aren't still absolutely miserable, but your brain just accepts that the signals it is receiving to the pain receptors just aren't going to matter...so your brain (specifically the brain stem or the medulla oblongata) shifts more of the focus on your autonomic functions, such as making sure you are doing essential things like breathing, digestion, controlling your heart rate, and essentially trying to keep you in a stable condition. Some runners may have hallucinations during this stage, as your brain has trouble processing information in a logical way (though there are many more scientific explanations to hallucinations while running ultra distances). Bottom line, this can be a very tenuous stage, even though you may feel much better than you did in the Suffering stage. However, as long as you can function knowing that many of your pain receptors have essentially been shut off (or are simply being ignored by your brain so it can attend to more critical things), then you can be OK hovering in this stage for a limited period of time. Just make sure you continue to work through your checklist and are aggressively working to go back down the ladder. Be ready to vacillate between the Suffering and Coping stages, but doing so in a very careful way. Finally, listen very closely to everyone around you to help you out of this stage, and do all you can to listen to your body, and hopefully even your brain.

5. Breakdown

This stage is where your body was Coping as long as it could, putting every bit of energy and focus on keeping your autonomic functions working, while also trying to keep you upright and hopefully moving forward...but now it starts to result in certain body parts failing or simply quitting on you. This is no longer a matter of mental toughness, as all of your will and determination stop mattering. This is where your body may just simply start to give out. The critical analysis here will be what parts of your body are doing what. If it is the muscles, tendons and ligaments that are starting to give out, perhaps you could still manage what is referred to as the "death march" if you don't have a significant number of miles to make it to the finish line. However, if it is your organs, rather than your muscles that are starting to give out, it is time to throw in the towel, and live to run another day. Unless there is a lot of time left on the clock for you to significantly recover, your day will likely be done. Many a great runner has made the smart decision to DNF, rather than push through the risk of what could come next. The best example of this stage can be found by Googling the stories about Brian Morrison at the Western States race back in 2006. It is definitely worth watching the YouTube videos on Brian to understand the impact of the Breakdown stage.

6. Shutdown

This stage is the end of the proverbial road, no matter where you are in the race or how many miles, yards or even feet you have remaining. This is the stage where neither running, nor walking, nor crawling are even possible. Even your autonomic bodily functions become at risk. Do not let yourself get to this stage. Recognize the signs in the Breakdown stage and stop yourself there. So, if you should be throwing in the towel at the Breakdown stage, why do I even bother writing about the Shutdown stage? Because it is important that you understand the long term and potentially permanent impact this stage could have on you if you let yourself get this far. You will most likely only know if you got to this stage many hours or days after the fact, so use what brain functioning you have left in the Breakdown stage to pull the plug then. Also consider that you may be risking the lives of others who may need to navigate remote areas of the trail to get you out and safe. Don't risk it.

While I know stages 5 and 6 sound scary, especially if you have never pushed yourself to the limits in an ultra distance race, but if you focus hard to stay within the first 2 - 4 stages, you will not even need to worry about the last two stages. I am happy to say that I have never gone beyond stage 4 and have never DNF'd a race. I even had a couple of races where I stayed within the first 3 stages, but still placed first or had a podium finish. It can be done if you understand where you are in the Six Stages and work hard to move down a rung whenever you feel yourself starting to deteriorate. Dig deep. Run long.