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4 / 4 / 48

Suffering reveals the way to greatness

By Greg Sisengrath

March 16^th, 2018

4 miles every 4 hours for 48 hours

So I recently read a race report on the cancelled 2018 LOViT 100. Spoiler alert: the race was officially cancelled the day of the race start, but this badass ran it anyway supported by her parents. She mentioned in her race report that she benefitted the most from a 4 x 4 x 48 weekend, which she did twice. I shared her race report on Twitter and Facebook because it was such a good read. A friend did some additional digging and found that the workout was originally a David Goggins Navy Seal workout. I became infatuated with the workout and I began gauging interest with several of my Team Ninja athletes who are making their 100 Mile debuts later this year. It was little surprise that not one batted an eye at the suggestion. A couple athletes wanted first crack at the workout as their races are fast approaching. But I felt like it would be negligent as a coach to prescribe a workout that I haven't completed myself. Below is a recap of my 48 hour journey. Enjoy.

4/48: trail

Thursday 4:24 PM. I hit the trails right after work, headed home after to pick up the family and we headed straight to the youngest daughter's Open House at school.

8/48: road

Thursday 8:08 PM. After the Open House, we took the girls to dinner at a local Chinese restaurant. As luck would have it, they had only one chef and we were there way too long. I ended up eating half my meal and packing up the rest. I ran at the park and on the roads near our house. Then I finished the rest of my dinner with a beer.

12/48: Road

Friday 12:13 AM. I slept about 90 minutes before this run and woke up with a dry mouth. I began to notice how much higher my heart rate was elevated for a rather pedestrian effort. I spent a little more time after the run on mobility to try to wind down.

16/48: Road

Friday 4:18 AM. I got about 120 minutes of sleep prior to this run and spent more time on the pre-run mobility. I know that this is almost a normal start time for some runners, but I'm not an early AM runner. The run felt good though.

20/48: tm hills

Friday 8:30 AM. I got a little later start for this run as my actual job took precedent. It may have been the coffee, but the climbing legs felt really strong. I did a bit of yoga, showered and had a breakfast of rice, fried eggs and avocado. I rarely eat breakfast on most days, so this was a treat.

24/48: Soccer field Fartleks

Friday 12:07 PM. I started to feel a bit fatigued by mid-morning, so I had a cup of green tea. I ran Fartleks for the first time in many, many months around the soccer fields. It was windy, but the run felt awesome! Reminder: I need to bring these workouts back in my training plan. I took a quick shower and headed to VIP Day at school.

28/48: trail

Friday 4:14 PM. Since I didn't have time to eat after the last run, we stopped by Wendy's for a Spicy Chicken Combo. Don't judge, but it was amazing. I used the R8 Roller to prime my legs. Trail run was fine. And I had an iced coffee on the way home. I tried to remind myself that I need to stay on top of my hydration.

32/48: Weight vest trails

Friday 8:10 PM. I threw on the weight vest for this one to help simulate the dead legs trail shuffle. This would be the only non-solo run as Alex joined me. The beer was quite refreshing after. I had ribs and rice for dinner along with another beer.

38/48: TM hills

Saturday 12:17 AM. I slept from 10:30-12:00. Since it was officially the weekend and the girls would be up late anyway, I hit the treadmill for some solid climbing. The legs felt strong. I took a quick shower after and went back to bed.

40/48: Is it early or late

Saturday 4:22 AM. I was able to get in about 1:45 of sleep before this run. It took about 10 minutes for the body to wake up. The run was uneventful.

44/48: Soccer Field progression

Saturday 8:12 AM. I slept a solid 2:20 before this run. My feet and calves felt a little beat up, so I spent a bit more time rolling before the run. I drank half a cup of coffee. The combination of coffee and seeing so many people in the park made for spicy progression. I was happy with my 8:46, 8:27, 8:20 and 7:51 splits. I showered right after the run and started packing our car for the road trip to Arkansas. I had Chick-fil-a for breakfast during the drive.

48/48: GRAVEL

Saturday 12:02 PM. During the drive up, I searched possible locations for a run. I most certainly did not want to run a boring Oklahoma road. I was lucky to find the Atoka Wildlife Management Area. We parked alongside a little lake. I found a sweet gravel out and back. The turnaround point was perfectly timed with the scenic crest of this hill below. I honestly wished that I could have kept on running. But I dried the sweat off my body and hopped back in the car for the 2.5 hours left in our drive to Arkansas.

final thoughts

Even though I've completed 3 100 Mile races (Rocky Raccoon, Leadville and Run Rabbit Run), I still found a great deal of value in the workout. I'd recommend this to all first-timers to learn how to run on fatigued legs and to persevere when your body and mind are telling you otherwise. And even seasoned ultra-runners could still benefit from the reminder. In my opinion, this is much more of a mental challenge rather than physical. That's one of the main reasons why I like it as it minimizes the potential for injury.

If you plan to partake in this workout, below are a few of my suggestions:

-You cannot drink or eat too much. I routinely woke up with a dry throat. Fuel your body!

-5 minutes of mobility and rolling before and after each run will go a long way. Even though I do a strength and mobility workout daily during my normal training, I just lacked the motivation to do any of my regular routines during this 48 hour period.

-Switch up the workouts to give your body a different training stress and to keep it fresh. Road, trail or treadmill. Flats or hills. Easy or fast. Do it all!