It’s been a big couple of months of training (and racing) for me. I’m training for my first 100-mile race in May – the Centurion Thames Path 100 – and I’m equally terrified and excited.

My longest recent run was just under 30 miles and it blew my mind that on race day I’d still have 70 miles to go. Training has been going well and I managed to run a marathon PB (2.57.11) in the midst of training, which still seems like a dream.

Alongside a more-than full time job I’ve been averaging 65-80 miles a week as well as some strength sessions. This might seem like fairly small fry for all the high-mileage athletes out there but I’m pretty knackered. I’m normally a voracious reader but at the minute I’m lucky if I can get through a few pages of my book before bed and I’ve taken to having a nap on weekend afternoons. 

The day job

My day-job is as a veterinary anaesthetist. There aren’t many of us in the world (approximately 150 in Europe). To become a veterinary anaesthetist, it’s sort-of similar to the consultancy training pathway that doctors follow with some key differences.

Most vets qualify as the equivalent of a GP and then, after some time in practice, a small subset apply for training posts at specialist hospitals in their area of interest. I was lucky (and mad enough) to get a training post in Edinburgh some years ago and I qualified as a specialist anaesthetist in 2016.

These days I work 4 long days (10+ hours as a minimum) per week and a 1-in-4 on call rota which means that one of my long days is followed by being on-call overnight. I also work 1-in-4 weekends where I’m on duty from Friday morning until Monday morning. 

Veterinary practice is much like human medicine in that it’s unpredictable, often hilarious and occasionally chaotic. Unfortunately, the unpredictability doesn’t always tally well with my training program so there’s a fair number of runs that are shifted around and quite a lot of getting up too early.

The importance of good communication with your coach

Tom Craggs, my coach, is endlessly patient with late night texts to say that I’ve missed a run because of some disaster that’s arrived out of hours. For me, being awake between 11pm and 6am has a disproportionate impact on my fatigue levels, whether that’s due to work or training.

Every minute I’m up before 6am seems to require 30 minutes of extra sleep and sadly that’s not always possible. To those athletes who work night shifts, I salute you! 

Double runs require careful negotiation with my husband as it means I can’t fit in a morning dog walk with Goose, our English Pointer, and he has to do it instead. Even on single days it often makes sense to run early as it means training isn’t dependent on getting out of work at a decent hour.

That said, my early morning dog walk is balm for my soul – I love walking with him beside the river before the rest of the world is awake. Unfortunately, there are two swans nesting on our usual route at the moment. Goose isn’t interested but they try to attack anyone trying to walk past – it makes our morning wander a lot less relaxing.

Clearly Goose needs some serious walking and takes no prisoners. Photo: Karla Borland

Fuelling the bigger workload

With all this training, there’s a lot of extra fuelling that’s necessary. My Italian colleague at work is constantly disgusted by how much I shovel into my mouth between cases. Apparently, I eat like an Italian builder.

I’ve taken that as a complement but from his facial expressions, I’m not sure that’s how it was meant. The anaesthesia snack cupboard at work is legendary although much of it would not be considered nutritious – it’s mostly sugary sweets and doughnuts. I’m guilty of getting to 7pm and then inhaling a chocolate bar in an act of desperation. 

There are a couple of things that have really helped me survive quite an intense period of work and running. As I’ve mentioned above fuel is key. All mealtimes have gone out the window – if I’m hungry and fancy a panini in the afternoon, two hours after lunch, then I eat it.

After my recent marathon I had a bag of chips as an afternoon snack and felt a lot better about life.

Following some tough runs, maintaining my strength and conditioning sessions has been essential to getting my legs moving again. I’ve also been doing my best to get more sleep – Instagram scrolling is the absolute worst for keeping me up. Before I know it, I’m searching for nonsense and am wide awake.

Instead, reading a book makes my brain switch off from work and running. And finally, the most important thing. Wine. I’m not going to break any world records and running isn’t my job so if I fancy a large glass of red then I have it. I’m sure all those antioxidants are useful for ultra-training. 

The post Adapting and fuelling ultra training appeared first on Fast Running.

The Northern Irish international ultra-runner details her own training and interviews a fantastic range of athletes on her own website, so we are delighted that Borland will be part of the Fast10 in 2021.

Stepping up from 100km to 100 miles is the yearly focus, as well as taking on one of the biggest challenges in UK ultra and off road running, the Dragon’s Back race in Wales in September.

Profile

Name: Karla Borland
Age: 34
Hometown: Originally from near Bushmills in Northern Ireland (where the whiskey is made) but I currently live in Winchester in the UK.
Club: Winchester and District AC, Springwell in Northern Ireland
Main discipline: Marathon, Ultras
Other disciplines: I’m happy to race over any distance although the steeplechase is probably my personal worst.
Work: I work full time as a veterinary anaesthetist in a referral veterinary hospital in Hampshire.

Goals for 2021 and past highlights

Goals or targets for 2021: Complete my first 100 mile race and enjoy it, hopefully make the Anglo-Celtic Plate 100km team for Northern Ireland and do the Dragon’s Back race in Wales in September.

Past Running highlights: I ran Comrades [iconic 56 mile ultra in South Africa] in 2019 – the entire experience was pretty crazy and cool.

Interesting or fun fact: I have an English Pointer called Goose. He was the ultimate running companion but now is too old and stiff – he still loves his walks but stays in bed when I’ve got my running shorts on.
I run because…it really helps with work stress, I love the feeling of being really fit and I really love races (2020 has been a hard year!).

Photo: Paul Hammond

Favourites

Favourite training session: Long runs with a friend and plenty to catch up on.
Least favourite training session: Anything short and fast.
Favourite pre-race food: Coffee and a mug of granola. I prefer morning races.
Favourite post-race food: Pizza and a beer. Ideally with an ice cream sundae to finish.
Favourite running shoes: This is a tough one – I was an Adidas girl through and through but the new Ultra Boost trainers feel terrible on my feet so I’ve been experimenting with New Balance, Nike and Asics – the search continues!
Brands or organisations that support me – no brands but I do interview runners on my blog here.

The post Fast10: Karla Borland appeared first on Fast Running.