Earlier this month on the Hennepin 100 Mile in Illinois, 70-year-old ultrarunner Henry Bickerstaff from Alva, Oklahoma, ran the quickest 100-mile path race for a 70-plus-year-old runner in North America this yr. Henry’s time of 25:12 was achieved by way of a mixture of fastidiously designed coaching, good race-day execution, and an optimistic mindset.
Within the fall of 2016, Henry was following the coaching methodology from Joe Friel’s e-book “Quick After 50.” Whereas he was seeing some progress, he felt he was not operating to his potential. After ending Western States 100 in 2010, Henry had gone on a tough streak of not ending 100 milers for six years. He knew he wanted to do one thing totally different. On the recommendation of his pal and Western States 100 champion, Kaci Licktieg, he reached out to me.
Our personalities instantly meshed. I’m not a cheerleader-type coach, and Henry is unquestionably not an athlete who wants a cheerleader. A usually stoic U.S. Midwestern accountant, Henry doesn’t want somebody to carry his hand. Relatively, he wants a coach who will plan his coaching, maintain him accountable, and provide each encouragement and constructive criticism.
Henry Bickerstaff ending the 2024 Hennepin 100 Mile. Photograph: Ornery Mule Races
Again in January, we mapped out an in depth plan that might culminate on the Hennepin 100 Mile in October. Henry wished to realize one other Western States 100 qualifier, and in addition construct as much as his finest health degree up to now. We determined to focus his most intense exercises on the bike, which he would experience twice every week. On the opposite 5 days of the week, Henry ran a mixture of restoration runs, endurance runs, and interval exercises.
Within the nine-month construct as much as the Hennepin 100 Mile, Henry averaged simply over 10 hours of coaching per week, whereas increasing his cardio base and remaining harm free.
As with all older athlete, restoration between arduous or lengthy efforts proved to be the most important problem. By means of the spring and summer season, we always tweaked Henry’s coaching to verify he was suitably recovered in time for his subsequent massive dose of coaching. By the point August rolled round, we had discovered the candy spot between depth and restoration, and Henry was prepared for a very powerful a part of his complete construct up — his three-day coaching camp.
Having labored with Henry for thus lengthy, I knew he was nicely geared up to deal with the calls for of a three-day camp. And, I additionally knew that Henry preferred to combine a race into his three-day coaching camp, as a approach of anchoring the coaching in one thing tangible. Henry selected the Iron Will 50 Mile race as his coaching camp race, for the reason that course was just like the Hennepin 100 Mile, and it takes place 5 weeks forward of race day.
AJW with pals at his personal coaching camp for this yr’s Javelina 100 Mile. Photograph: Dana Roark
Henry ran 25 miles on the Thursday earlier than the Iron Will 50 Mile and 15 miles on Friday to offer him a pleasant 90-mile camp. Even on drained legs, he managed to run a formidable 10:09 on the race, which up till now’s the quickest 50-mile path run for a 70-plus-year previous male in North America in 2024. At that time, we each knew he was prepared and primed for an ideal race.
Ultrarunning coach Jason Koop likes to say that the perfect executed races are literally boring. Henry nailed this on the Hennepin 100 Mile. Aside from just a few hours of abdomen misery within the warmth of the day, Henry maintained his power ranges all through the race, took care of himself each bodily and mentally, and paced the race brilliantly. So brilliantly, the truth is, that during the last 40 miles of the race he handed 41 individuals, a couple of individual per mile, one thing of which he was notably proud.
In my follow-up dialog with Henry, I requested him what his key takeaway from his efficiency was. His reply was nice: “My takeaway is that something is feasible with correct bodily and psychological coaching. I feel the important thing to my success is the understanding that coaching evolves as you age, and that at 70, and even 60 or 50, we can’t practice the identical as we did once we had been 20, 30, and even 40. What turns into extra essential is consistency and paying extra consideration to the little issues.”
Henry Bickerstaff’s Beer of the Week
This week’s beer, as chosen by Henry, comes from Alva Beer Firm in Alva, Oklahoma, a small brewpub-style venue serving scrumptious beers and artisan pizzas. Pax Americana West Coast IPA takes inspiration from the lighter and extra approachable model of the fashion, bringing the entire hop aroma and taste with a a lot much less pronounced bitterness. The top result’s a dangerously drinkable IPA, which measures up at 7.1% ABV. Most drinkers will take pleasure in its fantastically creamy head, and crystal-clear, orange-to-reddish hue.
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