MPF Coaching HIGHLIGHT: Alex Papadopoulos "The HURT 100 Never Hurt so Good"
Sometimes there’s a lot more to getting to the starting line then just putting in mileage... Taking a broken foot on the technical terrain of Hawaii’s HURT 100, was the test of a lifetime.
I love coaching folks toward their goals, even if some may seem impossible when we start. With over 20 years of working with different athletes of all ages everyday, I never tire of the challenge. Every person that contacts me for coaching brings a unique unfinished puzzle to the table, and I find trying to put the puzzle together extremely rewarding.
I knew if Alex was contacting me, it was a May-day call. He’s been a self coached athlete with great success for many years. When I received his note I thought he may want to improve his performance, it was, but first the goal was to build a schedule that addressed the imbalances brought on by a foot injury. Alex broke his foot earlier in the year when a tree fell on it, pretty much crushing it.
Alex is a the head of Athletic Equation and a coach himself. You may have heard about a crazy race called the MT. Tammany 10...yeah that’s his invention. He is also a very accomplished ultra runner finishing the infamous HURT 100, 12 times along with many others.
Once Alex was cleared from PT, our work together really began. A common mistake with athletes especially in the running world is to jump back into training too quickly leaving the PT drills and continuing without any strength progression. One often needs help with how to progress correctly, this is where my help was needed the most. I have been the link to this chain for most of my career, working with PT’s and doctors to continue the progress once released from care. I can’t tell you enough how important it is to continue the strength building process and progress correctly.
6 Months to HURT 100
When we set out on this journey, the main goal was to get Alex to the starting line of the HURT 100 in one piece, like most folks training for anything, getting to the starting line in one piece is the first goal.
I started by performing a FMS Movement Screen to get a baseline of his movement patterns and to see what we were working with besides the foot issue.
After the findings along with a deep look into his injury and training history we focused on hip strength, ankle mobility, as well as core strength. It was imperative to correct imbalances caused by his injury. We met online 2x per week, with an additional strength session added to his schedule. I also programmed a set of exercises to be completed pre & post run to maximize neuromuscular activation. The more muscles you have on board helping you, the more efficient your movement will be. The goal in this case is to minimize any other weaknesses/energy leaks, that may occur through imbalances.
Ankle, foot, core and hip strength are paramount for his gait cycle to become more balanced. If his ankle or foot were not striking or mobility was lost his foot strike would impact the entire kinetic chain.
As far as his cardiovascular training, swimming and elliptical built his base, then I slowly started implementing hiking. It wasn’t smooth sailing, sometimes we took 2 steps back for 1 step forward. Hikes slowly became harder, running was introduced, but never at any intensity. The only modality we added intensity too was hiking and a little interval work on the elliptical. Hiking workouts with the use of poles on technical terrain was magic sauce, but it took time. His longest hike/run prior to HURT was 11:48 with 11,000 feet of climbing in 40.8 miles. When he completed this relatively pain free I gained confidence that he would make it to the starting line. YES!
The week leading to the race we had our last online session, I heard the concern in his voice. This being his 13th HURT 100, he had tons of experience on the course and data. His training volume was nowhere near what he did in the past, but I knew the quality of his training along with the strength training would be a driving force.
Now it’s time to make it to the finish line! I was slightly nervous as I refreshed the online tracker while yelling “LET’S GO Alex”! Alex finished the race about 2 hours slower than his normal average, in a little over 33 hours.
As we are always reminded in the sport of ultra running, it’s not a solo sport, sometimes it takes a village! Congratulations to Alex and his team!
