Jim Walmsley – Training WSER 2019

Jim Walmsley – Training Leading To Western States Endurance Run – Course Record in 2019 

[Article by Tait Hearps of Sweat Elite]

On May 4^th Hoka One One’s Project Carbon X event was staged in Sacramento, California. The event doubled as a launch for the shoe company’s latest release, as well as an attempt by Jim Walmsley at tackling the 50-mile world record set by Bruce Fordyce in 1984 (4:50:51). Jim came through the 50-mile mark in 4:50:08. Originally having the 100km record in his sights too, the ultrarunning star said in an interview with iRunFar that he realised part-way through the 50-miles that he was pushing too hard too early to maintain the splits required for the extra 20km. He took a short break at an aid station and completed the rest of the 100km, finishing in 6:55:25.

May 13^th Jim posted a new activity to Strava: Western States Day 1. A 17.78km run with 914m elevation gain. Description: Elden #1. The Western States Endurance Run is the pinnacle of US ultrarunning, a 100-mile race run every June through the rugged mountains of central California. Jim has had a tumultuous history on the course but last year he won the race and took out the course record in the process, finishing in a time of 14 hours, 30 minutes. 

In January we published an article about Jim’s training in the lead-up to his qualification for the US Olympic marathon trials, running a 64-minute half-marathon in Houston. The Flagstaff local posts all his training on Strava, consistently huge sessions that entertain and inspire his legions of followers. Again, we are going to take a look at some of his sessions leading up to a big event, however this time it is moving away from relatively faster events on the road and preparing for the gruelling ordeal of a 100-miler with around 5,000m vertical gain.

The following day (May 14^th) Jim posted a similar run: Elden #2. Mount Elden is a peak outside of Flagstaff, rising about 2,400 feet from the already elevated city of Flagstaff, the peak sits at 2,834m. By the end of the training leading up to the WSER Jim ran up Elden twenty-six times. His training block post Project Carbon X was kicked off with six consecutive days up Elden, followed by a 32km run on rolling hills outside Flagstaff, and then by more Elden climbs. 

Most of Walmsley’s training took place around Flagstaff but notable sessions were also run in the Grand Canyon, where Walmsley holds Fastest Known Times on various routes through the National Park. Jim ran without a rest day from May 13 to May 22, and on May 24^th did a 48km out-and-back run through the canyon with a group of his friends and fellow competitors at WSER – over 2,000m elevation gain, averaging 5:12min/km. This monster run was backed up with a double ascent of Elden. Four days later he was back out in the Canyon for the same 48km run.

June brought with it more consistent ascents of Elden, and bigger days in the canyon: on both June 3 and 10 he ran 72km routes in the canyon (3000m+ elevation gain), again with his friends and fellow competitors. Between these runs he had no days off! A couple easier days of running were followed up by a 33km build run averaging 3:38min/km (finishing in 3:25-3:20) – evidently Walmsley still maintains speed whilst doing these massive aerobic training blocks. 

June 24 Walmsley posted “Elden #26” with the description “Elden, you’ve been good to me this block”. June 25 was Walmsley’s final hard session before the race, with an interesting speed tune-up (given the type of race he was about to run) on a track in Flagstaff: 5 x 1 mile with 3 mins rest (miles in 4:58, 4:58, 4:57, 4:56, 4:52). Jim’s description: “Nice to not touch speed at all since Carbon X and still have this session feel so smooth at 7,000 feet on a windy track.”

Jim’s weekly statistics for the block are as follows (all information taken from his Strava profile):

In another interview with iRunFar just prior to WSER Jim said that this training block had been feeling really good. Due to the Project Carbon X it was shorter than usual, and “things were stacked closer to the race,” but Jim said he was feeling in form and that his consistency of results was giving him lots of confidence going into the race.

And the end result? Walmsley took over twenty minutes off his own record, finishing in 14 hours and 9 minutes. Second place went to 24-year-old Jared Hazen, one of Jim’s main training partners, who ran 14 hours 26 minutes – faster than the record set by Walmsley in last year’s race.

Walmsley’s training is something to behold. Big mileage, lots of vert, plenty of speed thrown in. Having it all posted on a public platform like Strava is something that many followers are greatly appreciative of. Watching such spectacular training from afar is definitely inspiring, and despite his somewhat unorthodox sessions it is difficult to argue with the results – few athletes display such versatility.