Building up the km's

[Jaci]

Hi folks ... just wanted to get some advise on whether our 'game plan' is sensible!  We have both done a half-marathon, but have not raced further that that.  We have been doing a weekly long run, as well as a couple of short (8-15km) runs, mountain biking, and swimming.  The long runs are now around 36-40km ... and we are pretty (*very*) stuffed at the end of that.  We have tried running 10min, walking 5min ... walking the hills etc, and are taking plenty of water and good food with us.  Also thought of doing a shorter 'long' run every 4 weeks.

Question is ... do we just continue to add a couple of k's each week, or settle at the long one around 45-50km ... and should we be planning a really long run, say 75km before the race ... thinking this would have to be around a month before, to allow sufficient recovery!

Being newbies, we just want to finish under 24 hours, but think we might be able to crack the 20 hours.  Not as young as we would like to be either!

Any advise would be very much appreciated from you seasoned ultra-runners

cheers,
Jaci & Dean

[Mike]

Hi Jaci and Dean,

The terrain that your training on is probably the key, I assume that you are off road and include hills, real hills?. Personally I would keep doing what you are until it gets easier eg you recover quicker with out feeling Very stuffed. As for 75k training run, not sure on that, its an event in its self. 50k would be plenty, time rather than distance is probably more important. As a guide my wife completed a 96k race last year sub 20hours with a run walk strategy, run downs walk the ups, training was 2 x 9k 500m up/down and a maximum long run of 27km/5.5hours 1800m up/down.

hope that helps

mike

[Glen]

Hi Jaci and Dean,
Just like Mike wrote...long runs of around 50km will be plenty for this type of race. Even very very few guys having a crack at 100 miles would do training runs any where near 75km. When I did the race in 2009 my longest training run was 45km and I managed to finish in 19 hours. You will hear it said time and time again, but these types of event really are run in your head. You need just enough training k's in the legs to strengthen up the body and the rest is all about keeping that forward momentum going. If you keep working away like you are then you should be fine. Do as many of your long runs on trails that you can. The race is still quite a long time away and hopefully you'll soon be finishing your 40km plus training runs and still having something left in the tank. Remember to have some easy weeks too. Good luck!

Glen 

[Jaci]

Hi Glen and Mike

thank you so much for that feedback ... very inspiring and encouraging.

Yes, we are training on almost 100% trails ... not enough big hills to match Katoomba, but we're in Port Stephens and there a plenty of hills on our runs.

Heading to Katoomba in a week or so to have a look at what we're up for, looking forward to it!

cheers,
Jac & Dean

[Andrew]

Hi Jaci & Dean

Some great advice from Glen and Mike. It's not all about the K's and every year you hear of people who overtrain or run too far in preparation to be injured or over cooked for race day.

My longest training run for TNF  has never been more than 45kms (mainly on trails) and I've finished sub 14hours. The key is plenty of strength training be that in the gym or on the hills. I do multiple reps on a 1km hill trail once or twice a week, a normal 15-20k easy run as a recovery/loosener, and then 30-40kms on the long weekend run. That way you get a day or two to recover and are less likely to get any overuse injuries.

I agree with Glen that you shouldn't do any more than you are currently for a couple of months at least, and just ramp up the intensity in that 6 weeks when you're 12 weeks out from race day. Don't be afraid to walk in training, you will be doing a lot of it in May, unless you're out to take out the title!

Another important point would be to train with your backpack on. It can make a massive difference come raceday, and again have seen too many people fall by the wayside as they were not used to having a pack on. Doesn't have to be filled with bricks, but you can increase the amount of stuff you have in it as you get stronger, so that come the start line you are comfortable with the extra weight. I do all my training with my pack fully loaded (around 5kgs inc 3l of water) and it actually feels odd to run without it now.

Listen to your bodies, as for this sort of distance (and more importantly, duration) there is no generic training program, you have to feel you way with what works for you.

I have written quite a bit about this, much inspired from this years TNF. Feel free to have a look around: www.ultrarunning.com.au

One other thing make the most of training opportunities, like taking the stairs instead of the escalators. There's no escalators coming up out of Nellies Glen, if only!!

Best of luck with the training and enjoy the Mountains this weekend. It'll be a bit cooler in May ;-)
Happy Running
Andy

[Dean]

Hi All,

I'm the Dean part of the Jaci & Dean.  Great advice, thanks very much.  Feel much better now that we seem to be on the right trail.  Also the encouragement is absolutely invaluable when we think that we are bumbling along not really sure if we are heading in the right direction.  Much clearer now.  The 6" Trail 46km in December in Perth will let us know for sure.
Thanks again,

Dean

[Michael]

Agree with all the comments above.  I think the other thing to remember is that on the event day you will have also tapered before it and therefore have extra energy and be ready to go that extra distance i.e. you won't have done all those other training in the week as well

[Mitchell]

Gday all,

So the course is super hilly, and training should take place under similar conditions; makes sense. With this in mind, would the super flat Canberra 50k (about 5 weeks out from TNF100) be too unsuitable as a training run, given that this will be around the time for peak kms??
A mate of mine is taking on the marathon in Canberra as his first one, and has asked me to accompany him. I figured i could do so, and do the extra little bit to finish the 50k. However, im not too sure if this is a good idea, and perhaps i should be doing those kms in the bush..?

Thoughts and suggestions??

Thanks,
Mitchell.

[Andrew]

Hi Mitchell,
I've done Canberra and I think the biggest hill is getting onto the bridge over the lake!

I think that would be a good LSD run provided that you are doing plenty of hills in your other training.  Really the long runs is just getting used to the time on your feet. Yes, a hilly trail course would be ideal, but you can do that in other long runs. I assume you'll be doing more than one long session!

One good option, depending on how seriously you are taking the Canberra run could be to back it up with a 20-30km run the following day (or the day before).

For my first TNF the longest training run I did was 45kms, and that was mostly road and mainly flat, and I got around quite comfortably.

I guess what I am saying is that you need to focus on your preparation as a whole, rather than being too concerned about one session.

Best of luck
Andy

www.ultrarunning.com.au

[Mitchell]

Awesome insight, thanks.