Eight to 10 weeks out from your race, make that long run longer every second or third week.įor a 50K race, I have my athletes peak around 21 to 24 miles a few weeks before race day. Get comfortable consistently running between 16 and 20 miles once a week. Then, after you have a base, start doing weekly long runs as you would for marathon training.

Most runs should be easy and not too long-between 30 and 90 minutes depending on your background. Focus on three to five key long runs, or back-to-back long-run weekendsĪn ultra training cycle should look very similar to any other running training cycle. Failure to build a base of consistency results in injury and underperformance. The same logic applies to ultrarunning: run five or six times a week healthily, for a few months, before trying to lengthen long runs to over 16 miles.

Before you open a restaurant, you should learn how to turn on the stove. The biggest mistake I see in ultra training is a failure to lay a sufficient foundation to handle the key long runs essential for ultra success. Before you do an ultra-specific long run, build an appropriate base See all our training plans for races of every distance here. Here’s how to train for an ultra marathon. Here are the principles you need to know to complete the journey.

It takes strategic, long-term thinking and lots of training.

Want Trail Runner delivered directly to your inbox? Sign up for our newsletter here.īut it is important not to idealize ultrarunning. Ultrarunning is a journey to find the soul. And every so often, when our muscles are mangled and every ounce of our physical being is telling us to stop, we catch a glimpse of something much greater. What do we learn at mile 30 or 50 or 99? We learn that we are layers of self-aware meat and gristle built on stick-figure scaffolding. Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members!

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