Reading comments by Cmoi over on Strava reminded me that having a plan would be a good idea.
My target is to complete 72k in 11 hours. To aĺow time at the checkpoints, I reckon that I should train to complete in 10 hours. The event is on 21st August so I've 16 weeks to go. Currently, my longest run is 35k which took me 4 hours 20 minutes (which suggests to me that my target is achievable, provided I can keep going).
I tried looking at plans from Garmin and Strava but they don't go beyond 42k.
🤔 I wonder why Garmin and Strava run plans stop at 42k? 🤣🤣🤣
🐱 Katnap 🐱
Garmin - battery life!!!
My ultra is 'only' 52k and this is the plan that comes with it google.com/url?sa=t&source=... You could maybe add an extra 4 weeks to increase distance a bit. I like the back to back runs approach rather than always being one mega long run.
I like this Runner's World 50 mile plan - I've put it into a Google Sheet translated into kilometres (mostly anyway, I missed a couple!). There's a link at the bottom to the actual RW article.
docs.google.com/spreadsheet...
Cheers Abi. Handy having the distances in km.
I only have a couple of 50k plans for my upcoming effort, and I was just about to send the Runner's World 50 mile plan link but I see Roseabi already had it laid out nicely in Google sheets and converted to km! 
I'm glad my "Aargh what am I doing?!" moments are serving a purpose SkiMonday ! My plan is from REI Co-op, found by googling and downloading the first plan that didn't terrify me.
Your target time looks amazing! 💪 I'm just hoping to get round, hence my conviction that if I don't train it'll all go horribly wrong.
My aim with this is really just to get round within the cutoff time. With it being an ultra, I figured that I needed to allow some time for refuelling etc. I also want to know that I can maintain the required pace so that I can complete it without being completely shattered afterwards. That's the idea anyway, how it works out remains to be seen...
Wow, that's quite the goal - to not be shattered afterwards 😳 even at the lesser distance I'll be planning a day or two off work!!!
That's my aim (to avoid being totally shattered afterwards), although I've never done it before so mayby I'm being wildly optimistic. The best I have to go on is that, the day after my 35k, I was alright on a 3k walk and the following day I comfortably ran an (easy) 7k with a 1k sprint in the middle. Is that a good indication or am I just fooling myself?
Sounds amazing👍
I've noticed that I can put in a significant effort on an HM and finish with very little left "in the tank" or I can take a more relaxed approach and finish 10 minutes later. Hopefully, the relaxed approach will get me round the ultra.
🤞
As mine's a maratrail, not an ultra, there isn't a cut-off time, at least as far as I can see.
There are two ultras - 115k and 72k - in the same overall event, and the reference speed (NB not pace) for the former is 5km/h, and 4.47km/h for the latter.
For the 72k, they won't let you continue if you take more than 10 hours for the first 41k, and you have to take a shortened route if you take more than 13 hours 40 minutes to reach 60k. Bear in mind, though that the elevation gain over the 72k is pretty crazy: 2900m ascent and 3050m descent.
At 945m, mine's a walk in the park compared to that.
Might be worth double checking that. I think that most events have a cutoff time (so that the marshalls can go home for their tea). With the longer events operating concurrently, they're likely to be covering the route anyway so that might be why they don't quote a cutoff for the maratrail. I'm pretty sure though that it won't operate past the cutoff time for the 115k.
There's nothing in the regulations so far, though I suppose that doesn't stop them adding stuff. I'll be keeping an eye on the website as they update it.
Difficult to make direct comparisons as they've changed the event distance and routes, but the last finisher in the 38km event took just under 9 hours 21 minutes, and the last one in the 49km just under 10 hours 30 minutes.
Nothing useful to add except I am not worthy! All you looooong distance runners are something else. HM is plenty long enough for little me!
Good luck when you find your plan SM. Can’t wait to follow you (not literally!) on your runs. 🏃🏃🏃
Thanks Cheeky, although I haven't done it yet! Somehow, given that you achieved an HM running around a tiny circuit in atrocious conditions, I think you could push it further if you were interested. Just saying...
😀
You’ll do it SM, I know you will! As for me following suit ....... 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I agree, cc. Reading these posts makes me think I’ve entered a parallel universe 🪐
Eek! As someone looking at a HM but not yet reaching it, the idea of an ultra looks impossible.
Remember that the 10% rule means a doubling every two months or so is possible.
From my point of view, I'd say not impossible but definitely challenging!
Looking at the suggested plans, I think I'm doing OK but I've found another that suggests I should be covering a greater weekly distance by now.
Seems that I need to focus on building distance for now. Also should be adding in back to back runs soon.
By back-to-back you mean running every day? Or more than once per day?
Two long runs on consecutive days: runnersworld.com/advanced/a...
Wow and ouch at the same time!
Apparently, it's better than just one really long run. It's also good practice for running on tired legs.
For a while now, I've been doing a short, easy run the day before my long run but I need to take it to another level.
Closest that I've come so far is when I tried a high cadence on my easy run which turned it into more of a speed session. The long run the following day was hard going from the start.
Atb with your plans SM.🌟👏👏⚡️.Enjoyed reading your post and replies.My constantly backed-off bespoke chunking plan is perhaps not the problem.It’s my rebelling body and other stuff.Even my head is going bonkers.
Not going to give up though.Hanging in there for another 3 months.
🏃♀️🏃♂️🌟🌟👏👏💪💪🙏🙏💫💫⚡️⚡️😂😂
Apart from obvious physical fitness, hydration and fuelling are the kings. I trained for a 50k run by going up to 80km per week, 5 times each week with long runs of 16km and 32km occasionally run on Saturday and Sunday. That gave me enough time to figure out what my body needed in terms of power boost. I ended up drinking my own electrolyte drink and ate a small chocolate bar. As I ran alone I didn't have relief stations or any assistance, hence good planning was everything. Fail to do it right and you may find yourself in uncharted waters. I got myself familiar with marathon distance first (physically and mentally) and took it from there. I had to abandon my first 50k after 31km when my leg completely seized up in a debilitating cramp due to dehydration which I didn't plan for (slight temperature increase made my hydration schedule good for nothing). In other words, train hard and bear in mind that rules are very different during such runs so be prepared for the unknown. Good luck.
Thanks MrRun
I've already needed more than my 1 liter water bottle. Planning on getting a hydration backpack and probably using the water bottle in my running belt as well. As with a lot of this, I think experimenting is the key.
I've been using energy bars on some of my longer runs but I'm experimenting with sandwiches as my main source of nutrition.
Those very long distances are essentially very long walks, not runs. People even sit down at times, have lunch and even a drink. Of course, there are maniacs who are actually able to run 75K in one go but those are exceptionally fit (and sponsored) athletes. I know a guy who runs 50K non stop, without even a drink.
I part walked my 50K towards the end where both knees got very sore but the majority of it (with the exception of two toilet breaks and drink refilling) I simply ran. That's how you plan those things during the training. If you run, a sandwich may send you to a portaloo. If you decide to walk lots then even a goulash may not be a bad idea. I decided that drinks that would not upset my stomach and would provide sufficient energy boost were the way to go.
And whatever you do, do not (Ever!) change your game plan on the day of the run. That's always a recipe for gastro disaster. Train your body during the training and simply stick with it. You can do it!
Thanks again Mr Run.
Before I signed up, I'd deceide that a run/walk strategy was how I was going to do it. I reckon that a pace of 8:00/km will do nicely. Since I power walked an HM at a pace of 7:30/km, walking the entire course is a possibility. Although I've found that an easy run is less effort than walking at that pace! Besides, I haven't trained to walk at that pace since 2018. Plan is to walk up the steep bits but I'm not sure about the other bits yet. Might try a run/walk 8k/2k approach; that should alow enough walking time for sandwiches.
I hope to sort all this out over the next 8 weeks which gives me 8 weeks after that to get used to it (although there might be some fine tuning).
Somehow, 16 weeks doesn't seem that long...
That's the way to go. Hill walking is the right approach (your knees will appreciate it) but don't be tempted to run downhill (your knees would definitely not appreciate it).
The best run/walk strategy is the one by Jeff Galloway. An 8km run followed by a 2km walk sounds good on paper but after, say, 45km it will be easier said than done. The more you walk at that stage the harder it is to run again. You would be using different muscle groups on/off. Galloway's method, however, works wonders although 72K is a different beast.
If you haven't already, you can join UltraRunning group on Facebook. Some of those guys are hardcore and there will be plenty of answers to your questions.
Putting my 1 mile time into Jeff's site and looking at the figure for "long run" gives me a result of 30/30 which I think means run for 30 seconds / walk 30 seconds. Does that seem reasonable?
HM training plan
First Half marathon training plan
training for the Dorset extreme
Week 5 marathon training plan 😊
