GMU Plan

[SkiMonday]

I’ve finally come up with the outline of a plan!

My aim is to complete the event comfortably within the cutoff time; I think my speed is already OK for that so I don’t intend to do much speed work (although I might do some on Wednesdays). Plan is to walk up the hills, walk down the steeper ones then either run or run/walk the rest (I’ll decide on that based on how my training goes).

It’s basically a merge of a couple of published plans with my existing routine. I think it keeps to the 10% rule except for the 50k training run and the race itself (some of the early weeks might look like they break that but I’ve recently had a 61k week with a 42k run so I should be OK there). I’ve included three rest days each week, two on consecutive days. Every other week is a cutback week because that’s what I’m used to. Cross training still needs to be added in.

Any comments gratefully encouraged!

[linda9389 Administrator Marathon]

That's a lot of running. Amazing!!! Go you! Looks good ... good luck!!!

[SkiMonday Ultramarathon in reply to linda9389]

Thanks Linda.

[Decker Ultramarathon]

This looks like a great plan SM. In fact I may just borrow from it for my race, if you don’t mind. I really like the intermittent cutback weeks of 21s which is like my regular weekend run most weeks.

[SkiMonday Ultramarathon in reply to Decker]

Thanks Decker and you're welcome to give it a try. As I wrote, I put the cutback weeks in because that's what I'm already doing.

[SkiMonday Ultramarathon in reply to Decker]

Meant to ask: what's the race you've training for?

[Decker Ultramarathon in reply to SkiMonday]

I’m hopefully doing the Sticks n Stones 50k race that was deferred from last year. I did wind up doing it last year on my own, but not officially.

[Windoze Half Marathon]

Nutter! 🤣 keep us posted Ski! Looking forward to hearing how the training goes!

[SkiMonday Ultramarathon in reply to Windoze]

😅😅😅, well, so far, so good.

[Cmoi Marathon]

That looks great SkiMonday , and going by what you've done already, you're well on your way. 👍 Your final Sunday is particularly impressive - my plan says "Sleep." Seriously.

[SkiMonday Ultramarathon in reply to Cmoi]

"Sleep"is probably more realistic, or maybe something in between. I'm hoping that, by taking it steadily, I will have some energy the following day. Time will tell.

[Cmoi Marathon in reply to SkiMonday]

Whereas I am expecting to be wiped out, and praying I won't have a full day's teaching on Monday, even though classes don't start until 10.30!

[SkiMonday Ultramarathon in reply to Cmoi]

I suppose your training might give you some idea of how you'll feel after the event. What's the longest run in your plan?

To date, I've found that running a 10k the day after a (relaxed) HM was alright. I found it much harder doing a long run the day after a short faster run.

[Cmoi Marathon in reply to SkiMonday]

Sorry for the late reply SkiMonday . The longest run in the plan is 20 miles, so 32.2k, in seven weeks' time and four weeks before the end of the plan. I started early though as I know that work and curfew will make it impossible to stay on schedule over the next couple of months.

Fwiw I did the HU 10K five days after the HUHM, which ended up as a metric marathon. The gap was due to work, but I think I'd have struggled or at least been very slow the day after. There again I'd not trained in any meaningful way, and I was running on emotion and a few dried apricots!

[SkiMonday Ultramarathon in reply to Cmoi]

I've found that the more effort I put in, the more recovery time I need. Still, sleeping the day after your Maratrail seems like a good option.

I like the idea of fuelling on dried apricots and emotion.

[cheekychipmunks Half Marathon]

I’m happy to sit back and observe SM! You have a great looking plan there, including numbers I don’t even compute in terms of mileage, so good luck with the training and go smash it. 👊👏🏃‍♂️

[SkiMonday Ultramarathon in reply to cheekychipmunks]

Cheers CC. I suppose it helps knowing that I can, at least, handle a marathon.

[Cowladyrunning Marathon]

Ah I see...now I understand all your long distances on strava!! Looks a lot of running but fine for you! I have been exploring events around and love the idea of the local Wye Valley trail which is 15 miles. ..but I need to seriously think if I'd have time to train.... or the Badminton trail which is further away but interesting as our house has historical links to this estate! Options there are 5k 10k or HM....probably more manageable for me!

[SkiMonday Ultramarathon in reply to Cowladyrunning]

Prior to the Ultra training, I aimed to keep my runs under three hours (to reduce the chances of injury). However, rules like that have gone out of the window (for now, at least).

If you're considering an event, I'd suggest working out what you can acheive by sticking to the 10% rule and taking a cutback once every four weeks. Doing it that way, you should be able to double your distance in ten weeks. I think it's generally accepted that there's no need to train to the full distance so, for example, for an HM, I think that training runs up to about ten miles are considered sufficient (NB don't take that ten mile figure as a guide, it's just to illustrait the point). In addition, it helps to have a period of tapering before an event (like the three week taper in my plan).

Personally, when training for my first HM, I got up to 20 miles but that might be considered overkill and there's no way I'm going to train anwhere close to the event distance for the ultra.

Do let us know what you decide to do.

[Cowladyrunning Marathon]

Thank you...I'll sit down and think it out and decide if I do....then I'll let you know on here!

[GoGo_JoJo Ultramarathon]

I've just finished both of Ira Raineys' books which feature the Green Man and a lot of round Bristol training. You might find the first one useful, Fat Man to Green Man. I got them cheap in audio format from Raks Books.