One of the first questions that came to mind when hearing about people running such long distances was "How do you train for something like that?" Up to this point, I had trained for a half marathon, marathon, and half Ironman triathlon. To train for each of those, I found online resources for a schedule to go by. I found that there were a lot of free options out there. They had a nice variety of 4-6 days a week and you can find them based on your experience level. For both the half/full marathon and during most of the first year of running, I used an app called Runkeeper. I attribute a good amount of my early progress to this program. If you aren't familiar with it, Runkeeper is an application for your phone that you can used during a workout to track progress. It uses the gps function on your phone to record your location data. It is a very user friendly program with a lot of helpful tools. All of your activities are also available online. They offer a nice assortment of training schedules that you can follow for various distances. I found my half and full training schedules here. They worked great, being as I had no experience in running. Since then, I have also discovered Strava which offers a very nice community aspect.
Finding a training plan for a 50 miler though was a different story. During a 50 mile race, it isn't uncommon to be running for 9 to 10 hours straight. That's longer then a traditional work day, but you don't get 30 minutes for lunch and two 15 minute breaks. Factors such as nutrition (which I will touch on in a later post), play a much different roll. I had to find a training program that I could fit into my busy work/school schedule, but also intense enough to give me the mental strength to make it through the tough miles. The best way to prepare for hard times, is with hard times.
When I came across this article/plan from Runner's World magazine, I knew it was a perfect plan for me.
It was a 16 week plan that recommended you be currently running 15-18 miles for your weekly long run. I will admit that coming into this training, that was a stretch. Crystal, my wife, and I had just come off of a summer of training for a half Ironman. We had the 4-5 hour endurance coming into the training, but due to only needing to run 13.1 mile for the triathlon, I had only ran more than that a few times in the past 2 months. It would only mean I'd have to make up for it with hard work. A program with only 5 days running fit perfectly into my schedule, while giving me enough time to get much needed recovery and rest.
As expected, the first 4 weeks were difficult. Getting used to running back to back longs runs took some time. I found myself wanting to quit often, though nothing was going to get in the way of completing this goal. As the weeks have gone by, the miles have become easier and easier. Just 3 months ago, I found myself wanting to be done 15 miles into a run, where now that feeling doesn't start setting in until close to 25-30 miles now. I've also noticed that my recovery has improved tremendously. Just 2 weeks ago, I had a 31 mile training run on the roads. At the end of the run, my legs were completely beat up. I had problems moving from one room to another in the house. To my surprise and amazement, I was back to normal the next day. I am currently in week 13 of the training plan with my last back to back super long weekend ahead. It feels so good having come this far in the training. I have a new found understanding and belief in the power of having a plan of action. If a road is already in place, the journey can be made much easier.
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