The Plan

Scott has run three marathons and I have run three marathons and two 50Ks, however neither of us has ever run an ultra of 50 miles so developing a training plan for this seems quite a bit different than anything we have done before.  Scott has traditionally done very well with training plans where I have not.  I run more based on feel and l am far less disciplined that he is, so why I was tasked with the developing our training plan I have no idea.

The basis for this training plan started with an ultra training plan from Runners’ World.  Here are three things that I wanted to make sure our plan had:

1. Back to back long runs on every weekend.  This seems to be a staple of all ultra training plans so I made sure it was part of our training plan.
2. At least three 25+ mile trail runs before the 50 miler.  We are going to run Athens Big Fork in early January and Sylamore 50K in February.  I’ve also added in our own unsupported BRT (Buffalo River Trail) Marathon in late January.  ABF and BRT are training runs and will be treated as such.  The goal of these long runs is to focus on nutrition and running comfortably.  Sylamore 50K will be treated like a race and we will push ourselves to see how we respond.
3. Two rest days each week.  I think it’s possible we may have to add additional rest days when we notice dead legs or burnout, but we will start with two for the plan.

Tomorrow I will be making the drive to Conway to run the kickoff run of the plan together.  We will blog regularly about our experiences with the plan and let you know how we do and what we learn.

Disclaimer: I am not a health care professional nor a physical trainer and this plan should not be used as a guide with the impression that I know what I am doing.  This is merely our plan that I share with you for entertainment purposes only.

50 Mile Sylamo Training Plan