S2E19: 3 Tips from Ultramarathon Training You Can Use in a 5K

I am training for a 100 mile race. It’s Blackbeard’s Revenge in late March so I'm currently in high mileage territory. Here are 3 tips from ultramarathon from training you can use in a 5K, 10K, half, or full marathon:

1: Doubles and Triples

I’m doing a lot of multiple runs throughout the day since my effort will likely spam the course of 25-30 hours.

I did a single 12 hour effort that yielded 65 miles but that’s the only extremely long effort I’m doing.

I’ve talked about not going beyond 3 hours in a single training effort here before and I stand by it. I need to prepare my body for the volume but am also almost 40 years old- there’s a fine line there between volume and injury

So, I’m doing double and triple runs in a single day

For example, if I have 20 miles to run that could be 10+10 or 7+7+6

Naturally, I have to schedule around this to a degree with childcare (& you probably will with work), but splitting your effort is a way to achieve high volume

2: Back to back long efforts

Another strategy I am using in an effort to prepare my body for the fatigue I’ll feel in later miles is back to back long runs.

This would be, for example, doing a 12 mile schedules long run it key effort and then a 10 the following day.

The outcome here is training effect. I want my legs to be tired on run number 2. I also want to run through it so I’m stronger on the other end.

Note you can combine with doubles or triples if you are training for a marathon or above.

Under that, you can probably choose either/ or & hit the volume and desires training effect.

3: Splitting the difference on bedtime

I know sleep is a crucial part of recovery and I’m programming it as if it were part of my mileage

My strategy, taken from an infant sleep counselor, is to go to bed 20-30 minutes earlier and wake up 20-30 minutes later than normal

Normal is defined as when I’m not training for a race.

This gives me at least an extra half hour each night, translating to 3.5 hours extra per week.

My body needs that. I bet yours does, too.

I hope these tips are helpful to you & challenge you to choose ONE to apply during your next race training.

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