A few weeks ago, Coach Sage Canaday discussed how one can appropriately make the transition from road marathons to ultra-marathons. This week, he thought he’d take it one step further to discuss what an actual training plan would look like for your first ultra-marathon. Understanding key differences is one thing, but what about actually implementing the steps to build a training plan that will yield success?
Let’s dive in to learn more:
Today, we’ll be addressing a popular question I frequently get about the recommended training period for a first-time ultra.
The Norm:
For marathons, I typically advise 16-week training blocks. However, when it comes to a 50K, does it require a longer training period besides increased mileage? This is a great question, and the answer depends on your experience level.
If you’ve completed multiple marathon training blocks and have followed a serious 16-week training plan, you’ll find the transition to a 50K much easier compared to someone who has only run shorter distances like a half marathon or a 10K, without a formal 16-week training plan.
At Higher Running, our training plans generally span 16 weeks for both marathons and ultramarathons, but they cater to different experience levels. If you have years of experience, consistently run high mileage, and race several marathons per year, moving up to a 50K may not be too extreme. Although there are differences in fueling, time on feet during long runs, and the specific type of 50K course, transitioning from a road marathon to a runable 50K is more manageable.
However, if you’re considering a longer ultra like a 100K or 100 miles (160K), and the course involves significant climbing, technical trails, adverse weather conditions, or high altitude, the training timeline might need to be extended beyond 16 weeks. Here’s a little more. on how those differences would work:
What’s Your Running History Like?
Another factor to consider is your training history in the six months leading up to the ultramarathon. Some runners plan their training in longer cycles, not just focusing on 16-week blocks or a few months. They consider a full calendar year or even two years. For instance, when I was a professional road marathon runner, we would plan marathons three times within a two-year cycle. This long-term perspective helps with race logistics, lotteries, and travel arrangements. Your training leading up to the ultramarathon matters, whether you’ve been doing shorter races like an HM and then a marathon, or a marathon followed by an ultramarathon.
If you’ve maintained consistent training over the first six months of the year or during the previous summer and fall, you’ll have a good aerobic base.
If you’ve been running for more than five or ten years and consistently clocking over 50 miles (80K) per week, you have a solid foundation to build upon. In such cases, you can increase your training volume faster with less risk of injury. You could be doing 20-mile (32K) long runs within two to four weeks.
However, it’s important to note that our training plans usually recommend a few weeks of easy mileage and aerobic base running before jumping into specific workouts or long runs. This helps prevent overexertion and injury. Starting from scratch or returning from a long break requires a longer timeline. In these cases, be patient and allocate around 20 to 24 weeks to get in shape for the 50K.
Training Timelines Explained:
Let me also cover the specifics of a 50K ultramarathon and how the training timeline and workouts change compared to a flatter road marathon. As I mentioned earlier, the type of race you signed up for plays a crucial role.
A 50K with 3000 meters of climbing or 10,000 feet of climbing, like the Speedgoat 50K, is more extreme compared to a flat road marathon. Factors like high altitude, technical trails, adverse weather, or humidity can significantly impact your race experience. You’ll need extra time to train specifically for the trail type, terrain, and elevation gain, as it affects your muscle development.
Drawing from my own experiences, I made a mistake when I attempted to qualify for the Olympic Trials in 2016. I had completed a few flat road marathons in 2015 and then decided to take on the Comrades Ultramarathon, which is still a road race, followed by UTMB. It turned out to be too rushed, as the transition to running up and down mountains required more time that I anticipated.
If you lack experience in mountainous or longer ultramarathon races and have mostly focused on road marathons, I recommend allocating more than 16 weeks for training.
Conclusion:
To conclude, the recommended training period for a first-time 50K ultra depends on several variables, including your experience level, genetics, injury resistance, lifestyle, time availability, and gear. Additionally, the type of course and the specific challenge you’re preparing for will influence the timeline. It’s essential to consider all these factors when planning your training for a successful ultramarathon journey.”
Today, Coach Sandi Nypaver wanted to talk about how much runners should stretch, as well as a little bit about mobility.
“I think this has been become a more confusing topic than it should be, but I’ll do my best to walk you through the similarities and differences. I’m applying the best research I’ve seen, and it also includes some thoughts from different physical therapists and sports doctors I’ve worked with.
How it Works For Elite Runners: 🏆Jumping to it when thinking about flexibility for runners — it’s about being flexible in the right places! If you look up a picture or a video of an elite runner who’s actually running fast and get a shot of them from the side. What you’re going to see is a really nice hip extension. However, that same runner might not be able to touch their toes because the back of their legs are so tight.
There may not be enough tightness to cause an injury, because tightness allows for the ideal storage of energy while the leg is on the ground and then the release of energy as the leg is in the air.
The Rubber Band Example: ⭕️It might be helpful for most people to think about different rubber bands:A small, thick rubber band is hard to pull back, so when we do pull it back and release it, it might not go very far. Moreover, a long, skinny rubber band can be pulled back really far, but it’s hard to build a lot of tension. So it also may not go very far!
However, a rubber band that is somewhere in between can be shot much farther. This is a long-winded way of saying that you should stretch anything that could be tight. As a general rule of thumb, stretch your hip flexors and quads. That’s one thing most runners should always stretch. You don’t need to be so flexible that you can stick your foot behind your head.
Let’s Talk Mobility 🤸Okay, let’s go on to mobility now. Having good mobility by doing dynamic stretches could help ensure that all the joints of your body are moving optimally, especially for running. By this point, though, you might be asking, “what’s the difference between flexibility and mobility?”
✅ Flexibility can be summed up as a muscle’s ability to lengthen. ✅ On the other hand, mobility is about a joint’s ability to move through a certain range of motion. Doing a little bit of mobility from the shoulders to the feet can go a long way to help runners stay healthy. Many runners who start doing mobility exercises find that they might be sore the following days because they’re using muscles they haven’t accessed in a long time!
If you also commit to throwing in a hip flexor stretch, quad stretch pretty much daily, that can help you keep a nice long stride that can allow you to get more power from your glutes. Furthermore, a long hip extension can help you increase that elastic energy as you run.
In summary, adding in mobility daily, and then always stretching your hip flexors and whatever else is tight, is a really good part of any running program. Even if it’s just a little bit every day!
That brings up an important note, which is it’s often better to do “mini sessions” throughout the week, rather than doing one long session every week. Personally, I always like to do a little bit of mobility before I run, along with some activation exercises.
Then, if I’m doing another strength training session, I’ll do a little bit more mobility before I do the strength training exercises just to help me. Feel free to do what works best for you but at least you have a picture of how I do it. And with that, this is all I had for this week! I hope this is something you can put into your own running routine.
So you’re trying to decide to take the leap from road running to trail running — that’s amazing! Moving up in distance can be an exciting and challenging experience, but transitioning from a half or full marathon on the road to a 50km or longer trail ultra-marathon requires additional preparation and considerations. Trail running offers unique challenges and rewards, from navigating uneven terrain to taking in breathtaking scenery.
In today’s article, Coach Sage Canaday will share his top 5 tips to help you prepare for your first ultra-marathon and make the transition as smooth as possible. Whether you’re a seasoned runner or new to the sport, these tips will help you stay focused, motivated, and confident as you tackle this new challenge:
“For a little background on myself, I raced 5k, 10K in track in college, and then eventually moved my way up. Maybe you’re in the same boat though. Maybe you’ve started running recently or you’ve gotten back into running and you’ve been doing 5K or 10K road races.
Maybe you’ve been doing dabbling in some half marathons, and now you’re looking to do a marathon and eventually an ultramarathon. The general trend is that you move up in distance as you gain more experience. This newsletter will specifically focus on transitioning from those road half marathons or road marathons.
I have five key tips, for making a successful transition to ultra-marathons, such as the 50K distance, 100k distance, even a hundred miles in the mountains and trails.
Tip Number One:
You have to have a consistent mileage base, which is essentially the aerobic base I frequently refer to. 🫁
For example, instead of running three days a week, you start running five days a week. Instead of running 30 miles a week or 50K a week, maybe you’ve started to average 50 miles a week or 80K a week. That kind of base generally really helps you in long distance racing! If you’ve got that consistency of just getting out the door, hitting those weekly mileage totals, spending time on your feet, training the aerobic system, even at relatively low intensity, it’s gonna set you up really well for doing an ultramarathon.
Now let’s briefly look at the physiology in terms of stressing your heart and lungs. A 50K is really just a minor extension off of a marathon, right? As long as it’s not a super high-altitude race or something really technical, it hopefully won’t feel too different than a regular marathon. A 50K should be very doable if you’ve gotten in consistent mileage base and experience in marathon training, so it probably best to start off with a 50K and see how your body responds.
Tip Number Two:
Add in hills or vertical. 📈
Not all ultra-marathons are going to be flat. In fact, most won’t be! Because there’s going to be a lot of vertical gain (at least more than what you’re used to in a regular road marathon), it’s critical to prepare your legs for that pounding of downhills and climbing strength for uphills.
To run strong uphill, it’s important to build overall strength and get that type of cardiovascular benefits for your heart and lungs. In a lot of our Higher Running Training Plans for Mountain Ultra training plans, we do have workouts like high intensity, short hill repeats, or have you do all uphill tempo runs or treadmill works where you’re adding in vertical gain and up relatively steep grades.
We’re talking 5% grade, 10% grade, even 20% grade. If you’re going to be training for a mountain race, you need to get used to that change in vertical. To take this one step further, add in hills and add in some long runs that are rolling that mimic the profile of the course. Your legs will get really strong doing this. Your heart and lungs get better with these specific types of aerobic adaptations.
Tip Number Three:
Throw your time and splits out the window. ⏱🚫
Unless you’re running a 50K on a track or you’re doing a really flat, non-technical ultramarathon race, you’re probably going to have no idea in your first ultra what kind of relative pace you might hold. For example, we have a lot of people that run sub-3-hour marathon in the roads. They run the Boston Marathon, and they’re fast on the roads. Then, all of a sudden, you throw them out on the trails and they’re splitting four or five hours for a 50K. Letting go of your expectations will help you enjoy the race more and get a better understanding of how you respond to longer races.
For me personally, I’m frequently slogging 10–15-minute miles. I’ve even done races where I’m power hiking up a mountain at 25-minute mile pace (18-minute km pace). It’s not like road running or flat, fast track running. Throw times out the window, you have to go by effort.
Tip Number Four:
Ultra-marathons require their own, specific long runs. 💪
Long runs are the bread and butter of a lot of our marathon and ultramarathon training plans at Higher Running. Try to build your long runs off what the actual course is going to be. Take the time to do your due diligence and research the types of trails it’s on, how much total vertical the race has, etc.
One you’ve done this, try to mimic that in some of your long runs. Now, obviously, you’re not going to go out and run a 50K ultra when training for a 50K. But you might be doing a 20-mile long run (32km) as part of your regular training, and it’s important you’re mimicking the terrain you’ll be racing on.
And like I said in the previous tip of throwing your time goes out the window, you might just be looking to spend time on your feet. Go out on the weekend (or whenever you have more time to actually train on trails) and you say, “okay, I’m going to do a four hour long run.” Or, “I’m going to spend half the afternoon out on the trails.”
Tip Number Five:
Ultra-marathons require specific nutrition and gear. 🍌
This is something you’re going have to figure that out, because everyone is different!
However, I can briefly address the basics:
Nutrition: You need to have probably more calories on you. Some people use hydration packs, whereas others rely on aid stations. Research what’s at the aid stations, practice your fueling strategy, and dial in what works best for you.
Gear: You’re spending more time out in the elements. You’ll have to have all types of jackets, extra shoes, extra socks, etc. You could get more extreme temperature changes as well. But it depends on where your ultramarathon race is and how long it will take you.
Moving up in distance from a road marathon to a trail ultra-marathon can be a daunting task, but with the right preparation and mindset, it can be an incredibly rewarding experience. Remember to focus on your training, stay motivated, and be patient with yourself as you adjust to the unique challenges of trail running. With these tips and your own determination, you’ll be well on your way to achieving your trail ultra-marathon goals.
Before we dive deeper into the series, Ray wants to share an important note: She spent a lot of time already working through the grief of not being able to move how she wanted to (both because of injury and fatigue from overtraining) as well as the loss of a former identity. Ray has both worked with a mental health therapist and spent significant time journaling to work through the emotions and mental components of being injured. Because of this, it was an easy transition for Ray to move into an elongated rest and recovery period. However, if you find yourself increasingly depressed or anxious, she recommends finding a therapist to help support you on your own journey.
2. Surround yourself with positivity.
Most mornings, you can find Coach Ray on her bike trainer, not to gain fitness, but to maintain a healthy amount of activity for well-being. And you better bet that you won’t find her listening to anything but a podcast or YouTube video that has positive vibes and is about learning and growth.* Monday mornings, it’s usually the newly released episode of the Rich Roll Podcast, then on to Jay Shetty, Woman of Impact, and whatever videos the YouTube algorithm has found for her.
In addition to her weekly cycling practice, Coach Ray will often do a short guided morning meditation or journaling practice, and listen to a short Oprah Winfrey, Gabrielle Bernstein, or other morning motivation video and she’s getting ready.
*This is definitely not a practice of toxic positivity. As a mental health therapist, Coach Ray highly believes in the value of uncomfortable emotions. She also believes that surrounding yourself with positivity in the morning can help to shift the outlook on the rest of your day and help with the more challenging emotions that may come later on.
3. Play with New Activities
Despite being a water (cancer) sign, Coach Ray would not describe herself as a swimmer. Yet she knew some swimming would benefit her and break up the daily indoor cycling routine. Bonus that the Salida Hot Springs pool is warmer than most pools. Even though it doesn’t compare to running, Coach Ray knew she could make it fun and enjoy it.
The first day she went to the pool, it was literally just to get her feet wet. Or rather, to make sure she could get from one end of the pool to the other in a mostly straight line and without drowning. Although not pretty, she achieved that challenge.
Her mental talk?
“Okay Ray, harness your inner dolphin.”
“Just keep swimming.”- Dory
Coach Ray has worked with athletes who won’t swim or cycle because they find it boring compared to running. But that is a limiting thought. Not just because other activities can be fun, but it negates people’s own ability to be creative and make things fun.
4. Celebrate the little successes
At the beginning of Coach Ray’s rehab, even the beginner Achilles strengthening exercises felt like too much and pushing through pain to do them didn’t make sense. Instead, she decided to play with some “Toe Yoga”. When she first saw other people moving their big toes without lifting their little toes, and vice versa, she thought “that’s crazy”, it seemed impossible. So she started out by holding down her big toe to move her other toes up, then her little toes to move her big toes independently. 3 weeks later and without any assistance from her hands, she finally did it! She was so proud of herself and as excited as if she just nailed a workout.
Whether it’s finally being able to do some toe Yoga, holding a plank for a minute, or doing your first single leg squat, celebrate it as much as you would if you just ran your fastest mile.
Bonus: After gaining proprioception from her toes, Coach Ray actually began to get arches in what doctors had proclaimed as (permanently) flat feet!
5. Get more sleep
When things get busy, the first thing to go is usually to sleep. Or, if we want to prove what a hardcore runner we are, we wake up and run when it’s still dark.
For Coach Ray, she sacrificed sleep since junior high, waking up early to run or go to the 6:30am skills basketball sessions with the boys team. In her 30s, it started to become a struggle to wake up when the alarm went off, not because she was depressed, she was just tired.
Now Coach Ray often gets 8.5-9 hours of sleep. While that may seem superfluous to some, if you’re still waking up extra early to get on the bike, you may not be honoring your recovery. The body needs rest to heal.
We know that 9 hours of sleep just isn’t possible for some, most of us can work on getting to bed earlier, taking a nap, or even doing a 5-minute meditation on your lunch break (not the same as sleep, but relaxes your body enough to gain some of the benefits of sleep).
When you can, harness your Inner Sloth!
6. Lower your Stress
Research shows that stress can slow down the body’s natural healing process (and in more extreme cases, can also cause disease*). Therefore, finding ways to lower your stress can speed up the healing process.
While we can’t all be like Coach Ray and move into a Yurt in the middle of open space for 6 months, we can take away a few key parts of how Ray created a more serene life for herself:
-Every morning or every evening, take 5-10 minutes to meditate, journal, or write down what you’re grateful for.
-Learn to say “No” to things you don’t want to do and don’t absolutely have to do. Say “yes” to things that make you happy. (Some weeks, Coach Ray only left her Yurt to swim and do town errands twice. She said “yes” to opportunities to spend time with family and friends, but only if she wanted to and not out of obligation.)
-Practice deep breathing several times a day. This helps to regulate your nervous system. If anxious, this can move you from the sympathetic nervous system (fight/flight) and back into the sympathetic(rest/digest.)
*Read When the Body Says No by Gabor Mate for an in-depth overview of thestress-disease connection.
7. Nature
Getting outside everyday is imperative. Coach Ray was lucky enough that she could still walk Coach Pacer (Higher Running’s Pawsitivity Coach) every day to soak in all the healing aspects of nature, from getting a little bit of Vitamin D from the sun, connecting with the Earth, and allowing her brain to pause by looking at the mountains. If you do have an injury that doesn’t allow you to walk outside, just take 5 minutes to stand or sit on your doorstep and take some deep breaths. Our bodies and minds need the light, especially in winter. (If it’s freezing, just get outside for 1 minute, or gaze out your window.)
8. “Your injury didn’t happen to you, but for you.”
Coach Ray can already see the brown bananas and expired energy gels being thrown her way, but let’s hear her out.
This is actually a paraphrase from Oprah in one of her motivational YouTube videos. It’s not about being oblivious and making merry of the bad. Really, it’s a consideration of Victor Frankle’s message in Man’sSearch for Meaning, that we have a choice on what we make of the bad things that happen to us. By considering that our injury happened for us, we open the door to the body’s messages and our own inner wisdom. This thought helps give us some control over the situation and can also be a motivator to do the monotonous physical therapy exercises.
9. Reconnect with Your “Why”
If you’re in the recovery game for a while, and even if you’ve done your best to make cross training fun, there will probably be a point when you don’t want to do it.
For Coach Ray, she didn’t really miss running all that much until almost 4 weeks in*. She needed the rest and was enjoying cycling and swimming. Then, she had to jump in a cold pool on a cold day. This is the point she really started to miss running. Of course, as she started to swim she warmed up and began thinking. “I know I have more days like this ahead, especially as we go into December and January. What’s going to keep me motivated?” The short answer: Moving freely and joyfully through the mountains with her dog, Coach Pacer in the summer. Just touching into that vision and the feeling it conjured was enough for Coach Ray to bring the fun back into swimming.
*Starting to feel excited to run again is a sign of healing, although not necessarily that it’s time to run again if you’re recovering from an injury. Don’t feel guilty either if it takes a longtime to get the excitement back. There may be several reasons for that, such as your body and mind really needed the time off.
