100 Mile Ultra Training Plan

Another month comes to an end. March is an odd one, as far away from a race as I get (2 months from January, 2 months from May).  The weather is still 90% treadmill, but the body wants 100% outside. With the longer days comes better mileage.  My weeks ranged from 111 miles to 118.7 (PB), and with a step total of close to 1.4million, I can only say, it was a very successful month.. A few observations: 1) With high mileage, and double or triple runs some days, most bystanders will caution about over training. I was worried about this too! Taking most of my runs slow in January and February, really paid off this month.  I went in strong and healthy. I ate healthy foods to maintain weight, and maintained consistent rituals.   This paid off. 2) Many personal bests this month.  Fastest 10K (40:30). Fastest 15K (62:01).  Highest mileage week (118.7miles). 3) Motivation.  Success breeds success.  Even though I set an alarm most mornings, I routinely woke up 20 minutes before

2014 Canadian Death Race Photo Everyone who is truly dedicated and passionate about something has a story.  This is mine.  May 2016 was a defining moment in my life. I can actually pinpoint the moment everything changed.  I was in Cooking Lake Provincial Park, east of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, running the blackfoot Ultra Marathon.  I was in the 50K distance.  The race consisted of 25K laps with about 2500ft of undulation per lap. It was wet, and the course was muddy.  I wasn't feeling it, but put up a time just under 3 hours for the first lap.    Coming into the pit stop, I wasn't feeling it. I can remember thinking;   'I'm an idiot.  This running thing isn't for me.  I can't stay healthy enough to train effectively.  Towel time buddy.  25K is good.  Most people can't do that.' Reluctantly, I headed out on the second loop. To my surprise, my legs held up.  In fact, they felt pretty good.  I had dropped eleven pounds for this race (I w

Disclaimer: I Love training.  Probably more than I like racing.   The process fascinates me.  I love reading other peoples training plans, runs, and goals, so please keep posting them on Twitter, or even here! The following plan is a lot of mileage.  Enjoy. If you read my 100 mile/week training plan, you would see that I use split runs 5 days a week in usually a 7 + 7 mile (am/pm) format.  This is to build the base for the next phase of training.  Winter is about building a foundation.  Spring is framing the house. As Spring starts, I shift into longer split runs, aiming for;  10 + 5 mile Monday to Wednesday 26.2 Mile on Thursday (single shot) 10 mile slow Friday  15 mile slow Saturday 6-9 mile fast Sunday, usually adding in some sprints. I have a 2.5mile trail loop a block from my house.  I use this for all my 10 mile runs.  It's flat, and icy, but I can average 12-14km/ hour on it. We have a community forest that is about 2.7miles long with about 400ft of gain per l

Rituals.  Probably the most important thing to any athlete. I've just completed my sixth consecutive 100+ mile week of running.  My runs have gotten much better over the last month and a half.  I'm walking very minimally now, and my average pace is close to 11km/hr (up from a hair over 10 when I started this training plan).  I can contribute almost all my gains to one thing. The quality of my rituals. With the rare exception of planned big run days, every morning I wake up and run 7 miles. It doesn't matter how much I hurt, if I'm sick, or if I work at 5am.  I anchor my entire day around this ritual. Wake Up. Eat Oatmeal and banana with whole milk. Drink coffee. Run 7 miles. This accounts for almost half of my mileage every week.  The benefits I've noticed from this? My ability to deal with discomfort has gone up exponentially. I can run sore. I can run tired. My muscles recover quickly. I'll add another post next week, about how I dance ar

The Following is a basic guide on how I manage to work full time, and run 100 miles/week. My Usual work schedule is 7am-3:30pm (Sun, Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat)                                              10am-6:30pm (Tues) Sunday :  I wake up at 4:30am, and run 7miles, slow pace (1 hour).  Then I get ready and walk to work (3km).  At 3:30pm, I get off work, walk home, and run another 7  miles, moderate pace   (55min).  I  should note, my early morning runs all include a 12 minute run, 3 minute walk set up.  This keeps my legs fresh, and is essentially 'getting in the miles'.  Total miles 14. Monday: I repeat Sunday's run plan again.  Total miles 14. Tuesday: I wake up at 6am, and run 14 miles solid (1 hour 50 minutes).  Then walk to work, and walk home.  Total miles 14. Wednesday: I take it easy on Wednesdays.  Wake up at 4:30am and run 7 miles, slow pace.   Total miles 7. Thursday:   Long run day.  One of three different runs. (1) Drop the hammer and g