 24 Week Schedule |
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Ultramarathon Training Month 3: April
This is when the serious training begins to get you ready for Comrades. For those following along in the pages of How To Train, you shift now to George Parrott's training schedule for a 50-mile or 100-K race (p.91). At the peak, you will run a 75-miles week--but don't let that scare you. Only two weeks feature mileages that high, and after that, you start your taper. Although the first three months of this program featured Saturday-Sunday runs with somewhat of a sandwich approach, now you're going to bite hard into that sandwich. This final phase features two long runs on the weekends to prepare you for the stress you'll encounter at Comrades. Instead of prescribing these workouts in miles, we switch now to time: hours and minutes. Don't worry about how fast you run. In fact, the slower the better. In training for an ultra, learning how to run slow is important, since you must run under control during the early part of the race if you hope to finish.
Two techniques you need to practice during the final months (if you haven't begun already) are: 1) walking uphill, and 2) running downhill. Unless you are a fast and/or experienced ultramarathon runner capable of challenging for a silver medal at Comrades by running 7:30 or faster, you're going to walk the five major hills like almost everybody else. They're long hills, so include walking in your training, both uphills and on the flat. Critical to maintaining a steady pace is getting back into a running mode after you've walked because of a hill or a water station. Practice downhill running as well, both in your long runs and at other times during the week when you are running over hilly terrain. Although 1998 is the "up" year for Comrades, there is still plenty of "down" on the course. Doing too much downhill training (particularly at a fast pace) can raise the risk of injury, so be cautious.
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24 Week Schedule |
Copyright © 1998 by Hal Higdon.