(Click here to see actual plan in Google Drive)
One week from today my “official” training for the Squamish 50 km starts. I’ve been considering myself in base building mode for the past month though because I have a 21 km trail race this coming Sunday.
Above is the plan I came up with which is based off of this beginners plan I found online while doing some googling. There aren’t nearly as many resources out there when it comes to ultra training as there are when it comes to marathon training so I thought I’d do a post explaining how I came up with my training plan, what I plan on doing for the next 20 weeks and of course asking for any advice since this is an entirely new process for me!
So here are a few of the ways I put my plan together:
1. Time on my feet
I decided that, for the first time ever, I am going to train based on time rather than miles or km. I’m really excited to go into training with this new technique and see how it works for me. I think I’ll like it because on days when I’m sluggish or tired I can tell myself all I have to do is run slowly for an hour vs. telling myself I have to run 6 miles and I think that will be easier mentally.
2. Trails, trails, trails
The goal is for 80-90% of the runs to be done in the trails and for ALL the long Saturday runs to be done in the trails. While 50 km is *only* 8 more km than a marathon I am doing a challenging race with over 8,000 feet of elevation gain. I am going to need to do some serious hill, downhill and trail training to get my body ready. Luckily I have a plethora of trails within 1/4 mile from my house (where the above photo was taken) and many more a 5 – 10 minute drive away so this shouldn’t be a problem.
3. One COMPLETE rest day per week
Every training plan I’ve ever followed has included rest days but I’m not always the best at following them. I very rarely ever take COMPLETE rest days (meaning no yoga or even walking the dog) but during 50 km training I know my body is going to need it after a weekend of big runs so Monday’s I will not be going to yoga (not even yin) and I also won’t be walking Chloe.
4. Flexibility
As always, I am not married to this training plan. It calls for five days of running a week but if my body is screaming for rest I will honour that. I feel pretty confident about assessing how my body is feeling after training for two marathons and I think I will know when I need to push it and run and when I really need to rest. I also created some flexibility in the plan around some things I have going during training like a week-long work trip and a friends wedding. I know there is no point setting myself up for failure so I adjusted the plan to work around those events. My running is going to fit around my life not the other way around.
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I’ve had a few friends who have done ultra-marathons look over this plan and send me their comments but if any readers out there have feedback it’s always appreciated.
I am REALLY REALLY excited for this training cycle, you guys. I definitely needed something new and exciting to work towards this year! I also have a friend doing the 50 km, a friend doing the 50-mile and a friend doing the 23 km distances that weekend and Solana and Aron will both be doing 50 km and Kyria has put her name on the waiting list. Plus Eric and my mom are both coming to Squamish with me so it will be an awesome weekend!! Now to just get through the next 20 weeks of training 
Have you ever ran an ultra or long trail race? If not, would you want to?
