training for the conamara ultra marathon
can anybody help me on a training program for this race
as an ultra virgin i found seb advice under conne 08 to be excellent,there is a 31 miler in conjuction with a marathon on the 27 of jan in gloucester in england and a 35 miler in dracote also alongside a marathon which i hope to go over to and use as steps to the 39 miler.i would not be able to run beyond 20 in training but can do a marathon a month no problem at present due to the company,i find run 1 mile and walk 1 minute a help in the long runs.the 35 miler is on the 17 feb.
hi mick thanks for advice,just got a program sorted,there was a 52 mile program on hal halgin training site so im going to run 75% of the runs he says to do,the longest would be 30 miles,its funny that i had that marathon in gloucester in mind to run, c u there.
mick decided that im going over to gloucester on the 27th,dontknow if i run the full or the ultra yet only just ran my first marathon this year 3.23 cork great experiance.are u going over too.
Well, I've been reading the great advice here and in talking to other runners, and I'm beginning to formulate a training plan for this race, my first one over mara distance. I'll list some bullet points here, and would really appreciate any feedback you might have:
- I have raced marathons at about 178 pounds or so, and I need to be lighter. My intention is to get down to 160-165 for this race.
- My goal for the ultra, given my past mara race pace and history is 6-6:30, though 'll just roll with what the body tells me on the day
- I will train as if I am running a marathon (3:30 pace) on 15 Feb, with a max long of 23 miles in early Feb
- I will increase my weekly base from 30 to 35-40 miles (not including the long run)
- on 15 Feb I will no longer concerntrate on pace and a marathon mindset, but consciously slow down to a 9 minute pace and focus on time spent on the feet.
- Between mid Feb and race day I will run (2) 4 hour longs, (2) 5 hour longs and (1) 6 hour long run.
- At 15 miles I will walk 2 minutes, and then run 2 miles-walk 2 minutes-run 2 miles-walk 2 minutes etc...
- My nutrition plan will involve water gels, Gatorade/Powerade, pizza, and peanut butter & jelly sandwiches. I'll eat the heartier stuff on the walk.
- There are no hills around where I live in Northants, so I might drive up to Yorkshire or over to Wales and get a weekend of fell runs in. If not its the treadmill, which I dread.
- I'll look at Gloucester and Draycote, too. The timing sounds about right.
Does this make sense? Thanks in advance.
Hi Todd,
- Regarding getting lighter, I would not worry about it much, if you train properly you will loose weight.
- Goal is important but as you said you see on the day
- regarding mileage, and walk/ after 15miles, I am not really sure about this, mileaga are just guidelines, but will see that some weeks with the same mileage, your body will feel different so don't try to run if your body say no....rest is as important. Regarding walk 2 run 2, I would just not looking at my stop watch or miles and just do as my body say. My worry is that you are adding, rules and limit in your tarining when you still have to be a wee more flexible, it is not like you want to improve on the speed or set a new record (Are you ?)
- regarding nutrition, why not ask Ruth our Dietitian a couple of advices ? I do personally think this is too much fast carbs. If you keep you usual nutrition with 60% of Carbs (pasta, rice, patatoes) every day you would be fine for minimum 4hours, and I don't see pure water ? Also the brands you are using are not specific in sports nutrition such as High 5, or the other ones. Peanut butter adn jelly sandwiches...not sure about nutrional value in this but you know I am French.
- Hills.... I do not like treadmills, they do not work your glutes properly and it is not accuarte, because waht ever is your cadence (slow or fats) the speed you set will always be the same also very unnatural and you loose less calories but lots of water. I am from a flat county in france, Instead of hills I do run in the water up to my knees, run on sand on the beach etc....just be creative :-) there is always something to compensate.
Hope it does help you, I just want you to do the right thing, but that's my own experience, but remember at the end you are the one who decide.
Any body else ?
Seb
Thanks, Seb. I'm American (living in the UK) and Gatorade and Powerade are products I buy at U.S stores over here. I can't stand Lucozade. Peanut Butter and Jelly is also a very American thing, but I've had good luck with it on training runs. Never heard of High 5, but I'll look into it. Yeah, I may be a bit too structured than I need to be, so I'll just try it until it no longer feels right. No, I am certainly not trying to break any records. I just run for the personal challenge....and to drink beer without too much guilt.
One of my problems is that I have a really hard time with pace discipline, and I'm afraid I'll blow out the start and run a 3:30 marathon, and have nothing left for the next 13 miles. Better to work on a constant 8:30-9 or so pace from the beginning. In the Loch Ness race I was running 7:15s or so all the way up to about 19 or 20 then crashed hard, and finished with a painful 9 minute pace for the last 6.
Great advice though. "Listen to your body."
hi todd u should go over to gloucester on the 27th timing just right for training for the conamara theres a marathon on and a 50k ultra with it max of 150 entries,nice and low key, iran my first marathon in june 3.23,ive got loads of advide and everyone says to slow down for the ultra , but its so hard especially when someone passes me i get carried away and take of,i have run a few races 10k at 6..11 pace so 8 min mile is slow never mind 9min mile, what u think
Cheers, Ray. Yeah, I may do the 50K at Gloucester, too. Thing is its a lap race, and I'm not too fond of those. Mental thing, I think. Great job in June with ur 3:23 first mara. I ran my third one at Loch Ness with a 3:22, and enjoyed the hell out of it. Great course, and really well done event. Perfect conditions, too. Sounds like you have pace issues, too. This morning I ran out for a 10 miler and was certain that I came in at my goal of 80 minutes. But no! 75 minutes, a whole 1/2 minute off my pace. No damn control. 13 tomorrow at 8:15 minute pace. We'll see.
i didnt think gloucester was a lap event,anyway the marathon finishes 5 miles short of race hq and runners get bussed back ,so i reckon it might even seem easier to struggle the extra 5 on foot.the draycote 35 miler in feb is 5 laps of a lake for the marathon people and 7 for the ultras,yes anonymous i am going as it is my only hope of getting in the miles.i am 7 marathons into a 15 in 15 months challenge but am doing feck all running in between.
KEEP THE GOOD WORK UP MICK IM SURE U WILL DO ALL 15,IM ONLY STARTING OUT SO WILL DO SOMRTHING MAD LIKE U IN A YEAR OR TWO,WHO KNOWS IM JUST GOING TO KEEP ON RUNNING
Just curious, guys. What your thoughts on rest days? Do you rest the day before your long, and go short and easy the day after, or do you rest the day after your long? I typically cross train on an elliptical, but am thinking about trying full days completely off after my longer run. For my Loch Ness program I took only 2 full rest days over 3 or so months of hard-ish training, and got a PB out of it. That's not smart though....just compulsive.
i find it so hard to take days of from trianing, i run tue wed thur easy take friday off long run sat and sunday then mondays off,but taking days of from training is so important to help recovery and over time the mind too as if we ran every day we would get sick of it and end up injured,somedays i feel like just running all day but i know if i want to run for years to come i have to b sensible too.
I ran the Connemara Ultra this year, and the main backbone of my training were 2 20 milers back-to-back. I did 3 of those long back-to-back runs in consecutive weeks, and I think they were extremely helpful. I had slowly built up to that, i.e. one week I did 15/20, the next week 17/20, then 19/20. I also ran 7 days a week, apart from one week where I banged my head while playing soccer and had to rest for 4 days.
It's totally up to the individual if you want to take a rest day or not, but I found that an easy 5 mile run would leave me fresher than a complete rest day, so I eventually switched to 7 days a week, and haven't regretted it since.
Compulsive? Sure. But it does get results. I've lowered my marathon time by 45 minutes over the last 2 years (from 3:57 to 3:12), and anyway, I love running.
Joined: 2007-10-11