It's been back to the basics for me lately.
2-3 miles / day through the week and then a 10-15 mile long weekend run.
I forgot how much I love training and builing weekly miles. I will be back up to a total of 30 miles this week and it has been a great reminder of how persistent training can take you the distance you want to go.
Some have asked how to run a 50K. Well here is the secret that I've found.
Start moving if you haven't been excercising much. I would even suggest that you consider a couch to 5K program to help build up a base of miles. Just Google it and a ton of them will pop up.
1. Run 2-3 miles per day Monday - Friday. Make one a little faster run and one on some hills.
2. Run 10-15 miles for a long weekend run.
3. Increase this mileage by 10% every week until you are covering a total of 30-40 miles per week. This means 20-25 miles during the week and up to 20 on the weekend.
4. Take Sunday off or another day in the week. Take two off if you feel injured or sick.
This formula has worked for me only this time I'm trying to run the entire long runs without walking. Hills and all of the tough parts.
You can increase this formula up to 60 - 70 miles per week for a hundred mile race or adjust it for anything in between.
Concerning food and water when training: Eat when you are hungry and drink when you are thirsty. This works for me, but then again I'm not training to win a race either, just push my body and have fun. You can eat the fancy race food. I do when I want to feel more like a runner, but in all honesty a pack of cheap crackers gives me the same fuel as a pack of gel.
Most of all - HAVE FUN! For 99.99999% of us this is a hobby and not our job.
I'm excited about covering a 50K in four weeks in preperation for the Spring / Summers Ultras.
See you out there soon....
