[Landon Lim]

Say I am training for a single push style 100 mile+ objective with substantial vert. How can I increase my overall durability? I am thinking that I should prioritize long days on the weekends and spend my weekdays doing easy efforts/recovering. Objectives at this length seem to be more of a test of durability and fortitude than speed involved in a 100k. In my head it seems like no sort of training will adequately prepare me for that distance. What experience does the community have in training for objectives like this?

Topic

[Anonymous]

Anonymous on February 24, 2020 at 9:30 am #38696

You’re right that a 100 mile objective has many more components than merely speed. Building both mental and physical durability is really important to have a good experience. Yes, you need to prioritize long days on the weekends, but the cumulative miles you put into your legs consistency over many months is even more so. Build your aerobic capacity as much as you can, improve your hip and core strength so that you’re more resilient to injury, and come up with a mental training program as well. Try to think about the different situations that could come up during the event and write down how you’ll respond. There will always be things you don’t think of, but many of the reasons people DNF is that they don’t adapt to conditions or to something unexpected. If you can, have a couple longer (50m-100k) efforts where you can practice your fueling and mental preparation. Going through the night can be a new thing for people, so experiencing that before the main goal will be helpful. Ultimately there will certainly be things that you won’t be prepared for, or will show up in different ways than you thought, but if you are ready physically and have thought through some of the challenges, you’ll be able to respond to others as well. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous on February 25, 2020 at 9:35 am #38730

Also, training-wise, our gym-based runner ME series will help with the durability component:

[gtom]

gtom on February 26, 2020 at 3:14 am #38780

Hi Landon, with your upcoming 100 miles event I suppose you already did some ultra race up to 100k. My training for 100k and 100 miles is not much different except for the length of the long runs. I would suggest follow your proven training plan for 100k and add some time on feet during the single long run or back to back long days.