50 miler
My brother and I have recently started discussing the idea of running an ultra-marathon in 2013. 50 miles (80 km). Holy shit.
I’ve read a few books about ultrarunning including “Born to Run” and
“Ultramarathon Man” but never really thought that I’d be able to do it myself.
Sibling rivalry kinship practically demands that we follow through
with this. I’m not going to be the one to back down.
The first question that came to my mind was, “How the f*ck do you train for an ultra?”. It seems that that it boils down to a few simple things:
- Run far.
- Run hills.
- Lift weights.
- Eat lots.
The first point is obvious - you have to be able to run long distances. This is done by doing back-to-back long runs on the weekends. For example, running 40km on Saturday and then another 20km on Sunday. Sunday should be half of Saturday’s mileage. Increase the distance of these by a few miles/km each week.
Then there’s hill training. I love hill training. It’s hard as hell but feels so good afterwards, and it’s also great for fat loss. Simply find a steep hill, run up as fast as you can, walk/jog back down. Repeat. Do this once per week and increase the number of repetitions each week.
Weight lifting is one of the oft-overlooked aspects of running. As much as I like running, I don’t like having a runner’s physique - wiry and thin. I lift heavy weights a few times per week avoid this. Squats, deadlifts, bench press, shoulder press. That’s it.
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