This will be your training and racing plan for races between 30 and 50km with 1500 to 3000m of elevation gain. I mean, that this will give you some ideas on how to think about this distance.
Let me
propose a couple of rules, that are very crucial to think about.
There is a 20/20/20/20 marathon rule. You train for 20weeks, where
you do 20 consecutive 20milers as a long run and you start tapering
20 days out, what is 3 weeks minus your race day.
Then, there is
the long run percentage rule. It depends on which school your coming
from it is either max 20 or max 30% percent of total mileage and
either part of the mileage or plus your mileage. So Basically if your
week is 100km total, your long run should be around 30km. Or the more
professional you go: if you ran 100km this week, you are allowed to
have a 30km long run.
Then there is the elevation gain idea, that coming out from your base training, you should be very very comfortably do your total race elevation gain and loss during the weeks of training.
Why are these rules that are actually smart guidelines ? The marathon rule suggest that you should be not running more than 2 races a year, that your long run is ultra important, the distance of that long run is also important. Staying consecutive is crucial and recovering after such a long and efficient build is necessary.
Then there is the percentage rule of long run. It is in place simply, because if you did not build up enough leg resistance, aerobic capacity, tendon elasticity, nutritional plan, hydration strategy to sustain 20 weeks of long running, well, you should not be long running. 20 to 40km a week of running will give you health, but not resistance and reliability to run long on either trails or road. You don’t have enough mitochondria, your glycogen store is low, probably your foot stride is not correct and also you are probably not interested in running itself. That is not a problem ! This is an inclusive sport, but it is not for everybody. Either you do it properly or you’ll suffer the consequences sooner or later. These consequences can be even lethal in some cases or can result in lifelong debilitating pain and suffering. No, not a joke. I know so many runners that ruined their life, simply because only cared about running and racing. No planning, no technique, no strength and conditioning, over racing, over cooking, no warming up or cool-down, no preparation, loads of low energy or dehydrated runs. Champions come and go !
Then there is the elevation rule. Simply, how do you imagine running up and down 3000m, if you cannot do it in 300 to 500m proportions throughout the week. It is not going to happen.
Then there is one more important factor. Interest. You gotto be curious about the race. It should motivate you for some reason or other. It can be a deep motivation to beat fellow competitors. It can be a curiosity of pushing your inner limits. It can be being afraid of getting out alone, but want to discover a special area. It can be speed, brutality of terrain that can call you. Either ways, you need more motivation, than simply choosing something from a calendar.
As an example, my motivation for racing has been totally down for almost 3 to 4 years now. It is still. I still race, simply to meet friends, to have some challenges and to do some specialized training time to time and to not to sink into the routine. On the other hand, this gives me enough fitness to do what ever I want in the mountains. Last year was a dream. I had a couple of outings, I think around 4 of them, that makes me dream. I ran an out and back route to the St Barth from Villeneuve. It is around 32km with 2200 of elevation gain. The interesting thing about was, how easy I felt all the way, running light and fast. Jogging all the time, with low heart rate. No muscle tension even on the steepest slopes. On the downhills I was flying, absolutely enjoying myself.
The PLAN
BASE
No matter where you start, you should still have a base. Around 4 weeks. During these weeks, you build up mileage. Don’t forget about our rules. Your long run is crucial ! If you were a low mileage runner, that is okay, turn miles into time. You can do some longer more technical hikes with a heavier backpack, building up from 3 to 5-6 hours. Maybe covering only 15 to 20km, but the time spent on feet will be paying off. It is not ideal, if you were looking for speed, but to complete the race, it is good start and a great compromise.
During these 4 weeks, you’ll be building mileage, long run and start including speed into your training. Shorts bursts of speed. These training sessions will be carrying on for life. Crucial for marathon runners, 10k runners, ultra and trail runners.
Uphill accelerations
These are very short post run drills, with quality power output and super nice form. From 7 seconds to 30 seconds. The idea behind these is to train your tendons and muscles, posture and breathing and also most importantly to stimulate your nervous system. These are not sprint, but very fast running repeats, with definitely adequate recovery. I might even include them into the post run jog home. I have 5 hills and on each hill I would do a 20 second uphill striding, having the track form of Mo Farah in my mind ! Knees driving, arms pumping uphill, heels are popping up, alexander pose.
I do for sure two shorter ones every week, like 7 x 7 seconds and 10 x 13 sec. Also one longer one, probably after my regular 20min tempo. That can be 6 x 25sec.
My peak power output can be at around a vertically adjusted pace of sub 3:00/km. I know, cause when doing flat speeding, I reach at around 2:30 to 2:40/km top pace. Most athletes think it is fast and actually it is, but not as top speed. Running 6 x 200 @ 28-29 was a very hard workout back in the day with at least 6min rest inbetween. Right now I am talking about 25sec of acceleration where you reach that sort of speed for 1 or 2 seconds and not that you would hold that for the integrity of the repeat itself. When doing the shorter accelerations I do not look at the pace ever, as GPS cannot pick up the signal that fast anyways, but even for the longer accelerations, the watch is not my guide and I don’t have a pace goal in mind ever. Simply, I gave you an idea about the power output to make these beneficial.
Neuro muscularly they are fantastic, especially for speeding up recovery and gaining back speed. They do not compromise training and racing. If you felt sore, slowed down, tense or fatigued, you either did them too fast, with not enough recovery or too long. Literally I do these sometimes even 5 to 6 times a week. Finish off a run. 5 x 10 sec, off you go. Working in the garden, chopping wood in the afternoon, hopp, I am already warmed up with my whole body. I just get out on a 2 km jog and do 10 by 8 sec steep uphill !
Do not over do it ! I remind you, these are muscular reminders. The benefit comes from doing them regularly. More is never better. More often is better ! Volume means nothing. Technique and regularity is everything. 4 shorter sessions a week lifelong is ruling longer sets with setbacks and injuries ! These are to prevent injuries, so injuring yourself during injury prevention is sort of silly !
Tempo
These should also be included into your base training. Maybe in the beginning you might want to do tempo intervals. If you don’t know, what are these you might want to do it like flat, to dial it in. If you can ran a 2:48 marathon what is 4:00/km, your tempo run can be around 3:40 to 3:50/km pace.
If you were a seasoned 40yo an your max HR is 180, we talk about 155 to 160heart rate.
4weeks of BASE
W1 60km total * 6 days a week * D+1000m
3 acceleration sessions – 6 reps max and 10 sec max
1 tempo run of 3 x 4minutes
Long run of 15km
W2 65 km total * 6 days a week * D+2000m
3 acceleration sessions – 6 reps max and 12 sec max
1 tempo run of 4 x 4minutes
Long run of 18km
W3 70km total * 5 days a week * D+1500m
2 acceleration sessions – 8 reps max and 15 sec max
1 tempo run of 2 * 7 minutes
Double day Long run of AM16km + PM4km
Make the two days off consecutive, like a long weekend
W4 80km total * 7days of running * D+2000m
3 acceleration sessions – 6 reps max and 20 sec max
1 tempo run of 1* 10minutes
Long run of 22km
Normally, coming out from a short, intensity controlled, base like that, you should be itching to be training more, better, faster. You should be fresh with zero fatigue. If this was not the case, you might need more experience and more years of training before a 40km race. A longer base. More time off between races. You know, even if the bump in training is way too high and way too sudden, proper knowledge of recovery methods, nutrition and hydration can totally offset that. Massage, flexibility, stretching and more. Right now we don’t talk about strenght training, but I will keep these training plans ans slowly will build up an entire system, with included strength routines too.
The next chapter will be about fitness and trending towards the most important, race specificity phase.
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