Training for a 30 mile run for a GREAT cause
Hey Team!
So I am looking for some feedback about running my first stand alone marathon (ultra distance). I am extremely excited to be fundraising for an amazing cause, the Wounded Warrior Project (WWP). So many of our veterans are struggling and we can do more to help! I am starting my birthday campaign to run 30 miles on my 30th birthday to raise money and awareness for the wounded warrior project on March 14, 2015. (Thanks to Coach P for the inspiration and Yes, yes I know a March marathon is not good for my triathlon season- but the cause is the most important!!!)
So- Coach P. suggested I reach out the team and work through planning this so I can safely and successfully complete this run.
I am starting OS on Oct 27. I will focus on staying consistent with that training…but extending my runs to 90 minutes. I am thinking I will need longer runs in December. I am switching to the marathon plan Jan 5. Some of my questions are- How do I hack the marathon plan to do a 30 miler? Do I need to? I need to plan a loop to do for this run (since it will be self supported and I want to keep it local). Was thinking 6 mile loop X 5. Thoughts or tips to planning that out? Any tips on nutrition? Basically any and all advice is GREATLY appreciated!!
Comments
I know nothing about ultra training, but I assume you want to get the 30 miles done and don't care about time? If so, I'd say you can keep your mileage relatively low and get the training stress in with more intensity. That will help you continue to gain speed EN style. Back to back long/long-ish runs are also a cornerstone of ultra training programs I know. Like Saturday 15 miles/Sunday 10 miles. Though I just totally made up those numbers... Sue Chapman is training for an ultra now- might want to reach out to her if she doesn't see this thread. Good luck!
Great cause, and good for you!!!
some things to consider.
what are your goals for this run? Do you care about your time? what are your post OS races? If you really just want to get 30 miles in for a good cause i'm not sure you need to "hack" the Marathon plan or even do the marathon plan. Agree that you can and should start adding in a long run at some point December or January, but would caution the mental cost of doing this in the winter if you have other season goals that you need to ramp up for.
If given your current fitness, you added 1' or even more to your current long run pace how many miles could you run? if you added in some key strategic walking when things started to get hard, how far could you extend that long run? With OS run frequency, biking 3x/week and an extended long run during the winter you might be able to get this done safely without impacting your other Tri goals and keeping to a more OS type plan throughout the winter. I will also add that I view the ultra type distances as more of an "adventure race" instead of a "running" race i.e. its really ok to walk. I did 30 mile road marches in the army where we "shuffled" and marched our way through the distance. And that was mainly with a lot of short distance running frequency training leading up to the event. so maybe that impacts my perspective on things, good or bad.
but i go back and ask, what are your goals for this run?
Hey Nate and Rachel!
Thank you for all your advice!! It helped me keep this in perspective. My goals for this are to simply run the 30 miles...nice pace, nice and easy, but just run the whole time. No time goal. I REALLY don't want to put a hole in my triathlon season. This year I am not doing a full IM. I am focusing on doing 2 fast HIM. First one is Quassy in June and second is Timberman in August. I like the idea of keeping mileage low for a while and just doing higher intensities. Back to back long runs sounds brutal! Think I will need that? Will try to reach out to Sue Chapman as well!