Notes compiled by using advice from veteran Ultra marathoners - Rajeev Patel, Padma and Anil Rao and searching the internet. I have not yet run a 50miler yet so if you are following this advice, you may be in deep shit. Talk to an experiended ultra runner instead.
Training
There are plenty of websites online which give a schedule, here are the clarifications I worked on.
The biggest recommendation were
- Walk a lot : to find a good run /walk ratio
- 3 tracks run + 1 track walk worked when I ran with Rajeev/Anil in the night
- 8 min run + 2 min walk – 2/7/09
- Longer taper – 3/4 weeks
- Longer weekday runs 7-10 miles
- Get few long runs in conditions similar to the ultra run
Race Strategy for RA
- Rajeev – Since time is not important, plan on using a run+walk strategy. The RA course, around Lake Merced, permits one to adopt a set strategy i.e. 3 min run+2min walk for almost the entire loop. Additionally, walk into and out from the 2 Aid Stations, taking time to eat the food before you start running.
About Running back to back
There are a many schedules etc. that call for back to back runs on the weekend. The purpose behind such runs is to
teach the body to run when tired.
teach the body to run when tired.
Both Rajeev have there 50 / 100 milers without ever training with back to back weekend runs. So in the interest of time I’ll skip my back to back runs. I will be doing my Long Run on Saturday and Biking on Sunday, this woked for Rajeev as well. Biking hesps you cross train and is building strong quads which not only helps with running hills but also gives additional speed.
Schedule
- Anil Rao - http://www.geocities.com/anil_krao/50_miler_schedule.html - looking back, I think we overtrained that much is not required.
- Vivek schedule – here may need to get more refined
Food
Nutrition
Lean a bit more towards carbs – the more complex they are, the better. Recover after
workouts by driniking chocolate milk. It works wonders.
workouts by driniking chocolate milk. It works wonders.
During the Run
During the race you will need to monitor (a) your hydration, (b) your salt intake and (c) your caloric intake.
1. Hidration : drinking 6-8 oz. of a sports beverage every 15-20 minutes
- Rajeev - mixture of Perpetuem and Heed (both from Hammer). The Perpetuem – fat, carbs, protein and salt & Heed for taste
2. Salt : 1 salt cap every hour during.
- Salt Stick (www.zombierunner.com) or Succeed (http://www.succeedscaps.com/)
- Vivek : 1 salt stick/hour really helped
3. Food : approx 200 calories every hour – including the calories from any sports drink/mixture you are taking in.
- Rajeev - a bottle of Ensure every 10-15 miles or so - for a change from the Perpetuem+Heed mixture.
- Padma – banana
- Vivek - Accelerate @ 150 – 200 cal/hour worked on 2/7/2009
- Anil – some gels(every hr) , CLIP2(every hr) and ensure(every 3 hrs 1 bottle)
Recovery
- Rajeev : Chocolate milk- it works wonders.
Low Blood sugar
- Rajeev – he biggest advice I can give you is to make sure that your blood sugar is up all through the race. The first sign of a negative thought (“Sh*t! I still have 15 more mile to go???” is an example) or sudden fatigue generally stem from low blood sugar. Ingestion of a gel will generally bring it up in 5-10 minutes and you will feel better about your upcoming mileage prospects in no time at all.
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February 24, 2009 at 4:38 pm
2/21/09 : 28 miles used perpetium mostly for first 18 or so miles felt soreness. Switched to Accelerade – felt much better. (~200calories / hour)
Salt tablets every 1 hour
February 24, 2009 at 4:38 pm
2/21/09 : 24 miles used accelerate felt so much better. (~200calories / hour)
Salt tablets every 1 hour
February 24, 2009 at 4:42 pm
2/7/09 : 24 miles used accelerate felt so much better. (~200calories / hour) ~12min/mile
Salt tablets every 1 hour. 8 min/2min run walk
2/14/09 : 14 miles used perpetium no salt tablets (~200calories / hour) ~10:30 min/mile
Felt Soreness – possilby ‘cos of faster pace. Very little run between walks
2/21/09 : 28 miles used perpetium mostly for first 18 or so miles felt soreness. Switched to Accelerade – felt much better. (~200calories / hour) ~12 min/mile pace : 10 min run /2 min walk
Salt tablets every 1 hour
Accelrade a bit heavy on stomach.
finished strong…
Should switch to 6/2 pace for practice during the next long run
February 28, 2009 at 8:53 pm
2/28/09 : perpetium and heed mostly, ran 16mile run and felt tired after the run.
May 30, 2009 at 3:27 am
thanks – love the blog
January 31, 2010 at 11:51 am
Can you use Heed only or do you recommend Heed and Perpetuem?
I am training for an Ultra in May. I’m using Heed and Gu gels.
How is the Ensure on the long runs?
January 31, 2010 at 12:40 pm
I find ensure really useful in long runs – where else can you get 355 calories in a mere eight ounces which has proteins, fat vitamins and minerals which are are really useful.
During my last 12 hour run – I used 1 can every 2 hours of after first 8 hours of run, you can find more info about ensure here http://www.ultrunr.com/ensure.html
hope it helps.
February 7, 2010 at 2:56 am
umm… I am no
February 8, 2010 at 10:10 am
OP: I could be slow (lord knows I have been told lol) but you made absolutely no sense…
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