Hello, Its great to have this resource. I have a question about what my weekly miles should be when training for a 50. Last year I ran my first 50. I ramped up pretty quick. I went from a summer of heavy road biking (I was in shape but not running) to 2 months of 60 - 80 mile months. In October I started running 30 mile weeks, November I topped out at 40 mile weeks. Unfortunately we had a rough winter and after December I ran 95% of my miles on the treadmill. I did my 50 in 13.5 hours ... not great but I finished. After my 50 I got really sick. I struggled all summer with bad runs and frequent bouts of sickness. In August I backed off and started aggressively cross training - strength, biking, hiking and running twice a week. I am feeling much better. I would like to run another 50 around May 5th. I am currently working out 6 days a week. Here is my current work out schedule: Monday: Off Tuesday: Weight training Wednesday: Spinning – 1 Hr Thursday: Interval Training (3 -4) Miles w/ strength Training Friday: Easy Spinning/ Stretching Saturday: X-country Ski, Snow shoe, hike – 2 – 3 hours, 6 – 10 miles Sunday: Long run w/ hills 6 – 8 miles, 1.5 - 2 hours I plan on starting to increase the number of days I run and increase the miles. I am hoping to be doing my 20 mile long runs again by the end of January. What do you think of my approach? What weekly miles should I shoot for? Thanks for the Help SG

Thanks for the info, I have decided to run the 25 at CP and push my 50 out another month to the race in Wyoming. That is the race I really want to run and a month between 50s isn't enough recovery this early in my ultra career. Thanks SG

Hi, I never went much past 50 miles a week. But I did go from doing 8 -10 mile long runs to 20 mile long runs with in a weeks time. That was the biggest jump I made. I fared pretty well at first. Then after a month my IT band started giving me fits. I rolled back for a couple of weeks and used the pillar of pain a lot. Have you had your shoes checked? Maybe your stride is off a little. You know running a 50 is one of the most intense experiences I have had. It was painfull but I wear my race shirt with so much pride. March seems tight but if you are carring a pretty good base you can probably do it.

I was able to run it but now looking back I will do things differently in the future. You know the 50 hurt quite a bit. The race was 3 laps. My first lap was right with in my goal time, my second about 15 - 20 min off, the last lap was pretty ugly but I got through it. I was basically running between aid stations which were 3-4 miles apart. The last 7 miles my running was down to what I refer to as the woggle. I think my long run stategy was pretty good. I was doing weekly 20 mile long runs about 3 months before the race. My biggest hole was the longevity of my base training and base miles. I have spent some time looking at the weekly miles for the other ultra runners and it seems that 50 - 70 is the average weekly miles. So you are pretty close. I think I would have liked to have had your current base. I think my race would have been a little less painful and my time would have been more consistant. Good luck !!! I am training for my 2nd 50 in June.

Jlynnebob, Yes, that race sounds really amazing. I was supposed to pace someone at Leadville this year from Sheridan. Everyone I have talked to says thats a great race. Did you run Rocky last year?

Good advice on Bighorn. They haven't posted the date yet and the website I have doesn't exist any more. the one I have is www.bighorntrailrun.com. I am still trying to get my log moved over. I wasn't a CR refuge so my log history is in a different format. Hopefully after Eric returns. SG

They are amazing. I was looking at the shots from the Hard rock wow thats a cool race.

Another set of eyes would help me...this is my next few weeks leading to a 50m. Any thoughts comments from those experienced in ultras? This will be for the Ice Age 50. Mon Tue Wed Thur Fri Sat Sun Total 17-Mar 0 4 10 8 0 24 10 56 24-Mar 0 4 10 6 0 10 8 38 31-Mar 4 8 12 15 9 0 10 58 7-Apr 4 12 8 0 0 0 31 55 14-Apr 0 2 6 8 0 26 10 52 21-Apr 0 4 10 8 0 20 6 48 28-Apr 0 4 6 6 0 10 6 32 5-May 4 3 2 0 0 50 0 59 Thanks for any advice!