Training thoughts

I went out running the other day, and only had time to do about 4 miles, so I decided I'd pick up the pace a bit and do it relatively fast.  As I felt my muscles ache and burn toward the end of the run some thoughts about training crossed my mind.  Saturday during my long run I thought more about it too and decided to share.  This may be common sense to seasoned ultra-runners but I wanted to write it down and share anyway, from my point of view.

Scott Jurek

 My average daily run is 5-7 miles at about 8:30 per mile.  While that's a decent run, I'm realizing that its basically a maintenance run for me.  They're good runs, and very important but it's not going to push my training forward quickly.  So what do I need to do instead of just those regular maintenance runs?  How are the big gains to be had?  Here's my current philosophy, that I've pondered through the miles.  I have to challenge myself in at least one of three areas during a run: speed, distance, or terrain.

Speed -
For me right now, this means running at 7:45ish per mile.  The more I improve, the faster these runs will be.  And doing a faster run doesn't necessarily mean it's shorter.  To challenge myself, I need to be able to hold a faster pace for my usual 5-7 miles.  That's what makes it more than a maintenance run.  My hesitation in doing this is that in the past my injuries have surfaced with speed training.  I hope now my body is stable enough to tolerate more speed, but definitely something to consider.

Distance -

Me and Grace

This is the long run most distance runners do once a week.  Many ultra-runners will tell you the long run is, hands down, the most critical aspect of training and I would have to agree because it mimics the competition distances you're training for.  Ultra-marathons are extreme distances, not speeds.  The long run gets you ready to "go the distance."  Why?  Because it pushes past the limits of what your body is used to.  As I'm  training for a 50 miler in October my long runs need to be at the very least 2 hours; 15-20 miles would be better, and the closer the race gets, the longer that run will be.  For me, the long run usually makes up 1/3 to 1/2 my total weekly distance.  I think it's also OK to have semi-long runs mid-week too.  This would be like going 10-11 miles or so on Wednesday; something longer than the maintenance run but not long enough to be designated THE "long run."

Terrain -
This means a few things, but mainly hills or trails.  If I run 5-7 miles on trails, that is WAY better for my training than the same distance on roads, because it challenges me more, and it mimics race-day conditions.  There's just a lot more involved in trail running.  If I could choose, I'd run trails every day.  Unfortunately that's not possible because the trails I run are 30 minutes away.  But I know I need to get to the trails as much as I can before the race because that's where real training progress takes place.  Hills are good too, but you can find those on the trails.
These are just a few thoughts I had regarding MY training.  It may not be the same for others, and these things aren't going to necessarily make or break your training.  At the end of the day, I think the most important parameters for ultra-marathon training are high weekly mileage and a long run once a week.  Do those two and you'll be alright.