I'd say that if the only thing you cared about was getting your best performance in the NYC marathon, then it's probably not the best preparation. But if you want to do it enough that you're prepared to risk not being quite at your best in the marathon, then go for it. Racing is fun, we only do this for the pleasure of it, so do what you enjoy doing!

Assuming you go for it, I think you have a good chance of recovering in time. 5 weeks is a long time and seems like you're fairly fast for the mileage you do, so assume your body is pretty good at coping with the stresses of running. I did something not dissimilar 3 weeks before an IM a few years back - it was a hill running challenge which involved running up 4 peaks for a total of ~4500m (15,000 feet) and about 8 hours running time, with lots of driving (we had a driver at least) in between. I thought I was in good shape for it, and I normally recover fairly quickly, but I was pretty beaten up for a good week to 10 days afterwards. By the time the IM came round 3 weeks later I felt great, swim and bike went to plan (in fact I felt so good on the bike I was having to ease back a lot), but I had a very disappointing run for the shape I was in, legs just felt very heavy, which I think was due to still carrying a bit of fatigue from the hills.

With 2 extra weeks you'll be able to recover, I guess the challenge will be striking the right balance between recovering and not losing fitness over that longer period.

Your NYC race will go as your recovery from a 50-mile ultra goes, and no better. I'm typically in marathon shape for much of the year, then I gradually transition over to ultra shape mid-summer (i.e. 7-8 weeks before my first ultra, and at least 11-12 weeks before my peak ultra).

With my annual base and ultra-specific training, my A race will put me out of form (e.g. marathon training) for 4-5 weeks. Even after the recovery period, speed is slow to return, and my Nov/Dec marathons have been notoriously crappy.

You'll need to balance the value of each race, and weigh the relative performance tradeoffs in order to reach your answer. If I were in your shoes, I'd do the VT50 knowing that my NYC would suffer ... but I prefer ultras to big city marathons.

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"The right to party is a battle we have fought, but we'll surrender and go Amish... NOT!" -Wayne Campbell

My experience is similar to burnmans. Particularly if you push the ultra which sometimes becomes a function of underestimating the distance or elevation or... whatever comes up, which is part of the fun of trail ultras. Dead legs for 2 to 3 weeks and, at least for me, speed being hard to get back for a month or two is about right.

No. It does not seem like a good plan for peaking 5 weeks later in NYC.


You will be. If you had run several 50s before then maybe you would feel fine. Being your first, your chances of having a peak race 5 weeks later are low at best.


Hear me now, believe me later.

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This is one of the things that has me so interested in doing it, just out there running (and let's be serious power hiking...or even more serious...survival stumble/walk) and rolling with whatever comes up and having fun. That being said, I will push it. I'm generally pretty good at pacing regardless of distance, I kind of know what I can sustain. A race is a race, so I'd try to get the best time possible. If I don't want to race, then I don't sign up for one, I just do a training run. I'm getting the feeling I should just sign up for a HIM (same weekend) as a fun race as I ramp up for NYC.


I hear ya, but NYC has been in my plan for years. I entered the lottery for 3 years and didn't make it, got in on the 4th by default (no longer in effect). Wife is also running it and even though I am in the burbs of NYC, I only plan on doing it once and would like to do well...a PR would be nice. Maybe 2015 will be my entry into the ultra game, there is something just so awesome about trail running...