Been doing sprint and olympic tris for the last couple years, want to try a 70.3 and maybe ultramarathon this year. Not sure how to make the most of my training time and thought the ST braintrust could help. I have limited training time, as I have decided to impact my family time as little as possible. So, I have mornings from about 5:15 to 6:30 (7ish on weekends) and weekday lunch breaks for about an hour (these are running only as the pool’s not close by and I’m not dragging my bike to work every day).
Currently, my schedule is swim MWF for ~1 hour, bike Tu/Th/Sat on the trainer, 2x 1 hour intervals and 1.5 hours of interval/base on Saturday. I run every day at lunch - currently about 5.3 miles per day, will be working up to ~7.5 mi/day. The Barry P plan doesn’t really work well as I have a fixed amount of time every day. I’m starting to do a long(er) run Sunday mornings - 1-1.5 hours for now, hopefully 2 at some point.
So: I’m trying to run a marathon a year in addition to the tris, I’d like to do the Triple Bypass (or similar) once a year, and for some reason I’ve decided that ultras would be fun. There are a couple here (Denver) at the end of the season and I’m thinking of signing up for a 50 mi or 100k.
I can’t cut back much on sleep, as I’m running at about the minimum sustainable amount right now. Evenings are no good, as that’s the only time I can hang out with my wife. I’ve seen mixed reviews on how much milage/long run is necessary for an ultra, some saying the long run is critical and some saying that they’ve gotten away with no more than ~18mi at most. I just can’t do a 5 hour run on Saturday followed by 4 on Sunday, so it may be that I just have to table that plan for a few years.
For 70.3 purposes, you can definitely do that well with what you have, if you can free up an occasional big time slot on the weekends for some longer riding. As for the ultra project - define what you consider an “ultra”. A 50K? Sure, you can do that without a problem. 50M? May be able to finish, but thats about it. 100K+? No way.
swim is adequate time wise and making the assumption your mixing up intervals and long swims. Hopefully you can get at least 1 open water swim in about 3 weeks out from race. It would be nice if you could find a little more time for the bike on the w/e’s. I need 2-3, 3 hr rides prior to race and a 4th at 3:30 is better yet. Followed with a 20 or 30 min brick run. Running is more than adequate but a 10 miler would be nice. That should be enough to finish and then some.
You run way more than I did when I used to do ultras:o) Multiple 50Ks, 40 Miler, and 77 Miler. Not sure your goals, but my 50K on an average trail course was around 5:45. Think I did one 4 hour run prior to my first - likely could of used a few more:o)
If you want to follow BarryP, you could do the runs as a “Brick” with the swims. I did that this morning to make the most of my time. You can also wake up a little earlier to get in a longer biek or swim. Traffic is nearly zero I find before 6AM, so consider a headlight one it gets warmer.
You need ot get you run milege up and consistently high for the ultras. However, 70.3 training does not really complement ultra training. You have ot compromise the 70.3 to get enough run miles in for the ultras.
I’d fidn a way to work up to 6 miles for “easy days” two 10-12 medium distance runs and a long 16-18 mile run each week. No need to go longer until you final build for the ultra. In the one and only ultra 50k I did, I don’t think I ever ran more than 3-1/2 hours, but I put in good consistent weekly mileage. However, I was 19 years old and was only running then.
I’ve been trying to figure out what “enough” mileage is for a 100k / 100m ultra - any thoughts or sources I should look at? I know training for the 70.3 and ultra are non-complementary and will compromise each other, but hey, triathletes are all about compromise, right?
I think a good target is 50-60mpw consistently on top of what you consider a minimal SBR training. I’d consider minimum to be 7000 yards total in 2 swims per week and 100 miles spread over 3 rides per week.
Those doing 50milers, I think usually work up to a 50k training run. Those doing 100 milers, I think usually work up to doing 50 mile training runs. But there are good resources out there for ultra running.