Here’s my situation and it’d be awesome if i could get some feedback from some experienced people out there as to whether or not this is possible.
Last fall i ran a marathon on basically no training. I did it pretty fast (especially for a newbie averaging about 25 mpw (something like 3:31)) but got injured in the process. After several bouts of coming back too soon and getting reinjured, i’ve finally been able to resume some semblance of a training schedule. Dont get me wrong, i’ve been lifting and doing a ton of mountain biking this summer, but i dont really have a running base as far as my joints and ligaments are concerned. Currently my goals center around doing ultra marathons in the near future, but i want to make sure i build my base correctly so that i dont get injured again (i’ve had various nagging injuries over the past few years due to improper training and building mileage up too fast.
To get to the meat of my question: I am currently doing about 2 miles 4 times a week at a VERY slow pace to help strengthen my legs and ligaments. Is it reasonable to try to SLOWLY build my mileage and hope to be able to do the highland sky 40miler by next june? for background, i dont plan do be doing any extra running besides the 2 miles 4x/week until october, and then i hope to do about 15 miles/week the whole month of october.
Is this reasonable and achievable (i dont plan to race it, but just finish it), or should i set my goals for later on so i have more time to build?
no worries sandbagger, like i said, any advice is welcome. there are MANY reasons i want to become an ultrarunner, not the least of which is to see what is deep within my core. i’ve gotten glimpses of it over 24 hour mountain bike races, but i want to see it again and again and again. also, i hate speedwork. i would much rather just go out and hit the trails for a few hours, than run lap after lap on the track. basically, i want to have some fun, and this seems to be a great way to do it. after looking at that training schedule, i may want to set my goals a little farther in the future, but it looks possible. hmmm…
Hitting the trails for a few hours just once a week will get you to yur goal of 15mi/week… I would suggest a little more training for ultras, minimum 60mi/week with a really long run once every two weeks.
Do some longer bike stuff of triathlons, that’s aways going to be easier on your joints. I am too big to do more than 3 hours running per week, my knees can’t take it, but i can put in plenty of miles on the bike and just wear the muscles out.
My thoughts, but if you really want to do the 40 mile race (nuts) then build up slowly and i am sure you can overcome whatever gets in the way.
You can probably do this. In 2001 I had plantar fasciitis (sp) and was running as little as 10 miles a week in the spring and built it up to 20 miles a week over May, June, and July. I got the cursed pf from doing a marathon on virtually no training (sound familiar?).
It took a lot of patience and a lot of therapy, but, I recovered and was able to get up to 60 miles a week in getting ready for a November IM.
As your moniker suggests, I’d stay off the pavement and run only on the soft stuff (I am very fond of golf courses). This was critical to my recovery.
Now, I realize that you will need to run more than 60 a week from time to time in able to do the ultra, but I’m also going to recommend that you keep that mountain bike handy and implement cross training as a regular training tool. Also, you’ll need to set up regular training reviews in order to validate if your progression is adequate and if you are having any pain. If you aren’t hitting your training goals or if you’re having any pain, I’d reconsider the ultra.
