Has anyone heard of someone using long 6-8 hour bike rides and or long stair machine sessions to minimize the grind of training for an ultra?
I am hoping to do an ultra next year, but after back surgery I don’t think 70-100 mile running weeks would be a good idea.
I did my first 50 ultra in Oct last year. Leading up to it, I only hit one 70 mile week. Most weeks were in the range of 50-60 miles, with a long run of 20-25. I felt good for 80% of the race, but hit a wall at about mile 40-42.
So IMO, you need your long run to be somewhere in the 35 range, with most weeks around 70. That is what I am gonna try this year.
I dont know if this helps.
I think I was running about 40 per week average, but did a few 28-36 mile long runs. Ultra was 90km.
Friend just finished a 50 miler and did pretty well. He did two long runs of 25 miles and one at 30 miles. Many shorter runs in the high teens over a few months.
I did my first 50m averaging 52 and 54 mpw the previous 2 months with no runs longer than 14 miles.
I was doing 5 marys(including 1 IM/year) a year for the previous few years, but rarely run anything longer than 12 miles in training.
I’m not sure that replacing long runs with rides is a great idea. Hard to say. I do believe you can balance cycling and running to do well at both. If you’re talking a 100-mile ultra, I think you need to put in the run miles. I topped out at about 120mpw for my 100-miler and I felt extremely prepared. I focused on long runs on the weekends, and high frequency during the week.
Did you already have the back surgery, or is it coming up? Good luck!