Getting Ready for the Next Challenge

The Spartan Ultra from 2 weeks ago gave me the confidence that I am progressing and improving as an ultramarathoner and that my training is moving me in the right direction, as for the first time I was not struggling to make a cut off.  I suspect, however, part of why I did well was the steepness of the race and the fact that the cutoffs were designed around a course that hiking the majority of it was assumed.  I think I have developed a very high work capacity but that I still need to continue to improve as a runner.  I suspect that I would not have been anywhere near as close to the front of the pack if it had been a race with less elevation gain and more runnable terrain.  To test this, I have registered for a trail marathon in November that features an elevation gain of only around 2.5K feet.  While not flat, this is a course that will be significantly more runnable than my last race and will allow me to test my theory.  When I eventually put a 50 miler on the calendar I want to make sure to pick a course that will play to my particular strengths and weaknesses and so I want to put this to the test. 

An early November race date gives me roughly six months to train for it and I intend to do so by following a true marathon prep program for the first time, albeit one that maintains an element of strength training.  Given the time I have to prepare for the race, I intend to pursue the following build up in prepping for the event:

1. Finish the Mountain Tactical Institute (MTI) Max Effort Strength and 6 mile Run program that I’m currently running
2. Move onto the MTI Max Effort Strength and Aerobic Base program
3. End with the MTI Meathead Marathon plan which is designed to build more strength focused athletes up towards being able to run marathon distances. 

If all goes well, I’m hoping be ready to run and not power hike the vast majority of the course.