I started my training with a very rough plan of the mileage that I would be completing. I was also contemplating between a 5 month and a 4 month training period. I opted for the 5 month training period because I thought that it would give me more leeway to do what I wanted and more flexibility for when there were issues. Also I really wanted to do a lot of skiing in the winter too so I tried to build that into the plan. A disclaimer, this plan worked for me but may not work for everyone and you should customize you plan based on your abilities and availability.
My main running goal throughout my training was getting my mileage up. I believed this was the key to being able to finish the race. Vertical was and will always be important but I got most of that from the skiing. I had also learned the hard way to pay closer attention to my hips and core. Along with the trusty internet I crafted my plan.
As you can see I didn’t folow it exactly and this is the end product, there were many iterations before this. That note at the bottom indicating hill repeats on Wednesday was not meant to be. I do have to say it is tough when you are trying to train for a running event and also want to ski a lot. Luckily the two sports compliment each other very well and I attribute a lot of the muscular endurance that I gained, from the skiing that I did.
I started off very easy in December almost like I was starting almost from nothing. I wanted the beginning of the training to be very easy and feel easy so that I could feel good and rested for the main block of the training coming in 2 months; nice confidence booster. What I like about creating my own training plans is the flexibility that you can change things on a dime based on how I’m feeling.
I gradually increased my mileage for 3 months to where it hit its peak at 66 miles. This may not seem like a lot considering that the race that I finished was 72 miles but I take quality over quantity in this case. The training culminated in two back to back long efforts two weeks apart. Although most of my weekends ended up being back to backs due to skiing.
The first was a 24 mile Belknap traverse out and back with around 8000 ft of vertical. At this point there was still a lot of snow in the mountains so I had a do this one with snowshoes which made it even harder. Doesn’t help that it was my first time using snowshoes. Luckily it was a very nice day and I had some company for half of it. The entire thing took me 9 hours to complete. The next day I ran 20 miles around the seacoast which felt easy after the snowshoeing. The flat miles were good after the mountains and I joined some friends that were running the Eastern states race.
The second back to back I ended up doing as a multisport adventure. I started the morning off with some backcountry skiing to Raymond’s Cataract and some of the best skiing that I’ve had all year. The snow was soft and fun. Once I changed out of my ski boots and into my running gear I ran up and down the Tuckerman Ravine trail twice. Ended the day with 6 miles of skiing and 9.5 miles of running for a total of 8000 ft of vertical total for the day. The following day I headed off to Mt Agamenticus for 16 miles with friends and another 3500 ft of vertical, 11 K for the weekend.
Another piece that I tried to fit in was mobility and strength work. This is also very important as it prevents injuries and when you run as much as you do as an Ultrarunner can happen sooner rather than later. I learned from VT50 (the hard way) that hips are one of the most important things to work on so I worked on that as much as I could; at least once a week. I also included more core workouts than I usually do and yoga sessions. To be clear I don’t ever go to the gym, I did this all from the comfort of my small apartment for free.
Finishing up my training I was starting to feel pretty fatigued and kind of just tired when I went out so I opted for a 3 week taper period to ready myself. I needed to make sure that I was fully recovered by the time Madeira rolled around. One week before Madeira I was ready to get on the plane and feeling good. I had just hoped that all the training would pay off and now in retrospect I had very little issues. It was the sheer amount of vertical and distance that would get me in the end.
TrailRunnerSean 