Training plan for at faster 50 miler this summer

Do some back to back long runs.

Example:

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=2382243

Just don't slow down as much.

As a total guess, I'd imagine you slowed down in the second half of the race last year. Getting faster won't help that, but more time on feet will. Weekly mileage matters, but get out for some very long runs (could be hours or miles, a 5 hour 'run' is very good). Also, get better at hiking uphill.

Run multiple long runs per week, the in between days can be very short, even off days. You can get up to two or three 20+ mile runs in a single week, that'd be great. And run a bit of a fartlek within one of those 20+ mile runs.

If the course is hilly, find the nastiest summab*tch hills you can find and do repeats on them.

You probably, in all honesty, don't need to do more than a 50k long run in training. Back to back long runs will help considerably. Consider doing cut down runs once every month or so.

Thanks for all your replies and apologies for my late reply.

The race I did was 5 laps on a 10 mile course. I 'faded' about 15 minutes from my first lap to my last lap (I was running the race somewhat defensively as it was my first 50 miler). I wasn't completely destroyed at the end of the race.

What I am after is hints as to run this thing faster.

Is the course local to you? That is, can you get in training runs on the course? Time on feet is your friend to be sure, but I wouldn't dispose of threshold runs either. If there's any significant downhill at all, maybe work a few weeks worth of front squats in to help strengthen the quads as these are what take a beating on the downhill. Otherwise, get used to running 20-25 miles at a reasonably brisk pace (relative to what you want to run) with some ease. Go for long runs right after getting home from work, when you're tired, to help work on the psychological part of fatigued running.

I also had several successful 50s using: http://runnersevent.com/ul/schedule-50m.asp

Are you looking for tips that will help you in the race itself? Getting fitter is obviously #1. You can do little things to save time at aid stations. Things like carrying your own water, unscrewing the top before you get to an aid station, knowing what you need to eat before you get there. I’m always in and out of there as quickly as possible. I see people waste so much time that it adds 30 minutes, if not more, to their finishing time. To that end, don’t worry about drop bags, a crew, or any of that other nonsense. It won’t help, and it will probably slow you down. Know the course, so you don’t get lost. That’s another thing I’ve seen kill people’s races. Other than that, shuffle when you want to walk, walk when you want to sit. Any time you aren’t moving is time you’re wasting. Good luck!

Excellent advice - thanks to all that replied to me!

there's been some bad advice in this thread so far.

back to back long runs should not be done often as they beat you up a lot.

multiple 20+ milers per week is possibly worse unless you already run 90+ miles/week. bad idea.

get out for runs that mimic the course conditions as much as possible. you need 200' per mile of climbing, basically.

whatever you did last year, do more this year. if the course is still 5x10mi loops, you don't want to fade 15 minutes even from first to last loop. but that's not awful.

Not sure if some of these responses are trolling or not.

But, back to back long runs are not necessary for a 50 miler. You can easily get good results on marathon training and extending your peak long run to about 25 miles. It will be important to, at the very least, do your long runs on the same type of terrain as your 50 miler.

Aerobic conditioning is king for 50 milers and training your legs for the pounding of 50 miles.

Cheers reed & RDP. That was sort of what I had in mind when I posted the question.

Many thanks for your comments.