Ultramarathon Training

I'm training for my first 24 right now. I've actually never done any ultras (officially) to this point, so take my advice with a grain of salt. Anyway, I'd suggest doing long runs on back-to-back days. This would be something like a 40 miler Saturday and a 30 miler Sunday, or whatever distance your long runs should be.

Also try to double every day if you can, even if it's only something like a mile or two on the second run. Basically, try to convince your body that it always has to be running.

Finally, nobody really knows what they're doing training for ultras, probably not even Jurek.

www.ultrunr.com

is as good a resource as you'll find online though.

Very simply, run as much as you possibly can, without getting hurt. That's it.

I've done a few 100-milers (including a win and a 2nd place), but take this FWIW. I focused on volume through frequency. I ran about 10x per week. Two weekday runs were on hills. Most weekdays were 1 hour run AM, 1-1.5 hour run pm. I never worried about distance, just time. Friday usually an off day. Monday very easy. Saturday long runs were, at the peak 6-8 hours, followed by 3 hours on Sunday.

I've done a few with a PR of just over 15 and a half hours (flat course). I've also done Leadville. There is no secret recipe. I peaked at 140 to 150 miles/week with back to back long runs like was mentioned. For training runs of over 50 miles I would do a 50 mile to 100k race. If there weren't any races like that to work into my schedule, I did not have the self discipline to run over 50 miles on my own. All the mileage was on singles with no real speed work. I might do a bit of track work of 1600m to 2000m repeats. I would also do a lot of hilly routes which are tough to find where I live. Luckily I have a job where I can occasionally have enough time on my hands to do that kind of training. If you are looking for an "easy" race to try to finish, I would suggest Rocky Raccoon 100 Miler in Huntsville, Texas,

Matt Carpenter wrote an interesting article about his training leading into his record-setting win at Leadville. I find it very interesting, and I've modeled my training after his (though on a smaller scale). Carpenter focused on speed and consistency, and his longest training runs were only 25 miles. That's not to say his training was low volume--he ran at least 2 hours per day for 5 months leading into the race--he just felt that it was more useful to run fast and frequently than to go for an all-day run and spend days recovering.

Check it out for yourself:

http://www.skyrunner.com/story/2005lt100.htm

Thank you all so much for the advice. This is the first time I've ever posted a question on here, and I couldn't be happier with your feedback!

Ultra threads are becoming like a cancer....sad to see