Bataan Memorial Death March (marathon) training

I've done BMDM heavy four times previously. I think a 20+ miler with your pack might have been a good idea earlier, but you probably don't want to do one this close to race day.

The hill is certainly annoying. According to my Garmin tracks you hit the lowest point about six and a half miles in, then there's a small climb and some level, then another small climb and some more level, then about nine miles in you're climbing consistently until about thirteen and a half miles in. If you train based on heartrate, you'll automatically adjust your pace.

The thing that got me the first year (other than the fact that I was a lot less fit than I am now) is that course itself is mostly very hard-packed mud/dirt or asphalt. I trained on softer ground and my feet weren't prepared for the beating they took. I was only planning on hiking most of it and only running some of the downhills, but I wore hiking boots and could barely walk twenty miles in.

I have done better each year and have adopted the following training schedule:

Between BMDM and November, I try to do at least one major long event with my pack (e.g., hike the crest trail with a 40 poundpack) once a month, just so I don't lose too much of my "pack legs". Starting in November I do a pack run every Saturday and every Wednesday.

My Saturday pack run alternates between a long-distance run on level ground (with a 40 pound pack) at my goal pace and a run five miles up the La Luz trail and down again as quickly as I can (with a 35 pound pack). The level ground distance increases each week (except when I'm tapering, racing or recovering from other races). I topped out at 24 miles a week ago.

My Wednesday pack run is from my house out to a local 3.3 mile loop, doing a lap or more, then back to my house at a pace about a minute faster than my goal pace (with a 40 pound pack). Like my level-ground Saturday pack runs, the distance increases over time.

Sundays I ride my bike (distances increasing up to 70 miles) @ about 130bpm heartrate. Mondays I run 12.2 miles @ 130bpm. Tuesdays and Fridays I run 3 miles @ 130bpm and Thursdays I run 5.6 miles @ 130bpm.

I take ice baths after my Saturday and Wednesday runs. I could not push myself as hard or recover as quickly for other things without them.

I do a 15 day taper where I do all of the above, but at half distance for the first 7 days of the taper, then all of the above, but at quarter distance the next 7 days and typically don't run at all the day before the race.

I am not suggesting that my training schedule is the best for you, but it's more or less what I've done for 2012, 2013 and what I'm doing for 2014.

Good luck.

I've run the course three times with a heavy pack. I was pretty unscientific in my training approach, substituting heavy pack runs (carrying 45-50 pounds) for 2-3 of my weekly runs, substituting an unpacked long run for a run with a pack every other week. I think my longest run with the pack was 16 miles about a month before the march. My taper started about two weeks before the race, with my last pack run on the Monday before the march. I'm an old fart, so recovery was key.

The walk from my car to my office is about a kilometer, so I would wear the pack every workday to and from the office. Once march day came, the pack felt better.

I still did my normal marathon training interval and tempo runs during the week, but at a slower pace that I would have run them for an "unpacked" marathon.

I used the first several runs with the pack (in early December) to figure out the optimal adjustment of the pack, then I secured the straps in place with the largest brass safety pins I could find at a local sewing shop. I wanted no motion in the pack during the run, so things were pretty tight. The first year I rubbed myself raw in a couple places, so I tried to avoid that in subsequent years. Tight straps, Body Glide and some strategically placed foam helped greatly.

I agree with Cliff regarding course. The first mile or two are paved and slightly downhill, then the next six miles or so are dirt, slightly downhill before a climb up to about mile eight and some pavement, which leads to the big climb. That ascent is about half on pavement, then dirt road until the halfway point of the march. It's downhill on dirt for another three miles, then paved until almost 19 miles. It's a short dirt uphill climb before you hit the "sand pit," which is a sandy riverbed. The first time I ran it with a pack I thought I had hit quicksand. Once it's over the course is a relatively flat dirt road to the finish. The last two or so miles, which follow the perimeter of base housing, seem to take forever, at least to me.

Good luck to both of you. I'm dealing with a torn hip labrum and hamstring issues, so I'll be wimping out and running the short march. As the grandson of one Bataan survivor and the great nephew of another, thank you to all the marchers for attending and honoring their memory.

Thanks for the replies and the course info. I did some hill repeats yesterday without the pack, then I'll do another 2 and a half hour pack run today. I'm gonna do a two-week taper and cut my pack runs to an hour on Tuesday and Thursday, then an hour and a half next Sunday.

Cliff, I looked up your race results and you kick some serious ass. I have a sub 6 hour goal. I'm hoping there are names on bids, so I can keep you in my sites.

Thanks again for the info.

I don't know about names on bibs, but I run with a big external frame Kelty backpack. It is bulky because it has a bunch of my search-and-rescue gear in it. It will contain just slightly over 35 pounds. I will be running with two hand-held bottles. That's probably enough to identify me.

I know a bunch of people participating, so if things go well I'll be hanging around the tent for a couple hours or more after I cross the finish line.

I'd be happy to chat with you before they let us loose in the morning or after we both finish. I don't know that I'll be able to talk much during the race itself.

Looks like there could be 20 to 30 MPH winds on the day of the race. This is gonna be fun!