How long of a “long run” do ultra-runners do for a 100k race

Since there are so many shorter ultras out there, usually the easiest is to prepare with some shorter distances before the big race. For years I had the combo of a 6 hour season warm up in March, a 100k race in April and a 24 hour race in May.

You can do ultras with your normal marathon training. Long runs don't have to be 50k or longer.

My main recommendation is that you work yourself up with race distances. Do a 50k or a 6 hour race first before you do a 100k or 12 hour race. Then a 24 hour race and then maybe a 100 mile trail race. This has the biggest possibility of success.

The wall is when you run too fast of a pace for the distance you are attempting. If you get the pace right, you never hit the wall.

Most runs will top out at 30 - 35 miles, followed by a run of 20+ miles the next day. The 20+ mile run is supposed to get your legs used to mocving when you're tired, which you will be. Most people do not recommend doing more than this, even when training for 100 miles, because it takes too long to recover.

The amount of time suffering and the type of suffering is variable. And it tends to come and go. If you gut rebels and you can't get in calories that's pretty miserable and a dnf becomes possible. Younight get your nutrition correct and only have to deal with leg fatigue/ ache and mental burnout. In most my ultras, the last 1/3 have been pretty miserable, but you learn how to keep moving as efficiently as possible.

For a group of ultra guys I know, 30 mile runs over hilly technical terrain are pretty standard weekend affairs and some of the guys will go as far as 60. They aren't top ultra runners and some stopping and walking is involved I believe.

Instead of suffering I would use the word discomfort. As an ultrarunner you have to be comfortable being not comfortable. You don't hit a wall like in a Marathon but you usually have a lot of ups and down during a race. And that is the part beginners struggle with. The think they feel crappy and that is a reason to quit, while the experienced runner next to them feels as bad but knows that will pass.

As the saying goes: "If you feel good in an ultramarathon, just wait a little."

This I would define as the mental strength in ultrarunning. You have to be able to set bad feelings aside and just keep going no matter what.

won’t run an ultra wrote:

I just picked any distance for ultra’s - but doesn’t matter what distance. I was just wondering, in general, how long do people build up to for their long run in preparing for those really long races. I would think due to injury risk and recovery they can’t get anywhere near the actual distance, but it is even half? Do they go into a 100k race and their longest run is 50k (which is horrendous), so they have no idea what the next 50k will feel like? What is that like then? I’m thinking about with marathon programs and people “hit the wall”, where is “the wall” for an ultra and how long do you suffer? Is it like 4 hours of going easy then another 4 hours (or more) of suffering?

My solo long runs for ultras (100K, 100 miler) generally top out at 25-30 miles. However, I usually do my long run on Saturday followed by 15-18 miles on Sunday. Also, I use shorter ultras as long runs during my build. So I will include at least one 50 miler, a couple 50Ks, and if I’m training for a 100 miler I’ll try to include a 100K.

Second this approach, generally.

For a 50k, my long run is no different than a marathon (i.e., I usually top out around 20).

For 100k+ plus, it's usually been closer to 25, but most often involves back-to-back long runs on Sat/Sun, with the second run being a touch shorter. I may try to bump that up a little this year, using some 50ks as training runs, or just doing the distance solo (which I find boring as hell, but good mental training).

I just finished my first 100 mile trail race last weekend. My longest runs since CIM were a 24/18 in back to back days in late December, then 40 in mid January. I ran 70-80 a week for about 7 weeks, then a 5 day taper after a 21 miler. Regular marathon training, with tempos, MP, etc. I'm 60 years old.

I ran the first 68 miles last Friday, tried to sleep for about 2 hours, power walked mostly through the night, ran the last 12. 5th place. 26:45 on a rocky, sandy course in the Mojave Desert, Littlefield Arizona. It's tough mentally when you get sleepy, dizzy. Different than redlining in a fast marathon. Not as intense, if you're just trying to finish, but quite hard mentally.

This is pretty much what I do but even for 100 milers I've never done a 100k in my build up, a 50 mile race is usually plenty and I have finished 100 milers with no more than a 30 mile training run as my longest run.

There are diminishing returns long runs beyond 3-4 hours. So its pointless IMHO to go much beyond 6 hours for training. The 100 miler I finished with only a 30 mile training run and was doing much less mileage overall the whole year I only finished 20 minutes slower than I did running that same race a different year where I did multiple longer races in my build up and higher overall mileage.

I have a 100 mile race next October and a 50 miler this May. I think most ultra runners do not go further than about 30 miles / 50 km as their longest training run although this 30 miles might have a staggering amount of vertical gain and it may be next to another long run the following day. I run back to back long runs every weekend but my Sunday run is only 10 - 12 miles not the 20 miles posted in response to this question by others. Given how varied terrain can be a lot of ultra runners think in terms of time commitment vs. miles run with a long run being 3 to 5 hours long. Marathon training and ultra training are very similar with the differences being the very fast and the very long. Most serious marathoners would have some kind of interval workout each week planned but probably a much lower percentage of ultra runners would get on the track as it involves a significant risk of injury. By the same token most ultra runners will have 3 hour or longer runs planned while this would be of questionable value to a marathoner. I tried to do an Ultra, a 70.3 Ironman half and a fast marathon in the same race season about 3 years ago. I finished all 3 races but it was more difficult than I expected to modify training

Forest Gump here wrote:

Instead of suffering I would use the word discomfort. As an ultrarunner you have to be comfortable being not comfortable. You don't hit a wall like in a Marathon but you usually have a lot of ups and down during a race. And that is the part beginners struggle with. The think they feel crappy and that is a reason to quit, while the experienced runner next to them feels as bad but knows that will pass.

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I am thinking about marathon training and increasing your long runs - and how for some runs you get to the last few miles and your legs start to hurt and that pain gets progressively worse and doesn't stop until you stop at the end. That happens with a relatively small increase in mileage as compared to going from a 30 mile run to a 100 mile run. For an ultra, are you saying that leg pain will go away as you run? If that leg pain kicked in there is just no way I could handle that for hours and hours and hours. It would become debilitating.

I see part of the long run in training as building up so you don't feel that leg pain on race day, or at least minimize it until the last few miles. If you can't train close to the race distance, I don't see how you avoid that debilitating pain in an ultra?

From my experience the leg pain gets worse until mile 40 or so and then it stays the same. You just have to get used to running with tired legs. So in that sense ultrarunning is quite different from Marathon running.

I am not an ultra runner. My friends who are ultra runners (and good local runners, but not national class competitors) do their long training for runs from 50k-100k mostly by doing back-to-back long runs on the weekend. They will work up to something like 30 miles on Saturday and 20 on Sunday. Plus then some races which they ran as long runs.

not an ultra runner wrote:

I am not an ultra runner. My friends who are ultra runners (and good local runners, but not national class competitors) do their long training for runs from 50k-100k mostly by doing back-to-back long runs on the weekend. They will work up to something like 30 miles on Saturday and 20 on Sunday. Plus then some races which they ran as long runs.

I don't think I ever heard anybody doing 100k training runs, ever.

Your ultrarunning friends are telling you a lot of BS.

Forest Gump here wrote:

not an ultra runner wrote:

I am not an ultra runner. My friends who are ultra runners (and good local runners, but not national class competitors) do their long training for runs from 50k-100k mostly by doing back-to-back long runs on the weekend. They will work up to something like 30 miles on Saturday and 20 on Sunday. Plus then some races which they ran as long runs.

I don't think I ever heard anybody doing 100k training runs, ever.

Your ultrarunning friends are telling you a lot of BS.

...............

I think it's pretty clear he means that they run 30/20 in training for races of 100k, not 100k training runs. Don't turn an honest training thread into another argument.

You are probably right.

I would say its different. Leg pain from higher intensity running is a lot different than leg pain from running for hours on end at a slower pace. If you are well trained and racing within your limits there will be leg pain but its not the kind of pain that forces you to stop. That usually doesnt kick in until mile 80 or so in 100 mile for me. By that time it is pretty much mental, you just make your mind to finish.

Also, dont get too caught up on leg pain, since your feet will hurt like never before. ;)

Training for a 50k isn't much different than a road marathon - long runs of 18-24 miles, but mimicking the elevation profile of the race. For 100k/100 mile, long runs of up to 30 miles (much beyond that isn't worth the returns). As with any other distance, daily/weekly volume is more important than having a monster run every weekend.