Hi all
I'm after a bit of advice on the amount and timing of a speed work program in the run up to my first 100+ mile ultra next may (devon coast to coast 112 miles)
Small background info is i used to run a lot 5-6 years ago and have completed a couple of 100k races and done ironman triathlon. I broke my ankle 3 years ago and stopped running until this year in may when I got the bug again
By the end of september I will have completed a 16 week base fitness training stint which so far is going extremely well considering i have been out of the game for so long . I have been averaging 50 miles a week and the body is holding up well.
I have been doing a proper long run out on the moors on the actual race course every 2 weeks ish and am already running the kind of pace i need to in the race over distances of 30-40 miles so that element is also going well
The problem is that i am pretty slow so I think I am having to work too hard to sustain that race pace for much longer than half distance I would guess at this present time
hence the need for speed !!
Basically I have 7 available months for training , october to april , i am planning a careful taper in may for 3 weeks before the race
So how should I go about using that 7 months ??
I was thinking of following a marathon training plan for 12 weeks to try and get my time over the 26 back down to a respectable number, with 1 very long run on the race course thrown in every month which i would actually count as a rest week so that would total 15 weeks of the 28 weeks available
If you think this is an ok idea when would you do it , at the start or closer to the race ?
Could i just extend this stategy all the way through to the race ? or do i need to go back to base fitness training again afterwards and up the weekly mileage
Any ideas and advice is welcomed , i am super psyched for training so happy to take all ideas on board
If we need to talk numbers then ATM i'm running a 4 hour marathon having previously done 3.22 and I am aiming to average about 4mph moving time on the race with an hour or 2 of pit stops so looking at finishing in under 30 hours ideally if all goes well
Thanks
Nick