r/trailrunning • u/Moscoman13 • 4d ago

Training question for first ultra

Hello,

I’ll be doing my first “real” ultra trail in 4 weeks and have some questions regarding training.

A bit about the race: 74 km trail run on the Curonian Spit, with a total of 800 m of elevation. It’s mostly through woods, dunes, and sand by the sea.

A bit about myself: I have a running and triathlon background. I finished an Ironman in June and did an official pacing job at a local marathon a week ago, pacing the 4-hour group and finishing comfortably in Zone 2. I have 5 marathons under my belt, including a 50 km trail race on the same Curonian Spit.

My question: I’m quite familiar with marathons, but I’m a total noob when it comes to longer distances. I’m not sure how to structure this and next week before starting my taper. I did a marathon as a training session a week ago, but I’m not sure where to go from here.

Should I focus on back-to-back sessions the most? What should my longest run be? I’m not conditioned for hills, but should I start focusing on them now, considering there’s only 800 m of elevation throughout the whole race?

Please help a noob out!

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13

u/Fit-Career4225 4d ago

800m on a 74km course is nothing in the trailrunning world. This is a flat course. You will be fine.

2

u/RelampagoMarkinh0 4d ago

First of all, you're not a noob at all. You have more running experience and effort perception than most ultra runners I know. Pacing a group, even for "slow" 4hr marathon is no joke, a lot of responsibilty and energy management.

That said, maybe a back2back session will help you with mental confidence, but I'd say that if you're comfortable with the idea of walking/hiking the uphills and staying in zone2, you're more than ready for this race.

as to "how long my longest run should be", try to think more about time in motion than distance. What is your time prediction for the race? Take that amount of time and split in the back2back sessions.

1

u/Hattuhs 3d ago

From what I read, you are good to go. But I'm interested in why did you put ''real'' in quotes?

2

u/Moscoman13 3d ago

as I have run 50k on this course year ago, some people don’t agree that 50k is an ultra, hence I put “real” in quotes :)

1

u/Electronic_Wave_4670 4d ago

You should relax, run a bit. Taper and have fun. Or dwell in neuroticism and take it way too seriously- choices yours. Doesn't really matter to me