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Training plan for 50 miler?

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Tony S

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May 16, 2012, 7:09:57 PM5/16/12
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A friend is interested so I thought I'd throw this out there. I learned
two different approaches to 50 mile training here from Doug and Dan, so
I plan to pass along as much of that as possible. Any more formal plans
out there?

--
http://tonyoutthere.blogspot.com/

pithydoug

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May 17, 2012, 12:03:43 AM5/17/12
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On May 16, 7:09 pm, Tony S <n...@none.none> wrote:
> A friend is interested so I thought I'd throw this out there. I learned
> two different approaches to 50 mile training here from Doug and Dan, so
> I plan to pass along as much of that as possible. Any more formal plans
> out there?


There are an infinite number of plans all depending on the background
of the person, their strengths and weaknesses, the overall race goal
and the exact race. Without some in-depth details, it would be a WAG.
I would include Tim and Rodger(RMS) in this collection.

-D

Tony S

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May 17, 2012, 9:03:39 AM5/17/12
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Of course you're right more detail is needed. I pointed him at the "Lore
of Running" for ideas. Basically he's done lots of marathons and 50ks.
One year he did a marathon in each of the New England states. He's just
never gone up in distance.

--
http://tonyoutthere.blogspot.com/

pithydoug

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May 17, 2012, 9:58:56 PM5/17/12
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Bare bones, he needs to get 2-3 long runs in the 5-6 hours range in
conditions equal to harder than the race. During those runs he will
need to practice eating, drinking and monitoring his salt. He'll need
to be thinking in hours per week rather than miles. I would not be
presumptuous to suggest hours or miles without knowing background
details.

Just my .00002 cents worth.

-D

John Hurley

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May 18, 2012, 5:10:01 PM5/18/12
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Tony:

# Of course you're right more detail is needed. I pointed him at the
"Lore of Running" for ideas. Basically he's done lots of marathons and
50ks. One year he did a marathon in each of the New England states.
He's just never gone up in distance.

No idea what Lore of Running is.

I guess the basic question is "racing or jogging or surviving" ...

Any lunatic can probably gut out one 50 mile event "somehow" ... a
whole different category of expectations if one is going to "try" to
race a 50 mile event.

For racing a 50 mile event I suspect most ultra elites are doing 125+
miles a week. Just a wild shot in the dark ... maybe some of them
doing 150 miles a week.

If the expectations are only to drag yourself across the finish line
"somehow" well it is a much different story.

Basic thinking says build weekly mileage base as high as one can
without breaking down and get lots of long runs in.

Probably some one has a book that has a plan that one can use ...
somewhere.

Personally I would think the best idea is to try a bunch of 50ks first
before trying a 50 mile event and work from there "on up" ... if that
is what the lunatic in question wants to do!


Tony S

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May 19, 2012, 7:10:56 PM5/19/12
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You still feign ignorance on Noakes' running bible "Lore of Running"
when it's been referenced here with regularity. All I can say, again, is
it's a great read.

As I already said, he has done lots of 50ks and marathons, and to my
knowledge he does just want to finish it comfortably and not race it as
fast as possible. When I run with him next week I'll get a better idea
what his thinking is.


--
http://tonyoutthere.blogspot.com/

John Hurley

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May 20, 2012, 12:49:10 AM5/20/12
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Tony:

# You still feign ignorance on Noakes' running bible "Lore of Running"
when it's been referenced here with regularity. All I can say, again,
is it's a great read.

Sorry Tony ... just do not remember from post to post what these books
are or who the authors are. I did pick up "Born to Run" ( I think
that was the title ) when my oldest daughter brought it home. It was
some fictional account of a miler who was in college and got thrown
out of school but came back in ( disguised I guess ) to race one final
event at his old school. Started skimming after a while ...

That's the only book I have read about running in the last 20
years ...

If this guy has run so many marathons and 50ks already then probably
he has most of the knowledge base to tackle a 50 mile event ... sorry
missed that in your original post.

Tony S

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May 20, 2012, 10:07:06 AM5/20/12
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I'll pick up 'born to run' from the library at some point. I think the
fictional character is based on that guy who just died - Micah True.

--
http://tonyoutthere.blogspot.com/

John Hurley

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May 20, 2012, 2:12:44 PM5/20/12
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Tony:

# I'll pick up 'born to run' from the library at some point. I think
the fictional character is based on that guy who just died - Micah
True.

I did like the parts of the book that were "first hand reports" of
racing miles. Well actually apparently fictionalized stories of a
character racing miles.

Not sure who the author was but he did write well on mile events so he
must have had some prior experience suffering 1500s/1600s.


Dot

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May 20, 2012, 4:02:09 PM5/20/12
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On 5/20/2012 6:07 AM, Tony S wrote:
> On 5/20/2012 12:49 AM, John Hurley wrote:
>> Tony:
>>
>> # You still feign ignorance on Noakes' running bible "Lore of Running"
>> when it's been referenced here with regularity. All I can say, again,
>> is it's a great read.
>>
>> Sorry Tony ... just do not remember from post to post what these books
>> are or who the authors are. I did pick up "Born to Run" ( I think
>> that was the title ) when my oldest daughter brought it home. It was
>> some fictional account of a miler who was in college and got thrown
>> out of school but came back in ( disguised I guess ) to race one final
>> event at his old school. Started skimming after a while ...

Sounds more like "Once a Runner," a runner's classic, by John Parker.
"Again to Carthage" is the sequel. These are fiction.

>>
>> That's the only book I have read about running in the last 20
>> years ...
>>
>> If this guy has run so many marathons and 50ks already then probably
>> he has most of the knowledge base to tackle a 50 mile event ... sorry
>> missed that in your original post.
>
> I'll pick up 'born to run' from the library at some point. I think the
> fictional character is based on that guy who just died - Micah True.
>

Micah True / Caballo Blanco is one of the characters in "Born to Run"
but it's based on the Tarahumara / Raramuri tribe in Mexico. I think
Born to Run is considered non-fiction, although there's probably the
usual stretches of the truth. There's a lot about bare-foot running in
one of the chapters.

--
Dot
"Surrender to the run and allow it to take you, rather than trying to
control or force an outcome."
-Lorraine Moller in "Becoming a Body Whisperer", p. 72 RT Nov 2010.

John Hurley

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May 20, 2012, 7:22:30 PM5/20/12
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Dot:

# Sounds more like "Once a Runner," a runner's classic, by John
Parker. "Again to Carthage" is the sequel. These are fiction.

Yes sorry I guess that was the book ... it caught my interest for a
while then started skimming ...

Life is busy right now real busy ... maybe time for reading about
running instead of fighting for time to put in 40 miles a week at some
point way down the road.

In general though I think I enjoy running a lot more than reading
about running but I can see if one has enough time available it might
also be enjoyable to some.

Tim

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May 21, 2012, 2:40:48 AM5/21/12
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If you haven't read this John, I'd recommend it highly.
http://www.amazon.com/Why-We-Run-Natural-History/dp/0060958707

Tim

Ken

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May 21, 2012, 5:20:01 PM5/21/12
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In article
<6d0c1a0c-8a05-453a...@q5g2000yqk.googlegroups.com>, John
Hurley <hurle...@yahoo.com> writes
I would personally have thought he had most of the training base, I
don't know exactly what you mean by knowledge base. One needs to be able
to pace oneself but that is learnt through experience rather than
reading books.
--
Ken

Ed Prochak

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May 22, 2012, 9:24:57 AM5/22/12
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On May 21, 2:40 am, Tim <timdownie2...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
>
> If you haven't read this John, I'd recommend it highly.http://www.amazon.com/Why-We-Run-Natural-History/dp/0060958707
>
> Tim

I second this recommendation. Lots of enjoyment in a small book.
Ed

pithydoug

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Jun 3, 2012, 9:10:24 PM6/3/12
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On May 20, 12:49 am, John Hurley <hurleyjo...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Tony:
>
> # You still feign ignorance on Noakes' running bible "Lore of Running"
> when it's been referenced here with regularity. All I can say, again,
> is it's a great read.
>
> Sorry Tony ... just do not remember from post to post what these books
> are or who the authors are.  I did pick up "Born to Run" ( I think
> that was the title ) when my oldest daughter brought it home.  It was
> some fictional account of a miler who was in college and got thrown
> out of school but came back in ( disguised I guess ) to race one final
> event at his old school.  Started skimming after a while ...

I think the book you are referencing is "Once a Runner" or "Again to
Carthage" by John L Parker. Born to Run is McDougall about the Copper
canyon runners and Caballo Blanco Micah True who just died.


You would know Noakes' "Lore Of running" if you had it, the third
edition I have is 800+ pages.


>
> That's the only book I have read about running in the last 20
> years ...
>
> If this guy has run so many marathons and 50ks already then probably
> he has most of the knowledge base to tackle a 50 mile event ... sorry
> missed that in your original post.

Without regard to specifics, a 50 trail race is not just 19 more miles
that a 50k and a race to gut out. The marathon to the 50k is a small
bump. The 50k to 50 miles is major jump.

-Doug

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