Ultra Marathon — 50 mile training plan for runners
By: Dan Runs
Tags: Ultramarathon, Running, Marathon, Training, Endurance

Scroll down to skip my chatter and see the plan if you wish, or read the context behind the plan in the following paragraphs.

In May of 2021, five months away at this point, I plan to tackle my first 50 mile ultra marathon ‘The North Downs Way 50’ by Centurion Running. To date, I have completed a 40 mile ultra marathon ‘The Fox Ultra’ by AAT Events (which I found pretty tough) and a more pleasant 30 mile ultra marathon with a local runner that was a far more enjoyable experience all round (see the race vlog here — Dan Runs)

In short, I wanted to build a plan that would allow me to increase mileage and not put me in jeopardy of risking injury through overtraining. I have to accept that currently my level of fitness, winter weather and work commitments are not going to allow me to knock out 100 mile training weeks. In addition, my focus is on completing the race, rather than standing on the podium at the end. In fact, it’s likely that the winner will be at home with their feet up before i’m at the half way point.

So, what do you need to know about this ultra?

It’s 50 miles (roughly 80km), it has 5600ft (1700m) of elevation, it comprises of 80% trail and 20% road, it has 6 aid stations, 250 participants and perhaps most importantly — a 13 hour cut-off.

What’s the game plan?

Well, i’ve put something together which i’m personally comfortable with. I am new to building plans and I hold my hands up to not having specific insight and knowledge to creating something exceptionally robust. Like all plans, I have the option to edit and adjust as the weeks roll by. I also have a charity ultra marathon ‘Manhood Ultra Marathon’ for Oddballs Foundation of 30 miles plonked just a couple of weeks into my plan, so i’ve had to accommodate for that in my mileage increases week on week (this was postponed and the plan was updated to reflect this 17.01.21) By the way, if you’d like to donate to our run, the link is here and all money goes to Oddballs to raise awareness of testicular cancer.

Is this a plan you could use?

As a starting point I feel the plan includes some relevant sessions which could be adapted for more seasoned athletes and those completing ultras of a shorter distance. Given that I found it hard to find a plan online myself to draw inspiration from, I wanted to put this out into the community for those trawling websites looking for something similar.

This plan doesn’t seem to have enough training miles in it…

So here’s the deal. This is simply a template for me to follow. It’s a non-negotiable creation that means at the very minimum I complete the miles listed. The hill sessions will accumulate more distance, my day-to-day physical activity of walking at work will also clock up miles, time on feet and steps walked (I don’t have an office job) and I always have the opportunity to go further and longer with any of the sessions. Consistency will be key.

How can I follow your journey?

Thanks for asking! I have a YouTube channel under the name ‘Dan Runs’ and a link can be found here — https://www.youtube.com/c/DanRuns . I’ve documented my journey as a runner from the very first run, right up until the current day. Feel free to like, share and subscribe to my content if you found this article of value.

Week 1:

Day 1: Rest

Day 2: 10km (easy pace)

Day 3: 5km (increased pace)

Day 4: 8km (easy pace)

Day 5: Rest

Day 6: 10km (easy pace)

Day 7: 6km (very easy pace)

Week 2:

Day 1: Rest

Day 2: 10km (easy pace)

Day 3: Yoga / Strength & Conditioning session

Day 4: 10km (easy pace)

Day 5: Rest

Day 6: 14km (easy pace)

Day 7: 6km (very easy pace)

Week 3:

Day 1: Rest

Day 2: 10km (easy pace)

Day 3: Hills (distance and pace as required)

Day 4: 8km (easy pace)

Day 5: Rest

Day 6: 18km (easy pace)

Day 7: 6km (very easy pace)

Week 4:

Day 1: Rest

Day 2: 10km (easy pace)

Day 3: 5km (increased pace)

Day 4: 8km (easy pace)

Day 5: Rest

Day 6: 21km (easy pace)

Day 7: 6km (very easy pace)

Week 5:

Day 1: Rest

Day 2: 10km (easy pace)

Day 3: Yoga / Strength & Conditioning session

Day 4: 12km (easy pace)

Day 5: Rest

Day 6: 25km (easy pace)

Day 7: 6km (very easy pace)

Week 6:

Day 1: Rest

Day 2: 10km (easy pace)

Day 3: Hills (distance and pace as required)

Day 4: 12km (easy pace)

Day 5: Rest

Day 6: 28km (easy pace)

Day 7: 6km (very easy pace)

Week 7

Day 1: Rest

Day 2: 10km (easy pace)

Day 3: 5km (increased pace)

Day 4: 10km (easy pace)

Day 5: Rest

Day 6: 32km (easy pace)

Day 7: 6km (very easy pace)

Week 8:

Day 1: Rest

Day 2: 10km (easy pace)

Day 3: Yoga / Strength & Conditioning session

Day 4: 10km (easy pace)

Day 5: Rest

Day 6: 32km (easy pace)

Day 7: 10km (very easy pace)

Week 9:

Day 1: Rest

Day 2: 10km (easy pace)

Day 3: Hills (distance and pace as required)

Day 4: 8km (easy pace)

Day 5: Rest

Day 6: 36km (easy pace)

Day 7: 6km (very easy pace)

Week 10:

Day 1: Rest

Day 2: 10km (easy pace)

Day 3: 5km (increased pace)

Day 4: 8km (easy pace)

Day 5: Rest

Day 6: 25km (easy pace)

Day 7: 15km (very easy pace)

Week 11:

Day 1: Rest

Day 2: 10km (easy pace)

Day 3: Yoga / Strength & Conditioning session

Day 4: 12km (easy pace)

Day 5: Rest

Day 6: 25km (easy pace)

Day 7: 16km (very easy pace)

Week 12:

Day 1: Rest

Day 2: 10km (easy pace)

Day 3: Hills (distance and pace as required)

Day 4: 8km (easy pace)

Day 5: Rest

Day 6: 30km (easy pace)

Day 7: 14km (very easy pace)

Week 13:

Day 1: Rest

Day 2: 10km (easy pace)

Day 3: 5km (increased pace)

Day 4: 8km (easy pace)

Day 5: Rest

Day 6: 32km (easy pace)

Day 7: 14km (very easy pace)

Week 14:

Day 1: Rest

Day 2: 10km (easy pace)

Day 3: Yoga / Strength & Conditioning session

Day 4: 12km (easy pace)

Day 5: Rest

Day 6: 32km (easy pace)

Day 7: 18km (very easy pace)

Week 15:

Day 1: Rest

Day 2: 10km (easy pace)

Day 3: Hills (distance and pace as required)

Day 4: 5km (easy pace)

Day 5: Rest

Day 6: 50km (easy pace)

Day 7: 5km (very easy pace)

Week 16:

Day 1: Rest

Day 2: 5km (easy pace)

Day 3: 5km (increased pace)

Day 4: 8km (easy pace)

Day 5: Rest

Day 6: 32km (easy pace)

Day 7: 18km (very easy pace)

Week 17:

Day 1: Rest

Day 2: 10km (easy pace)

Day 3: Yoga / Strength & Conditioning session

Day 4: 12km (easy pace)

Day 5: Rest

Day 6: 25km (easy pace)

Day 7: 16km (very easy pace)

Week 18:

Day 1: Rest

Day 2: 10km (easy pace)

Day 3: Hills (distance and pace as required)

Day 4: 5km (easy pace)

Day 5: Rest

Day 6: 25km (easy pace)

Day 7: 10km (very easy pace)

Week 19:

Day 1: Rest

Day 2: 8km (easy pace)

Day 3: Yoga / Strength & Conditioning session

Day 4: 5km (easy pace)

Day 5: Rest

Day 6: 10km (easy pace and final gear checks)

Day 7: 5km (very easy pace)

Week 20 (race week!)

Day 1: Rest

Day 2: Light workouts as required

Day 3: Light workouts as required

Day 4: Light workouts as required

Day 5: Rest

Day 6: RACE DAY

Day 7: Eat….