How much volume do you need to finish an ultra?
This is a great question! Most people over-estimate the amount of volume they need to cross the finish line happy. Now, we’re not talking about hitting the podium, or becoming a pro. The conversation is framed for those new to ultra running or looking finish a race at a new distance. The numbers might surprise you!
I’m running my first 50k, so that means I should be running more than a 50k every week for as long as I can, right?
Nope! Thanks to data collected by Jason Koop in his book Trail Essentials for Ultrarunning the minimum time required (note we said time, not miles!) to finish an ultra is as follows:
50K and 50 mile ultramarathons: minimum of 6 hours per week for 3 weeks, starting 6 weeks before your goal event
100K and 100 mile ultramarathons: minimum of 9 hours per week for 6 weeks, starting 9 weeks before your goal event
Note this is a minimum to finish. If you think about doing a big 4 hour run on a Saturday…that doesn’t leave much to do the rest of the week. When I coach clients I give them this rule of thumb: to finish your 50k-100k distance happily, you’ll want to see at least the total race distance (say, 50k) over the course of each peak training week (3 weeks for a 50k/50M, and 6 weeks for 100K+). I personally prefer to look at this as Koop does in terms of time. If you plan to finish your 50k in 7 hours, you’ll want to spend 7 hours time-on-feet each week to finish happily. And let’s not forget about the elevation gain! If you race has 5,000 ft of gain, you’ll want to see that gain over the course of your peak training weeks as well. Of course, if you’re looking to set a PR or win a race, more volume will do you favors. I typically shoot for the race distance + 10 miles in my peak weeks: for a 50 miler, I’d be looking to hit 60 miles/week in peak. But there’s a word of caution to big miles, we’ll get into that later. As for a 100M, this falls apart to a degree. We don’t suggest you try to hit 100M weeks to finish a 100M - why is that? That level of volume (unless you’re a pro) is likely to lead to injury. I’ve coached and known many runners who have successfully finish 100M’s with 60-70mpw average in peak, hence the guidance above.
I’m running my first 50 miler, so that means I should do a big 40 mile run to prepare myself, right?
Nope! (bet you saw that coming). Research on mechanical stress has shown that running anything over 20 miles can actually be detrimental to the body, and is generally unsafe, particularly for your bones. There’s a great article about elite ultrarunner Camille Herron which further proves this point. Camille still destroys races in her 40’s: she won the Jackpot Ultra Festival’s 100-mile race in 2022 and only ran one 20-miler in her training. What gives?! Camille does back-to-backs, and because she’s an elite athlete, she frequently does two runs in one day. Since most of us are not (1) elite athletes or (2) full-time athletes with time for this, we tend to split it into two days. What this looks like practically is: Saturday will be your big effort (the hard effort comes first), say 18 miles, and the second day will be an easier effort, say 8-10 miles. Even 100M training plans follow a 20-mile big day/something shorter format. Perhaps this brings you a sigh of relief that you don’t have to be spending 6+ hours out on the trails every weekend to finish your event. :)
For those new to ultras, I generally don’t suggest anything over 20 miles/4 hours for any single run effort - regardless of the race distance you’re training for - it’s much safer to spread out your miles more over the week. Big efforts, such as doing a training 50k before a 50M will lengthen your recovery time in the middle of your peak training block and increase injury risk, which could derail you if you run it a little too hard, or on hillier terrain than you’re used to. I had personal experience with this following a 50k in April, 2024. I didn’t recover as quickly as I had hoped (I PR’d my 50k and it was a hilly one at that), so instead of being able to jump back into training the next week, I had to take an extra two weeks ‘off’, running less than expected. I was able to PR my 50 miler following this hiccup, but I didn’t run anything over 20 miles in prep for that race just to be safe (and it worked!).
What does an ideal peak training block look like?
While this may vary by distance, let’s look at an ideal for a 50 miler:
Monday: rest
Tuesday: 8-10 miles (speed day)
Wednesday: 8 miles recovery pace
Thursday: 8-10 miles
PAUSE: we’re already at 24 or 28 miles!
Friday: 2-3 miles very easy or cross-train at equivalent effort
Saturday: 18-20 mile long run
Sunday: 8-10 miles
Total: 52 (low-end) / 61 (high-end) - you’ll crush your 50 miler!