First 50K... Any tips

[jlaugh87]

So I've been training for a while for a marathon. I then decided to skip it and move to a 50K that is a week before the marathon...(stupid? I guess I will find out)

Most of the course is through country gravel roads (I'll wear my Minimus)... meaning some serious rolling hills.



Should I focus of power walking the hills? Mix it up?



Any pointers from experience would be appreciated!

 

[ajb422]

Well I never took the

Well I never took the training all the serious, but as a far as the actual 50k goes. Bring compression sleeves with you. I don't really like running in them but I brought them with me just in case I needed them. My legs seized up really bad around mile 29. I actually had to sit down for a few minutes and seriously thought I might have to quit. I figured what could it hurt to throw them on and it helped enough I was able to jog (sort of) my way the last two miles.

 

[saypay45]

My ultra training rule (I'm

My ultra training rule (I'm doing my first 50K in a few weeks) has been "if you can't see the top of the hill, walk it". It has been a great way to create natural walk breaks in my long runs, and I feel pretty strong all the way toward the end.

If you still have some time, it might be a good idea to get in a 25 mile training run before you start tapering for the race. I'm guessing if you were doing standard marathon training you probably are only doing 20 milers. It's nice to have that 25 miler under your belt so that you feel confident you can do 6 more.

 

[sole_foot]

Here is the training program

Here is the training program I used for all of my 50K's. http://www.scrunners.org/ultrasch.php?month=9&day=6&year=2008&dow=6&schedule=50K&submit=Draw+Schedule

For my first I increased the long run up to the race distance 4 weeks prior to the race just to see how it felt and then tapered. The back to backs on Saturday and Sunday are the key to a comfortable finish. I had a blast at my first race and had a lot of gas in the tank at the finish.

Try and train on as similar terrain as the race and the hills might be a mute point. It really is not that much further than a marathon. If you stick with the schedule you should have a day to remember.

Have fun and good luck!

 

[Shacky]

Eat and then eat some more!

Eat and then eat some more! My mistake on my first 50k was that I treated it more like a street marathon and thought I'd be fine with a few shotbloks. Big mistake. I bonked around the halfway mark and it was a death march until the finish line. First race I ever begged to drop and the bastards wouldn't let me! Kinda glad they made me finish though.

An ultra friend said that at the first aid station you should take in a full day's worth of calories. Ditto on the 2nd one. Reasoning is that later in the race you won't feel like eating and the calories you took early one will carry you through. I haven't tried this for myself but I'm considering giving it a shot.

 

[AaronH]

Do some power hiking on hills

Do some power hiking on hills to get used to it.

Pick hilly courses for long runs. The roads around Crescent and Lake Cunningham are similar to the race course. Indian Cave State Park and Hitchcock Nature Area have the best hills.

It isn't that much longer than a marathon, so don't worry about eating a lot. Personally I prefer a brownie every hour. I think Bohemian Alps has standard aid station food like M&Ms, pretzels, chips, fig newtons and bananas.

By the way, I'll probably see you there. I'm still considering a race up by Duluth on 9/9, but I'm not crazy about another long road trip.

 

[jlaugh87]

Thanks for the tips!I've

Thanks for the tips!

I've been working a longer hill run into my schedule, and the roads out North by Cunningham seem to do the trick. I did 11mi of that, felt really good after.