Sheltowee Trace Ultra 50-Miler Plan

I never had much interest in running a 50-miler. I figure 50K is plenty for me, but when my buddy, Handsome Klatzke, mentioned he’d like to run 50 miles for his birthday, I sipped my beer and signed up.

Why not, right?

Of course, 50 miles is a lot longer than what I’ve run in the past. I did a 60K in 2019 and was miserable (85 degrees, all the humidity, and unrelenting sun looping around a lake really, really sucks). Plus, I’m fat right now, so that’s not great either (+55 pounds from 2019).

Add in some shitty blood test results at the end of the year, and y’know, I’ve got some work to do;-)

But, fear not because a modicum of fork/spoon/knife discipline coupled with a smartly scheduled calendar of runs will get me to the finish line.

I hope.

Here’s the plan:

I’m using a 3/1 rhythm in training - meaning there will be 3 weeks of building weekly mileage followed by a rest week to solidify those gains and keep me away from overtraining and overuse injuries.

That plan started last month with the Millinocket Half Marathon (2:48:42 hungover) followed by a week of rest and 3 weeks of building mileage with a final tally of just under 80 miles in December.

Here’s what it looks like starting after the half marathon on December 2nd:

12/4 Rest
12/11 20 miles, road
12/18 23 miles, road
12/25 23 miles, road
1/1 Rest (this week)
1/8 30 miles, 20 road/10 trail
1/15 33 miles, 22 road/11 trail
1/22 36 miles, 24 road/12 trail
1/29 Rest
2/5 40 miles, 20 road/20 trail
2/12 43 miles, 20 road/20 trail
2/19 46 miles 15 road/50K long trail run
2/26 Rest
3/4 50 miles, 25 road/25 trail
3/11 53 miles, 26.5 road/26.5 trail
3/18 56 miles (2 trail runs, marathon+ each)
3/25 Rest
4/1 40 miles, 20 road/20 trail
4/8 30 miles, 15 road/15 trail
4/15 25 miles, 25 road
4/22 Race Week, Sheltowee Trace 50-Miler
4/29 Race Week, Flying Pig Marathon

Oh, and I signed up to run my fifth Flying Pig because if both races go well, maybe I’ll do a hundo in the Fall somewhere.

The weekly mileage is typically going to be split between 3 runs on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I’ve found over the years that a recovery day between runs keeps me in good shape and away from injuries.

Fully 80% of this mileage will be in the easy-to-moderate aerobic zone that for me is a heart rate of between 125 and 150 beats per minute.

Basically, training at this lower heart rate makes it easier to rack up the miles and time on feet - the keys to finishing long races. It also provides ideal training for the aerobic system.

The course is the northernmost 25 miles of Sheltowee Trace from Morehead to the northern terminus, and it’s got plenty of elevation - 8,000+ feet of gain and equal descent. I’ve finished the 50K a couple times and backpacked the course, so it’s familiar ground.

So, we’ll see how things go, but the plan looks good, and I’ll be dropping weight along the way.

Goal is to show up on race day with plenty of training mileage and vertical with a starting line weight in the 210s, down from 240 after Millinocket.