4x7 for ultra marathon?

[flex]

I was wonder what kind of training program would be best for ultra marathon training. I have did 5 mile runs before but have a goal to do at least one 100mile ultra event in the future. Not shore if next summer is to early to sign up for a race but will take any advise from those on here that run.

[Doughboy]

Sometime back, one RMAXer wrote about his first marathon and how much Intuflow played a role in his success of finishing and not getting wasted by it. I'll try to find that post. Ultra-marathons take their toll on the body. I once ran a 40 miler in an Army survival race and believe me, I was wasted (and I was young, maybe 21 then).

[Doughboy]

Found it (and it was 60 miles by Stan Lee): http://www.rmaxinternational.com/flowcoach/?p=367

[RonP]

They say a 100 miler is four times as hard as a 50 miler. You will be broken about 4 to 5 times in a 100 miler.
People do 100 milers by using their brain. Figuring out what works for them. What training cycle works for them personally. What works for one doesn't for the other. I have been surprised at how good a cycle 4x7 is. Would be tough trying to put on mileage like that. Yet there are those who can run 100's without very high mileage training.
One problem in endurance running is over compensation. It's hard to not overcompensate when you're running that much.
Thinking of going from 5 miles to 100 in one year? I fear if you do it. You would sacrafice health for fitness.
I would very highly suggest aiming your training at a marathon in one to two years. Then work up. 50 milers. Then 100. It's a long tough very hard core road. One thing to worry about is injury. You could ruin your kidneys. You could kill yourself with things like low blood salt, much less low blood sugar. Other overuse injuries that will put you out for months, years, or permanently. You must be smart.
This is something that is so hard core that nobody can advise you. I can say that either way. You should follow CST for health. CST is not for fools.

[HereBeADragon]

CST is for health first and foremost but its also aimed at performance enhancement. People compete in many intense trials like this and those who engage in them accept that level of risk. If Flex wishes to set this goal than taking a CST approach to his training is a good first step. One year of prep is probably not enought time but in a year one can make a lot of progress with dilligent practice and intelligent training.

Flex let me first say that I am not a running expert. I do however enjoy running and I have made great progress with it in my own training, from being hobbled on a cane to running almost 5 miles barefoot. If you wish to reach such extreme distances than I would first suggest you look up books and or websites by people who have competed in these before and see what advise they can give. I would also consider investing in RMAX Powered Running. Its a very handy primer on proper technique and training for runners. It helped me a lot.

With a goal like running 100 miles you need to break it down a bit. "How do you eat an elephant?" One of my college professors liked to ask. "One bite at a time", we would all reply. First figure out a THP that can get you to 25 miles. Going from 5 miles to 25 miles is not an unreasonable goal and will get you 1/4 of the way to that 100 mile run. That itself will be a great accomplishment as it is 5 times farther than you are running now.

When working with high volume activities like ultra endurance running your compensatory and recovery work will be what you live or die by. If your going to do this than do not neglect the importance of your recovery days and treat them with respect.

So go ahead and flesh out a 25 mile THP to get started with and post it on here and we will see what we can do to help from there. That is the best advise I can give you at the moment.

[john.sifferman]

I second the suggestion to take a very incremental approach and also to start incorporating a daily intu-flow practice immediately. A 50k race would be a good event to start training for, and there are many 50k races nationally year round. Just experiencing a marathon or mini-ultra event would be enough to give you some perspective of what it's like.

I'd also suggest talking with actual ultra-marathoners and see how they've built up to that level of endurance. Barefoot Ted comes to mind, and he's got a lot of connections who can steer you in the right direction. His website also has a lot of useful information.