[Scott Johnston]

Thanks for the nice words. It is always good to hear that we are having an impact.

Sounds like you are thinking correctly about how best to structure your plan. One comment is to not get too wedded to the minutiae of the plan. Like don’t try to nail exact volumes or what you will be doing 8 Wednesdays from now.  Doing so may lock you in to something that isn’t working, may impose unreasonable expectations on yourself and may inhibit the needed flexibility.  I never plan concrete training for my athletes more than 2 weeks out and am open to changing the plan on short notice if the need arrises.

If your A race is more than 3-4 hours I would include Z2 training in the early base period.  It is an intensity that is very specific to ultra racing and will provide a good base for the Z3-4 stuff.  I like to do this during dedicated “tempo” session early min the build up.  Like 20min in Z2 during a 1 hour run. As we get close to the event I will put 60min in Z2 during a 3-4 hours run.

You’ll still want to be doing the bulk of your aerobic base maintenance work in Z1.  Just monitor fatigue and stay flexible.

Scott