[mhux]

Hi Evoke,

I recently started the ‘First Ultra’ plan as a newer runner, and I am almost certainly aerobically deficient, as I am untrained for endurance sports and don’t have much of a running background.

In the plan, it looks like the Gym ME workouts start in week 5. I was surprised to see them start so early in the plan, as I thought that starting ME work before the AeT  is within 10% of AnT could slow or reverse aerobic gains. Based on the fact that the plan is aimed at newer runners (starting at 4hrs/wk), I suspect that most runners starting this plan will be aerobically deficient, so the ME work is perhaps not as detrimental to the aerobic base as I thought (and/or important enough to do anyway).

I’m also wondering if this logic applies to ‘slower’ sports like (ski) mountaineering- is it necessary to not be aerobically deficient to start ME work?

Thank you!

[Scott Johnston]

Thanks for writing in with your question.

Ideally you will would not start the ME till you were no longer aerobically deficient.  But this plan is not designed to cure ADS.  It is designed to prepare you for your first ultra run.  Improving ME before you do that race is critical if you hope to have any kind of a race.  So a person who does have ADS will still need this ME training.  If you have ADS and do nothing but very slow training and then try to race off that program you will be disappointed.

If your goal is to just cure ADS then I would modify that plan to doing the Z2 work, hill sprints and replace the ME with a strength building program.

Scott

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