[JeremyS]

Hey everyone, currently using Mike Foote’s plan(uphill athlete) to prep for my first 100 miler in January this year. Been seeing great results building volume and increasing speed and now on week 10 of the plan feeling very fit! I have noticed that as the volume increases, more volume is done over the one or two longs runs on the weekends. For example this weeks total distance was 112km with 45km coming from a single long run – which worked well. Looking forward to weeks 13 through 15 the recommendation is for 70 – 80% of the total distance/vert to come on the two weekend runs. Is there a benefit to spreading more of the volume out evenly through the week vs loading the weekends? I have heard some things about increased injury risk from very big runs but I do enjoy them!

Thanks!

[Luke Nelson]

That is a good question Jeremy! I am happy to hear you are seeing progress with the plan and I think I can answer your question. The idea behind splitting the volume on the weekend into two pretty long run instead of one very long one is two fold. First, doing a single huge long run will take a more significant toll on you and requires more time to recover from. There comes a point where the volume hits diminishing returns for how much time you spend out there. Second, when doing two long runs there is an additional training stimulus that is introduced. The first of the two runs will deplete you metabolically and even with proper fueling and hydration you will start the second day in a fatigued and depleted state. This additional stress increases the benefit of the second run and magnifies the training stimulus. It is tricky to navigate how much is too much, and as you have seen the long efforts should be built up to and then spread out. I would highly recommend paying very close attention to post run fueling and hydration when you are doing the doubles. Also, don’t get pulled into the common trap in ultra running where people think that more is always better. Hopefully this helps!

[JeremyS]

Thank you for the thorough response Luke – thats super helpful!

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