My 56 Mile Ultra Training Plan

I have to admit that I am a bit intimidated after officially signing up for the London to Brighton 50 mile run, in actual fact it is about 56 miles but what is an extra 6 miles! After having a week rest period after the Bungay marathon I was ready to get back into the fitness plan however I unfortunately twisted my ankle, which, for those that know me, know that this has been a common problem and this time I blame it on a glass of wine too many and an uneven paving stone. With over a week off games I am ready to start a structured training programme  however with tons of websites and books about marathon training there is not nearly as much about training for an ultra marathon (any run over 27 miles).

The most interesting thing I have learned about ultra training is that most plans recommend having the longest training run set around 30 miles however most marathon training plans recommend a max training distance of around 21 miles and then people just make up the difference of 5 miles through race day adrenaline…..this of course is absolutely not true, in the last 5 miles at Bungay I was certainly not fuelled by adrenaline but more through grit and sweat, however this is still radically different to making up an extra 26 miles to get to the finish at Brighton. I really cannot imagine at present having to run another marathon at the end of a marathon!! I will just have to see how this pans out through more training... 

So behold my own slightly adjusted 18 week training plan to get to the start line in September:

Wish me luck! And for an extra bit of encouragement when fatigue sets in please go to my just giving page and sponsor me. I am half way to my first fundraising goal of £3,500 and need to raise this by June! Any donation will be grately received!
http://www.justgiving.com/Andrew-Hall1982

Bungay Black Dog Marathon 10th April 2011

Probably the most random run I have ever done. The start of the Bungay Black Dog Marathon in Suffolk was a scene to behold with some seriously weird and wonderful people. There were only 218 people running the full marathon and 424 people running the half marathon. The full marathon is a two lap course of the so called Waveney Valley Loop which goes through Bungay, Mettingham and Shipmeadow to Beccles and back through Gillingham, Geldeston and Ellingham before the finish at the "grandstand" on Maltings Meadow.

Given this was the most hilly run I have done I was pretty chuffed at completing the first half of the marathon in 1 hour 52 minutes and so thought I would be on for my target of a sub 4 hour marathon however the hills the second time round severely punished my legs and combined with "hitting the wall" at mile 22 as well as the demoralising view of the half marathoners shooting past me as I entered mile 18, I managed to get over the line in 4:05:59 (for those that don't believe it the evidence is at the bottom of this post). I can assure you all that I am now hurting!

With the Bungay marathon completed I am weighing up a 33 mile ultra across the Malborough Downs in April ahead of the Centurion North Downs Way marathon in August and the London to Brighton run in September.

Alongside these marathons I am trying to raise £10,000 for Mencap in order to get to the start line of the Marathon Des Sables in April 2012. In order to help me continue my suffering as well as to raise money for a great cause, I need your help. I need to raise an initial £3,500 by the end of June which is creeping up quickly. Please get the ball rolling by sponsoring me through my just giving page at http://www.justgiving.com/Andrew-Hall1982

30 X-Country Miles in 2 Days

Having covered 21 miles last weekend I wanted to up the ante, so what was meant to be a weekend of Oxfordshire country pubs and pints of Hook Norton turned into a different type of endurance event.

30 miles over two days. Saturday was the warm up of 11 miles and Sunday was the slightly more testing 19 miles with one particularly large hill.

http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/30349150
http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/30408692

Over the two days combined I ran 30.1 miles in 4 hours 38 minutes and burned a staggering 4450 calories.

The scenery certainly made up for the pain...

Now comes the relaxing part of tapering down in preperation for the Bungay Marathon on Sunday 10th April. The aim will be to run a sub 4 hour marathon...

Training on track...in the Cotswolds.

After a long drive on Friday evening up to the Cotswolds followed by beef wellington and a few bottles of red in The Fox Inn in Lower Oddington I was fully prepared for my longest training run yet,  a 21 mile cross country run around the Cotswolds.

 Below is a link to a new app I have downloaded to map the progress, gradient and timing of my runs.

21 Mile Cotswolds X-Country Run

So, 21 miles down in 3 hours 28 minutes and with only three weeks left until the cross country marathon in Suffolk I am very much hoping for a time close to 4 hours, although I think realistically it will be around 4 hours 15 minutes however all the miles count.

Next weekend will be another long run up in South Oxfordshire and then I will start to taper down in the lead up to the Bungay Marathon on 10th April.

The Plan of Action!

For those that don't know, The Marathon Des Sables, dubbed "the toughest footrace on earth", covers approximately 151 miles over 6 days. That’s the equivalent of 5.5 marathons in 6 days in extreme conditions (think dunes, 30 degrees centigrade, sand storms etc...)

The race will be in April 2012 in the Moroccan Sahara, where midday temperatures sky rocket and the terrain is uneven, rocky and 15-20% of the distance is over sand dunes.

In addition, I will have to carry everything I need for the entire race (apart from water and a tent) on my back. This race is really the ultimate challenge.

I have a long way to go in terms of fitness and training and since i started this training I have completed the following events:

JP Morgan Challenge - July 2010
Three Peaks Challenge - July 2010
The Great Clarendon Half Marathon (13 Miles) - October 2010

and still to come are the following:

Bungay Marathon Suffolk (26.2 Miles) – 10^th April 2011
Centurion North Downs Way Marathon (26.2 Miles) - 13th August 2011
London to Brighton Ultra Marathon (50 Miles) - 5th September 2011

...and then the MARATHON DES SABLES (151 Miles) - April 2012.

In total, after completing all these events and the Marathon Des Sables, the distance I will cover will be the equivalent of completing 12 marathons in 12 months.

I am doing all of this in aid of Mencap. In short, Mencap is the voice of learning disability. Everything they do is about valuing and supporting people with learning disabilities, and their families and carers.

I am aiming to raise £10,000+ for Mencap. To do this I will be arranging some fundraising evenings and so will need the support of everyone possible to raise this amount of money. Hopefully me having to endure a 151 mile race across the Sahara will be enough for people to dig deep into their pockets.