Hola, ShokzSquad! Greetings from Albuquerque. Have you ever looked outside on a nice day and thought to yourself, “Gee, I’d really like to fork over an absurd amount of money to go run through the mountains for 31 miles? Starting at 6 AM?” No? Just me? I know several ShokzSquad members are also Ultra-Runners, but I am here to share with you why I love the distance of the 50K, how I train for it, and why it is absolutely a life experience you should consider if you love trail running.
The race I am doing is the Cedro Peak 50K, which takes place in the Sandia Mountains just East of Albuquerque. I’ve done this race once before and it was a great introduction to Ultra Running because it is such a flat course. Unlike most Ultras that take you up steep gradients, insane elevation climbs, and areas of technical footing, Cedro is very runnable. It is also very well-supported.
What do some of these words mean? An “ultra” is any distance beyond the standard marathon distance of 26.2. “Well-supported” means that it has well laid-out directions for the course (31 miles is a long course!) and well-stocked aid stations. What do I mean by “runnable”? Most Ultra courses are so intense that there are periods where it is very difficult to run, let alone keep putting one foot in front of the other. Cedro is wonderful fun because you really can run the majority of the 31 miles. So- how do I train for this race?
I am going to break this up into three digestible sections for those of you that are enticed but also daunted. I honestly believe that, if given the right racecourse, any runner could successfully finish a 50K. It just takes some adjusted training. It’s currently wet, cold weather in Albuquerque and my training is ramping up for this race, which is really the first one of the year for me on April 18th. So! Let’s get to it. Here are my three areas of focus for how I train to run a 50K.
Running!
Duh. You actually have to run. A lot. I know that might sound silly, but you’ve got to start far enough ahead of time to get your body used to hammering out considerable miles without hurting yourself. I abide by the 10% rule, which is that you shouldn’t increase your weekly mileage by more than 10% or else you risk getting a running injury. I