So – you’ve already accomplished the marathon, but you want more. You have decided to cross the 50K off of your bucket list and the race is now fast approaching. What do you need to do? This plan is based off having done a recent marathon (within the past year) and/or currently training 4-5 days per week with long runs of at least 10 miles. The need to cover the full distance (31 miles) is not as important as is the cumulative effort of back-to-back long/medium runs and an overall commitment to the running schedule. MON
TUES
WEEK 1
4-5 mi Easy
Off
45-60 min Easy
8-10 mi Easy
Off
10 mi Long Run
60 min
WEEK 2
4-5 mi Easy
Off
45-60 min Hilly
75-85 min Easy
Off
12 mi Long Run
60 min
WEEK 3
4-5 mi Easy
Off
45-60 min Hilly
75-90 min Easy
Off
14 mi Long Run
60 min Easy
WEEK 4
4-5 mi Easy
Off
6-8 mi w/ 4-6 x 2 min Hill Repeats
10 mi Easy
Off
16 mi Long Run
60-70 min Easy
WEEK 5
5-6 mi Easy
Off
55 min Hilly
75-90 min Easy
Off
18 mi Long Run
60-80 min Easy
Off
6-8 mi w/ 6-8 x 2 min Hill Repeats
8-10 mi Easy
Off
20 mi Long Run
Off
60 min Hilly
75-80 min Easy
Off
6 mi w/ 6 x 2 min Up Tempo Surges
90-90 min Easy
WEEK 6 WEEK 7 WEEK 8
5-6 mi Easy 5-6 mi Easy 4-6 mi Easy
WED
THUR
FRI
Off
SAT
SUN
60-80 min Easy
16 mi Long Run
80 min Easy
Off
22 mi Long Run
8-10 mi
WEEK 9
4-6 mi Easy
Off
65-75 min Hilly
8-10 mi Easy
Off
16 mi Long Run
4-6 mi Easy
WEEK 10
4-6 mi Easy
Off
7 mi w/ 7 x 2-3 min Up Tempo Surges
8-10 mi Easy
Off
24 mi Long Run
60 min Easy
WEEK 11
4-6 mi Easy
Off
7 mi w/ 7 x 2 min Up Tempo Surges
8 mi Easy
Off
16 mi Long Run
80 min Easy
WEEK 12
5-6 mi Easy
Off
7 mi w/ 8 x 2 min Hill Repeats
10 mi Easy
Off
26 mi Long Run
4-6 mi Easy
WEEK 13
4-6 mi Easy
Off
70 min Hilly
90 min Easy
Off
10-15 mi or Half Marathon Race
40-60 min Easy
WEEK 14
4-6 mi Easy
Off
7 mi w/ 7 x 2 min Hill Repeats
9-11 mi
Off
14 mi Long Run
8 mi Easy
WEEK 15
4-6 mi Easy
Off
5-6 mi w/ 5 x 2 min Up Temp Surges
30 min Easy
Off or 20 min Easy
M2M 50K !!!
Relax
Christy Nielsen received her Doctorate of Physical Therapy in 2001 from Creighton University. She has worked at Nebraska Orthopaedic Hospital for 10 years specializing in the treatment of running injuries and endurance athletes. Here, she has been instrumental in the development of NOH’s Optimum Stride program. She is a certified Distance Running Coach through the Road Runners Club of America (RRCA) and does personal training for running athletes. She is a 3-time Olympic Marathon Trials Qualifier. Christy has completed over 40 marathons and numerous ultra-marathons. Christy’s Marathon PR is 2:43 and she had a 50k PR of 3:36 at the 2013. US National Championships. She placed 2nd overall in the Women’s Division of the 2012 Market to Market 50k.