It wasn't "easy" in the sense that they want the long run and/or medium long runs to be progressive and at a higher intensity than the general aerobic runs; at my goal pace and HRR, my long and medium long runs shouldn't exceed HRs in the low 160s while my easy runs shouldn't exceed the low 150s. The last 5+ miles were all in the high 150s with spikes up to 165 on hills, so it was a bit more in the gray zone than a strict easy aerobic run.

With that said, you are correct that this promising; I'm going to try to do 16 miles tomorrow at a similar progressive pace and then taper into the ultra. Training for the marathon starts in early July and will be 18 weeks. I am pleased I've been able to increase the running volume while tolerating lifting 3x/wk, albeit on the EV lower body plan.

5/17
A
NG Pullups: +25 x8, x7, x6
RFESS: +40 x10, x9, x8

B
Bench: wu, 165 x10, x9, x8
Facepulls: 4x15
Seated Calf: 3x12
Farmer's Carries (80 lb DBs): x~40 sec, x~35 sec, x~30 sec

C
Step-ups: +20x10, x9, x8

D
Incline Bench: 60s x10, x9, x7
DB Pullovers: 75 x12, x10, x7

E
Leg Adductor: 2x15
Leg Abductor: 2x15

F
Overhead Rope Tri: x15, x12, x10
DB Hammer: 30s x11, x10, x8

Another pretty good day; a bit of progress and reasonable session RPE.

Looking forward to tomorrow's run and then a quasi-off day Sunday (just a short recovery run).

5/18
Medium Long Run
16.0 mi - 2:15:01/8:26 pace/157 HR

Pushed this forward a day so I could drink bourbon tonight; I ran it with two buddies, the first of whom is a decent bit less fit than me and a second that's a decent bit more fit, so a bit of a dichotomy. My first friend dropped after 10 miles (which was the plan) and was flagging a bit at the end, which slowed us down in the middle a bit. After he peeled off, we did the last six miles at an 8:12 pace, which was pretty strenuous. Per Strava, my second friend averaged a 143 HR over the entire run, so I've got some work to do.

5/19
Recovery Run
5.0 mi - 49:11/9:50 pace/130 HR

Went out later than usual because of a hangover, and paid for it by running in the heat.

5/20
A
NG Pullups: x13, x10, x8
Walking Lunges: 30s x11, x10, x9

B
OHP: wu, 95 x10, x9, x8
HLRs: x14, x13, x12
Seated Calf: 3x13

C
Leg Ext: x20, x15
Leg Curl: x20, x15

D
Low Incline DB Bench: wu, 65s x11, x10, x8
Facepulls: 4x15
Pallofs: x10x3

E
Adductor Machine: x15x2
Abductor Machine: x15x2

F
DB LTEs: 30s x15, x10, x8
DB Seated Incline Curl: 20s x15, x13, x10

Didn't sleep well again, but this was a solid session nonetheless.

5/21
General Aerobic Run + Strides
7.0 mi - 1:02:27/8:55 pace/145 HR

Add in the 10x15 second strides and recoveries and it was a bit over 8.25 miles, so a pretty standard day; I got out a bit later than I'd have preferred (6:45 AM), but I got almost 9.5 hours of sleep, so it was well worth it.

Tomorrow's a recovery run and gym session, so we'll see if I get up early enough to run before the gym or not.

9 hours + for me too last night - feels magic, doesn't it?

what does your nutrition look like these days - are you in 'eat what I like' mode given all the running?

That's awesome, and definitely; last night wasn't as good, but I slept in a bit and got 7+ good hours (although my run was later than I'd have preferred and it was kind of hot as a result).

Maybe a bit? I've been batch cooking 2-4 times a week, so there's a routine - breakfast is two scoops protein + fruit, lunch is leftovers from the night before, and dinner is generally something reasonable along the lines of lean protein + carb + veggie. I don't sweat a few pieces of candy from the office stash or an extra ice cream bar at home, that's for sure, but I think when I can stay in my general routine that gets me pretty comfortably to the 80 in an 80:20 split of generally nutritious food to crap, which seems good enough to offset whatever snacking I end up doing.

All bets are off when I drink, though, which is why I'm limiting it (in addition to it wrecking my sleep and training readiness). I've seen some pretty good body comp changes since I've re-added 3x/wk lifting instead of 1-2x weekly, so assuming I can keep this up for the next six months, we'll see how I do.

5/22
AM
Recovery Run
5.0 mi - 49:25/9:53 pace/134 HR

PM
A
Incline Bench: wu, 145 x10, x8, x7
Seated Calf: 3x12
Back Extensions: +5 x8x3
Facepulls: 4x15

B
Single Leg Press: +80 x10x3

C
Seated DB OHP : 50s x9, x8, x7
DB Incline Row: 65s x12, x11, x10

D
Hip Thrust Machine: +45 x10x3
Dips: +0 x15, x14, x13

E
Abductor Machine: 2x15
Adductor Machine: 2x15

F
Bayesian Curl: x15, x13, x11
Lateral Cable Raise: x13, x12, x10

It was relatively warm when I ran this morning, so kept it very easy; still nice incremental progress on most lifts. My left hip is still sore at times, but less so than it used to be, so hopefully the single leg lifting is helping address whenever hip flexor/glute weakness I happen to have.

5/23
General Aerobic Run
8.0 mi - 1:11:26/8:56 pace/144 HR

Didn't feel especially great, but managed to get this in early.

5/24
A
NG Pullups: +25 x9, x7, x6
RFESS: +40 x10x3

B
Bench: wu, 165 x10x2, x9
Facepulls: 4x15
Seated Calf: 3x12
Farmer's Carries (80 lb DBs): x~40 sec, x~35 sec, x~30 sec

C
Step-ups: +20x12, x11, x10

D
Incline Bench: 65s x8, x7, x6
DB Pullovers: 75 x13, x9, x8

E
Leg Adductor: 2x15
Leg Abductor: 2x15

F
Overhead Rope Tri: x17, x13, x11
DB Hammer: 30s x12, x10, x8

12 miles tomorrow then mini-tapering to the ultra. Hanging at Carb Day today with my buddy and his girlfriend, then preparing for what is likely to be a very wet 500 on Sunday.

5/25
General Aerobic Run
12.0 mi - 1:47:19/8:56 pace/143 HR

Ran this with the less fit one of the buddies I'm running the ultra with, so kept this pretty low key; I'm carrying a bit of fatigue in my legs, so this mini-taper is well timed. It will be mostly recovery running and no lower body lifting, so I'm looking forward to it.

Tied one on a bit the last few days; back at it today though.

5/28
AM
A
OHP: wu, 95 x8x3
NG Pullups: x10, x9, x8
HLRs: x14, x13, x12
Seated Calf: 3x12

B
Low Incline DB Bench: wu, 65s x8x3
Facepulls: 4x15
Pallofs: x8x3


C
DB LTEs: 30s x12, x10, x8
DB Seated Incline Curl: 20s x12, x11, x10

PM
Recovery Run
7.0 mi - 1:08:52/9:50 pace/130 HR

Did an abridged upper only session in the morning and just got some time on my feet this afternoon; feeling pretty good.

what's the deal with the ultra? do you have a link?

5/29
PM
Recovery Run
6.0 mi - 57:37/9:36 pace/130 HR

5/30
PM
A
Incline Bench: wu, 145 x8, x7, x6
Facepulls: 4x15

B
Seated DB OHP : 50s x8, x8, x7
DB Incline Row: 65s x10x3

C
Dips: +0 x12x3

D
Bayesian Curl: x12x3
Lateral Cable Raise: x12x3

5/31
AM
Recovery Run
4.0 mi - 49:01/9:45 pace/135 HR

Pretty light work all three days; feeling good I think.

It starts at 6 AM tomorrow; heading over to pick up the guys at 4:50 AM and my wife has agreed to take us up north. We're targeting 5 hours, which is a 9:33 pace; shouldn't be an issue for the experienced ultra runner among us (he did it last year, has done backyard ultras in the past, and paced my other buddy to a 3:50 in Chattanooga with zero preparation), but my other buddy isn't super diligent with training and is a bit concerned. This is slow enough that hopefully we'll all be alright, though.

https://ultrasignup.com/register.aspx?did=111326

Good luck and hope you enjoy it.

6/1
The Full Mo Ultra
The day I've been half-assedly sort of training for is finally here; while I've done a lot of volume in the last 6 weeks, I didn't intentionally train and peak for this, so I was hoping to run this a little less intensely and avoid bonking and having the last 6 miles being an hour+ of utter misery.

I thought I had a pretty nice mini-taper going into this, but I wasn't as fresh going into today as I should have been since I slept zero hours last night (I did nap an hour and a half yesterday afternoon, but that was it). I gave up trying to fall asleep at 2, had some coffee and white rice, and just bided my time until it was time to go pick up my buddies at 4:45.

We arrived at the northernmost point of the Monon around 5:30, after which we all puttered around and did the normal pre-race bathroom activities. Our plan was to go for sub-5 hours, which, assuming we ran reasonably close to 50 km flat, would imply a ~9:38 pace. It was a great day for a race, starting at 62 degrees when the race started at 6 and staying relatively cool and overcast until the last hour, when we lost the tree canopy and the sun came out and warmed things up to ~72 or so.

This is the fourth year the race has been run, and it was capped at 100 runners this year, which is an increase over the 59 finishers last year. While the final results have yet to be posted, I do know that the winner ran a 3:17, which is a 6:20 pace - fairly ridiculous. The starting line was as follows:



We started promptly at 6, and we managed to hold a pretty consistent pace for the first 26 miles, after which we mostly held on for the last 5 miles. The last aid station was immediately after Mile 28, which is immediately before the last big hill (granted there weren't many, but this one, a bridge over a semi-major road, was still pretty soul crushing), so the last three miles were pretty tough. Both of my buddies stopped at that aid station, but I was worried about being able to get back started if I slowed down, especially up that hill, so I just kept going and then suffered the last few miles by myself. My more fit buddy stayed back with my other one and paced him until the end, and they got in about a minute after I did:

31.16 mi - 4:53:52/9:26 pace/149 HR/178 MHR



I was pretty proud of this; outside of stopping for ~10 seconds each at two aid stations to refill my electrolyte drink, I didn't stop or really even slow down until the aforementioned Mile 29, and I paced it well enough (not perfectly) that I was still able to finish reasonably strong on a distance that was a fair bit further than I've ever gone. Here's me right at the finish:



I was pretty tired when I finished, but they had masseuses at the finish, so that helped; I had a lot to drink and a few snacks, and I've just been resting since. I'm looking forward to actually sleeping tonight, and I'll update if/when final times get posted, but I'm hoping to be in the top 30-40 or so.

26/92 with an official time (no chip, so just point to point) of 4:53:50, which accounts for me not starting up front, I suppose. 32 runners finished under 5 hours, so I'll take it. My buddies finished 28th and 29th.

https://ultrasignup.com/m_results_event.aspx?did=111326

congrats man - well done.

how has the body pulled up today?

also...now that you've officially dipped your toes into marathon + territory...what's next?