On the benefits of back-to-back long runs

If there is one golden principal I stick to when training for ultramarathons, it is this: at least once in your season and no later than three to six weeks before your peak race, you need to do back-to-back long runs.

What is a back-to-back (B2B)?

A B2B is doing long runs on consecutive days. I generally run these on weekends. The second run is usually 66 to 75 percent of the first run. Mostly, my B2Bs are 20/15, 30/20, or somewhere in between. By the time I'm done, I've probably run 50 percent or more of my weekly mileage in two workouts.

Why do a B2B?

As an ultrarunner, your bread-and-butter training run is your long run. You maybe run one every week, or two every three weeks. And it is usually a hefty chunk of mileage - 25-33 percent of your weekly total.

But the B2B is a different beast. The idea is to stress your muscles on day two in a manner you're not accustomed to - working them hard by running a long distance while your legs are already tired. The benefits are two-fold. The first is physical. You're introducing a new stressor into your training routine, and from this stress you will gain endurance. The second is mental. By running a long distance when you are already partially fatigued, you simulate the latter stages of an ultra. Your brain takes over, and you train yourself to handle the stress that comes with those latter stages.

If you choose to do a B2B, each run will count as a quality workout. I generally do one or two quality runs per week, and rarely I throw in a third. A week where you are going to crank out 50 percent or more of your weekly mileage in two workouts doesn't need another quality workout. So skip the tempo run and do it another time.

How often should I do a B2B?

I usually do a B2B once every six to eight weeks. In Jack Daniels' training schedules, he recommends using four six-week long training phrases. The latter three of these contain can contain a B2B. If you're following his training emphases, a B2B is proper on weeks where long, slow distance is a focus.

This year, my peak event is the Sawtooth 100. In anticipation for it, I will do a 30/20 B2B six weeks out, a single 20-miler each week for the next two weeks, and then I go into a three week taper where my longest run each week goes from 15 to 10 miles of slow-easy running.

Week in Review 3.21-3.27.11: The 36-mile weekend

I only ran five days this week, both due to a bit of laziness on my part. A temporary lapse in motivation, perhaps. To make up for it, I inadvertently swapped next week for this one, and racked up 35 miles on back-to-back long runs on Saturday and Sunday. Needless to say, my thighs and hamstrings do not like me right now.

3.21.11: 6.8 miles
Fast 7:30 pace. A little too slow for a tempo run, but it was close

3.22.11: 3.8 miles

3.23.11: Zero
Goose egg #1.

3.24.11: 6.8 miles
Slow and sluggish.

3.25.11: Zero
Goose egg #2.

3.26.11 AM: 11.6 miles
With Mankato Multisport/Runner's Edge. Ran up a 2.5-mile hill.

3.26.11 PM: 9.6 miles
21.6 miles for the day.

3.27.11: 14.4 miles
36 miles for the weekend. Thighs ache, likely delayed-onset muscle soreness from Saturday's hills. A PM run wasn't going to happen.

Miles: 53
Time: 7:14:58
Year-to-date: 423.3 miles

Up next: 60 miles with three quality workouts, including a tempo run and a personal favorite: 200 meter repeats - 16 to 24 of them...

Race Plan: Superior Trail Races Spring 50K

A few weeks ago, I put down the money and signed up for the Superior Trail Races Spring 50K. I ran this same race in 2009 as my first ultra, and looking back, had mixed results. I am a wiser, faster runner now and have a better understanding of my body past the arbitrary 26.2 mark.

Like Surf the Murph, I have a few goals - in order of importance:

• Finish
• Race hard.
• Bomb the downhills (and there are a lot)
• Run even splits
• Run sub-5 hours

These goals have slightly changed now that I have finished a 50 miler on rolling terrain. As always, finishing is tops, but a well-run race takes precedence over time. The second, third and fourth items go to the quality of the run and the skill by which it is raced. These goals are also in line with the competitive nature of the event. At some point, time becomes irrelevant and you are no longer running against the course or clock, but against competition.

My pace chart is here. Based on 2010 results (and partially 2009, now that I look back), a sub-5 hour finish is likely to put me in the top 20. This year, the races are capped at 250 between the 25K and the 50K and that number was reached last weekend on March 19. I also expect stiff competition near the top. This may push a sub-5 hour finish into the top 25 or 30 spots, but it is by no means shabby. Perhaps even a top-10 finish is possible if I can average 9-minute miles despite all those hills.

I haven't adjusted (nor will I bother to adjust) the paces to correspond to the elevation changes. The SHT travels in and out of valleys and up and over hills. I can't imagine that the elevation gain/loss is much different between the out and back portions. Either way, the start and finish is the same so the gain on one half is the loss of the other and visa versa. I'll run with consistent effort and deal with any differences that way.

I'll have a new crew member, also. A friend of mine from college (who happened to perform my wedding ceremony) will be joining my wife for the race. His support will be welcomed.

900 miles, meet zero miles

I bought new shoes.

900 miles, meet zero miles.

They should look the same. Once again, I went with Asics Hyperspeed 3s. Why fix what ain't broken?

I purchased the shoes at Marathon Sports in Minneapolis, and I was lucky to get a pair. Asics recently came out with the Hyperspeed 4s, and drastic changes can occur between models rending the new version unusable.

The 4s eliminated the seams on the outsides of the toes. As far as I could tell, this was the only change that was made to the updated model and it was the only change the staff person mentioned to me when I asked about differences.

I went with a size 8 instead of a size 8.5. Two reasons - one practical, one functional. First, the store did not have 8.5s in stock; they only had 8s and 9s. Second, I have been running (almost) all of my miles this year in a thin liner sock. It is the only combination of running shoe and sock that I have found that does not give me blisters over any period of time. (Prior combinations elicited blisters in a certain spot and/or after 10 or so miles.)

First impression: the shoes are cushy, a lot more padded than I remember them being two years ago. Nonetheless, I took them out for their first run on March 14. They ran like flats do - midfoot striking and quick, light steps are mandatory. The sizing was a bit of a crunch at the beginning and I worried about toenail fatalities. But the shoes appeared to stretch a little bit as I worked them in and I expect no issues with normal road use. Trails are another story.

Eventually, the padding will flatten and a hard sole will emerge. Such is the state of my current flats, and at that point they will be fully broken in (some would say needing to be replaced.) I plan to run in them one workout per week starting this week, and add one additional workout each week after that. This gives me about 10 weeks or 55 workouts until they are taking over full-time, and by that time I should be running the Superior Trail Races Spring 50K and have 300+ miles on them.

Finally, I expect these shoes to last between 1,500 and 2000 miles - if not more. My current models have 900+ miles on them and the holes in the uppers only appeared in earnest after I ran over snow-covered trails. Compacted snow is sharp, and I believe some of my postholing steps did the damage. I won't be running any such trails with this pair, so I fully expect to finish the season with them.

Congested headcold week in review: 3.14-3.20.11

On Saturday, I cheered my wife at the Irish for a Day 10 Mile. She had a fantastic race, beating her PR by several minutes despite running in cold conditions and 30+ mph winds. Smiles abound.

But in the two hours outside in the cold wind, I must have slightly compromised my immune system and/or picked up a bug from someone or something. Sunday the head congestion started in earnest after I returned from a 15 mile run. From that day forward,the week was a bust. I tossed and turned at night, drank water, tea, and consumed more cold meds than I knew what to do with. My mucous factory went into overdrive and shutdown my sense of smell, closed off my sinuses and turned everything else on its head. I'm still feeling a little off as I write this, and hopefully I can kick this thing before my mid-week threshold workout.

I don't regret taking the days off. Better to rest when it is needed than force workouts during illness and prolong the suffering.

3.14.11: 6.8 miles

[Big gap of no running due to head cold, general congestion, and overall miserableness.]

3.19.11: 10.57 miles
Run in sandals and at a good clip, too.

3.20.11 AM: 6.8 miles
Post-thunderstorm trot. No PM run due to congestion.

Miles: 24.17
Time: 3:14:58
Year-to-date: 370.3 miles