I signed up for my first 100-mile race
See my process for achieving this goal
This is a series of articles covering my process of completing my first 100-mile race.
In this article, I’m covering the first step. Setting the goal, choosing the race, and setting up a training plan.
Setting the goal
Ever since I started my endurance journey, I’ve had some specific races/distances I wanted to do. I’ve currently completed: a marathon, Ironman 70.3, Ironman 140.6, and a 50-mile ultramarathon.
I had two things on my list that I still haven’t done: a 100-mile ultramarathon and a sub-3-hour marathon.
Because I did the 50-mile race in 2022, the training and the mindset are still pretty fresh in my mind. That’s why I think it makes more sense to tackle the 100-mile race goal first.
Choosing the race
I wanted to do a race in any of the Nordic countries. I love the nature there, and I’m used to the terrain. I googled races for 2023, and pretty quickly I decided to do the same race as in 2022, Nuts Karhunkierros.
The main reason I picked that race is that it’s at the end of May, which means that it won’t be too hot. That also allows me to enjoy the summer, instead of running for hours and hours in the heat. All the other 100-mile races I saw were later in the summer.
The reason I don’t like this specific race is that it’s longer than it supposes to be. The race I did last year was supposed to be 83 kilometers, but ended up being 86.4 kilometers. This is not just me getting lost and running extra, everyone says the same thing. That means the 166-kilometer race will actually be almost 173 kilometers.
The other reason it isn’t the ideal race is that we usually have snow in Finland until April. Especially in the woods where the sun doesn’t get through to melt the snow. That makes running on trails really difficult. And based on last year's race, I know I need to spend more time on the trails to prepare for the race.
Setting up a training plan
As I’ve mentioned in other articles, one big thing for me with these challenges is to figure it out by myself. Of course by searching on Google for other people’s suggestions and plans, but piecing it together myself.
It would be easy to just hire a coach to tell you what to do. I don’t want that.
I will use my 50-mile prep plan as a base, as I think it worked pretty well. I will just incorporate more vertical meters and more trail runs. I won’t actually run that much more. At some point, there comes a limit to how much the body can tolerate. Rather run a bit less and have a healthy and recovered body, than push it too much.
I have a date, all I have to do is work backward from there. I create a spreadsheet as a weekly overview and add all workouts there. I won’t fit the whole thing in here, but here’s part of the plan:
I still have no idea if this will work. As I’m writing this, I’m thinking of switching the Tuesday easy run with the Wednesday intervals + leg training. Then I would get some more running on tired legs in. Thursday’s 5k run will pretty much be optional. If I feel like I need an extra rest day, that will be the day, so I feel as good as possible on Friday’s long run.
It’s a process. Try something and adjust. As with any goal.
