Ultra Training Plans 50k, 50 mile and 100 mile

50k Training program

Week number	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Total
1	Rest	2 miles	2 miles	2 miles	Rest	8 miles	2 miles	16 miles
2	Rest	2 miles	2 miles	2 miles	Rest	10 miles	2 miles	18 miles
3	Rest	2 miles	2 miles	2 miles	Rest	10 miles	4 miles	20 miles
4	Rest	2 miles	2 miles	4 miles	Rest	11 miles	4 miles	23 miles
5	Rest	2 mile	2 miles	4 miles	Rest	13 miles	4 miles	25 miles
6	Rest	2 miles	2 miles	2 miles	Rest	8 miles	4 miles	20 miles
7	Rest	2 miles	4 miles	4 miles	Rest	15 miles	4 miles	29 miles
8	Rest	4 miles	4 miles	4 miles	Rest	17 miles	4 miles	33 miles
9	Rest	4 miles	4 miles	4 miles	Rest	20 miles	5 miles	37 miles
10	Rest	4 miles	4 miles	4 miles	Rest	10 miles	5 miles	27 miles
11	Rest	4 miles	6 miles	4 miles	Rest	20 miles	5 miles	39 miles
12	Rest	4 miles	6 miles	5 miles	Rest	22 miles	6 miles	42 miles
13	Rest	4 miles	7 miles	5 miles	Rest	23 miles	7 miles	46 miles
14	Rest	4 miles	4 miles	4 miles	Rest	10 miles	8 miles	30 miles
15	Rest	4 miles	6 miles	5 miles	Rest	25 miles	10 miles	50 miles
16	Rest	5 miles	7 miles	6 miles	Rest	26 miles	10 miles	54 miles
17	Rest	4 miles	6 miles	4 miles	Rest	8 miles	6 miles	28 miles
18	4 miles	3 miles	2 miles	Rest	Rest	31 miles	Rest	37 miles

50 Mile Training Plan

Week number	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Total
1	Rest	2 miles	2 miles	2 miles	Rest	8 miles	4 miles	18 miles
2	Rest	2 miles	2 miles	2 miles	Rest	10 miles	4 miles	20 miles
3	Rest	2 miles	2 miles	2 miles	Rest	12 miles	6 miles	24 miles
4	Rest	2 miles	2 miles	4 miles	Rest	14 miles	6 miles	28 miles
5	Rest	2 mile	2 miles	4 miles	Rest	16 miles	8 miles	32 miles
6	Rest	2 miles	2 miles	6 miles	Rest	10 miles	8 miles	28 miles
7	Rest	4 miles	4 miles	6 miles	Rest	18 miles	10 miles	40 miles
8	Rest	4 miles	6 miles	6 miles	Rest	20 miles	10 miles	46 miles
9	Rest	4 miles	6 miles	8 miles	Rest	22 miles	10 miles	48 miles
10	Rest	4 miles	8 miles	6 miles	Rest	10 miles	8 miles	36 miles
11	Rest	4 miles	8 miles	8 miles	Rest	22 miles	10 miles	52 miles
12	Rest	4 miles	10 miles	8 miles	Rest	22 miles	10 miles	54 miles
13	Rest	4 miles	10 miles	8 miles	Rest	24 miles	10 miles	56 miles
14	Rest	4 miles	10 miles	6 miles	Rest	10 miles	8 miles	38 miles
15	Rest	4 miles	12 miles	8 miles	Rest	24 miles	10 miles	58 miles
16	Rest	5 miles	12 miles	8 miles	Rest	26 miles	10 miles	60 miles
17	Rest	4 miles	12 miles	8 miles	Rest	26 miles	10 miles	60 miles
18	Rest	4 miles	10 miles	8 miles	Rest	16 miles	10 miles	48 miles
19	Rest	4 miles	6 miles	4 miles	Rest	10 miles	6 miles	32 miles
20	4 miles	3 miles	3 miles	Rest	Rest	50	Rest	59 miles

100 Mile Training Plan for Injury Prone Runners

Week #	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Total
1	XT	5 miles	XT	5 miles	Rest	9 miles	4 miles	23 miles
2	XT	6 miles	XT	6 miles	Rest	12 miles	4 miles	33/pool run
3	XT	6 miles	XT	7 miles	Rest	16 miles	5 miles	34 miles
4	XT	7 miles	XT	7 miles	Rest	18 miles	5 miles	37 miles
5	XT	7 miles	XT	7 miles	Rest	18 miles	5 miles	37 miles
6	XT	5 miles	XT	5 miles	Rest	10 miles	7 miles	27/ pool run
7	XT	7 miles	XT	7 miles	Rest	18 miles	7 miles	39 miles
8	XT	8 miles	XT	7 miles	Rest	20 miles	8 miles	43 miles
9	XT	8 miles	XT	7 miles	Rest	22 miles	8 miles	46 miles
10	XT	5 miles	XT	5 miles	Rest	14 miles	8 miles	32/pool run
11	XT	8 miles	XT	7 miles	Rest	23 miles	10 miles	48 miles
12	XT	8 miles	XT	7 miles	Rest	23 miles	12 miles	50 miles
13	XT	8 miles	XT	7 miles	Rest	25 miles	13 miles	53 miles
14	XT	5 miles	XT	5 miles	Rest	12 miles	8 miles	30/pool run
15	XT	8 miles	XT	8 miles	Rest	25 miles	13 miles	54 miles
16	XT	8 miles	XT	8 miles	Rest	25 miles	13 miles	54 miles
17	XT	6 miles	XT	6 miles	Rest	10 miles	8 miles	30 miles
18	XT	8 miles	XT	8 miles	Rest	28 miles	15 miles	59 miles
19	XT	5 miles	XT	5 miles	Rest	10 miles	10 miles	30/pool run
20	XT	9 miles	XT	9 miles	Rest	28 miles	15 miles	62 miles
21	XT	9 miles	XT	9 miles	Rest	30 miles	15 miles	64 miles
22	XT	9 miles	XT	9 miles	Rest	10 miles	8 miles	36 miles
23	XT	9 miles	XT	9 miles	Rest	30 miles	20 miles	68 miles
24	XT	5 miles	XT	5 miles	Rest	10 miles	8 miles	28/ pool run
25	XT	9 miles	XT	9 miles	Rest	30 miles	20 miles	68 miles
26	XT	5 miles	XT	5 miles	Rest	10 miles	10 miles	30 miles
27	XT	9 miles	XT	9 miles	Rest	30 miles	20 miles	68 miles
28	XT	6 miles	XT	6 miles	Rest	10 miles	10 miles	32/ pool run
29	XT	6 miles	XT	6 miles	Rest	10 miles	Rest	22 miles
30	5 miles	2 miles	Rest	Rest	100 miles	Rest	Rest	107 miles

XT= swim, bike, strength training should be the focus on these days

Tue= 1 mile interval 3-4@ 8:00 with 800 recovery or hill climbs

Pool run weeks: do all in week running in the pool. Get a floatation belt and run laps. Weekend runs done outside.

100 Mile Training Plan

Week number	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Total
1	Rest	2 miles	4 miles	6 miles	Rest	14 miles	8 miles	34 miles
2	Rest	4 miles	6 miles	6 miles	Rest	16 miles	8 miles	40 miles
3	Rest	4 miles	8 miles	6 miles	Rest	16 miles	8 miles	42 miles
4	Rest	4 miles	8 miles	6 miles	Rest	18 miles	10 miles	46 miles
5	Rest	2 miles	8 miles	6 miles	Rest	14 miles	8 miles	34 miles
6	Rest	4 miles	8 miles	6 miles	Rest	18 miles	10 miles	46 miles
7	Rest	4 miles	8 miles	6 miles	Rest	18 miles	10 miles	46 miles
8	Rest	4 miles	8 miles	6 miles	Rest	20 miles	12 miles	50 miles
9	Rest	2 miles	4 miles	6 miles	Rest	14 miles	8 miles	34 miles
10	Rest	4 miles	8 miles	6 miles	Rest	20 miles	12 miles	50 miles
11	Rest	4 miles	10 miles	6 miles	Rest	23 miles	12 miles	55 miles
12	Rest	4 miles	10 miles	6 miles	Rest	23 miles	12 miles	55 miles
13	Rest	2 miles	4 miles	6 miles	Rest	14 miles	8 miles	34 miles
14	Rest	4 miles	12 miles	6 miles	Rest	23 miles	12 miles	60 miles
15	Rest	4 miles	12 miles	6 miles	Rest	23 miles	12 miles	60 miles
16	Rest	4 miles	12 miles	6 miles	Rest	23 miles	12 miles	60 miles
17	Rest	4 miles	8 miles	6 miles	Rest	10 miles	8 miles	36 miles
18	Rest	4 miles	12 miles	6 miles	Rest	28 miles	15 miles	65 miles
19	Rest	4 miles	12 miles	6 miles	Rest	28 miles	15 miles	65 miles
20	Rest	4 miles	12 miles	6 miles	Rest	28 miles	15 miles	65 miles
21	Rest	4 miles	8 miles	6 miles	Rest	10 miles	8 miles	36 miles
22	Rest	4 miles	15 miles	6 miles	Rest	30 miles	15 miles	70 miles
23	Rest	4 miles	15 miles	6 miles	Rest	30 miles	15 miles	70 miles
24	Rest	4 miles	15 miles	6 miles	Rest	30 miles	20 miles	75 miles
25	Rest	4 miles	8 miles	6 miles	Rest	10 miles	8 miles	36 miles
26	Rest	4 miles	15 miles	6 miles	Rest	30 miles	20 miles	75 miles
27	Rest	4 miles	15 miles	6 miles	Rest	30 miles	20 miles	75 miles
28	Rest	4 miles	10 miles	6 miles	Rest	10 miles	10 miles	40 miles
29	Rest	4 miles	Rest	6 miles	Rest	10 miles	Rest	20 miles
30	5 miles	3 miles	2 miles	Rest	Rest	100 mile	Rest	110 mile

XT= swim, bike, strength training should be the focus on these days

Tue= 1 mile interval 3-4@ 8:00 with 800 recovery or hill climbs

Pool run weeks: do all in week running in the pool. Get a floatation belt and run laps. Weekend runs done outside.

suecoletta August 4, 2014 / 6:00 pm

Very impressive!

Nicole Lowe August 4, 2014 / 9:36 pm

Thank you. Do you run?

New Guy Cycling January 30, 2015 / 3:36 pm

Thanks For posting this up Nicole. My wife and I are training for our first ultra in April- Brazo’s Bend 50 Miler. This almost mirrors the plan we are using :). Glad to know it is a quality plan haha. I look forward to reading more of your experiences.

- Nicole Lowe January 31, 2015 / 1:53 am
  
  Absolutely. Good luck!
  
Chandra LaFrentz November 18, 2015 / 11:51 pm

Hi There! I’m planning on using your 50 mile plan for my first ultra. Quick question though…did you do any cross training? Currently, my workout days look like what you lay out (just lower mileage since I’m not actively training), but instead of ‘rest’ on Monday, I swim. Also, did you do any strength workouts? Thanks so much!

- Nicole Lowe November 23, 2015 / 4:38 am
  
  Chandra-I do cross train and do body weight strength workouts. I cross train on Mondays and Fridays usually with swimming or cycling, but I’ve also been known to bust out some dance or aerobics video. I try to fit in some strength training Monday through Friday just at home. I use five pound weights and body weight exercises. The Iron Fit workout by Dr. Jordan Metzl is my go to strength workout. Thanks for reading.
  
Melinda Nye June 20, 2016 / 5:28 pm

I was looking at your 50k plan for my first 50k this fall. It seems like the taper is a little shorter than some other plans I’ve looked at (and a week shorter than a marathon plan I’ve used in the past). Just wondered if that was intentional or if you had a different philosophy on tapering… Thanks for your thoughts.

- Nicole Lowe June 20, 2016 / 9:45 pm
  
  Melinda, thanks for asking. As with most things running, it is really runner dependent. For beginning ultra runners, injury prone runners, or someone who is reaching that over training point, I would recommend a longer taper. I have shortened my taper to two weeks and have found it effective. It keeps my legs loose. However, I’ve been running a while and recover quickly. If you take a little longer to recover from your back to backs long runs during training, reduce the last long run to ten miles. I wrote a post about tapering a while back, here is the link https://ultrarunningmom.com/2015/10/05/is-tapering-necessary/
  
  I hope this helps.
  
Jill Jensen December 2, 2016 / 4:31 am

I have never run a 50k before, so I am surprised to see such high mileage in the training plan. Is that typical for most plans?

Matt Shepherd March 26, 2018 / 12:45 pm

So couple things: I’m 6’6″ 280. I have until Feb 2019 for ultra (50 mile I’d like to do). I just did my first marathon (6 hours and I had to walk the last 8 miles…legs failed me at mile 18) I need a “rest of the year till race” training plan…can you help?

- Nicole Lowe March 26, 2018 / 6:47 pm
  
  Matt, Please email me at nicole@ultrarunningmom.com.
  
lakefrontperformance July 25, 2018 / 10:12 pm

for the 100 mile plan, what days do you cross train and which weeks are pool weeks?

- Nicole Lowe July 25, 2018 / 10:45 pm
  
  I cross train on Monday and Friday and every fourth week is a pool week or a rest week(reduce miles/time by 20%).
  
Jennifer November 19, 2018 / 8:06 am

Hey Nicole, the 50k plan is cutoff and Sunday is not showing. Is there mileage on Sunday or is it a rest day?

- Nicole Lowe November 26, 2018 / 12:58 am
  
  There are miles on Sunday. What’s your email and I can send you the plan? It pulls up just fine on my phone and computer.
  
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Jenny Pareno October 28, 2019 / 3:27 pm

Thanks for sharing your training plan. I’m signed up for 45miles 15K feet run. (Yes, 15K) any suggestion to train for the hills? Thank you.

- Nicole Lowe October 28, 2019 / 10:48 pm
  
  Do you have access to hills?
  
Mike June 3, 2020 / 2:00 pm

This is a great article, thanks for sharing. Here I also found an actualized and useful resource : https://vert.run/the-ultimate-50km-training-guide/

Peter kane June 14, 2020 / 9:48 am

Hi with the 50 miles plan, are any of the weekday runs speed/tempo?

And the long run on Saturday, is that a long flat run With no walk or does that include an ultra trail Circumstances and use trail, hills and walk when needed?

Thank you

Pete

- Nicole Lowe McBride June 14, 2020 / 8:40 pm
  
  Hi Peter. One of the weekday runs can be a speed/tempo run for sure. Some ultra runners do speed workouts and others just run the hills on some of their runs as speed work. Both speed work and hill running will improve your running economy which is the main goal when you are running ultra. The Saturday run should be on terrain similar to what you will be running in the race, but you can also mix things up to keep it interesting.