I'm retired from racing. Really.

Good workout

Well La dee dah to you!

Hey John, just read your Rocky Raccoon Blog, CONGRATULATIONS! That is awesome man. 28th place with busted hips? That's solid man. How was your training before the hip injury? What were your weekly miles, and long runs looking like?

I was only sore after Boston for 2 days, so I'm guessing my body is getting more acclimated to the longer running, but my mileage definitely is not high enough to attempt an ultra yet. Right now I'm doing 6 mile recovery runs every other day, but I'm planning on really picking up the mileage in a few weeks. And no problems with the knees anymore! (always the shoes!) What would you recommend as far as a training schedule to attempt a 50 miler? I'm hoping to do one around august or so.

Congrats again on the 100 miler, you are a warrior!

Tony- I did almost exclusively cross training with no running for 6 weeks before my hundred, due to injury. Before the injury, I was doing normal mileage (60-100 mpw), with long runs up to 40-50 miles.

For a 50 miler, you can almost do the same training as your marathon, except raise your weekly mileage up as high as you can. For long runs, I would suggest 1-2 in the 30-35 mile range. But your marathon training should be almost sufficient, as long as you don't start too fast in your 50. Before my first 50, I had only done 1 run of 30+ miles in my life. Good luck!

Thanks for the info! Well, my normal marathon training is kinda lagging. I barely average 25 miles a week if that much before Boston, and at my peak last summer I was around 35-40 miles per week. So I guess I should probably increase my normal marathon training to around 50 miles a week at least before I attempt the 50 miler. But that is encouraging to hear that you were able to do a 50 miler with only one 30+ mile run. I am sure I can put in a 30+ miler at this point with ease, if I take it slow. Boston at 3:23 was a breeze till heart break and even then, it really wasn't too bad. The first 2 marathons I ran at faster paces, I really wanted to just stop and walk around mile 22.

Does decreasing your speed give you better endurance? I can't really figure out how much more beneficial it is, you do end up running longer at a slower pace, but is it so much easier on your legs that you can handle it? Energy wise I usually have plenty of it at the end of a marathon, My muscles just start shutting down around mile 24 or so.