2021 Training log for Uludag 66K (January-May)
Next 3 months, I will follow a plan for from a book, “Ultra Marathon Training” by Wolfgang Olbrich. It is “The training plan for 50 K under 5 hours” which suits my fine. It is originally a 8 week plan but I will stretch it to 12 weeks by repeating first four weeks to build a deeper base. I also need to shed off some fat before, if ever, I try to speed up.
In the end, I will attempt a 50 K of course 🙂 I don’t know where but I will find something.
Week 1, 4-10th January
After two weeks of laziness, finally started the program. No injuries. Although I feel it will take a few weeks to burn off some vacation fat, I can not not complain.
First month will be about ramping up mileage and I will not be trying to speed up unnecessary. My new years resolution is wearing a heart rate band during all intervals and long runs.
First week went just as planned. I need to pay more attention to nutrition though. Biscuits and chocolate is not helping.
| 4-10 January | Drill | notes |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Rest | Absolutely nothing, recovering from xmas, new year |
| Tuesday | 10 K Easy at 5:34 | I feel heavy. Could be just me though. |
| Wednesday | Recovery walk | |
| Thursday | 5×1000 @5:05 | With Hoka Clifton4. |
| Friday | Rest | 30 mins stretch |
| Saturday | 14.4 K @ 6:15 | Terrible, terrible run after last nights heavy dinner |
| Sunday | 18.6 K @5:42 Hr 139 | Surprisingly easy after a long nights sleep. |
Week 2, 11-17th January
Another glorious training week with an epic fail dietary fail on Friday. What I need is not more running but more culinary discipline. Nevertheless, can’t complain.
More walking then running this week.
| 11-17 january | drill | notes |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | 1 hour walk | Some basic strength training |
| Tuesday | 10 K Easy at 5:30 | I feel heavy. Could be just me though. |
| Wednesday | 1 hour walk | |
| Thursday | 3×2000 @4:50 | With Nike- funny shoes. |
| Friday | 1 hour walk | 30 mins stretch , core training |
| Saturday | 1 hour walk | |
| Sunday | 22 K @5:49 Hr 136 | 3.5 PTE |
Week 3, 18-24th January
On track. Weekend was somewhat tough since I haven’t tried back to back longish runs for a very long time. Trying to keep things slow to build the base. Next week is the “rest” week and looking forward to some cycling.
| 11-17 january | drill | notes |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | 1 hour walk | Stretch |
| Tuesday | 12 K Easy at 5:37 | I feel heavy. Could be just me though. |
| Wednesday | Strength | 30 minutes core |
| Thursday | 2×3000 | First @5:07 and 147 ppm, second @4:46 and 158 ppm |
| Friday | 1 hour walk | 30 mins stretch |
| Saturday | 15 K Easy | @5:56 with 137 bpm |
| Sunday | 27 K Slow | @5:58 with 134 ppm |
Week 4, 25-31st January, end of first month
And just like that, January is over.
Now , after three weeks of ramping up, this week was a real godsend. Coincidentally, this was quite a busy week at the office with lots of meetings, presentations etc, so I could not be happier.
It had been a long, long time since I tried this sort of base building- almost two years. Now I see that I have been taking it perhaps a bit too easy all this time. This week I really felt sluggish, slow and maintaining a 80+ cadence was a real struggle.
My original intention was to repeat this month, with longer distances and faster paces. Now I know that I must. Period. I never believed in the principle of increasing mileage by 5% every week -that is far too slow and unnecessarily cautious for returning runners. Nevertheless, jumping from 30k/week to 60k/week hit me like a truck. I am OK, but I would rather be cautious and remain here otherwise I am clearly risking injury.
Our local quarantine has been extended by another month. This means no flights and travel in February. After almost a year stationary lifestyle is beginning to get on my nerves although it gives me lots of time for long runs. I have never had a training period this disciplined. So be it. Another month of base building in February.
| 25-31 january | drill | notes |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Nothing | Stretch |
| Tuesday | 12.3K Easy at 6:00 | Struggling with speed |
| Wednesday | Stretch | Struggling with flexibility |
| Thursday | 12.1 K Easy at 6:15 | Real slow but happy |
| Friday | Stretch | |
| Saturday | MTB 1 Hour | Real easy and fun |
| Sunday | 20 K @6:00 | Fartlek |
Week 5, 1-7 February, now starting the 8 week program
I should be taking daily notes. Under quarantine each week is a copy of a copy of a copy (to copy Fight Club)
Things are on track. Nutrition is still a problem, getting in the way of faster paces. I feel totally unmotivated to cut down on calories though. One thing at a time. Now I am 79 Ks with 18kg fat (6kg of which is visceral)
Suunto app started something called Running Performance Index. Today I noticed mine is 51, which is good. I don’t trust estimated metrics and certainly don’t trust metrics derived from other metrics but hey, that 51 feels good anyway! Thanks Suunto for the compliment!
| 1-7 February | drill | notes |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Nothing | Stretch |
| Tuesday | 10 K Easy at 5:42 | Still struggling with speed |
| Wednesday | 7 K walk and strength | |
| Thursday | 5x1000m @4:50 | Tough but on track. Quite happy with progress |
| Friday | Stretch and stretch | |
| Saturday | 10 K Easy @5:40 | 5:40 pace is somewhat easy now |
| Sunday | 25 K @5:46 | Struggled during first 5 but got easier and easier |
Next week I should be measuring my fluid intake/loss during the long run. I am losing water like a sponge in desert
As the long runs gets longer, I should also be waking a little bit earlier. Today I started at 7:00 am and by the time I was home it was scorching hot around 33 degrees.
Week 6 and 7, 8-21 February, Possible Ankle injury during fast run – Easy week to recover
Typically, I pushed a bit too far by running unnecessarily faster and longer.
| 8-14 February | drill | notes |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Rest | |
| Tuesday | 10 K Easy at 5:09 | 5 K @ 4:50 then 2 K @4:40 Ugh… |
| Wednesday | 10 K walk | |
| Thursday | 10 K Easy at 6:00 | Still stiff from Tuesday |
| Friday | Rest | Stretch |
| Saturday | 12 K @7:00 | Run walk, feeling terrible |
| Sunday | 22 K @ 6:00 | Fartlek, feeling worse with ankle issue |
An old wise runner once told me once that a runner should never not try to get faster before getting lighter. That guy had a point. After Tuesday’s unplanned fast run, it took me a week to get back to my normal self. Weekend runs were also a mess Every step was difficult and heavy.
One nagging development is my left achilles tendon. There is a nagging clicking sound two cms up my ankle when I stretch. Very troubling.
I decided to have a very easy week to recover. 5-10-10-15 K @6:00 max to recover. If that clicking sound doesn’t go away, I am in deep trouble.
Week 8, 22-18 February, Injury 🙁
Unfortunately, the rotten pain in my left foot is not going away. Not sure if it is really “tendonitis” or not but surely it’s something painful.
Just to be on the safe side, I am aborting the 50K training until things get better. This does not feel at all but now there is a new Cover peak here in Manila and I am not sure if I can find medical help if I snap a muscle or something. So be it. Here is my anticlimax.
Next few weeks I will return to a very easy schedule and see what happens.
April 2021 – The definition of training monotony
Check this out. 10 on Tuesdays, 10 K on Thursdays, 21 K on Saturdays. All at at 5:50 pace. 42 K per week. Nothing but soft stretch in between. Boring as hell. This is a routine as it gets. 16 runs, 18 hours, 173k in total. I could do this forever.
May 2021 – Finally some action and a date for this years >53 K race
Summer is here in Manila. It gets hotter and hotter everyday. I don’t think running a 50+ run in this crazy heat is altogether safe. In May, I finally wised up and added strength and stretch in to my routine. I also made myself a promise to start tracking indoor training.
Heat is killing me. I used to lose 900cc per hour during my summer runs in Bodrum but Manila is altogether another story.
Finally, I tasted my fluid loss rate with a 30 K run. Started the run 79.6 Kg and ended 77.1 Kg, consuming 2.5 litres of water (with electrolytes) during the run. That is a crazy 5 litres for a slow 30 k and 1.67 litres per hour. 30 Celsius, feeling like 35 Celsius with 70% and no wind according to Klimat app. Ugh. If I didn’t drink every 20 minutes I would be dead by now.
And May did bring a nice surprise too 🙂 Sometimes the gods hear you. I decided to start my vacation a bit early and learned that there is an available race on 3-4th July, Uludag Ultra66. I’ve been training on a pancake flat road with zero elevation for the last two years, but I decided to give it a try.
I completed a final 30 K trail run two weeks before the race and that concluded my preparation. You can read about my experience in UPAT66 here.
