How I’m Training for My First 100-Mile Race
On November 12, 2022, I will run my first 100-mile race, the Tunnel Hill 100. Here is how I’m training for this race.
Pre-training
I spent the summer doing some important foundation building in preparation for the main training block. I went to the track almost every week and ran several different interval sessions, from 200-meter to 800-meter intervals. Speed work is the least specific part of ultramarathon training but most coaches feel that runners need to develop their speed regardless of the distance.
Along with intervals at the track, I also did a lot of hill running. I did two hill workouts over the summer. The first workout was a series of 10 to 12 short, 30-second hill sprints on a hill that is about a 10% grade. The other workout was a set of longer hill repeats where I ran up a very long hill, running up for three minutes and then running down for one minute as a rest period. I could repeat this pattern about eight times before reaching the top of the hill. I would jog back down and do at least two more repeats before ending the workout.
My third harder workout during the summer was my long run. I consistently ran between 12 and 20 miles each week for my long run. In June, I participated in a timed run (the Rez Loop Challenge) and completed 33 miles before surrendering to…
