Focus: Surfcoast Century 2013

Training now moves away from the generalised style I've been holding recently. Time now to kick in the focus and aim directly for the Surfcoast Century in September. That gives me exactly three months from today.

From here on in I will mainly be working on an 8-day week, with a fairly standard weekly structure. Most variation from this will be a byproduct of having to find different ways to get the training in. Of course there will be progression embedded into this structure.

Day 1: Easy - Fundamental run 8-10km

Day 2: VO2 Intervals: 4x1000m @ 3:45, 1000m rec @ 5:30, progressing towards 4x2000m with 500m rec. Total 12-15km

Day 3: Fundamental 20-25km

Day 4: Hill Sprints 10km

Day 5: Regeneration - Easy 8-12km

Day 6: Long 40-60km with race gear/nutrition. Aim for even style pacing, err on easy. Only after distance is covered then push up pace.

Day 7: Easy 10-12km

Day 8: Fundamental 12-18km on technical terrain.

A pace guide for flat terrain is:

Regeneration: 6:30-5:40/km

Easy: 5:30-5:00/km

Fundamental 4:52-4:28/km

Most of my running will be on feel, a little bit guided heart rate occasionally. For the VO2 and the 20-25km Fundamental runs the goal times will be very important and will dictate the session.

For an ultramarathon, the most important session is of course the long run. Last year I found I tended to push this session relatively hard, had a few failed runs and follow up training suffered. This time around I aim to really hold back on the intensity, ensure I get the distance covered and work to being strong in the latter portions. It's a subtle change, but will hopefully make a big difference.

There's nothing particularly spectacular with this program. The main training effect will come from consistently pushing a little at the edges of my abilities each week. Certain runs will be tough and often difficult to finish well, but shouldn't leave me searching for extended time off.