31 Half Marathons in March

Good afternoon.

I am after some much needed advice. I am attempting a half marathon challenge, (set by myself) in March. I plan to run 31 half marathons, 1 for each day of the month.

I have always been a keen runner, completing a couple of halfs and plenty of 10k's.

My question for you more experienced than me is what kind of training plan would you adopt prior to attempting a challenge of this magnitude. 

How far each day? How much should I increase the milage by each week? What mileage should I go up to? When should I taper down ? etc:

I am really keen to hear from all you ultra distance runners as you have obviously done things like this before. 

I would really appreciate any advice! Thank you! 

I think your biggest challenge will be recovery.31 days without rest is going to be tough.

What's your current weekly mileage? And how many days do you run

 

Obviously? I'm not completely sure what you think ultra runners normally do but I assure you it most definitely is not doing not an ultra every day for a month. I think I'd rather kick myself in the head every day for a month but that's just me.
However if you insist, you really haven't given yourself a huge amount of time to prep given that it sounds like your running history is limited to doing a couple of half and some ten ks. What's your weekly mileage like now? And how is it split?
Are you going to try to complete the half in any specific time or just get them done? How are you going to fit them into your normal life,

I currently run between 25-30 miles per week and run 5 days per week. 

Recovery is something I am concerned about, I have fantastic will power and determination however, so if I set the challenge I know I will overcome it. 

What do you think training wise? 

@ Lirish, I plan to just get them done, I'm not worried about times. 

I currently only work 17 hours  a week as I am a fitness business owner therefore my staff complete the majority of my work. Fortunately this means that time wont be an issue. 

I currently run between 25-30 miles per week and run 5 days per week. 

Recovery is something I am concerned about, I have fantastic will power and determination however, so if I set the challenge I know I will overcome it. 

What do you think training wise? 

There isn't time for you to move from 25-30 a week to 90 miles a week, in anything approaching a sensible fashion. I'd give it a miss if I was you.

when would you suggest I would be ready? 

The only way as far as I'm concerned to get something like this done is to separate it into several equally important facets. Fitness, recovery,injury prevention, time management.
Fitness is self explanatory, I'm guessing you're fairly fit due to your business and not necessarily just running fit, your mileage isn't high but I guess you cross train too? For what you're planning on doing I'd build in several day back to back runs after increasing your base fitness for the next month to six weeks, try to get your weekly mileage up to about 50 miles per week then introduce longer back to back runs declining in distance but increasing over the weeks, i.e week one fri/sat/sun 10/8/6 then increasing the distance slightly over The coming weeks.
Recovery is also self evident and in tails into injury prevention nicely, if you don't already start both a stretching and a strengthening regime now particularly concentrating on the core muscles, hip flexors, max and minimums flutes, adductors. Rest well when you can and get regular sports massages. Foam roll after every run religiously, drink recovery drinks to replenish energy stores
Time management is the one that's going to be difficult, you say time isn't an issue but it's difficult for anyone to set aside a minimum of two and potentially three hours a day to run. Be prepared to listen to your body and run only when you feel ready. If that means cancelllingr a morning run and trying to fit it in later in the day so be it, you'll have a mich better chance of success if you do

Thank you Lirish, great advice, much appreciated...

Ermmm, when it's more in line with your regular mileage

Lol, Thank you for the advice! Much appreciated

Go for it Mike, what's the worst that could happen?  In line with Lirish, I'd work towards upping your weekly mileage to something like 50mpw.  But do it gradually.  You're better off feeling a little undertrained than injuring yourself and not being able to do even one 1/2 marathon.  It will be a tough challenge, but if time is no problem, there should be no reason you cant walk them in less than 4 hours if it gets bad. 

Give it a crack, you have nothing to lose.  Making sensible decisions isn't the way you achieve greatness - go for it!

Great advice James and also very motivating....thank you very much. I'm going to give it a go, I'm in the process of writing a schedule now.

Thanks again!

Mike - I'd say go for it! Where do you live fella, I am sure some forumites would join you for a leg or two to help with motivation!

I think you would be fine to go for this regardless of mileage, time is going to be the issue so if you take them slow from the word go, factor in walk breaks to reduce the stress on the body & I don't see much of an issue.

A few years ago I hiked the Appalachian Trail & people do that sort of mileage each day, generally people do take rest days but there are plenty that don't & this is with a full pack on the back which for me balances out the faster pace you will be looking to go at.

If there are any trail paths near you that would give you reduced impact whilst not asking too much by way of climbs or obstacles these may be worth considering. Otherwise, like others have said, go for it, what do you have to lose? Hopefully regardless of what happens you will have fun, learn something about your body thus setting you up nicely for either another go or your next challenge!

Just remembered about this thread, how'd did it go Mike?

I wonder if he did this challenge he was talking about too -

http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/forum/general-running/i-want-to-run-a-marathon-a-month/168988.html