wannabe ultra runner?

Me four. I think I will do at least 100 miles next year

Once you are an ultra runner would you generally only run ultra races ? Or would you still run 5k, 10k, HM and FM as well ?

You can run whatever you want to!

carterusm, I'm intending to do 5 x 50-mile races next year (and I'm following a schedule towards the first of those now), but I'm also running cross-country races for my club, did Beachy Head marathon a few weeks ago, a 10K a week before that, and run parkruns when I can (not as often as I'd like because I'm usually too busy organising my local parkrun).

I think it can be useful to run shorter races to remind yourself what running fast feels like and avoid "just plodding", but allow for the fact that you may not always be able to fit them in alongside high mileage weeks - or may risk injury while doing so, certainly while first building up the mileage (I dropped almost all speed work for a while when building to my first 50K).

Thank you for your considered replies !

Let me make it simpler for you:

WiB - what races have you got planned for the next few months ?

slaneuk - what races have you got planned for the next few months ?

I think you should run what races you think you will enjoy and will fit in with your life - simples!

So I am doing a 3km orienteering run on Sunday, a 10-mile road race in December for starters and then some ultras planned already for next year with random stuff that will likely crop up inbetween that is totally unplanned!

10 miles this morning after 7 yesterday ... and both my calfs are sore in different places - bit baffled really as they were totally fine yesterday and I wasn't doing some full-on pace, and nice trail to run on. Bu**er, was planning a 15 tomorrow - hmmmm, might be the mountain bike instead

carterusm - I have a few races planned. Only a couple of focus races though... Rocky Raccoon in Feb and SDW 100 in June are my main races.

I would also like to win the race to the first gate at Country to Capital 45 which is quite competetive from what I hear. The remaining 44.9 miles of it I don't care about

cragchick wrote (see)

maybe we could make our own up .... erm maybe that's sounding a bit like a ultra-distance wine-bar crawl!!

cragc!!!! lets do it!!! sounds fab

If you want to run 3k do so.

If you want to run barefoot do so.

If you want to run on tarmac do so.

Basically run!

carterusm wrote (see)

Me four. I think I will do at least 100 miles next year

Once you are an ultra runner would you generally only run ultra races ? Or would you still run 5k, 10k, HM and FM as well ?

i think ultra runners are a lot more relaxed about what the 'do'...as the others have said...we tend to do what we feel like and when...rather than conform to marathon schedules/hm schedules etc...do a bit of everything!!!!! .....just make sure theres the promise of food n drink at the end .....thats most important !

jason...is that a gentle reminder that i should get my a**e out the door and run some?

A whole 2 miles of orienteering for me this morning. Really grim in rain and mist, 1 degree, but oh what fun leaping over tree trunks and through gorse, bracken and ditches.

jason , yes, very * pulls duvet over head*

carteurusm. Sounds good. Do remember to give yourself time to recover after a race. Also, you may want to prioritise - which ones are your "big" races and which are your ones to enjoy or treat as training runs on the way to other races (e.g. Croydon 30 was a training run five weeks before NDW50, for me this year).