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You Can Run 100 Miles on Marathon Training

 Ultra coaches Eric Orton and Jason Koop on the importance of strength and speed over mileage

“If you can train well for a marathon, I think you can do 100 miles,” says Eric Orton, an endurance coach best known for whipping journalist Chris McDougall into ultra shape in the book Born to Run. 

For busy people with ultra dreams, perhaps no sweeter words have been spoken. Even better: he’s not the only one speaking them. “You can be perfectly successful if your min/max—that’s the minimum training volume you need when your volume is at it’s max—is nine hours per week for six weeks,” ultra coach Jason Koop, director of coaching for Carmichael Training Systems, agrees. 

At the core of both statements is the classic quality over quantity credo. “Often people run a little bit more and they do well, so they think more is better,” Orton says. “I think better is better.”

Better means building strength and speed over volume. For Orton, that means running hills, doing sprint intervals on hills, and learning to love the mile. “To do better, you have to get faster,” he says. “And the greatest predictor is one mile. You have to get faster at one mile to get better across the board.”

It also means substituting mountain hiking for long easy runs. “People get into trouble when they start logging all of these mountain miles and running them because they can. But they’re running themselves into the ground because it’s way too hard on a consistent basis,” Orton says. “It’s the equivalent of running marathon pace every day.” 

Which is why Orton believes the solution lies in strength. “Strength builds endurance, not the other way around,” he says. In the early season, Orton has his athletes climb as easy as possible to build up and downhill leg strength while staying aerobic, or around 75 percent of max heart rate. The point of this is to build efficiency at staying aerobic so that runners don’t need as much recovery on the downhills—the part of a race where ultrarunners can make up a lot more time than if they’d tried to run fast uphill. 

Just like with marathoners, Orton also has his athletes do threshold runs, or runs performed at 85 to 90 percent of their max heart rate. “Instead of going off on an eight-hour easy run, do a three-hour hard run with a lot of hills and threshold type of climbing,” Orton says. A tough run at the peak of training could look like this: easy warm-up, 20 minutes at threshold, two hours easy to moderate, 20 minutes at threshold, then cool down. 

Koop similarly incorporates intensity into his ultra athletes’ workouts, focusing on one element at a time, whether that be lactate threshold (workout example: 4x10 minutes hard, 5 minutes easy), VO2 max (6x3 minutes hard, 3 minutes easy), or high-end aerobic work (40 to 60 minutes at marathon pace). But you must do these workouts on terrain similar to that of your race—skip the track. “Do whatever you can to match your training vertical to the race vertical,” Koop says. Say you know you’ll gain about 150 feet per mile during the race; try to get that in during training to prime your muscles and mechanics for what’s coming. Similarly, he says, if you know you’ll be hiking 10 percent of your race, 10 percent of you training should be hiking.

With that strength base, athletes “can go from a two-to-three hour run to run eight hours no problem,” Orton says.  That’s exactly how he trained Born to Run author McDougall for the 50-mile Copper Canyon Ultra, now known as the Ultra Caballo Blanco. “He just needed strength,” Orton says. 

“It was such a transformative experience,” McDougall says of following Orton’s plan. “I kept waiting to feel bad but month after month I just kept feeling good—you’re on an upward slope all the time.” 

All of that said, a high-quality, lower-mileage approach doesn’t nix some epic workouts. If you’re gunning for 100, Orton recommends doing one longer run once a month. “Everyone can fit that into their schedule,” he says. You should complete five to six long runs before race day, with the final long run performed four weeks before the event and lasting about six to seven hours. 

Those longer efforts will get your mind, body used to being out in the wilderness, and your stomach used to fueling. “Experiment with different foods during your longer runs,” Koop says. “It teaches you what’s not going to work so you’re left with a basket of things that could work in the 20 hours of unknown.” He recommends testing several snacks that cover the sweet, salty, and savory categories. That way if your favorite training foods stop working for you at hour 17 in the race—something you could never have predicted with your longest run topping out at less than half that time—“you’ll have a list of other things you can incorporate into the mix.” 

For these long training runs, you’ll have to throw the 10 percent rule out the window and focus on time spent on your feet. Don’t worry about the mileage, Orton says, “especially if you live in a trail environment because three hours could be six miles.” Perhaps your first long run is two hours. Four weeks later, your next will be three hours, and so forth until you hit six or seven. “If you’re just looking to finish your first 100 miler, you just need to be able to locomote without having a whole lot of stress on the system,” Koop says.

Once you’ve done that final long run and taken a rest week, it’s time to taper. That means keeping up your running frequency and intensity while reducing your weekly training volume. Maintaining intensity is key, Orton says. “That’s what keeps you fresh. The reduction in volume, that gets you rest.” 

Athletes Don't Exercise, They Train

Rule One: Don't confine your training to the gym. Movement needs to be a lifestyle. Rule Two: Don't just move. You need a goal. And you need to train

For decades, scientists have scrambled to figure out what inspires us to move. They've linked certain regions of the brain to exercise motivation, decided having partners helps (but only if they aren't too talkative), and encouraged us to adopt a dog to walk more.

But there are two simple changes you can make to keep yourself going that don't involve drugs or dogs: Make movement your lifestyle—and train, don't exercise.

The simple first step away from yo-yo exercising and toward a healthier lifestyle is to make movement a priority. Scads of articles over the past few years have told us how sitting too much is killing us and that even five minutes of running can have real health benefits. Weaving something like a short run into your daily routine won't necessarily make you lose weight or turn you into Laird Hamilton, but becoming a mover will make the transition to training easier.

Training means structuring workouts toward an athletic goal, like a race or another organized event. Exercising, on the other hand, is movement for the in-the-moment feel-goodness of it. There's nothing wrong with exercise. It's just that, for many people, the reasons they exercise are often weak and lead to poor long-term adherence.

Historically, it wasn't so hard to exercise—before office jobs became the norm and the Internet put many employees on call 24/7. But if squeezing it in feels like a chore or comes from a negative place, science says you won't stick with it. Luckily, the recent explosion of athletic events has made it easier to find an intriguing race, even one close to home. And the benefits of picking a training goal are well documented. Advantage number one: It encourages consistency. 

A study published in the Journal of Sport Behavior found that embarking on a marathon program likeTeam in Training’s makes people feel a "growing connection with the cause, improved fitness and athleticism, and mutual training support." People in training also tend to stick with their workouts because of the "personal growth, fundraising, and the response from family and friends" that come from sweating with a purpose.

Athletes who exercise to lose weight, for example, don't always drop the pounds, leading them to give up. "I also wonder how beneficial it can be to exercise in such a negative way, where you're constantly thinking, 'I'm not good enough, and I don't like my body.' Who wants to keep that up?" Michelle Segar, a psychology researcher at the University of Michigan, told More. She was talking about middle-age women in particular, but men may face a similar problem when vanity is the primary motivator.

So the next time you feel like slacking off, consider signing up for something. While research linking regions of our brains to exercise motivation is fascinating, its ultimate goal may be to develop drugs to help keep us moving. Hitting a "register" button could work just as well.

More Proteins

How much should you have and which foods really pack a protein punch? Find out how to get all you need and when to up your intake...

Protein is an essential nutrient, responsible for multiple functions in your body, including building tissue, cells and muscle. Everyone needs protein in their diet, but if you do endurance sports or weight training you’ll need to increase your protein intake, and to factor it into your training routine at specific times to reap its muscle-boosting benefits.

For sporty individuals a daily dose of around 1g of protein per 1kg of body weight is recommended. After exercise, protein is particularly important since muscles need it to recover and grow. A portion of protein (15-25g) is recommended within 30 minutes of exercise, when your muscles are particularly receptive to protein synthesis. 

What to eat

Proteins are made up of a collection of 20 amino acids. Of these, eight are classed as ‘essential’ and need to be sourced from food, while the other 12 are classed as ‘non-essential’ and can be produced inside your body. ‘High-quality proteins’ such as eggs and meat offer more muscle-building amino acids than other protein foods, so are considered more valuable sources of protein, particularly if you do lots of exercise. 

Like simple and complex carbohydrates, proteins are absorbed at different rates in the body. Whey protein is digested quickly so is a good option just before and after exercise. Casein, the primary protein in milk, releases its amino acids slowly, so is particularly useful in the morning, between meals and at bedtime. Protein shakes and powderscontain these proteins and are helpful before and after sports, but you can get the protein you need from natural sources too. Here are some foods to get your protein fix:

Good protein sources

Eggs
King of food protein is the humble egg. A medium egg has around 6g of protein of the highest biological value, meaning it comes complete with all 20 amino acids in the most digestible form. An omelette is a good way to start the day and is a good recovery snack too.

Milk
Dairy foods are packed with protein and contain bone-building calcium, too. Chocolate milk is the age-old recovery food after exercise, since it contains energy-replenishing carbohydrates and a blend of both slow and fast release whey and casein proteins. You can get the same recovery-boosting effects from a milk-based fruit smoothie.

Yogurt
A combination of casein and whey protein, yogurt is a great protein-rich food. Since most of the lactose is removed, it can work for most people who are lactose intolerant.

Fish and seafood
Fish and seafood are good sources of protein and are typically low in fat. While slightly higher in fat than other varieties, salmon packs in heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids.

Soya
If you’re dairy intolerant, eating soya protein foods such as tofu and soya-based drinks will help post-recovery, plus they can help to lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease.

Pistachio nuts
Nuts such as pistachios are a practical protein choice if you’re on the move. Around 50 pistachio nuts will provide 6g of protein, plus sodium and potassium, the electrolytes lost in sweat during exercise.

Pork 
High quality proteins also contain branched-chain amino acids(BCAAs), which are key in supporting muscle recovery. Leucine, in particular, makes up one third of muscle protein and helps to stimulate repair after exercise. Pork is one of the richest sources of leucine and therefore a great addition to a post-exercise meal or snack. Eggs, chicken and lean beef also provide good amounts of leucine.

Chicken and turkey
When it comes to animal protein, opt for lean protein from white meat poultry such as chicken and turkey. It’s wise to discard the skin, which is packed with saturated fat.

Delicious and not fat :)

PROTEIN BROWNIES

This recipe began as a challenge: Try to create something exceptional with limited ingredients. I wanted to capture the best "health benefits" a brownie could bring while still giving the bakery a run for its money. I've tried many variations and protein flavors, but never achieved the richness and texture a true brownie brings.

That is, until Muscle Milk Naturals hit the market, sweetened with Stevia and a bit of real sugar. Once I began experimenting, it didn't take long to figure out that the key to making the most exceptional protein brownie takes only four ingredients and two minutes of your time!

Ingredients

• 1 scoop Muscle Milk Naturals Real Chocolate
• 1/2 scoop Muscle Milk Complete Whey Cocoa Bean
• 1 mounded tablespoon Chunky Natural Peanut Butter
• Dash of Baking Powder, Water

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in a microwave safe bowl.
2. Stir in small amounts of water until you reach a brownie-batter consistency.
3. Microwave for one minute, check and stir, then microwave again for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Microwaves vary, so be careful not to overcook. You want a brownie texture—soft and gooey!

NUTRITION FACTS 
Serving Size 

Amount per serving

Calories 320

Total Fat15g

Total Carbs15g

Protein30g

The best exercises!