You should go try a 100-mile event and let us know. I'd put my money on your wheels falling off around mile 35.

I'm running 55-85 mpw right now with long runs 25-30 miles. And those last 5 miles of the long run are challenging.

http://This message has been edited by Harper (edited Jul-07-2007).

Start by running a few 50k and 50m runs to gauge how your body reacts to them. That (especially to 50m runs) would give you a better guage as to whether or not to attempt distances any greater without adjusting your schedule.

My thought has always been you have to train for the distance. Personally, I don't feel like long runs of 30 miles are sufficient when training for a 100 mile race. Thats similar to doing a long run of 8 miles when training for a marathon. Of course, many are successful at 100 milers by only doing long training runs of 30 miles or less. I myself finished a marathon once in under 4 hours with my long run only being 9 miles leading up to the event. I struggled greatly the last 10 miles of that marathon. From that point on, I swore to train properly for the distance I was going to be competing at. I can't help to think that for 100 miles, one should have a long run at least up to 60, maybe 70 miles. The problem is is that it will take years to build up to this mileage safely. Most runners, including myself, don't have this kind of patience, so we are constantly exceeding the limits of our current fitness levels.

no runs over 15 miles + no carb diet = a really rough run at 100 miles???

Why do you want to jump right to 100 miles? what about 50K, 50M or even a marathon? Sure, you may be able to complete the race, but what would the recovery be like? I find more than anything that decent training lends to speedy recovery after races. If you could get some 50M races in there leading up to the 100 miles, you should be ok. There is alot more to long training runs than the actual mileage, one big part is nutrition and the other is foot/blister strategy. Without practicing on your long runs and races in preparation for 100 milers, how would you know what works for you? you could get lucky or you could crash and burn. And if you never mentally go through hard, long training runs and a couple long races (50k & 50M) how would you mentally get through a 100 mile race?

I just don't get the "how far can i go on as little training as possible?" you see it all the time with 3 day a week marathon training plans advertised all over the place.

No disrespect meant here when I say that 62 miles is way short of 100. And besides, aren't 24-hour runs usually run around a repeated loop, generally flat (roads)?

I would suggest trying a couple 50 mile trail runs if your goal 100 is on a trail. Not necessarily because of the mileage, just the experience of a trail ultra and learning how to get through the tough mo ments -- learning that you can get through it.

Let us know though! We are open to crazy notions... we do them all the time.

Ok Im not great at math, but if you are doing that mileage every week how can you do it without doing long runs too? I think its better to even do less mileage during the week as long as you get a long one in every couple of weeks. Yes we all work and have stuff to do. For me it means sometimes starting running at 3am. But that is just a part of what you do to get ready for a long race. Its good as I get to run in the dark. I dont want to discourage you but really you do need to do some longer runs. The low mileage guys you speak of, well they get a long run in by doing the 100s! and I bet they do some longer runs also.

I think the importance of high weekly mileage may be understated while the importance of the long run may be overstated. Ideally you would want high weekly mileage along with a long run of sorts. Those high weekly miles is what fatigues the primary muscles in your legs making the secondary (balance ) muscles pick up some of the slack. These are the muscles that will keep you upright(if they are trained) after 75 miles. I'd rather see a runner attempt ultra distance on a high weekly average over 1 quality day a week combined with low weekly mileage. Of course the science to ultra training is rather lacking and most evidence is antedotal. Your a pioneer, experiment.