Arrive at a climb heavy 50 miler with a body that can climb for hours, a gut that still works at hour ten, and legs that can run the descent home.
This is the exact structure I used to finish the Pikes Peak Ultra, 49 miles and 10,561 feet of climbing, two years after being told in a hospital that I might not run again. It is simple and it requires discipline. Every session has a purpose and every week builds on the last.
Written by a retired Army Infantry Major, Ranger School graduate and former instructor, Best Ranger competitor, and UESCA Certified Running Coach.
What makes it different:
Heart rate discipline is the pacing engine. Every easy run carries an 82 percent Threshold Heart Rate guardrail and every climb an 88, used as data to learn your own normals rather than as a rule that ends a run, and a Week 1 field test plus a Week 11 retest keep every target personal to you.
Back to back weekend long runs, properly dosed. A flat aerobic run on Saturday so the Sunday mountain run starts tired, because running tired is the defining ultra skill.
Thursday vert sessions from 1,000 to 2,500 feet with descent practice built in, and a treadmill equivalent for athletes without mountains.
Three strength sessions a week on a hard days hard model, with a lower leg emphasis, plus a nightly ten minute Durability Block for the three places ultra runners break: lateral hip, thoracic spine, lower leg.
A complete gut training progression from 30 to 60 grams of carbohydrate an hour with a sodium protocol, so race day fueling is a rehearsed habit.
A race logistics module: drop bag SOP, crew sheet, pacing card, aid station checklist, and the two rules from my own race, one of which cost me seventy minutes so it does not have to cost you.
What you get:
Sixteen weeks: three base, three build, deload, three build, deload, three peak with a full dress rehearsal, taper, race. Fully structured workouts in percent of Threshold Heart Rate with RPE alongside, so they sync to Garmin, Coros, Wahoo and Apple Watch and scale to you. Forty two purpose built workouts including hill repeats, threshold blocks, tempo grinds, four vert levels, and long runs with race effort segments. Three strength sessions with full exercise lists. A Read This First guide on Day 1 with three attachments: Durability Block, Fueling Progression, and the Race Logistics Pack.
Who this is for:
Intermediate to advanced trail runners with one or two marathons or a 50K behind them, currently running 20 to 25 miles a week, about sixteen weeks from a climb heavy 50 miler with 6,000 to 12,000 feet of gain. Six to ten hours of running a week at peak plus two to three hours of strength. If this is your first race past a marathon, start with Mountain 50K: Run Strong, the same structure at the 50K distance.
Equipment needed:
Hills or a treadmill that reaches 12 to 15 percent. Dumbbells or kettlebells, a band, a bench, a pull up bar or a place to row. A running vest or belt. A heart rate monitor, chest strap recommended. Poles if you will race with them.
Communication: self guided plan. Questions are welcome through TrainingPeaks messaging, and one on one coaching with Pacheco Endurance is available if you want the plan built around your race and your numbers.
The structure works. The work is up to you.
UESCA Certified Running Coach and retired Army Infantry Major. Ranger School graduate, former Ranger instructor, Best Ranger competitor. Medically retired in 2024 and told in the hospital I might not run again. Rebuilt through running: two marathons, a half marathon, 15 laps at a Backyard Ultra, and the Pikes Peak Ultra 50 miler. Author of the Run Strong plans on TrainingPeaks: half marathon, AFT two mile, CFT, and mountain 50K and 50 miler. Your body adapts to what you ask of it. Ask more.