Are you thinking about taking on a 100k race? Why not train like the greatest athlete of all time Kilian Jornet? This 100k training plan was designed by the best ultra runner that has ever lived, so you know that it’s going to get you to that finish line and fast!
Running 100 kilometers is no easy feat. It requires a lot of training, a lot of time, and a lot of discipline. If you can do these things, then you are ready to take on this training plan!
Here is the Google Sheets link for the 100k Training Plan so you can follow the plan and print it out.
100K Training Plan
Today we’re going to be talking about the 100-kilometer ultra training plan. This training plan is inspired by the book “Training for the Uphill Athlete” which I would highly recommend that you buy. It has a lot of information, so I would definitely recommend that you get it.
In this video, I’m going to talk about the 100-kilometer ultra marathon training plan from this book with a few adaptations I’ve done on my own to fit what worked best for me and what I think will work best for you.
I actually finished a 100-kilometer race last year in Switzerland. It was probably one of the most beautiful races I’ve ever done in my whole life. It was in the Swiss Alps and had the hugest mountains I’ve ever seen.
The race started with a 2,000-meter ascent which is 6,000 feet, so that was the craziest start of a race I’ve ever had. Let’s just say if I had been following this training plan, the race would have gone probably a lot better for me just because I was definitely not ready for that race and I will be the first person to admit that.
I got to mile 50 out of the 68 miles and I thought that I could not go another step. I was beyond exhausted and just could not move. This training plan would have really helped me out and I wish that I had it when I was training for my 100-kilometer race.
16 week 100k Training Plan
Make sure that if you are planning to run 100 kilometers, you are following this plan so this 100-kilometer training plan is perfect for beginners, experts, and everyone in between and I know it’ll work for you to get you to that 100-kilometer finish line.
What makes this training plan a little different from the 50-kilometer and the 100-mile is that this one just starts off going in full speed (literally). The first few weeks are intensity weeks, so you’ll just start off going intensely into this training plan.
Make sure that before you start this 100-kilometer training plan, you have a good base under you. That means that you’re comfortably doing probably around 50 or 60 miles a week and that you feel comfortable doing that. Then you can start doing this training plan.
Week 1-4
First, we’re going to go over week 1-4. For week 1, as you can see, all the red weeks are intensity focused training weeks. Intensity focused weeks are introducing zones three to your training. Before starting this plan, you should ideally have been doing a lot of base training, which is a lot of Zone 2 work.
As you can see on Tuesday, we have a workout of intervals so the intervals that we’re going to be doing are 2-4 X 10-minute intervals in zone three with a 2-minute recovery jog between reps and the rest of the miles are going to be in warm up and cool down.
On Wednesday, you’re gonna have a rest day, which means that you’re just going to be taking it super easy, easier than Zone 2 training, and just recovering from the workout that you just did. Then on Thursday, we’re stepping it back up and we are doing hill bounding.
Hill bounding is a little complicated. It’s supposed to be done on a 30% incline, so that is very steep, like the steepest thing you can find or even stairs work as well. You’re gonna start off hill bounding by doing 2 X 30-second runs up the hill in zone three and then you’re going to be walking down the hill after you’re done.
After that, we have 2 X 20-second hill skipping, which means you’re going to be skipping up the mountain and then when you are done with that, you’re going to be walking back down. Then after you’re done with that, you’re going to do 8 X 10 seconds maximum power bounding with long strides.
Then, as you can see on Saturday, we have a long run, so that is a long run of 20-24 miles depending on the Saturday. Then week four is a recovery week, so all you’re going to be doing this week is just focusing on recovery from the three weeks that you just did of intensity training.
So you should be pretty tired after these first three weeks, so the fourth week you’re just going to be taking it easy. You’re cutting volume in half and you’re just trying to spend as much time as you can in zone 2.
Weeks 5-9
Alright guys, so let’s move on to week 5-9. As you can see, for the fifth week we have a specificity week. Specificity training means that you’re going to be training specifically for your race. This means if your race has a lot of elevation that you’re going to be doing a lot of elevation these weeks and it also means that you’re going to be doing back to back long runs. Yes, they are difficult, but I think the back-to-back long runs are really the thing that helped me finish my first 100 mile race.
Also, in the specificity weeks, we are dropping all Zone 3 training and only doing Zone 4 training. That means that the Tuesday intervals are going to be in Zone 4 rather than Zone 3. Then, on the weekend, we have back-to-back 22-mile days. That is a tough training weekend, but I know that you guys can do it and that’ll help so much in your training.
Week six, you’re going to be doing one more specificity week, so just follow what you did the week before that and just add a few miles, and then after that, you’re going to be doing a recovery week. On week eight, if you want to you can do a 50-kilometer training race. I personally would not recommend doing that because training races have never worked for me. I always push myself way too hard and don’t recover fast enough.
For week eight, I personally would just do a 50-kilometer training run on the weekend and not make it a race, but if that’s something that you want to do, you can do that. Then week nine we have another recovery week so you’re just going to be taking it easy after your race or your 50-kilometer training run.
Weeks 10-12
Next up we have week 10-12. so on week 10 we’re doing another intensity focused week. That means that you’re going to be doing two workouts this week. You’re going to be doing one interval workout and one hill bounding workout with one long run on the weekend. Then after that we have weeks 11 and 12, which again our specificity weeks. You’re just going to follow the same layout as you did for the first specificity training weeks.
We are going to be topping out the training at 28-mile back-to-back long runs, so yes, this will be very difficult, but it will help you immensely for training for your race, I guarantee it. Keep in mind too that you’re going to be doing all of your long runs at a Zone 2 training pace, so this means that you are going to be doing these very easy and they are going to be focused on staying in Zone 2.
Weeks 13-16
Then lastly guys we got weeks 13-16. We’re going to start off with a few taper weeks, so these weeks we are just going to be taking a pretty easy as far as your last training weeks we’re concerned. These weeks are just going to be focusing on getting ready for your race so in Killian’s book he said that you can just focus on whatever you think will get you ready for the race If this means not tapering your training too much you could do that or you can taper quite a bit just so you feel really well rested and ready to race then on week 16.
So we are going to be racing a hundred kilometers this weekend and you are going to be ready to crush it guaranteed. As you can see on Monday and Wednesday, we have 30-second intervals. With these, you’re just going to be doing 4 X 30-second intervals with three minutes of recovery jogging in between each interval. This is just to keep the legs fresh, not lose anything that you’ve been working so hard for over these last few weeks.
All right guys, so that will wrap up the 100-kilometer training. You did it! You are ready to run 100 kilometers. And you’re crazy.
Leave a Reply