Marthe’s first month of ultra marathon training

I personally think having a training partner is essential to keep your motivation through the longer runs to keep pushing when you are feeling tired ”
MARTHE SOLBERG – Footwear Technician

Hi guys,

Marthe here again. I have officially survived the first month of training for Race to The Stones 50km ultramarathon! I was never the person to stick to any sort of training plan unless it was a gym plan, but here we are 5 weeks in and I have got all my sessions done and dusted one way or another. Although my furthest run to date has only been 15km, I am confident that the progression so far will have set a good base before I take on the dreaded 25km in about a months’ time (yeey, can’t wait).

I have been lucky to have my training partner Rosie with me on some of the runs, who also ran the full 100km Race to The Stones last year. I personally think having a training partner is essential to keep your motivation through the longer runs to keep pushing when you are feeling tired and to have some good chats with along the way. On another note, with the great weather we have had in London recently, my runs have become a lot harder, and let me tell you, fighting that last 10-minute tempo run in 28-degree heat is so much easier when you are running with someone!

Moving forward, I really need to work on pacing my runs, as this is completely new to me. My last 15km run I held a steady 5:00 min/km pace for the first 8km, only to find at 10km that I was dying and had to result to a few stops along the way to catch my breath. From that, I realised in order to survive the last 5k I had to drop the pace. Next week I am going to try a slightly different approach; to start off slow and make sure I manage to complete the distance. Lesson learnt!

Thanks for tuning in, and make sure to look out for my next post where I will talk more about injuries, prehab, insoles and strengthening

Happy running!
Marthe