RAT RACE 100 Training Plans

3 training plans for completion of Rat Race 100 Ultramarathon, crafted by our in-house ultra running expert James

The following plans are designed to help you get to the start line feeling as confident and as prepared as possible. Before getting into the nitty gritty, lets set the scene. Taking on 100 miles in one go is a huge challenge and normally one that is attempted after many years in the sport. With that in mind, these are not ‘couch to 100 miles’ plans, they assume that you already have a good level of experience.  We have 3 plans:  

1. Walking completion sub-48 hours 

   BLOCK 1 (1-6 WEEKS)

   BLOCK 2 (WEEK 6 - 12)

   BLOCK 3 (WEEK 12 -18)

   BLOCK 4 (WEEK 18 -25)

   
   

2. Running completion 30 hours~ 

   BLOCK 1 (1-6 WEEKS)

   BLOCK 2 (WEEK 6 - 12)

   BLOCK 3 (WEEK 12 -18)

   BLOCK 4 (WEEK 18 -25)

1. Running Sub-24 Hours 

   BLOCK 1 (1-6 WEEKS)

   BLOCK 2 (WEEK 6 - 12)

   BLOCK 3 (WEEK 12 -18)

   BLOCK 4 (WEEK 18 -25)

   
   

Each of these plans are set over 24 weeks and broken down into 4 x 6 week blocks, taking you through a journey of foundation, progression, performance and finally, peak and taper.  

Using the Plans 

These plans should serve as a good guide for all. To make them as personal as possible, please calculate your training pace ranges via the link below. This can be done using a recent race time/s. If you haven’t raced recently, please estimate the best you can or go and complete a time trial, parkrun, or a race to get a better idea of your paces.  

RUNNING PACE CALCULATOR 

The next step in personalising your training is to remember that it should be adjusted to your personal needs day to day and week to week. Everyone’s schedules and life commitments are different, so if you need to re-shuffle training sessions to fit things in, that’s fine. The golden rules to remember when readjusting the plan are: 

• Always leave recovery time between hard efforts.  

• If sessions are missed, don’t cram to fit them in – just move on and resume in the present.  

Outside of the Plan  

Getting enough sleep and nutrition is essential to your training success. Nourishing your body well and letting it have enough rest after training will allow you to reap the rewards of your efforts. Without this, illness, injury and frustration are likely. Once you’ve got the basics right, this plan aims to cover the run / walk side of the physical preparation required to get you to the start line ready for action.  

Beyond this, strength training, stretching, foam rolling, cross training and other supplementary activities will help you succeed. The plan has made some reference to these activities, but it is important that you pay attention to how your body is responding to the training load and adjust be flexible with how you incorporate these elements.  

Running Paces & Definitions 

Walk / Run – Periods of walking interspersed within your runs. Usually, this will be intertwined with Long Runs as a way of increasing distance with reduced injury risk.  

Recovery – Your slowest running pace, used when your body is fatigued and recovering from hard efforts.  You could sustain this pace all day if you needed to.  

Long Run – The lower end of your base pace. This is a speed that you can sustain for a long distance. With training, you may be able to sustain this pace all day.  

Base – Easy mileage pace, used to build your general aerobic base. This is usually 30-60 seconds per KM (or 45-90 seconds per mile) slower than marathon race pace.  

Tempo – Moderate to fast pace used to build the higher end of your aerobic base. For most runners this will be around your marathon pace. 

Threshold – This is at the higher range of tempo effort and used to improve lactate threshold. Typically, this is a pace you can sustain for 1 hour, or 10 mile race pace. 

Strides – These are a drill to work on your speed and form.  They are short, sharp bursts, usually 60 – 100m long. The aim is to hone running technique and work on speed without doing a hard workout. These can be interspersed into base or recovery runs. 

VO2 max – The high end of your aerobic pace. This is a pace you can sustain for only around 10 mins, usually a little faster than 5K race pace. 

Sprint – An all-out max effort as fast as you can go.  

Glossary 

Rest – Complete or partial rest from training, IE doing nothing or only light activities.  

Long Run (LR) – For the purpose of this plan, any run over 10 miles in length.  

Walk / Run – A session mixing walking and running to facilitate greater training load. 

Progression Run – A training session where your pace gets faster throughout.  

Tempo – A workout pace / effort designed to work lactate threshold. 

Intervals – Periods of hard work interspersed with periods of lighter work or rest.  

Taper – Gradually reducing training load in readiness for competition.  

Cross Training (XT) – Any non-running exercises undertaken to improve your running fitness, IE cycling, rowing, etc.