A 30-week 100 mile ultra training plan with week-by-week time-on-feet structure, hills, back-to-backs, adaptation rules, and cutoff planning tools.
Start here
Pick the default variant, scan the phase map, then use one tool to lock pace and fueling numbers.
1. Choose a variant
4 days/week (Beginner-friendly)
Start with the recommended default. Customize only after two consistent weeks.
2. Scan the phase map
Base → build → peak → taper
Use the condensed view, then open the full week-by-week table only when you need detail.
Jump to week-by-week3. Lock your numbers
Pace + fueling defaults
Run one calculator now so race week is execution, not improvisation.
Jump to toolsPlan length
30 weeks
Built with phases, cutbacks, and a taper you can actually execute.
Weekly rhythm
4–7 days/week
Choose one variant and follow it for 2 weeks before tweaking.
Typical session time
Easy: ~50m • Long: ~240m
Prefer consistent minutes over heroic single sessions.
Readiness gate
Default recommendation
4 days/week (Beginner-friendly)
Start here to reduce decision fatigue. Customize only after your first two weeks feel stable.
This is general training information, not medical advice.
Coaching beta
Get coach-style adjustments when you miss sessions, sleep poorly, or feel fatigue signals.
Pick a weekly rhythm you can repeat consistently. Start with the recommended default, then adjust only after your first two weeks feel stable.
4 days/week (Beginner-friendly)
5 days/week (Balanced default)
6 days/week (Advanced)
Ultras reward durability and pacing discipline. Prioritize repeatable time-on-feet sessions, practice fueling early, and treat cutoffs as a pacing skill.
Week by week
Use this as your decision map: what matters this week, what the long run is doing, and where you should back off.
Weeks 1–9
Build time-on-feet and durability; keep it easy.
Long session: Long easy time-on-feet (trail/road) + hiking practice • Cutbacks: 2
Weeks 10–21
Add terrain specificity and back-to-back durability.
Long session: Back-to-back long sessions (scaled) + fueling rehearsal • Cutbacks: 3
Weeks 22–27
Race-specific long sessions + cutoff-aware pacing.
Long session: Key long session with terrain focus + cutoff pacing practice • Cutbacks: 1
Weeks 28–30
Reduce load; keep a touch of specificity; arrive healthy.
Long session: Shorter long session + mobility
| Week | Phase | Focus | Long session | Key workouts | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Base | Build time-on-feet and durability; keep it easy. | Long easy time-on-feet (trail/road) + hiking practice | Hills (controlled) + hiking efficiency • Back-to-back long sessions (scaled) | — |
| 2 | Base | Build time-on-feet and durability; keep it easy. | Long easy time-on-feet (trail/road) + hiking practice | Hills (controlled) + hiking efficiency • Back-to-back long sessions (scaled) | — |
| 3 | Base | Build time-on-feet and durability; keep it easy. | Long easy time-on-feet (trail/road) + hiking practice | Hills (controlled) + hiking efficiency • Back-to-back long sessions (scaled) | — |
| 4 | Base | Build time-on-feet and durability; keep it easy. | Long easy time-on-feet (trail/road) + hiking practice | Hills (controlled) + hiking efficiency • Back-to-back long sessions (scaled) | Cutback week |
| 5 | Base | Build time-on-feet and durability; keep it easy. | Long easy time-on-feet (trail/road) + hiking practice | Hills (controlled) + hiking efficiency • Back-to-back long sessions (scaled) | — |
| 6 | Base | Build time-on-feet and durability; keep it easy. | Long easy time-on-feet (trail/road) + hiking practice | Hills (controlled) + hiking efficiency • Back-to-back long sessions (scaled) | — |
| 7 | Base | Build time-on-feet and durability; keep it easy. | Long easy time-on-feet (trail/road) + hiking practice | Hills (controlled) + hiking efficiency • Back-to-back long sessions (scaled) | — |
| 8 | Base | Build time-on-feet and durability; keep it easy. | Long easy time-on-feet (trail/road) + hiking practice | Hills (controlled) + hiking efficiency • Back-to-back long sessions (scaled) | Cutback week |
| 9 | Base | Build time-on-feet and durability; keep it easy. | Long easy time-on-feet (trail/road) + hiking practice | Hills (controlled) + hiking efficiency • Back-to-back long sessions (scaled) | — |
| 10 | Build | Add terrain specificity and back-to-back durability. | Back-to-back long sessions (scaled) + fueling rehearsal | Hills (controlled) + hiking efficiency • Back-to-back long sessions (scaled) | — |
| 11 | Build | Add terrain specificity and back-to-back durability. | Back-to-back long sessions (scaled) + fueling rehearsal | Hills (controlled) + hiking efficiency • Back-to-back long sessions (scaled) | — |
| 12 | Build | Add terrain specificity and back-to-back durability. | Back-to-back long sessions (scaled) + fueling rehearsal | Hills (controlled) + hiking efficiency • Back-to-back long sessions (scaled) | Cutback week |
| 13 | Build | Add terrain specificity and back-to-back durability. | Back-to-back long sessions (scaled) + fueling rehearsal | Hills (controlled) + hiking efficiency • Back-to-back long sessions (scaled) | — |
| 14 | Build | Add terrain specificity and back-to-back durability. | Back-to-back long sessions (scaled) + fueling rehearsal | Hills (controlled) + hiking efficiency • Back-to-back long sessions (scaled) | — |
| 15 | Build | Add terrain specificity and back-to-back durability. | Back-to-back long sessions (scaled) + fueling rehearsal | Hills (controlled) + hiking efficiency • Back-to-back long sessions (scaled) | — |
| 16 | Build | Add terrain specificity and back-to-back durability. | Back-to-back long sessions (scaled) + fueling rehearsal | Hills (controlled) + hiking efficiency • Back-to-back long sessions (scaled) | Cutback week |
| 17 | Build | Add terrain specificity and back-to-back durability. | Back-to-back long sessions (scaled) + fueling rehearsal | Hills (controlled) + hiking efficiency • Back-to-back long sessions (scaled) | — |
| 18 | Build | Add terrain specificity and back-to-back durability. | Back-to-back long sessions (scaled) + fueling rehearsal | Hills (controlled) + hiking efficiency • Back-to-back long sessions (scaled) | — |
| 19 | Build | Add terrain specificity and back-to-back durability. | Back-to-back long sessions (scaled) + fueling rehearsal | Hills (controlled) + hiking efficiency • Back-to-back long sessions (scaled) | — |
| 20 | Build | Add terrain specificity and back-to-back durability. | Back-to-back long sessions (scaled) + fueling rehearsal | Hills (controlled) + hiking efficiency • Back-to-back long sessions (scaled) | Cutback week |
| 21 | Build | Add terrain specificity and back-to-back durability. | Back-to-back long sessions (scaled) + fueling rehearsal | Hills (controlled) + hiking efficiency • Back-to-back long sessions (scaled) | — |
| 22 | Peak | Race-specific long sessions + cutoff-aware pacing. | Key long session with terrain focus + cutoff pacing practice | Hills (controlled) + hiking efficiency • Back-to-back long sessions (scaled) | — |
| 23 | Peak | Race-specific long sessions + cutoff-aware pacing. | Key long session with terrain focus + cutoff pacing practice | Hills (controlled) + hiking efficiency • Back-to-back long sessions (scaled) | — |
| 24 | Peak | Race-specific long sessions + cutoff-aware pacing. | Key long session with terrain focus + cutoff pacing practice | Hills (controlled) + hiking efficiency • Back-to-back long sessions (scaled) | Cutback week |
| 25 | Peak | Race-specific long sessions + cutoff-aware pacing. | Key long session with terrain focus + cutoff pacing practice | Hills (controlled) + hiking efficiency • Back-to-back long sessions (scaled) | — |
| 26 | Peak | Race-specific long sessions + cutoff-aware pacing. | Key long session with terrain focus + cutoff pacing practice | Hills (controlled) + hiking efficiency • Back-to-back long sessions (scaled) | — |
| 27 | Peak | Race-specific long sessions + cutoff-aware pacing. | Key long session with terrain focus + cutoff pacing practice | Hills (controlled) + hiking efficiency • Back-to-back long sessions (scaled) | — |
| 28 | Taper | Reduce load; keep a touch of specificity; arrive healthy. | Shorter long session + mobility | Hills (controlled) + hiking efficiency • Back-to-back long sessions (scaled) | — |
| 29 | Taper | Reduce load; keep a touch of specificity; arrive healthy. | Shorter long session + mobility | Hills (controlled) + hiking efficiency • Back-to-back long sessions (scaled) | — |
| 30 | Taper | Reduce load; keep a touch of specificity; arrive healthy. | Shorter long session + mobility | Hills (controlled) + hiking efficiency • Back-to-back long sessions (scaled) | — |
Workout library
You don’t need 50 workouts. You need a small library that you execute consistently, then progress safely.
Purpose: Build durable endurance without over-focusing on pace.
Prescription: 120–240+ minutes easy. Include hiking on climbs if terrain demands it.
Substitutions
Red flags
Purpose: Train durability and pacing under accumulated fatigue.
Prescription: Two consecutive days: long easy + medium easy. Keep both controlled and finish feeling stable.
Substitutions
Red flags
Purpose: Build climbing efficiency and downhill resilience safely.
Prescription: 6–12 × 2–4 min uphill at controlled effort; hike steep reps. Jog easy down.
Substitutions
Red flags
Purpose: Practice pacing that keeps you safe against cutoffs without burning matches.
Prescription: 60–120 min with segments at your cutoff-safe effort. Practice aid-station efficiency (quick in/out).
Substitutions
Red flags
Purpose: Train your gut and reduce race-day surprises.
Prescription: On long sessions: practice a simple schedule and adjust products if GI issues appear.
Substitutions
Red flags
Purpose: Support downhill resilience and long-duration posture.
Prescription: 2×/week, 25–40 min: single-leg, posterior chain, calves, trunk. Avoid soreness spikes.
Substitutions
Red flags
Adaptation rules
Most training failures are not fitness failures — they’re pacing, sleep, or scheduling failures. Use simple rules.
Tools
Pick one tool, generate outputs, then plug them into your training week.
Evidence (high level)
For ultras, time-on-feet is usually more useful than pace. Terrain changes pace; effort and durability are what transfer.
They can help, but they must be scaled and recovery-aware. If you’re injury-prone, use one long run and one long hike.
Use cutoff-safe effort in training, practice aid-station efficiency, and build margin for terrain and fatigue.
Match the race demands. If the race is hilly, you need hills. If it’s flat, you still need durability.
Practice fueling early and often in long sessions. Adjust products and timing; don’t wait for race week.
Turning long sessions into races. Ultras reward staying consistent week after week.
Ultra training plans, cutoff planning tools, and decision rules — focused on time-on-feet and durability.
Download a free 100 mile training plan PDF (and CSV): optionally add a race date, then get a printable week-by-week time-on-feet summary you can edit in a spreadsheet.
Compute the minimum average pace to beat an ultra cutoff and sanity-check your buffer with a planned pace.
Turn a carbs-per-hour target into a simple fueling schedule you can practice in training and execute on race day.
A practical taper checklist: what to reduce, what to keep, and what to rehearse so race week is calm and repeatable.
Calculator
Compute the minimum average pace to beat a cutoff, and sanity-check your buffer with a planned pace.
Example: 420 sec per km = 7:00/km.
Required pace (km)
Planned finish
Buffer vs cutoff
Limitation: this ignores elevation, trail surface, aid-station stoppage, and mandatory gear transitions. Use it as a baseline, then add margin.
Planner
A simple, repeatable plan: pick a carb target, then schedule doses you can actually execute while running.
Total time
Total carbs
Approx gels
Take a dose every 20 minutes. In training, practice the same timing so race day is automatic.
Safety note: fueling targets vary by athlete and conditions. Practice in training and adjust if you get GI distress. This is not medical advice.