North Downs Way has a tonne of lovely trails and surprisingly lots of garlic too

I’ve been doing training plans like this for the past few years. I’ve found (and it was a genuine mini-revelation) that training makes you faster, fitter, and makes any ultra-distance event more comfortable. I don’t know how it never occurred to anyone else before.

This year, like the last 9 years, I’m doing the North Downs Way 50 with Centurion Running. It’s a great course and you can learn more about it over here: centurionrunning.com/races/north-downs-way-50.

But if you’re on this site, then you may have already entered and you’re looking for guidance or confirmation about getting the right training in. Well, this is what works for me.

And who is me?

For context, I’m a 40-year old guy, over-weight (clinically obese as it happens) at 98kg. I’m 5′ 11″. I have been doing this a long time, so have a ‘base’ of fitness and experience to draw on. When I start running in January it’s my first run in months and the pace and heart-rate I see on my Garmin reflect it. With that context, here’s the training plan.

North Downs Way 50 training plan

north-downs-way-50-training-planDownload

Tips on how I use the plan

  • I use total hours to set a working goal for the week
  • I then add more hours as time goes by to add progression
  • Working by hours means I can have good days and bad days (for speed and HR), but time on foot is still the same
  • Later I start to add hills or higher pace work for further progression
  • The first few months are mostly gentle (for me that’s a heart rate of 145 the entire time) running where I can maintain a conversation
  • These gentle runs are the super power of training – fitness, endurance, and low-injury rate (you will see improvements within a few weeks)
  • I drop the alternative workouts should I need a little more recovery time
  • I add my weight to that chart to show my progress (if you weigh less you’ll run faster and or more comfortably)
  • I tweak the plan every few weeks depending on progress, illness, injury, or life events I can’t run around
  • The week after race day I stay active, it will help my recovery
  • I’m also active because my running for 2025 doesn’t finish with the NDW50, so I want to get back to it for the next run

The most important guidance I can share

  1. If you get injured, mark your plan as REST for the week and take it easy. Running on an injury (or illness) will not help you
  2. Don’t force yourself to run on an off day, we all have them, so move the plan around to suit
  3. Update the plan to reflect whether you’re hitting your goals (to keep yourself honest)

And what’s the outcome?

Generally as I get older (and cuddlier) my times are getting slower. 5 years ago I was running 09:03, but now 10:30 is good. And I don’t care much if I come in at 11:00. But I know if my training is good, and I’m having a good race day, then 10:15 is within reach. If the weight hits < 85KG, then I’m on for sub 10:00.

As an aside, and this again was a mini-revelation, but all the training helps me elsewhere. I sleep better, I feel more energised, and I look and feel better too.

Hope this helps.