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100K Ultramarathon Training Plan
Written by Andrew Taylor. USATF Level 1 Coach. Coaching runners since 2010.
Still be racing at mile 55.
You already handle high-mileage weeks, long efforts on consecutive mornings, and the practical decisions that keep an ultrarace moving. Now 100K is on the calendar, and you’re wondering what training for 62 miles will ask of you.
Getting to 62 miles asks you to keep solving problems after food, weather and effort have changed several times. At this distance, the longest run can carry only part of the preparation.
This 100K plan builds the mileage through controlled runs and regular recovery weeks, so you can keep absorbing the work as it grows. You know how to train for an ultra. Now the volume has to match the race in front of you.
- 24 week plan
- 5 runs per week
- 33 to 77 miles a week
- Longest run 32 miles
- 120 coached runs
One-time purchase, yours for life, Delivered through Final Surge.
Is This You?
If your next race is 50K or shorter, choose the 50K plan. If you’re thinking of going farther than 100K, choose the 100 mile plan.
A free 15-minute call can sort out every other starting point.
The Long Run Stops Gaining Distance, The Week Grows
This 100K plan stops the long run at 32 miles for a 62-mile race, and it is supposed to. A longer Saturday would take several days to recover from and would leave less training behind it.
Saturday reaches 30 miles in Week 11 and then stops growing in any meaningful way. Across the next 8 weeks before the dress rehearsal, it gains only 2 miles. Making that one run larger would not teach you more about the race. It would take away from the week that has to follow it.
The growth moves into Sunday, the midweek long run and the full weekly total. Sunday reaches 14 miles on Saturday’s legs, while Wednesday grows to 17. The weekend as a pair goes from 24 miles to 47. You reach the start line with more ways to hold the race together after the longest single run has done its part.
Or skip the fixed plan entirely
Every plan here is written the day you buy it and does not change after that. Coaching does. Andrew writes your next 4 weeks against the training you actually did, then rewrites it 4 weeks later, and again after that. Across a 24-week build, the plan keeps adapting to your training and your schedule.
$129.99 a month, no contract.
What Makes A Sunrise Running Plan Different
Most plans tell you how far to run. This one tells you how it should feel, and what to do when it doesn’t.
More on why this Sunrise Running plan runs on effort instead of pace.
A Real Week From The Plan
Week 19 shows how every day contributes when the plan reaches 77 miles.
| Day | Session | Time | What It Asks For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Rest or Light Movement | Rest | Take the day off or keep any movement gentle. |
| Tuesday | Easy Run Plus Strides, Strength and Mobility for Runners | 8 miles + 20 minutes | Run easy, add relaxed strides and complete the first strength session. |
| Wednesday | Steady Effort Run, Strength and Mobility for Runners | 16 miles + 20 minutes | Hold a controlled effort, then complete strength work without loading your legs. |
| Thursday | Recovery Run | 6 miles | Keep the effort low after Wednesday's steady work. |
| Friday | Rest With Optional Mobility and Recovery | Rest or 20 minutes | Take the day off or complete gentle recovery work. |
| Saturday | Long Run OR 50K Effort | 32 miles | Run the full dress rehearsal at controlled 50K effort. |
| Sunday | Back-to-Back Run | 15 miles | Keep moving well after the largest Saturday of the plan. |
| Week total | 77 miles | The dress rehearsal and the largest week of the plan. |
The 16-mile Wednesday is the session most people have to plan their week around.
Every Week Opens With A Note Like This One
Week 11 turns the first 30-mile Saturday into a rehearsal instead of a distance test.
Your biggest block yet, and Saturday takes you to nearly half your race distance.
Thirty miles is roughly half your race, and it deserves to be run as a rehearsal rather than a distance. Race terrain if you can get to it. Race pack, race shoes, race nutrition. Hike the climbs the way you intend to hike them and run off the top the way you intend to run.
Then run Sunday’s 14 miles on the damage, which is the actual lesson. Race day asks you to keep moving well past the point where moving is pleasant, and this weekend is the closest approximation you have had to it.
Focus this week on:
- Race terrain and full race kit on Saturday
- Deliberate hiking and clean transitions back to running
- Getting through Sunday without a low patch you failed to fuel
- Honest notes afterward about what worked and what did not
The last full reset comes next, before the biggest block of the plan.
You receive 24 weekly notes like this, plus a separate coaching note on every run.
The 24 Weeks, Phase By Phase
| Weeks | Phase | Mileage | What It Does |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 to 4 | Foundation | 47 to 55 miles | The back-to-back weekend is in place from week 1, and mileage opens at 47 miles and climbs to 55 before week 4 steps back. The long run reaches 20 miles. |
| 5 to 12 | Build 1 | 52 to 74 miles | Mileage builds through 2 blocks with recovery in weeks 8 and 12, the long run reaches 30 miles, and the Sunday back-to-back run settles between 13 and 14 miles. |
| 13 to 16 | Build 2 | 61 to 75 miles | The biggest sustained block of the plan, holding 71 to 75 miles across 3 weeks with 30-mile long runs, before week 16 reduces the workload to 61 miles for recovery. |
| 17 to 19 | Peak | 68 to 77 miles | 2 peak weeks lead into the dress rehearsal in week 19, where a 32-mile Saturday run at 50K effort is followed by 15 more miles on Sunday. It is the largest week at 77 miles. |
| 20 to 23 | Taper | 33 to 62 miles | Week 20 transitions out of the peak at 62 miles, then mileage decreases to 33 while the long run shortens from 26 miles to 12 and the Sunday run comes down with it. |
| 24 | Race Week | 14 miles + race | 3 scheduled runs lead into the race, with an optional 2-mile shakeout Friday if it helps you feel ready. Everything is easy and nothing is longer than 5 miles. |
What You Get Inside Training Plan
- All 24 weeks, 120 coached runs including race day, and 23 back-to-back weekends across the training plan to reach your 100K goal.
- 42 strength sessions of 20 minutes, plus 24 shorter mobility sessions for the rest day.
- Run by effort, not pace. Every session on an RPE 1 to 10 scale. No paces, no heart rate, no zones.
- A coach's note on every run: how it should feel, one cue to hold onto, and how to shorten it when today is not the day.
- One-time purchase, yours for life. Printable PDF, syncs to your watch, delivered through Final Surge.
How It Works
Final Surge is free to use — you’re paying for the plan, not a subscription.
Frequently Asked Questions
You are ready if you are running 45 to 52 miles a week across 5 days, your long run is around 16 miles, and running long on 2 mornings in a row is something you already do. A completed 50K or 50 mile helps, but coming from a marathon is a real starting point too. Week 1 asks for 47 miles across 5 runs.
Past roughly half the race, making one run longer costs more recovery than the added distance returns. The remaining preparation comes from the second morning, a midweek long run that reaches 17 miles and 24 weeks of accumulated volume. Those pieces keep building after Saturday has reached its useful limit.
The race is 12 miles longer, while the longest run is only 1 mile longer. The rest of the week carries the difference. Week 1 opens at 47 miles instead of 38, Sunday reaches 15 miles instead of 12, and the midweek long run reaches 17 miles instead of 15.
Almost none. Tuesday carries strides every week, while Wednesday includes a light fartlek in 2 weeks, one progression run and steady effort work during the peak and early taper. Steady sits just above easy and is not a workout. There is no track work, tempo or threshold running.
Skip the missed run and continue with the next scheduled session. Do not stack runs, squeeze a long run into the wrong place, or turn a recovery week into a make-up week. Consistency across the 24 weeks of the plan beats being perfect for 2.
No. Every session is written on an RPE 1 to 10 effort scale. That means the plan works on hills, in heat, on tired legs and at any fitness level, and it keeps working as you get faster.
Pick your race, set your start date, and the plan builds backward from it. If the race moves, the plan moves. You keep it for life, which means the next build starts from something you already know works.
The 100 Mile is the right direction when your race goes beyond 100K. It opens at a weekly load this build has you carrying by Week 5, so the step up asks less of you than the distance on the entry form suggests.
Founder & Head Coach, Sunrise Running Company
Andrew is a USATF Level 1 certified running coach in Modesto, California, with 35+ years of running and 8 finishes at the 100-mile distance. He holds a BS in Exercise Science Education and an MA in Sports Management from Ohio State, and he writes every Sunrise Running plan himself.
24 Weeks To Your 100K
Pick your race, set your start date, and the plan builds backward from it. If the race moves, the plan moves. You keep it for life, including for the next one, when you return knowing more about the distance and yourself.
One-time purchase, lifetime access. Delivered instantly through Final Surge.