You are here:
100 Mile Ultramarathon Training Plan
Written by Andrew Taylor. USATF Level 1 Coach. Coaching runners since 2010.
Become a 100 mile finisher.
You already back up a long run with more the next morning, and you know what a full day of moving costs you. Now you want to prepare for 100 miles without letting the size of the race turn every week into survival.
Getting there asks for months of consistent volume, sound judgment when the hours stack up and a training rhythm you can keep absorbing. The second weekend day is where this plan differs.
Controlled running through the week and regular recovery weeks keep the hardest work from spreading everywhere. The structure gives you enough room to build for 100 miles without asking every run to prove you belong there.
- 24 week plan
- 5 runs per week
- 30 to 84 miles a week
- Longest run 31 miles
- 120 coached runs
One-time purchase, yours for life, Delivered through Final Surge.
Is This You?
If your next race is 100K or shorter, choose the 100K plan. For 100 miles, you are looking at our longest plan.
A free 15-minute call can help everyone else decide whether their current training supports the jump.
Both Weekend Days Are Long Running Days
This 100 mile plan treats both weekend days as long runs from the opening week. Sunday is named the Back-to-Back Long Run because it carries its own distance and purpose. Week 1 starts with 20 miles on Saturday and 12 more on Sunday, so the pattern is present before the mileage grows.
The longest single run reaches 31 miles, the same distance used in the 50 mile plan for a race half as long. No training run can travel far enough into a 100 miler to reproduce what the final hours demand. What you can rehearse is beginning another long effort when the first one has already taken plenty from you.
Sunday reaches 22 miles and holds there through the largest blocks, which at the peak is nearly three quarters of the Saturday long run. The weekend pair grows from 32 miles to 52, so you reach the start line knowing how to begin 22 miles after a 30-mile day.
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 15 shows how the plan supports 52 weekend miles without turning every other run into another test.
| 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 | 10 miles + 20 minutes | Run easy, add relaxed strides and complete the first strength session. |
| Wednesday | Medium Long Run, Strength and Mobility for Runners | 15 miles + 20 minutes | Extend the midweek running, then complete strength work without loading your legs. |
| Thursday | Recovery Run | 7 miles | Keep the effort low after Wednesday's longer running. |
| Friday | Rest With Optional Mobility and Recovery | Rest or 20 minutes | Take the day off or complete gentle recovery work. |
| Saturday | Long Run | 30 miles | Cover the first long distance with enough control left for Sunday. |
| Sunday | Back-to-Back Long Run | 22 miles | Begin another long run and keep the effort patient throughout. |
| Week total | 84 miles | The largest week, with both weekend runs at peak distance. |
Weekends like this one are also where you practice running in the dark, which the race will almost certainly ask for.
Every Week Opens With A Note Like This One
Week 15 tests your biggest ordinary weekend before the dress rehearsal arrives.
This is the peak of your plan, and everything you have built over 15 weeks meets you here.
The largest week you will run before the race should feel like it. Thirty miles on Saturday is roughly a third of your race distance, and the 22 that follows on tired legs is the closest simulation this plan offers of what mile 60 onward will ask for. Run both on race terrain if you possibly can. Climb what you will climb. Descend what you will descend.
Handle it conservatively. The goal is to finish Sunday having covered the distance in reasonable shape, not to prove anything. A peak week run too hard costs more than it earns.
Focus this week on:
- Race terrain, race pack, race shoes and race nutrition, on both days
- Power hiking the climbs on Saturday rather than running them badly
- Getting through Sunday’s 22 without a low patch you did not fuel your way out of
- Backing off immediately if something sharp shows up
A hard cut comes next, and it lets all of this settle.
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 | 57 to 68 miles | The back-to-back long run is in place from week 1 at 20 and 12 miles, and mileage opens at 58 and climbs to 68 before week 4 steps back to 57. |
| 5 to 12 | Build 1 | 63 to 82 miles | Mileage builds through 2 blocks with recovery in weeks 8 and 12, reaching 82 miles in week 11. The Sunday back-to-back long run grows to 22 miles, close to the Saturday run. |
| 13 to 16 | Build 2 | 63 to 84 miles | The largest week of the plan lands here, week 15 at 84 miles with a 30-mile Saturday and a 22-mile Sunday. Week 16 then reduces the workload to 63 miles for recovery. |
| 17 to 19 | Peak | 69 to 81 miles | Long runs of 30 miles in weeks 17 and 18 lead into the dress rehearsal, a 31-mile Saturday at 50K effort. Sunday becomes optional there, so the week sits below the 2 before it. |
| 20 to 23 | Taper | 30 to 55 miles | Week 20 transitions out of the peak at 55 miles, then mileage decreases to 30 while the long run shortens from 18 miles to 8 and the Sunday run falls to 5. |
| 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. Back-to-back long run coaching with the second long run growing from 12 miles to 22.
- 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 run 55 to 62 miles across 5 days, with regular runs of 8 to 13 miles and a 20-mile long run. That should already be normal training, not a target for later. A completed 50 mile or 100K is recommended, not required. Week 1 asks for 58 miles, including 20 on Saturday and 12 on Sunday.
Sunday is where you practice beginning a major effort with Saturday still in your legs. At the peak, it reaches 22 miles after a 30-mile long run the day before. That gives you 52 miles across the weekend and a much closer encounter with the demands of 100 miles than one oversized training run could provide.
The difference sits almost entirely in the second weekend day. The longest run is actually shorter here, reaching 31 miles instead of 32. Sunday grows from the 100K plan’s 15 miles to 22, while the largest week rises from 77 miles to 84. That added work prepares you for the much longer race without making Saturday larger.
No. Tuesday includes strides, but there are no track sessions, tempo runs, threshold workouts, fartleks or progression runs. Wednesday becomes a steady effort run during the peak and early taper. Steady sits just above easy and is not a workout. The plan uses those controlled efforts to maintain rhythm without adding speed work to an already demanding build.
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.
After 100 miles, the direction comes from the race you choose rather than a longer plan. This is the top of the ladder. A second attempt at 100 miles starts with firsthand knowledge of how your body handles the volume, where your fueling needs work and which parts of the race deserve more attention. You can return to the build with better decisions instead of more guesswork.
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 100 Mile Run
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.
One-time purchase, lifetime access. Delivered instantly through Final Surge.