Couch To 50K Training Plan – A Complete Beginners 50K Training Plan

You may have had a few to many drinks on New Year’s Eve, or set yourself the goal of completing 50K. Either way, if you’re running your first ultra, the couch to 50k training plan will get you to the start line fit and healthy.
This article offers a little insight to the training and gives you access to training plans that can be purchased from Sport Coaching.

Couch To 50K Training Plan – UPDATED 2021

Running your first 50K can be a challenge for experienced runners, let alone the complete newbie. The couch to 50K training plan is a program that helps the inexperienced or newbie runner tackle their first 50 km event.

The couch to 50K training plan typically takes inexperienced runners off the sofa and through a full training plan to their 50 km event.

While most training plans for 50 km vary in duration, the length you choose will depend on your current fitness level. Anyone starting from scratch needs to plan for at least 8-10 months of build up. If you are slightly overweight, allow some extra time on top of this. It will assist the weight to come off safely, without adding more stress to the body.

During the 8-10 months of the couch to 50K training plan, you will be building up the weekly volume of running. Starting with walking and running until you are comfortable enough to run 30 minutes non-stop. From there, you will be slowly increasing the duration of each run.

 

While everyone is different, you should expect to hit 30 minutes of non-stop running within 4-5 weeks. From there, the runs should slowly increase, and an easy week should be planned into the program every 3-4 weeks to allow for adaption.

The majority of your runs should be done at a comfortable pace, so being able to talk is a good sign. The goal is to build your aerobic system while letting the body adapt. For the people that don’t use a heart rate monitor, just remember to keep the running to a conversational pace.

Since this is your first long-distance event, getting through the event safely and injury-free should be your priority. Forget about interval training, focus on building your endurance and strength, and that will get you through the event without any problems.

Our couch to 50k training plan is available here.

Beginner 50K Training Plan – Getting Started

To get started with a beginner 50K training plan, you need to count the days/months back from the event. Does this give you enough time? How fit am I right now? These are both questions you need to answer when planning your first 50K.

The more time you allow, the less stress there is to push the running training. Once you have a fixed time set, work back from the event, and plan out recovery weeks first. These weeks should allow for a decrease in mileage, thus allowing adaption from the training.

Once you have the recovery weeks planned, start to build the weekly volume/duration of running into the plan. Try to increase the total time running each week by no more than 10%. During the recovery periods, remember to drop the weekly duration or volume by 60% or more. As you get fitter and the mileage increases, you can then look at building the long run.

The long-run is the key to a successful 50K for the beginner but often poses the greatest risk. So take your time and increase the long run slowly. Keep the pace at a conversational effort, and focus on time on the feet rather than speed.

The long-run then should be the focus up to 2-4 weeks before your event. Though this depends on how well you recover and if you have had any hiccups along the way. Any closer than two weeks out, you may affect your ability to recover in time for the event. So keep this in mind when planning.

Low Mileage 50K Training Plan

Since we custom-build all our training plans for each individual, we can provide a low mileage 50K training plan customized to you. You may be looking for a low mileage plan because of injury, or because you struggle with time. No matter the reason, it is still possible to complete a 50K event off minimal mileage. You just need to be more efficient with the training and make every session have a purpose.

 

12 Week 50K Training Plan

If you have experience running a marathon and have a decent base of running behind you. A 12 week 50K training plan is usually enough time for you to get in shape.

Our 12-week 50K training plan caters to the more experienced runner. This runner needs to have a solid foundation of running behind them and ideally been injury-free for the months prior.

We take you through both strength and speed phases of running while implementing key workouts to improve your 50K time.

Our 12 week 50k training plan is available here.

8 Week 50K Training Plan

Our 8-week 50K training plan is for the runner in the final stages of their preparation. The 8-week training plan takes you through multiple key workouts to improve your speed over the 50 km distance. It includes tempo workouts and intervals, followed by a long run on the weekend.

We then plan in your taper, help freshen you up for the event and dial in the last phases of your final speed workouts.

Our 8 week 50k training plan is available here.