Congratulations on signing up for the 2007 Run for the Toad 50km. You will be joining 850 other hearty souls on a magnificent trail running experience!
If this is your first introduction to trail running this is a perfect course for you. The trail is very well groomed and offers some great scenic vistas of the surrounding forest and countryside. Where possible I would certainly recommend getting some of your training done on a trail if you are coming from a road running background. While not all training is necessary to do on trail it will certainly make things go smoother race day by doing some.
If you have a chance to get to the Run for the Toad training runs July 28th and 29th it would be of benefit and you will notice on the training program provided the runs are oriented around 2 loops of the course each day which will help you familiarize yourself with the course and give you a good mental image of what you will be tackling race day. If geography or time prevents you from getting there, here’s a little bit of info to help prepare you.
The course offers very few flat sections, and at the same time very few extended climbs. The course is very rolling and the longest climb shouldn’t take you much longer than 90 seconds. The exciting part of the course is what didn’t seem like a hill on loop one or two become mountains on loop 3 and 4! About 60% of the course is shaded and there are some exposed sections in the grassy meadows. Weather has come in all forms at the Run for the Toad from snow and hail to gorgeous 70F sun. Aid stations are ample on the course as well. If you use a run/walk program based on time I recommend scrapping that and doing what the course allows.
I hope you enjoy not only the event itself, but the training to prep yourself for the event! It certainly will be a memorable experience.
Happy trails!
Ryne
| RUN FOR THE TOAD 50K TRAINING PROGRAM | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WEEK | MON | TUE | WED | THU | FRI | SAT | SUN | WEEK |
| 1 | OFF | 6K | 10K | 6K | OFF | 10K | 10K | 42K |
| 2 | OFF | 8K | 10K | 6K | OFF | 15K | 10K | 49K |
| 3 | OFF | 8K | 12K | 8K | OFF | 15K | 15K | 58K |
| 4 | OFF | 8K | 12K | 8K | OFF | 20K | 15K | 63K |
| 5 | OFF | 8K | 14K | 8K | OFF | 20K | 20K | 68K |
| 6 | OFF | 6K | 4 X HILLS (D) | 6K | OFF | 15K | 15K | 52K |
| 7 | OFF | 6K | 5 X HILLS | 6K | OFF | 22K | 20K | 67K |
| 8 | OFF | 6K | 6 X HILLS | 6K | OFF | 25K | 20K | 71K |
| 9 | OFF | 8K | 7 X HILLS | 6K | OFF | 25K (A) | 25K (A) | 79K |
| 10 | OFF | 8K | 8 X HILLS | 6K | OFF | 30k | 25k | 85K |
| 11 | OFF | 8K | 9 X HILLS | 6K | OFF | 30K | 30K | 91K |
| 12 | OFF | 10K | 4 X 3KM (E) | 8K | OFF | ITT 32K (B) | 15K | 83K |
| 13 | OFF | 10K | 8 SETS OF 5:1 | 8K | OFF | 25K | 20K | 77K |
| 14 | OFF | 10K | 10 X 800M | 8K | OFF | 35K | 25K | 92K |
| 15 | OFF | 10K | 15 SETS OF 2:1 | 8K | OFF | 40K | 20K | 89K |
| 16 | OFF | 12K | 16KM | 10K | OFF | 25K | 15K | 78K |
| 17 | OFF | 16K | 10K TEMPO | 10K | OFF | 20K | 10K | 66K |
| 18 | OFF | 12K | 10KM | 8K | 3K RUN | 50K RACE! | 3K WALK | 86K |
| A = Run for the Toad Training Run Weekend (July 28-29) | ||||||||
| B = Iroquoia Trail Test 32K | ||||||||
| D = Hill workouts have a 3k warm up and cool down jog. Recovery between hills should be 60-90 seconds. Length of hill should be between 500-800 meters and run at 10k race pace | ||||||||
| E = Speed work should have a 3k warm up and cool down. Recovery for 3k and 800m 60-120 seconds. Intensity should be 10k race pace for mile reps & 5 on 1 off and 5k race pace for 1/2 mile & 2 on 1 off reps. | ||||||||
Download Training Program in MS Excel format