From marathon to ultramarathon
The jump is less about speed and more about time on your feet. A marathon is raced; an ultra is managed. The training change that matters most is back-to-back long weekend days, and the skill that decides your race is eating steadily while moving.
What actually changes
Pace stops being the variable. Hours become the variable, and with them food, feet, temperature, darkness and mood. My twenty-seven hours in Madeira were decided by none of the things marathon training prepares you for.
Back-to-back long runs
Two moderately long days in a row beat one enormous one. They teach your legs what hour fifteen feels like without the recovery cost of a single monster effort.
Learn to walk fast
You will walk. Practise walking hard uphill until it feels like the plan rather than a collapse, and you will pass a surprising number of people who are jogging climbs badly.
Eating for hours, not minutes
Gels alone stop working. Find real food you can tolerate when tired and rehearse it on every long run. Nothing new on race day, ever.
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