You have put in so much work over this challenge.  If you completed it all I would love to hear from you so shoot me a message at becomingultra@gmail.com.  I want to know what your experience was like!

The 12th run is here!  We call this the grateful run..  The goal is to reflect on the things in your life you are grateful for and have fun doing it!   Every 10 minutes for 50 minutes you will focus on a different aspect to be grateful for.  I came up with this while visiting my family years ago and even recorded a video explaining.  You can watch it here if you like. 

I personally am grateful you are a part of this all!

The Grateful Run

1-10:  For a working body

11-20. For a working mind

21-30 for important people in your life

31-40 for important people you have lost

41-50 for your future

If you liked this challenge, maybe you'll like a year long one I came up with called the Be Ultra Year.  

In any case, 

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays and thanks so much!

On the 11th Run Of Christmas...

11 accelerations @ 100 meters

How it's done:

• Warm up for a mile or 10 minutes.
• You are going to run 100 meters at a time and then recover for a minute or so in between each. 
• Know your body. If you haven't run fast in a while keep a governor on the top end pace. 
• A football field is a great place for this but any straightaway will do. 
• Start each effort like a plane taking off.  By the time you are at the 50 meter mark you should be at the max speed you will go for the effort.  Keep that high end speed for 30 meters and then tail off slowly for the last 20.
• Focus on turnover and posture.  

This is a fun one to coach in person so you have to self manage this one to be smart and avoid any tweaks.  For some of you the peak pace is going to look like a sprint and for some it'll look like a fast jog.  Be sure to slow down slowly.  Meters can be interchangeable with yards as it is just a good way to visualize the effort!

See you tomorrow for the last and 12th run!

On the 10th Run of Christmas...

We hope you are enjoying this challenge.  The 10th run isn't necessarily hard but it is time consuming.

Go for a double digit run OR go for your longest run.  Go out and spend some time in the fresh air and have a good one!

If your longest run to date is 5 miles we would suggest to not add more than a couple miles. 

Enjoy the relaxed pace and the effort you have put into this so far!

Great work and see you tomorrow on the 11th day.

On the 9th Run Of Christmas...

90 minute power hike

How it's done:

• Today we are going to the ultra roots.  Being able to power hike for long periods of time is a huge skill for covering long distances.  The goal today is to power hike for 90 minutes and trying to stick to as close to a 15 minute/mile pace as possible. 
• That's it. No running allowed. 
• Record how much distance you covered for retesting!

It's tougher than it looks.  Try not to default to just a walk.

See you tomorrow for the 10th day!

On the 8th Run Of Christmas...

8x400's

How it's done:

• Warm up with a half mile at 70% effort.
• This is best done on a track. If you don't have access to a track then marking off the distance is ideal.  You should be able to run without looking down too much(watch/phone)
• Run 400m, recover for 90 sec.
• Do this 8 times.  The 400 is a tough 1-3.5 minutes for most of us. 

It's simple but it ain't easy.  Be strict on recovery.  The faster we run, the more efficient our form typically is so keep in mind the end goal is effort and running economy!

See you tomorrow for the 9th day!

On the 7th Run Of Christmas...

7x3x10:

How it's done: 

• You are essentially doing 7 rounds of 10 minutes with the first 3 minutes of every set being all out.  
• Round one is a warm up.
• The pace for the last 7 minutes can be an easy jog or walk. 
• The reason there is so much recovery is that the 3 minutes needs to be really tough. 
• If you want to do on a track or treadmill it is a good set for that.  

This is another good one to practice active recovery in long efforts.  Think about running up a hill to have flat and downhill right after.  It's a good skill to work on!

See you tomorrow for day 8!

On the 6th Run Of Christmas...

A 60 minute effort at night(or in the dark)

How it's done:

1. Run for 60 minutes in the dark.  
2. If you live somewhere cold it is so hard to just get out there int he cold night or morning but WE can do it.
3. Today is all about finding joy in running in a time or place you don't usually.
4. Find a route with Christmas lights or a safe track.  
5. Be careful and bring a friend if you can.
6. Finish up with hot chocolate or a coffee!

Our comfort zone is meant to be pushed.  You've got this.

See you tomorrow for the 7th day.

On the 5th Run Of Christmas...

Run a 5k.

1. Keeping this one simple so warm up for 5 minutes and go run a 5k 
2. The goal is to push yourself and see what you got!

Many of you are going to justify the fact that you are sore, or tired, or don't like running fast and just go and get it done going through the motions.  The challenge today is to not think of anything but putting a good effort in. You've got this.

See you tomorrow for day 6!

On the 4th Run Of Christmas...

4 Lunge Miles

How it's done:

1. You are going to do 20 lunges(10/leg) before every mile.
2. Ideally you are doing step back lunges as they are easier to keep good form.
3. The second your last lunge is complete you start running the next mile.
4. 4 total miles and 80 total lunges

This is a great set to learn how to run on fatigued legs.  Think mountain efforts. We use sets like these for people training for mountain runs when they don't have access to mountains.

See you tomorrow for day 5!

On the 3rd Run Of Christmas...

3 progressively faster mile repeats

How it's done:

1. Warm up with 5-10 minutes of movement.  Get the HR up and prep that body for a tough set.
2. Mile repeats are typically running a mile at a high effort with minimal recovery(2-3 minutes)
3. For this set you will run a mile at 70% effort then recover for 2 minutes, run one at 80% with 2 minutes of recovery and then run one more at 90%. 
4. Most will do better running the first at effort then trying to speed up based on time for the next two.  For instance, you run the first at 70% and it is a 10 minute pace. Try to run the next at 9 m/m and the last at 8m/m.
5. It won't be perfect but the goal is increasing the effort significantly every mile! 
6. Because it is effort based the times don't matter, just that they get quicker. 
7. Be strict on the recovery.  

This one helps learn pacing on a deeper level. Embrace it!

See you tomorrow for day 4!

On the first Run Of Christmas...

Run a 20 minute time trial.  These are great no matter what fitness level you are bringing to the table.  Here is how it's done.

Warm-up for 5-10 minutes.  You should be close to sweating and your heart rate should be noticeably higher.  Here is a great warm up for this type of effort. 

Then, set your timer for 20 minutes and cover as much distance as you can.  Record the distance and make sure you run it somewhere that you could retest in the future.  

You aren't allowed to stop the time.  

This is a great exercise for a couple reasons.  First, it teaches you how to pace at high intensity.  Second, it gets rids of some of the anxiety for set distance time trials (think, 5k).  Lastly, most long distance runners are fine suffering for 10 hours but for 20 minutes, that's a different story.

Get after it and let us know how it went on the socials.  Just tag us on IG or FB!

On the second Run Of Christmas...

10x2:1 intervals.  

How it is done:

1. The workout is to be a strict 30 minutes.  The warm up is built into the set.  
2. You run hard for 2 minutes and easy for 1.
3. The 1 minute interval can be a walk if needed. 
4. The first 3 intervals should be easy and used to wake everything up.  
5. By the time you get to round 4 you need to make the 2 minutes feel much, much longer with your effort. 
6. Be strict with the time.  No extra recovery.  Each one will get cumulatively tougher.  
7. You can record your overall distance but it isn't necessary. 

This is a great set when time is an issue.  If you can run as fast as you need for the intensity, use incline to get more work!

Enjoy and see you tomorrow for day three!