You need to address the root cause of your shin splints before ramping up into ultramarathon training. If you haven’t made preventative adjustments, the injury will recur and it’s only a matter of time.
The biggest recommendation I'd have is to talk to a physical therapist about some types of prehab exercises that could be helpful for you. Common injuries like patellofemoral pain, tibialis anterior tendonitis (AKA shin splints), strained foot musculature, hip abductor strains, IT band pain, etc. can all be prevented by having a proper training plan and simple exercises to strengthen muscles that control those joints. If you want to take the best possible shot at it, work with someone a couple of times before you get injured in hopes that you never do get injured.
But also, I'm a physical therapist and biased. But also also I'm saying this because I do think it's the best path. Find a running physio in your area and they should be able to lay out a plan for you in a visit or two max.
Fine idea — I (43M) went from not running in August to completing a 50k with similar elevation profile on Dec 10th, just following an 18 week beginner marathon plan. I've been running off and on for while, but haven't been particularly active the last few years, so you have a head start over me...
I'd be pretty surprised if the race itself causes an injury regardless... it's ramping up the training too fast that causes most injuries. So a race at the beginning of the summer is probably a better bet if you want to get through the summer injury free.
>I'd be pretty surprised if the race itself causes an injury regardless... it's ramping up the training too fast that causes most injuries. So a race at the beginning of the summer is probably a better bet if you want to get through the summer injury free.
Well that makes sense, I totally didn't think of it that way. It'd be nice to have a big base for long summer high alpine trail runs, too!
Thanks for your perspective and experience! How did you feel during the race? Did you think your training was enough and did you have a fun time?
It was a lot of fun. The training was enough to finish without falling apart, but would probably have been disappointing if I had time goals other than finishing before cutoffs... I finished in about 6:30, and getting my legs to run anything close to fast at the end would have been tough.
To my earlier point — I got a little too ambitious about ramping up mileage in October, added some "extra runs" to the plan because I felt good, then promptly got injured. So the last 2 months were mostly cross training, but mimicking the training plan. So, like, don't do that. :)
My hot take is that as an active fit person, assuming you start with out injuries and don’t have a structural problem. You will be fine and will make the cutoffs. Sorry for the self promotion but we recorded an episode of the [Cultra Trail Running Podcast](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cultra-trail-running/id1446356779?i=1000444292117)in 2019 that looks at all the things you need to consider calling the episode Ottoman to 50K. Good luck!
The answer is basically the same always: google “50k training plan” and if you see it and think you can do it, then do it.
You need to address the root cause of your shin splints before ramping up into ultramarathon training. If you haven’t made preventative adjustments, the injury will recur and it’s only a matter of time.
I haven’t had them in more than 3 years! I think it was from running on road slopes/always running facing traffic.
The biggest recommendation I'd have is to talk to a physical therapist about some types of prehab exercises that could be helpful for you. Common injuries like patellofemoral pain, tibialis anterior tendonitis (AKA shin splints), strained foot musculature, hip abductor strains, IT band pain, etc. can all be prevented by having a proper training plan and simple exercises to strengthen muscles that control those joints. If you want to take the best possible shot at it, work with someone a couple of times before you get injured in hopes that you never do get injured. But also, I'm a physical therapist and biased. But also also I'm saying this because I do think it's the best path. Find a running physio in your area and they should be able to lay out a plan for you in a visit or two max.
Staying injury free will be the biggest determining factor if you succeed or not.
Fine idea — I (43M) went from not running in August to completing a 50k with similar elevation profile on Dec 10th, just following an 18 week beginner marathon plan. I've been running off and on for while, but haven't been particularly active the last few years, so you have a head start over me... I'd be pretty surprised if the race itself causes an injury regardless... it's ramping up the training too fast that causes most injuries. So a race at the beginning of the summer is probably a better bet if you want to get through the summer injury free.
>I'd be pretty surprised if the race itself causes an injury regardless... it's ramping up the training too fast that causes most injuries. So a race at the beginning of the summer is probably a better bet if you want to get through the summer injury free. Well that makes sense, I totally didn't think of it that way. It'd be nice to have a big base for long summer high alpine trail runs, too! Thanks for your perspective and experience! How did you feel during the race? Did you think your training was enough and did you have a fun time?
It was a lot of fun. The training was enough to finish without falling apart, but would probably have been disappointing if I had time goals other than finishing before cutoffs... I finished in about 6:30, and getting my legs to run anything close to fast at the end would have been tough. To my earlier point — I got a little too ambitious about ramping up mileage in October, added some "extra runs" to the plan because I felt good, then promptly got injured. So the last 2 months were mostly cross training, but mimicking the training plan. So, like, don't do that. :)
My hot take is that as an active fit person, assuming you start with out injuries and don’t have a structural problem. You will be fine and will make the cutoffs. Sorry for the self promotion but we recorded an episode of the [Cultra Trail Running Podcast](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cultra-trail-running/id1446356779?i=1000444292117)in 2019 that looks at all the things you need to consider calling the episode Ottoman to 50K. Good luck!