u/FERGUJSNR

Hi all,

Hoping to get some insights from people in a similar boat with this one.

Currently training for a 50km. I’ve done 4 previously and never had a drama with finding the time to train. Now I’ve got a two kids under two years old and a change in work routine.

I don’t have trails locally so have to travel 45 mins for my long run. I used to do my long run on my Monday off (wife/kids at work/daycare) and basically had a whole day to pursue selfish running goals. All other runs were local before work or very early before kids up on weekends.

I don’t have that weekday off anymore and can’t get out to the trails on weekends without leaving my wife to bear the brunt of looking after kids. But the trails are close to where I work.

My question in light of all of that is…

Instead of the brunt of my elevation being accumulated on a single long run. Could I do two shorter runs in the week that are elevation focussed and then a local long run on the weekend that’s basically flat and achieve similar results? Assuming total weekly elevation and milage remains the same but distributed differently?

TL;DR

Is this:

Easy Run 12km (no elevation)
Easy Run 12km (no elevation)
Session 16km (intervals, tempo etc)
Long Trail 30km 1200m elevation

Similar enough to…

Easy Run 15km (600m elevation)
Easy Run 15km (600m elevation)
Session 16km
Long Run 25km (no elevation)

Not chasing optimal in light of the circumstances here obviously...