Training for a Spartan Ultra Mountain race?!?! Well you gotta be ready for the long haul. You can’t just roll out of bed and expect to run a 50K while dodging obstacles like a NINJA on CAFFEINE. And that’ll mean months of sweat, tears, blood and questioning your decisions at least a dozen times.

But guess what.

We’re here to help you along the way.

Unfortunately this isn’t an all inclusive post. But. We do have other content with the big picture. Be sure to check these out if looking for more super relevant content for Spartan and Trail running Ultra success.

• Scott “The Fayne” Knowles’s 7 Tips on Running a Spartan Ultra Race
• 100 Days out from the Spartan Killington Ultra Sufferfest
• What’s in the Bucket?!?! Spartan Race Ultra Drop-Bin Data
• Training for a Grand Canyon R2R2R: A Trail Runner’s Guide to Success

This is just a small piece of the big picture of your training.
And today we’re talking about that FINAL piece. That FINAL big week or FINAL big workout you’re going to put in before cutting back, tapering up and trying to get your body to recover.

Before we jump in. I’m going to repeat myself. Training for this is a long journey. You’ll want to gradually increase your mileage, time on feet and strength training. Think of it like Lego blocks. If you don’t lay a solid foundation, that tower is coming down faster than my hopes of being a professional juggler.

The Peak Week: Time to Shine

Now. Let’s talk peak week. This is the time when you really crank it up. You’re looking at your highest mileage and intensity.
That high school gym teacher who never believed in you would drop his mouth in awe at what you’re doing this week.

When should peak week occur?!?!

It typically depends on your race distance. The bigger the race you’re going after, the further out your peak week should be. In terms of a Spartan Ultra 50K in the Mountains, most athletes training for it are putting a peak week in 3-5 weeks out.

The Beauty of Individuality

You know what makes Trail Running and Obstacle Course Racing and Ultra’s interesting?!?!

Training in this environment is not black and white. It’s not right or wrong. There are so many variables and so many ways to go about a training plan that suits a person’s specific needs.

Some people live near mountains and can run hills till the cows come home.
While others are stuck on flat ass roads, as level as my self-esteem after a bad haircut.

Some athletes can handle big volume and time on feet. While others need to focus more on strength and cross-training.

You just gotta consider your own variables and figure out what’s the best route for you.

SPARTAN RACERS & THEIR EXAMPLES

Okay. Here’s the good stuff.
Let’s take a look at real life examples of what Spartan racers have been and are doing.

We chatted with several athletes who have gone after a Spartan Mountain Ultra race in the last year and/or are going after one this fall of 2024. And we are going to focus on what their last month of training looks like, mostly diving into their peak week and last big effort leading up to race day. Now, some racers discuss total volume and some focus more on the specific big efforts throughout their training. Just a heads up to pay attention to as you check out these Spartan Racers.

CARLOS SEGNINI

• RACE: Spartan New Jersey Ultra
• STATUS: COMPLETED 04.27.24
• DETAILS: FINAL 5 big workouts & Peak Week Volume

Let’s start with Personal Trainer, Nutrition Specialist and Running Coach Carlos Segnini. Find him on Instagram @solstiziofit
Carlos lives in one of the flattest parts of the country. A city that keeps it weird. With dueling piano bars, bats under bridges and Joe Rogan’s comedy club.
Carlos lives in Austin, TX.

He tells us in the months leading up to the New Jersey Spartan Ultra he was traveling 15-45minutes out of the city to find himself some hills where he could get roughly 200ft per mile of gain. A variety of trails outside the city with varying inclines and technical terrain levels.

Going on a weekly training program he built his way up over three weeks before his peak. Followed by a gradual decrease in mileage and volume. Giving himself a nice looking chart and stats that people hope for in a training cycle. With his big workout of the week looking like:

LONG RUN DETAILS LEADING TO RACE DAY

• 14 Miles Trails – 3,100ft gain – 2:50
• 18 Miles Trails – 3,400ft gain – 3:30
• 20 Miles Trails – 3,900ft gain – 4:20 (PEAK WEEK and BIGGEST EFFORT)
• 18 Miles Trails – 3,900ft gain – 3:40
• 12 Miles Road – 3,200ft gain – 2:00
• RACE DAY – NEW JERSEY ULTRA – 33 Miles – 10,600ft gain – 8:42

Carlos tells us that many people will suggest treadmill or stair master work. These are great, but “nothing can replace hill repeats, especially the running downhill”.

Additionally, he gives advice on how he loads up the legs in strength work and consecutive running days. So he can “mimic longer efforts without actually going to the trails for 10hrs”.

And finally, we’ll mention that Carlos adds some rucking into his training and does weight lifting 3x per week.
All this training combined and he had a great day in Jersey over the spring. Getting 1st place in his Age Group and 15th Overall.

SAMANTHA VAN PEER

• RACE: Spartan Morzine Ultra World Championship
• STATUS: COMPLETED 07.05.24
• DETAILS: FINAL 4 weeks Volume

This past July we saw the first Ultra World Championship go down in Morzine, France. This race was simply incredible and everyone we talked with plan to go back. Check out our Post about Morzine here: Spartan France Rolls out the Royal Welcome: Morzine Ultra WC 2024

Samantha van Peer was out there for Morzine and tells us about her training leading up to the big day.

She tells us that she had two peak weeks in the lead up. The first, 4 weeks out focused around running volume in her hometown and the second, 3 weeks out where she traveled to the mountains and spent significant volume hiking mountains.

TOTAL RUN/HIKE VOLUME PER WEEK LEADING UP TO RACE DAY

• 55KM/34miles – 284M/932ft gain – 6:45hrs volume (taking place in flat Netherlands)
• 61KM/38miles – 1,665M/5,463ft gain – 7:43hrs volume (including taking part in the Kulmbach trifecta race)
• 18KM/11miles running & 28KM/17miles hiking – 3,421M/11,224ft gain – 14:27hrs volume (the majority being in hiking)
• 24KM/15miles – 234M/768ft gain – 3:24hrs volume (back in flat Netherlands)
• RACE DAY – MORZINE ULTRA – 65KM/40.4miles – 3,737M/12,260ft gain – 14:52hrs volume (Race + a shakeout run 5K)

As for accessory work and adapting to her flat country, she tells us how she handled it.

• Traveled to Austria to get up in the mountains for running and hiking,
• Lots of box step-ups & lunges while at home,
• Obstacle/Survival training 1x a week, and
• Strength Training 3x per week.

Samantha definitely recommends making trips to the mountains where you can experience technical terrain that you’ll find on course. She highlights this point but also gives us advice on how to train the mountains, saying “You get a good feeling of how hard it will be. I did a lot of training for going uphill. But, I underestimated going downhill!! Lost so much time on the technical part”.

So. Find those mountains and train on them. But remember to train all aspects. Ups and downs!

SEAN SEXMITH-BROSSEAU

• RACE: Spartan Killington Ultra
• STATUS: COMPLETED 09.16.23 & IN-TRAINING – 09.14.24
• DETAILS: Final big workout

Okay, now let’s talk about what’s possibly the toughest Spartan Ultra out there. Killington exists on so many Spartan racers bucket lists and is a race with so much love and hate.

We have Sean Sexmith-Brosseau who knows this mountain well. He’s gone after the Killington Ultra race 4x now and has so many learning experiences. He gives us the details here:

• 2019 Killington: I made it out of the swim in the 2nd loop but went hypothermic.
• 2021 Killington: I missed the transition time cut by 7 minutes.
• 2022 Killington: I missed the final time cutoff at mile 25 (the top of Killington peak) by 15 minutes.

3 years of that Killington mountain taking the win over Sean. But Sean stood strong and wasn’t going to let this continue. He had to go back for a rematch.

In 2023 he went back out there and finally conquered this grueling mountain. Crossing that finish line and taking home a buckle.

Sean tells us:

“I learned the hard way that crossing that finish line requires focus on three priorities:

1. Get as much elevation gain/loss as possible on terrain as similar as possible,
2. Develop an unbreakable mind set, and
3. Get proficient at obstacles.

To achieve these priorities, I worked with OCR coach Shaun Filiatrault with Outlaw OCR. He’s awesome and podiumed at many Spartan races (including Killington Sprint). He provided terrific programming and strength workouts that are specific for mountain OCR races. For a normal week preparing for an Ultra, his coaching prescribed 2 to 3 strength sessions and 4 to 5 days of various running. And over time, we worked on building up mileage and capacity.”

Through working with his coach, Sean worked his way up to having normal training weeks that included: 5 running days with 3 being on trail and a variety of run workouts with Intervals, OCR Sims and a Long Run. Grip work, Lower Body & Upper Body strength days. And with a primary focus of elevation gain over miles ran. Achieving up to 8K of ft gained per week.

Sean progressed through the year, with his final training cycle going 14 weeks for the Killington Ultra leadup. With his biggest volume week being: 10.25 hours of run volume, with 31.1 miles and 12.5k ft gain.

Sean provides a great write-up below about what he did for his final big training week and about how he gets into the right mindset. Along with the accessory work he adds into his daily routine. On how he treats the race itself and the fellow Spartans out on course with him. And finally, his personal goal on that mountain for 2024.

“I drove 8 hours to Killington and stayed for 4 nights. I spent the next few days learning the trails, bush whacking Bear Mountain and running the Death March (4 times in one day). This helped me get real comfortable with the mountain’s inclines/declines. For mind set, I knew from experience that it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the ‘suck’. To conquer this, I developed reset routine to get the mind away from the suck and refocus on my plan for the race. I also set race day objects based on items that I can control such as always moving forward, quick transition and mind set, instead of things you can’t control like weather, course design, or ranking. Basically, progress over results.

For obstacles, in addition to grip, upper and lower body strength, every day I’d ‘grease the groove’ and do a handful of pull ups on the way in and out of the door. A few times, I also went in-door rock climbing which I wished I’d do way more often.

Lastly, a big factor for me was having friends on the race course. Over the years, I’m so grateful to have met many racers that also make Killington their “A” race. It’s beyond uplifting seeing a familiar face on course and sharing a laugh about the suck. Yes, it is a competition, but they have buckles for everyone. It’s about helping each other get their buckle.

I’m hopeful that in sharing what I went through, maybe I’ll help someone else get theirs.

In 2023, I finished in 14 hours and 21 minutes at the back of the pack in sleet and darkness. In 2024, I’m going back to the Killington Ultra with a progress objective of finishing in day light.

We will see.”

There’s something special about that mountain.
And there’s a reason so many Spartan racers keep going back to it.

Sean understands this well. And we’re looking forward to see what he can do out there this year.

LUKE MERCADANTE

• RACE: Spartan Killington Ultra
• STATUS: COMPLETED 09-16-23 & IN-TRAINING 09.14.24
• DETAILS: Final Big Workout

Luke Mercadante is no stranger to Ultras. He’s been around over the years and has been seen at Trail Ultras on the East Coast, Spartan Ultra’s and Worlds Toughest Mudder.

Luke is going back for the Spartan Killington Ultra this year and talks about his typical training week and what his final big peak workout will look like leading up to the race.

LUKE’S STANDARD TRAINING WEEK

• Mondays: 10-15mile bike & Strength work: vest squats, pushups, pullups, lunges, etc
• Tuesdays: 2-3mile Ruck / Rest Day
• Wednesdays: Stairclimber – 45minutes – 2k ft gain
• Thursdays: Compromised road run 5-8miles with body weight squats/lunges every mile
• Fridays: Flex Day. Bike, Ruck or Run 1 hour
• Saturdays: Long Run on the Trails, ~10miles / 1.5k ft gain.
• Sundays: Long Bike Ride ~2hr. OR, 3-4hr Ruck/Hike.

Beyond the standard training week above, Luke tells us he “likes to fill up the year with races… one a month typically” and that he’s a believer in doing a similar race to your “A” race, but a little bit shorter to get an idea where you’re at in a race setting.

He also says how Rucking is a big part of his daily life.
Even beyond the training where it comes into play. He tends to Ruck even more often. Around town and back and forth from work. He’s always got the Ruck bag.

And now for his final Peak Effort he’s doing later this month.
Guess what… it involves RUCKING.

On 8/25, 20 days out from Killington, Luke will be doing:

20miles – 20lb Ruck – aiming for 5k ft gain: ~6 hours

As we mentioned, Luke has been around for Ultra’s. So what he’s doing is working well and we’ll see him again out on course for Killington.

DAN REILLY

• RACE: Spartan New Jersey Ultra
• STATUS: COMPLETED 04.27.24
• DETAILS: Final 5 week workouts

Here we have Dan Reilly who has Spartan Ultra experience completing the Killington Ultra in 2021 and the New Jersey Ultra in 2019 and 2024. Along with racing in the 24 hour World’s Toughest Mudder in 2019 and 2023.

He tells us about how he views training.

“I believe you need to simulate race conditions as much as possible during your training runs. For example, if I’m prepping for WTM then I set up a “pit” in the back of my car and I run 5 mile loops, getting in and out of water at night. If I’m prepping for a mountain ultra beast then I do hill repeats with my hydration vest, aiming for my peak week run to be in the 16-18mile range. During my prep for the Killington Ultra Beast I would drive an hour out to Seven Springs ski resort in order to get as much elevation gain as possible.”

LONG RUN DETAILS LEADING TO RACE DAY

• 14 Miles Trails – 2,200ft gain
• 16 Miles Trails – 2,600ft gain
• 18 Miles Trails – 3,000ft gain (PEAK WEEK and BIGGEST EFFORT)
• 14 Miles Trails – 2,200ft gain
• Short Easy runs in the Final Week
• RACE DAY – NEW JERSEY ULTRA – 33 Miles – 10,600ft gain

Dan tells us about his long run efforts, “I was aiming for training runs to mimic the first lap plus the ultra-loop. That way I could see if I brought enough food and water in my vest”.

Beyond the Long Run above, Dan looks to get around 6hours of running in per week during the buildup. Plus Lifting sessions 3x per week and Rock Climbing session for upper body and grip strength.

TODD LAGENDYK

• RACE: Spartan Killington Ultra
• STATUS: IN-TRAINING 09.14.24
• DETAILS: Final Big workout

So now we dive into a couple dudes training for the Killington Ultra coming up in 30 some days from this post.

Let’s talk about Todd Lagendyk.
This guys got a story.

A few years back Todd was almost 400lbs?!?!
Looking to make a change in life, 1.5 years ago he started getting into Crossfit. And through his gym, they offered a free pass for a Spartan race.
Guess what race was only 30 minutes from him?!?!

KILLINGTON.

So, Todd signed up for the Killington Sprint. And during the weekend he learns that an Ultra goes down on this mountain and it’s known as “one of the hardest Spartan races out there”.

So naturally, Todd did what any normal person would do.

He signs up…

This will be Todd’s first long distance event of any kind.

When it comes to training. Remember how he lives only 30 minutes from Killington?
Well, once a week he is going to the Killington mountain and doing reps up and down.

One Long Hike per week on the Mountain – 15-20mile goal, with 3,500-7k ft of gain.
Averaging 22minute pace and practicing nutrition and hydration.

Beyond the one big hike per week, Todd is still focused on Crossfit and hits that up 3x per week.

We wish him the best of luck and can’t wait to see what he does out on course!

NICK KLINGENSMITH

• RACE: Spartan Killington Ultra
• STATUS: IN-TRAINING 09.14.24
• DETAILS: Final Big workout

Now for Nick Klingensmith. He’s been here before. And that mountain went and swallowed him up and spit him out.

He’s back for revenge and training like it.

There are two primary workouts he includes in his training as he preps and works up his volume leading up.

1. The Long Run. Gradually increasing and aiming for ~18Miles as the Peak run
2. Workout:
   30 minutes warm up / rom drills
   5 miles @ comfortable pace
   45 minutes up & down the only hill he can find in Florida
   150 Sandbag Squats
   100 Step ups each leg
   9 Rope Climbs
   1/2 mile Sandbag Carry
   5 miles @ whatever pace feels right

Nick is in the flat state of Florida. So you can see how he’s adapting and throwing in exercises within his workout to really trash the legs, finding a way to better simulate hitting hills.

He tells us the Workout remains fairly standard and as the big race comes up, he will up the reps and miles a little here for his final big workout.

We’re looking forward to seeing Nick take his revenge on that Killington mountain. Follow along on his Instagram at StrideMotivation

FINAL THOUGHTS

So. After looking at these 7 Spartan Racers, what have we discovered?!?!

Like mentioned at the beginning. No plan is the same.
Everyone has a different set of variables in their abilities, their training, where they live, etc.
So EVERY SINGLE ONE of these examples was different.

WHAT DO THEY HAVE IN COMMON?!?!

• They all have a plan and are sticking to it,
• They all have a plan that involves gradually increasing mileage & volume with a final Peak Volume week,
• And lastly, STRENGTH TRAINING. Every racer took part in some sort of Strength work. REMEMBER THIS!

We hope you can gather some helpful information from what these Spartan Racers are up to in their training for mountain ultras.

If you don’t already have a plan for yourself. Find a person here who went through a training cycle that makes sense to you and that you feel good about. And apply it to your own training so you can crush that next Spartan Ultra race on your calendar.

Good luck and see you out on course.