In this episode of "So you want to run an ultra?" I put on my best Gordon Ramsey impersonation and invite you into the running kitchen where we are going to make pizza. 

Eating some pizza right now definitely sounds like a great time for a group of ultra runners, but in all actuality, we are only going to be building a hypothetical pizza. This will be for an 80/20 pizza.

80/20 - some may recognize this and some may not. 80% easy and 20% hard. Keep your easy days easy and your hard days hard. This rule will greatly reduce the chance of injury and burn out. It will allow you to build on your base mileage and get your body ready for the longer miles needed for running an ultra. That is the dough prep. Kneading the dough and making sure the foundation of the pizza doesn't have any flaws. We don't want it too lumpy, too thin or too thick. It needs to be just right :) and these miles need to be slow.

The 20% are your hard workouts and the toppings that we place on top. Everyone who loves pizza is not just into it for the crust, but rather what's on top. This is where the sauce and the toppings tickle your tastebuds and where you get your speed and increased power. This is a very important aspect of your training, but you don't want to do too much of it or you will burn your pizza and even worse you will likely end up injured or burned out.

I hope you will enjoy this fun episode of cooking in the kitchen with me as we talk about building our mileage and the strategy behind it. 

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