120 miles. 29,000 ft of vert. Manning Park, BC. August 7, 2026.
I ran the Tahoe 200 in June 2025. Before building the FatDog 120 plan, I pulled every activity from the 19 weeks leading up to race day — the volume, the vert, the patterns that held and the gaps that showed up. This is what I built from that data. The slides walk you through the Tahoe recap and the 18-week FatDog program. Every Sunday I post a training update, so you can follow along week by week as the race gets closer.
Every activity from Garmin, Feb 3 – Jun 13, 2025. The training block that carried you 346 km around Lake Tahoe in ~97 hours.
February. Re-establishing aerobic fitness, building long run from 25K to 34K, introducing mountain vert.
| Wk | Dates | Phase | Run KM | Long Run | Vert | Runs | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | Feb 3–9 | BASE | 48 | 33.3 km | 268m | 2 | 400s speed session, treadmill, indoor cycling |
| 7 | Feb 10–16 | BASE | 54 | 25.0 km | 1,467m | 4 | Big vert day (809m), mountain running begins |
| 8 | Feb 17–23 | BASE | 36 | 29.3 km | 343m | 2 | Lighter week, indoor running |
| 9 | Feb 24–Mar 2 | BASE | 61 | 34.0 km | 752m | 4 | Building long run, hills added mid-week |
March. Volume jumped to 107K, tempo work introduced, long run pushed to 38K. One recovery week after the big jump.
| Wk | Dates | Phase | Run KM | Long Run | Vert | Runs | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | Mar 3–9 | BUILD 1 | 108 | 35.2 km | 2,446m | 8 | Big volume jump, 10K progression, yoga 3x |
| 11 | Mar 10–16 | RECOVERY | 66 | 34.5 km | 854m | 4 | Back off after big week, strides + tempo |
| 12 | Mar 17–23 | BUILD 2 | 75 | 38.0 km | 915m | 4 | Tempo work, long run pushed to 38K |
| 13 | Mar 24–30 | BUILD 2 | 62 | 31.4 km | 405m | 3 | Vancouver run, moderate volume |
April. Four monster weeks. Volume hit 150 km, vert hit 3,462m, longest run reached 50K. This was the engine.
| Wk | Dates | Phase | Run KM | Long Run | Vert | Runs | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | Mar 31–Apr 6 | PEAK | 130 | 42.2 km | 1,135m | 8 | Massive volume, long run to marathon+ |
| 15 | Apr 7–13 | PEAK | 122 | 25.0 km | 2,382m | 9 | High volume + mountain vert (1,415m single run) |
| 16 | Apr 14–20 | PEAK | 150 | 32.5 km | 3,462m | 6 | Highest weekly volume and vert accumulation |
| 17 | Apr 21–27 | PEAK | 112 | 50.0 km | 2,118m | 6 | Longest single run — 50K in the mountains |
May into June. Deload, mountain-specific long efforts, then a 2-week taper into race day.
| Wk | Dates | Phase | Run KM | Long Run | Vert | Runs | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 | Apr 28–May 4 | DELOAD | 55 | 30.0 km | 1,493m | 3 | Volume cut ~60%, MTB cross-train |
| 19 | May 5–11 | SPECIFICITY | 91 | 35.0 km | 2,334m | 6 | Triple Crown ultra, Ha Ling summit |
| 20 | May 12–18 | SPECIFICITY | 100 | 35.0 km | 2,529m | 6 | Sustained volume + vert, 5K time trial |
| 21 | May 19–25 | SPECIFICITY | 88 | 40.9 km | 2,956m | 4 | Grotto + Lady Mac — 2,488m single effort |
| 22 | May 26–Jun 1 | TAPER | 70 | 25.0 km | 1,114m | 4 | Volume dropping, MTB cross-training |
| 23 | Jun 2–8 | TAPER | 66 | 25.0 km | 1,109m | 4 | Easy week, progressions kept sharpness |
| 24 | Jun 9–13 | RACE | 16 | — | 562m | 2 | Shakeout runs → Tahoe 200 |
What the data revealed — and what carries forward.
Mon easy, Tue speed, Wed easy, Thu hills, Fri shakeout, Sat long, Sun rest. This pattern showed up every single week.
25K → 33K → 34K → 38K → 42K → 50K over 12 weeks. Never more than ~20% jump week to week.
Ha Ling, Grotto, Lady Mac, Triple Crown. Once spring hit, the specificity block was pure Rockies training.
Tempos, 10K progressions, ladders, strides ran through the entire build — even in peak weeks.
Mountain biking and yoga in recovery and taper weeks. Low-impact aerobic work without pounding legs.
Zero gym sessions in 130 days. But that's been fixed — the 2026 block has 34 strength sessions in 14 weeks.
Your current training state heading into the FatDog build. Strength is strong. Running volume needs to ramp.
Avg 20 km/week, max 45 km week. Longest run: 26 km. Most long runs capped at 21 km. Running really only ramped mid-March.
Gem upper/lower split 4x/week (Lower A, Upper A, Lower B, Upper B). Consistent 50–70 min sessions. Transitioning to 2x full body for FatDog.
Most running on flat terrain. One 965m vert week in March. Hiking and snowshoeing filled the winter gap. Mountain vert needs to ramp with spring.
Base plan adjusted: moderate start at 40–50 km/week instead of 55. Strength switches from 4-day split to 2x full body. Long runs expressed in time, not distance — terrain dictates the km.
Shorter distance, steeper vert-to-mile ratio, tighter cutoff. Different demands, different plan.
Six phases. Deload every 4th week. Strength tapers from 2x → 1x → 0x.
Same proven daily structure from Tahoe. Gem 4-day split switches to 2x full body on Wednesday and Friday afternoons.
Planned weekly running volume, time-based long run, vert target, and strength frequency.
| Wk | Phase | Dates | Run KM | Long Run | Vert | Str | Key Session |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BASE | Apr 6–12 | 40–45 | 2 hrs | 400m | 2x | Ramp in, switch Gem → full body |
| 2 | BASE | Apr 13–19 | 45–50 | 2 hrs | 600m | 2x | Add Thursday hills |
| 3 | BASE | Apr 20–26 | 50–55 | 2.5 hrs | 800m | 2x | Tempo Tue, mountain Thu |
| 4 | DELOAD | Apr 27–May 3 | 35–40 | 1.5 hrs | 400m | 2x | Cut volume 25%, keep strength |
| 5 | BUILD 1 | May 4–10 | 60–65 | 3 hrs | 1,000m | 2x | Progression run Tuesday |
| 6 | BUILD 1 | May 11–17 | 70–75 | 3.5 hrs | 1,200m | 2x | Long run with 1,000m+ vert |
| 7 | BUILD 1 | May 18–24 | 75–80 | 4 hrs | 1,500m | 2x | Mountain long run, ladders Tue |
| 8 | DELOAD | May 25–31 | 50–55 | 2 hrs | 600m | 2x | Absorb the build |
| 9 | BUILD 2 | Jun 1–7 | 85–90 | 5 hrs | 1,800m | 2x | Big step up, mountain long run |
| 10 | BUILD 2 | Jun 8–14 | 95–105 | 6 hrs | 2,200m | 2x | Peak-ish volume, mountain vert |
| 11 | PEAK | Jun 15–21 | 100–110 | 7–8 hrs | 2,800m | 2x | Peak week — longest effort, biggest vert |
| 12 | DELOAD | Jun 22–28 | 55–65 | 2 hrs | 800m | 2x | Big recovery before specificity |
| 13 | SPEC | Jun 29–Jul 5 | 85–90 | 5–6 hrs | 2,200m | 2x | B2B long days or mountain race |
| 14 | SPEC | Jul 6–12 | 75–85 | 4–5 hrs | 1,800m | 1x | Strength starts to taper |
| 15 | SPEC | Jul 13–19 | 65–75 | 3–4 hrs | 1,500m | 1x | Last big-ish long effort |
| 16 | TAPER | Jul 20–26 | 50–55 | 2 hrs | 600m | 1x | Volume cut, keep some tempo |
| 17 | TAPER | Jul 27–Aug 2 | 35–40 | 1.5 hrs | 400m | 0x | Easy running, no strength |
| 18 | RACE | Aug 3–9 | 15–20 | — | — | 0x | Shakeout, travel, FatDog 120 |