Training plan and race guideOctober 2026 to September 2027

Colorado 100Training plan, 2027

From the Crested Butte 50 to a mountain hundred, with Quad Rock 50 in May as the dress rehearsal. Pick a race and the plan, profile and countdown adjust to it.

Choose your 100

Leadville 100

Crew access Restricted crew access Aid, no crew Pass or summit Pacers allowed from here

The plan at a glance

Most weeks have five runs: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. Saturday is always the long run. Sunday stays short or medium and only turns into a real back-to-back from late winter on. Monday and Friday are off from running, which makes them natural upper-body days.

On 100-mile weeks: you don't need them. For a buffer-first finish, what matters most is months of steady 50 to 70 mile weeks, back-to-back long days, lots of climbing, and time up high. The peak here tops out around 80 miles, with room to stretch toward 90 if the week before it goes well.

Weekly mileage

Week by week

Miles per day, read across like a Hal Higdon chart. Green cells are long runs, brown are workouts, and the pill under a run is that day's leg session. Tap any day to log what you actually ran, and check a week off when it's done. Both save in this browser.

Back up progress Show weekly notes

Week	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun	Miles	Ran	Climb (ft)	Done

RestNo running. Upper body, walking or mobility are all fine.

5 easyConversational effort on trail or road. Walk the steep bits.

6 hillsWorkout day. The note says what. Easy miles fill the rest.

16 longSaturday long run. Sunday back-to-backs are marked B2B.

Legs AHeavy lower-body session after the run.

Legs BBalance, hips, eccentrics and core after the run.

CoreCore, balance and band work only, 15 to 20 minutes.

ClimbWeekly vertical target. A range of plus or minus 20% is fine.

ran 5Miles you actually ran, from your log. The Ran column is the week's total.

Save and back up your progress

Logged miles, check-offs, your race pick and finish-time goals save automatically in this browser on this device, separately for everyone who opens the page. Export a backup now and then so a cleared browser or new phone doesn't cost you anything.

Export

Download a backup file, or copy a save code you can paste into a note or text to yourself.

Your save code

Import

Load a backup file or paste a save code. This replaces the progress saved on this device.

Backup file Or paste a save code

Add it to your Home Screen

iPhone: open the site in Safari, tap Share, then Add to Home Screen.
Android: in Chrome, open the menu and tap Add to Home screen or Install app.
On iPhone the Home Screen app keeps its own storage, separate from Safari. If you've already checked weeks off in Safari, export here first, then open the Home Screen app and import.

Strength

Lower-body lifting goes on Tuesday (Legs A, heavy) and Thursday (Legs B, stability), after the run, so hard days stay hard and easy days stay easy. Heavy legs never land within 72 hours of a Saturday long run. Upper body is yours to do whenever it's fun; just skip heavy hinging the day before a long run.

The lifting curve runs opposite to the running curve. October through December is when you lift heaviest, because mileage is modest and there's nothing to protect. Spring shifts to single-leg and slow-lowering work for downhill durability. In the peak, Legs A drops to maintenance. The last Legs A is about 10 days before Quad Rock and before the 100; core and balance continue into race week.

Why these exercises

Squats and step-ups build climbing power for Hope Pass, Mount Werner or the Colorado Trail. Leg extensions and slow step-downs harden the quads for descents, which is what usually wrecks legs late in a hundred. Balance, hip and tibialis work cut down on rolled ankles and cranky knees on rocky trail at 2 am.

Legs A (Tuesday)	Foundation, Oct to Dec	Build, Jan to Apr and Jun	Peak and taper
Back squat (or goblet or safety-bar)	4×5 heavy, 2 reps in reserve	3×6–8	2×5 moderate
Bulgarian split squat	3×6 each leg	3×8 each leg	2×8
Weighted step-up, knee-height box	3×8 each leg	3×10, 3-second lower	2×10
Leg extension	3×10	3×12, 3-second lower	2×12
Romanian deadlift	3×6	3×8	Skip
Calf raise, straight and bent knee	3×12 each	3×15 each	2×15

Legs B (Thursday)	Foundation, Oct to Dec	Build, Jan to Apr and Jun	Peak and taper
Single-leg balance: foam pad, eyes closed, reaches	3×30 s each	3×45 s each	2×45 s
Eccentric step-down, 4-second lower	3×6 each	3×8 each	2×8
Lateral band walk and clamshell	2×15 each	3×15 each	2×15
Tibialis raise	2×15	2×20	2×20
Copenhagen plank	3×15 s each side	3×25 s	2×25 s
Core circuit: dead bug, Pallof press, side plank	2 rounds	3 rounds	2 rounds
Pogo hops or low box jumps	3×10	2×10	Skip

Workout key

Easy: Conversational, roughly 3 to 4 out of 10. Trails when you can. Hike anything steep.
Strides: At the end of an easy run: 6 to 8 × 20 seconds quick and relaxed, full recovery walking.
Short hills: 6 to 10 × 60 to 90 seconds uphill at 7 to 8 out of 10, walk or jog down.
Long climbs: 3 to 5 × 8 to 15 minutes of steady climbing, running or power-hiking. Green Mountain, Mount Falcon, Lookout Mountain and Apex all give 1,000 to 2,000 ft close to home.
Incline treadmill: Winter swap for any hill day: 12 to 15% grade, same efforts. A stair climber works too.
Tempo: Comfortably hard, about the effort you could hold for an hour. Uphill tempo is the same effort on a steady grade.
Downhill repeats: 4 to 6 × 3 to 4 minutes down a smooth trail with quick, light feet. Walk back up. This is quad armor.
Long run: Time on feet, mostly easy, practicing race fueling and gear. Hike the ups, run the rest.
B2B: Back-to-back: Sunday's run on Saturday's legs. Keep it easy and hike more than you think.
Night run: Start after dark with your race headlamp, backup light and night layers. Practice eating when cold and tired.

Guidelines

Fueling

Every run over two hours is fueling practice: aim for 60 to 90 g of carbs an hour and settle on a sodium dose. The races stock different products (Leadville: Neversecond and Skratch; Run Rabbit Run: Tailwind and Honey Stinger, no gels; the Softie's basic aid: Tailwind; Quad Rock: Gnarly and Naak), so train on your own mix and plan drop bags to carry it.

Poles

Quad Rock bans poles, so do your March to early May long runs without them. From June, bring them back and train with the exact pair you'll race with. Run Rabbit Run and the Softie allow them, and they're a common sight on Hope Pass.

Altitude

From late May, put long runs at 9,000 to 13,000 ft whenever snow allows: 14ers, the Colorado Trail, Guanella and Kenosha passes. Few people can take two weeks off to acclimatize, so lots of high weekends plus arriving a day or two before the race is the practical version.

When life happens

Missed days are gone; pick up where the calendar is rather than making up miles. Sick or a niggle: run the nearest cutback week until it settles. If Saturday falls apart, swap the long run to Sunday and make Saturday short. Never stack two hard days to catch up.

Log your miles

Type what you actually ran each day. It saves as you type. Go back to any past week to fill in or fix a day; leave a box empty if you haven't logged it yet.

Planned vs actual

Weekly miles

The line is the plan and the bars are what you ran: the weeks so far plus the next four. Tap a week to open it in the log.

PlannedActual

Total miles so far

PlannedActual

Week-by-week numbers

How they differ, in short

All three are high Colorado hundreds with roughly 100 miles and 15,000 to 20,000 ft of climbing, but they test different things. Leadville is the most runnable and best crewed, and it has the tightest clock. The San Juan Softie is the most remote and technical, with the most time. Run Rabbit Run has the most climbing at the lowest altitude, with generous Tortoise cutoffs and cold nights.

If the goal is finishing with a comfortable buffer, the clock matters more than the vert. The Softie (38 h) and Run Rabbit Run as a Tortoise (36 h) give six to eight more hours than Leadville's 30, where only about 53% of starters finished in 2025. Between those two, Run Rabbit Run is the easier logistics: three hours from home, Olympian Hall for easy crewing twice in the middle of the night, and four to five more weeks of training. The Softie is the adventure: stunning, small and committing, with no crew for the first 46 miles.

Leadville is still a great choice if you want the classic and are willing to train for the clock. It's also a lottery, so you won't know until January 6.

Key dates and entry

Profiles on the same scale

Same axes for all three: 0 to 104 miles, 6,000 to 13,000 ft. Lines connect aid-station elevations, so real climbing between stations is hidden. Tap or hover for station details.

Side by side

	Leadville 100	San Juan Softie	Run Rabbit Run 100
Date	Sat Aug 21, 2027 (confirmed)	August 2027, date TBA. 2024 to 2026 ran on mid-August Fridays, so likely Fri Aug 13.	September 2027, date TBA. Recent editions ran the second or third Friday, so Sep 10 or 17.
Start and cutoff	4:00 am Saturday. 30 hours (25 for the big buckle).	6:00 am Friday. 38 hours (8 pm Saturday).	Tortoises 9:00 am Friday, 36 hours. Hares 1:00 pm, 30 hours, no pacers, prize money.
Distance and climb	99.7 mi, about 15,500 ft on the traditional course (the 2026 fire reroute had 13,357 ft)	103.4 mi, about 18,600 ft	About 101.8 mi and 20,400 ft
Altitude	9,200 to 12,526 ft. Starts at 10,152.	Average about 10,280 ft. High point 12,438 ft on the Colorado Trail.	6,669 to about 10,560 ft. Roughly half the course sits near 10,000.
Runnability	The most runnable. Dirt roads, lakeside singletrack, Colorado Trail. Two Hope Pass crossings (roughly 3,000 ft each way) are the crux.	The least runnable. Rugged, remote Colorado Trail singletrack with long stretches above treeline. "Softie" only compared with Hardrock and Ouray.	In between. Steep climbs (about 3,500 ft in the first 5.4 mi) and rocky Fish Creek Falls Trail, but long runnable dirt roads and smooth descents like Spring Creek and Flash of Gold.
Crew access	Four spots, each passed twice: Outward Bound, Pipeline, Twin Lakes (shuttle only), Mayqueen (inbound only). Busy and crowded.	Start, Cross Mountain (mi 45.8), Ryman Creek (71.3), Elbert Creek (95.5), finish. Some aid stations are reachable only by hiking, OHV or rough 4WD.	Olympian Hall twice (easy parking), Summit Lake twice (about 2 hours' drive), Dry Lake twice (drop-off only, no parking), Fish Creek Falls on foot or bike only, plus the gondola top near the end.
Longest stretch without crew	23.9 mi: Twin Lakes out over Hope Pass to Winfield and back	45.8 mi: start to Cross Mountain	21 mi: Summit Lake to the finish (gondola-top handoffs possible late)
Pacers	From Twin Lakes inbound (mi 61.8). Pacers may carry your gear.	From Cross Mountain (mi 45.8). One at a time, no muling.	Tortoises from Dry Lake (mi 44.5). Everyone may have one through town and for the last ~4 miles.
Required gear	No published mandatory list, but the race says not to attempt Hope Pass without warm, protective clothing.	Rain jacket, two lights, gloves, whistle, hat, water, cup. Satellite tracker required. Rain pants possible.	New for 2026, to leave Olympian Hall: light plus backup, warm jacket, space blanket, rain shell, gloves.
Drop bags	Five locations; most are passed twice	Five: EMT, Middle of Nowhere, Cross Mountain, Ryman Creek, Elbert Creek	Two bags (Olympian Hall and Summit Lake), each reached twice
Entry	Lottery Dec 1 to 15, 2026, results Jan 6. Also via qualifier races, camp packages or charity. $495 in 2026.	UltraSignup registration (2026 opened Mar 15). Waitlist, no bib transfers, deferral only for pregnancy.	UltraSignup, capped at 350, has filled with a waitlist. No refunds, deferrals or transfers. $385 to $595 in 2026 depending on when you enter.
Field and feel	700+ starters, expo, big crowds. About 53% finished in 2025.	Small and grassroots, run by locals. Very remote.	Charity event with elite Hares up front and a mellow Tortoise field. Aspen season.
Weather and risk	Highs in the 70s, lows in the upper 20s. Afternoon storms and lightning above treeline.	Storms above treeline. Wildfire and smoke: 2025 needed a reroute, and the race may cancel at AQI 150+.	Cold nights cause more DNFs than anything else; 2025 brought rain and snow. Moose, bears, hunting season.
Drive from Lakewood	About 2 hours	About 6 hours	About 3 hours
Qualifier for	Western States	Not yet a Hardrock, Western States or UTMB qualifier	Western States (under 36 hours)

Crew access along the course

Each line is the full race. Filled dots are crew points; the bracket marks the longest stretch you're on your own with only aid stations.

The clock

Cutoff times plotted as elapsed hours. Leadville uses the 2025 traditional-course cutoffs, the Softie its 2026 chart, and Run Rabbit Run the 2026 Tortoise times. Pick a finish time to see a rough buffer at each cutoff for the race selected above.

Your finish time for 28 h

Back-of-envelope only. It counts every 528 ft of climbing as an extra mile (the ITRA effort rule), assumes your second half takes about 20% longer than the first, and spreads climbing it can't see evenly between aid stations. Real early splits are usually a little slower than this because most people start conservatively.

Sources

San Juan Softie site (from the page code you shared): aid chart, crew, cutoffs, FAQ
San Juan Softie on UltraSignup: 2026 date and registration
Leadville Trail 100 Run: 2027 date, lottery, crew, pacers, cutoffs
2025 Leadville results release: finish rate
Run Rabbit Run 2026 runner's manual: aid chart, crew, pacers, gear
Run Rabbit Run registration: field cap, refunds, rules
Quad Rock 25 and 50: course, cutoffs, no-poles rule