I'll start off by saying that I'm not completely new to running, I've raced 5k and 1/2 marathons and have run marathon+ distances. I'm just out of shape. "6 or 8 month's of sitting in front of the computer working long hours" out of shape.
When i stopped running I was in "casual" training for my first ultra, but a reoccuring IT problem mixed with a new career and a lot of traveling got in the way. Now that spring is around the corner I want to get back into training for my first ultra. I would like to choose a specific race to shoot for in order to keep myself motivated, but I'm not sure how much time I should give myself to train. I know the usual route is to train for a 5k, then move up to a 1/2 marathon training plan, and keep moving up through the distances, but I've already done those aand would rather just shoot for the race distance I want to run.
It took me about 36 weeks to get me to get to a reasonable marathon pace, so I'm thinking maybe 45 for a 50k.
Any thoughts/suggestions?