140 miles per week.

I have run a few times over 140, but when I made my biggest breakthroughs was after I averaged 120-130 for the over 6 months over the winter time after an average XC season. When I started this I wasn't a bad runner, but not where I wanted to be. I was a 4:06 15 guy, and 8:45 3ker, 15:06 5ker. I felt like it was a time to really take a chance w/my running, i didnt want to ever say what if i did more?

I ran doubles everyday, with the average pace spot on to 7:30-8, no slower no faster. but then for 4-5 times a weeks I'd run 60-75 min progression runs based soley on feel. I'd start out at about 8 min pace for 15 min or so, then about every 3-4 min or so i'd drop the pace the better i felt. by the end i'd go till I felt like i was flying as fast as I could without breathing hard or feeling like I was laboring much. i'd aim for the last 7 min or so to end on the track and run a few laps and then time my last mile. after a few weeks my times for that mile started to drop, and it would feel the same effort. started out barely being able to break 5 min, to running 4:35 w/out loosing breath. I really would only finish on the track once, maybe twice a week to keep just to remind myself that i was still in shape.

after just three months I raced while running about 125 a week, still only doing progression runs and sprint strides as my only workouts. I ended up that winter running semi-big p.r.'s of 8:28, 14:48 but still felt tierd and out of shape while Iw as doing it. I continued to focus on each week. didn't stray much and by the end of outdoor I ended up running 3:52 for the 15, 14:12 for 5k and this past Xc season i ran well over 80 seconds faster on each course i ran on than the previous year. as wierd as it sounds i felt like my speed over the shorter distances was the one thing that was most effected when all was sound in done, hence the major drop in my 1500 time. in the spring I did lower my mileage thou, as i attempted to hover right at the 100mile mark for each week while tapering for almost each race. I did feel flat around may thou, but prolly because of a lack of a REAL tappering plan. In the summer I just did the same thing as before all the way through xc running 4-6 prog runs a weeks at about 135 average. I still feel as though my times will drop, but i suppose time will only tell. my first indoor race is just around the corner.

but i really feel the major key about the mileage is how EASY i was runnign when i was not doing prog runs. YES the prog runs would be sporatic and i would deciede while iw as doing them if in fact i was going to really do it or not, but on easy runs i would stay right around 8 minutes for the whole time.

Some call this "junk mileage" but i feel like the only junk miles are the ones done slower than my threshold, but yet TOO FAST to recover from fully over the high mileage distance. after all they are called easy runs for a reason. If i ran my easy runs at like 6:30 pace or faster as some say a 14:12 guy should be, then i would feel as though im too tierd on my hard days and wouldn't be able to run a 4:30 last mile on a 10-12 mile progression run. thus if the high end speed outcome is compromissed, so too is most of the workout, resulting in me being over tired and over a few months a little bit slower than i would else have been.

My 2 cents, for a loser college kid who does nothing but run and think about running his next run. Not gunna lie, when you run this much it makes you feel like a robot, it reminds me of that scene in fight club when he says "once you start fighting (or running 130-140mpw)everything else seems to have the volume turned down around you." that is what my life has become...

Not a huge difference, but definitely noticeable and worthwhile. Just make sure every run (probably no fewer than 10) has a purpose.

Evil Steve?

My four rules that have led me to success!

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1. Don't lift weights

b. don't ever stretch

3. eat only two meals a day, plus a snack of 3-5 beers each night for carb purposes only

4. run 18-22 miles a day

Good post.

I agree strongly about the pace of easy runs. The operative word is "easy."

Too many people, conned into believing idiots on Letsrun.com, think the best way to train is 100 miles per week at 5:50 pace. If I wanted to, I could do every run at 6:00-6:30 pace (I used to do just that). But like you, I slowed things way down over 8:00 most days and have felt much better for the harder workouts. The pace on easy days is meaningless, despite what malmo might say. It's easy; the effort is all that matters.

big dan wrote:

ok hre you did the miles ect but what did u run in races?

thats alot of time and effort.hope it was worth it.

Also just a point but a teacher seems to be a good job to do as a runner with the summer off.

Nothing spectacular. But I went from a 4:34 marathon to a 2:35, a 48 plus 6 mile to a 32:20 10k. It was absolutely worth it. I loved every minute of it and teaching did fit well with it all.

this all sounds alot like the JK articles. they are great pieces of literature that all young runners should read. And it is interesting to note the effect his program did have on speed, a la Bruce Hyde- an emphisis on progression runs and high SLOW miles and he cut 12+ seconds off his mile time...HIS MILE TIME in less than a year. not to mention what else it does for 10K runners, like wejo's 2 minute 10k pr.

alot of it all does have to do with feel.

Can anyone post that Jk article case study of bruce hyde? i remember reading it a year ago or so. but good stuff about how he could feel his exact threshold and the benifits of be able to do so...

I once ran 37 miles in a week. NO THANKS - I was hurting the next week. From now on, 20 is my limit.

don't see my post so once again I will ask if there are off days incorporated into this?

off days? if you do things right (i.e. go easy on your freakin easy days dummy!) then you dont need any days off.

think for a moment....

why do you need days off once you are in shape?

wouldnt have to happen if you took rest days on the pace, not the distance.

yeah but even running slow puts pounding on your legs. How do you prevent stress fractures at 140 miles a weak. I got one doing 80

I ran 161 miles last week. While going to class every day.

dont run on tar until you are used to the mileage, i ran almost every mile on grass or dirt paths for the first 3-4 months, but now, some year later, i can run 130 on tar if i wanted to and no real difference in any knee or ankle swelling.

I really think my key to staying healthy now is the fact that i wear only nike frees. I know a lot of people will jump on me for saying it, but who cares. i do. they are comfy and unlike other shoes at 90mpw, i can wear the frees for 145(my highest week, reached 5 times) and not a single ache in my legs at all.

I have 3-5 pairs at one time and rotate them. i really feel like they allow me to run in my natural motion and strengthend my legs to take on the miles better. after 12 months of 130mpw in nothing but nike frees i feel like i could run a 100-miler barefooted. minimalism man, go back to what is natural for your body's motion and you'd be surprised what your legs will handle. I know im no science-a-tition hurr, im just saying what has worked for me, and I'll thank the high miles for my drop in times and my nike frees for staying injury free.

also i just recently picked up a few pairs of the free trials, not a big fan. a lot more stiff, more of a real shoe feel. but they are warmer for the winter time.

this may just be what works for me. i am well aware that i might be a freak...but im not a pussy either. take what you will.

you are the man.

GAME OVER.

what I want to know is what year were you when you ran 4:05, 8:45, 15:06? If it was your frosh year, your jumps are obviously fantastic, but not quite the same if it was your junior year going into your senior year.

bubba1 wrote:

what I want to know is what year were you when you ran 4:05, 8:45, 15:06? If it was your frosh year, your jumps are obviously fantastic, but not quite the same if it was your junior year going into your senior year.

im a JR now, so my major drops were from freshman year (20 years old) to end of soph year (21). now im in the middle of my jr year.

and to be honest. im not the man...im very much a loser w/no life. i am aware of this, as i am sure so are all of you.

should say 19, and 20...im 21 now.

I'd just like to add that doing 140 MPW is in itself an accomplishment, and to be able to string together a series of weeks at this high level of volume is testament to the fact that you did it right.

I believe at this level of volume a fast pace should be the furthest thing from your mind, and in fact I frequently hear that you will naturally run the pace you can handle anyways.

If you are not injured and are getting faster then you are doing it right.

I was just wondering as to why it effected my mile speed so greatly, not just a little bit. To be honest i always thought that i would be able to run low 14's, but never did I believe I would be able to run -4:10 off no real traditional speed workouts, you know? Is this similar to what a previous posted said about bruce hide? granted he is alot faster than me, am I to understand that he had a large improvement in leg speed as well. it really reminds me of a peter snell type deal, it just doesnt make sense to me, i just can atest that it works for some wierd reason for all distances, not just the up guys.

One of the thinsg I have come to learn with high mileage is you must really try a many different things with your shoes...new shoes ever 250-400 miles, then rotate them in and out of runs, soft surfaces to give the shoes a little more life, beware when it gets cold as the shoes get super hard...

Also don't trust what running shoe store people(no matter how knwoledgeable they are) put you in..they will always err on the side of putting you in too much of a shoe(for $$$ reasons and they feel like they are doing you a service)...but running over 100 miles in a week in she that has too much support can be realy bad for you.

Another thing I have experimented with and has worked(refreshed my legs) for me is running my longs runs in lighter shoes...not big, clumpy, restrictive shoes. Less weight for 20 or so miles adds up....don't go too light on the long stuff, I use the NB M833WN, which for some may be too light, but they feel good.