Freelove wrote:
No, not really. You can do the same training and just make it faster as you get better. Eventually you may need to change it up, but there've been plenty of successful runners who changed very little of their training throughout their careers.
Exactly. Granted I did run 80-90 mpw, I varied little from age 22 to 25 and I PR'd at long distances quite routinely. I credit this to the longevity of training consistently.
I also always wondered why we measure our training in miles. If I'm running 100 mpw I'm out there running a hell of a lot longer than most of the elites are. Think about time too.
I coached a guy named Richard Roberts (see Cleveland Marathon 2003). He was a 17:55/11:00 guy his SR year in HS. From 2001 to 2003 we gradually increased his mileage from 75 to 100 mpw, with 2 thresholds per week. That was it. As you can see, he won the marathon in 2:27. The training changed very little over the 2 years, but the gains were tremendous due to the consistency of training at a high level.
Keep in mind this is simply an example of what can happen for some individuals. I admit I don't have all the answers and I also admit I wasn't expecting such a performance. But my gosh his 5k times got down under 15:20 in the fall before the marathon so I knew he was a very talented individual in reality too.
So it can work. I don't agree that in a short 10 month period by increasing from 70 to 95 mpw that no benefit will be realized, but it would be foolish to say that if a benefit were realized, that this is the only contributing factor. Likely, in that particular case, the mileage increase WASN'T the most important factor. Running for awhile at or near 70 mpw alone can help some reap benefits whether they change training or not!