Experimenting with high mileage? Stories about mileage bumps?

patience... the benefits of higher mileage can take a long time and you won't really see it until you've had consistent training at these higher mileages for months on end. You may even see the opposite because you could be tired from the extra workload but it sounds like you're adapting to it quite well.

I'm not tired at all. Doe this mean that I adapt fast and it will translate soon in faster times? I know that the real test is when I my track races next year. But I think it could benefit me very soon.

You don't have to drop your mileage like that every few weeks if you are feeling good and there is no soreness, no injuries sneaking up, etc. Remember to keep a very high steps per minute (180+) to reduce impact on landing. Also, run most of your mileage on grass and dirt trails if you are not already which that will help to decrease injury.

I went from 35 to 50 and have been feeling awesome. this is my 4th week and if I haven't gotten injured yet, I doubt I will. Just be smart like always. Benefits are crazy, do doubles and they will be even higher

As you say, it's different for different people, but it's common for such bumps in easy mileage to show their benefits a couple of *months* later. In contrast, key speed/strength workout benefits commonly show up in around 10 days, but focusing overmuch on those carries a bit more risk as well. In both cases, I've seen people show no benefit at all because they didn't step back before their key performance (it sounds like you're being good about this, though).

After your race, come back and let us know how the bump impacted you!

My stories:

My first two years of high school, I didn't keep a running log. I estimate that I ran between 30-40 a week freshman year (never ran seriously before high school) and maybe a bit more soph year. I ran 4:37/9:54 by the end of freshman year. Soph year, I got down to 4:30 but barely improved for 3200 (9:51). I was frustrated with what I saw as stagnation so I started keeping a log during my junior year. Started in the winter, I had built up to a consistent 60 mpw avg with workouts. That year I crushed my PR in the 3200 down to 9:24.

In college, a similar pattern repeated. I had run 70-80 mpw during my freshman year. In the winter of my soph year, I read into SOM on the letsrun boards and got inspired to start doubling as much as possible. I got up to 100 mpw doubling every day. My 5000 pr that year was 14:46.

The next summer (soph-junior), I took mileage seriously. In hindsight, too seriously. I set myself the goal of getting up to 120/week avg by the end of the summer. I didn't get there, but averaged above 110 for probably 10 weeks. I ran much better in XC than I ever had, but I think looking back that if I had run a bit less mileage, maybe 10-15 less per week, I would have been able to run stronger workouts, not been so tired all the time, and perhaps run better.

That spring, I got my 5000 PR down to 14:22.

The next year, my 4th year, our men's NCAA teams got cut so I had the freedom to train for whatever I wanted. I ran a half marathon in the fall (1:07s) and trained for track in the winter/spring. Those seasons, I kept mileage high but was more used to it and able to perform better in workouts. I focused more on the 1500/mile than in previous years so mileage dropped a bit when specifically training for those. I surprised myself with big PRs, running 4:08 indoors and 3:49 outdoors, while doing 90+ a week in the real training blocks and workouts geared towards the 5k.

TL;DR - Higher mileage WILL yield benefits, but like everything else there is a point at which you hit diminishing returns and you need to emphasize other aspects of training. Don't run mileage at the expense of everything else, but recognize that it is an important support system for all of your faster running.

At least my easy run pace vs heartrate improved. I am very excited to race! 2 weeks to go.

This isn't quite the same as you, but before my senior year of college, I bumped up from a consistent 70-80 miles a week to a consistent 110-120 miles a week. I simply doubled at ~10 miles each run and occasionally missed a few runs (2-3 per week). I was exhausted all the time. Actually I would feel less tired after a run rather than before I started. Eventually I twisted my ankle hard on a 20 mile trail run and that put in end to that training (about 6 weeks at high mileage). Even still I set prs in Cross Country and set big prs the following spring.