I just finished up my HS track season, and starting to build base for XC in the fall in a couple weeks. I was wondering if anyone knew how I could build up to 70 miles, and if anyone could help me out with a weekly milage schedule. Thanks.
I just finished up my HS track season, and starting to build base for XC in the fall in a couple weeks. I was wondering if anyone knew how I could build up to 70 miles, and if anyone could help me out with a weekly milage schedule. Thanks.
What is your goal?
Do you want to do/say you are doing 70mi/week?
Do you want to go faster over a distance? What distance?
Doing volume and getting faster for your events are two different things.
pop_pop! wrote:
Doing volume and getting faster for your events are two different things.
They are highly related things. High volume causes faster times.
You're an old never-was low mileage hobbyjogger so you probably wouldn't understand.
It's possible, but if you do a gradual build (not increasing by more than roughly 10% every third week) you won't be running those higher mileages for long because XC in 10 weeks. It will still probably help though as more work generally translates to better fitness as long as you stay healthy.
Assuming you've been running 40mpw consistently without issue, over your ten-week timeline you could run 45, 45, 50, 50, 55, 55, 60, 60, 65, 65. Make sure you keep the running easy as you build so you're only adding one type of additional stress. I'd still do strides 3-4 times a week as well.
pnw_runner wrote:
It's possible, but if you do a gradual build (not increasing by more than roughly 10% every third week) you won't be running those higher mileages for long before XC in 10 weeks. It will still probably help though as more work generally translates to better fitness as long as you stay healthy.
.
Sorry, typo. It's late.
Of course, my goal is to get faster in the 5000 meter distance. I ran 16:40 in the 5k fall of 2014 as a sophmore and I ran 10:10 this track season. I an looking to run under 16:00 for 5k.
pop_pop! wrote:
What is your goal?
Do you want to do/say you are doing 70mi/week?
Do you want to go faster over a distance? What distance?
Doing volume and getting faster for your events are two different things.
Of course, my goal is to get faster in the 5000 meter distance. I ran 16:40 in the 5k fall of 2014 as a sophmore and I ran 10:10 this track season. I an looking to run under 16:00 for 5k.
forgot to "quote" the last comment. (First time using this website)
Boost your mileage up five miles per week, for three weeks. After the third week drop five miles, then repeat. It's a safe way to increase mileage. For example, weekly mileage could be 45 50 55 50 55 60 65 60 and so on.
pnw_runner wrote:
It's possible, but if you do a gradual build (not increasing by more than roughly 10% every third week) you won't be running those higher mileages for long because XC in 10 weeks. It will still probably help though as more work generally translates to better fitness as long as you stay healthy.
Assuming you've been running 40mpw consistently without issue, over your ten-week timeline you could run 45, 45, 50, 50, 55, 55, 60, 60, 65, 65. Make sure you keep the running easy as you build so you're only adding one type of additional stress. I'd still do strides 3-4 times a week as well.
Thank you. Is it necessary to cut down milage every third week to allow for recovery?
Absolutely! If anything, you might want to drop more than 5 miles, maybe 7-10 or so. It is also important when increasing your mileage to back off from higher intensity stuff as that is cause for a very high injury risk. When you do increase the intensity though, make sure you back off the mileage simultaneously, but not too much, maybe 10% until your peak.
You first need to set aside the extra time in your week for training.
40 miles = approx. 5 hours a week running
65-70 = approx. 8-9 hours a week
If your long runs right now are 8-10 miles in 60-75 minutes, I would suggest going out for a 2 hour long "run". You don't have to run the whole time. Maybe 30 minutes, 5 min walk, 30 minutes, 5 minute walk, 30 minutes, 5 min walk, 15 minutes to start.
Build up the running portions until you can run relaxed the entire time.
I'd do a similar build up to once run midweek of 80-90 minutes
Once that 14-16mile long run is doable, the other 50-55 miles during the week should be no problem.
As a master's competitor and returnee to serious competition twelve years ago, I remember looking very askance at the recommendation to drop mileage every 3-4 weeks during a buildup. But it's a good rule; experience has taught me that. And it's especially important when you've never run those sorts of mileages before.
Raising your mileage, you're seeking progressive adaptation: stress, increased stress, recovery, then more stress. Unless you build recovery in at EVERY level, you'll end up paying a price somewhere down the line. This means moderating intensity as well as distance; mixing short, easy (or shorter, easier) recovery days in with the longer, harder days; taking an occasional day off without guilt (it's insurance in the bank); and taking the long view. If you carry insufficient summer recovery with you into your fall racing season, you'll risk overloading at some late, inconvenient point, like two weeks before the big meets.
Buildup is about strengthening the connective tissue as well as the muscles. You have no idea how true this is until you get older--past 52 or so, in my case. Then it's all about the connective tissue, the skeleton. My muscles are still game. I don't have much trouble building up in a way that lets me put in hard two-hour runs with no muscle soreness the next day. It's hamstrings that are the problem.
So trust an older runner: build up, but moderate the pace. Let your body absorb the mileage and recoup. Cut back on the mileage every 3-4 weeks. You'll come off that cut-back week refreshed, ready to keep putting in the miles. Your tendons, ligaments, and bones will thank you. Your immune system will thank you. And you'll cruise into the fall ready for the hard work--and, yes, the excesses--of that season.
Some good advice on this thread. 2 things are crucial when building mileage.
1. Don't add too much too soon. Be patient
2. Down weeks are crucial
Here's how I would do it, starting at 40 mpw
40
45
50
37
50
55
55
42
60
60
65
Since you are a young runner I will again stress the importance of patience.
tsneal123 wrote:
I just finished up my HS track season, and starting to build base for XC in the fall in a couple weeks. I was wondering if anyone knew how I could build up to 70 miles, and if anyone could help me out with a weekly milage schedule. Thanks.
Back off the pace of your mileage. Take your time and enjoy yourself.
Run road races periodically to help with your motivation and development.
tsneal123 wrote:
Thank you. Is it necessary to cut down milage every third week to allow for recovery?
It's a good idea. You'll be putting more stress on your body so you'll have to keep an eye on how you're responding and adjust accordingly. Another option when you're pressed for time as you are is to only run 6 days a week and take a rest day rather than a down week. Remember, in an ideal world you'd have more time to build up to 65-70mpw but because of your time constraints you're just trying to do the best you can with the length of time you have.
Whatever you decide to do, it's always better to be a little undertrained rather than overtrained (and possibly injured) so I'd air on the cautious side. If it doesn't feel right don't force it.
Thank you guys so much for all the helpful advice!
Knowledge wrote:
Boost your mileage up five miles per week, for three weeks. After the third week drop five miles, then repeat. It's a safe way to increase mileage. For example, weekly mileage could be 45 50 55 50 55 60 65 60 and so on.
The implicit assumption is you get faster doing more volume. Some bodies do not adapt to more volume by getting *much* faster.
The goal is to do a faster 5k. One has to stay open to the idea that volume might not get the OP the increases in 5k speed she/he is looking for. The volume with/without meaningful speed increases is the thing to watch.
For sure, that fourth week in the cycle, the volume drops. Absolutely. No matter what your training plan is, drop the volume in that fourth week. Your body needs adaptation time.
And yes, I'm a old hobby jogger. But, I'm going faster now than I ever have on a low volume program that focuses on speed over a given distance. Volume injuries are nonexistent.
The volume promises did not work for me at all. Volume got me skinny and not particularly fast before overuse injury. Volume might work wonders for the OP. It might not though.
If OP isn't seeing obvious substantial speed improvements on a volume program, then it's time to reevaluate.
pop_pop! wrote:
And yes, I'm a old hobby jogger. But, I'm going faster now than I ever have on a low volume program that focuses on speed over a given distance. Volume injuries are nonexistent.
Then you are severely out of touch with what it takes for a young person to run at a high level.
He will run faster on 70 mpw than 40 mpw, period. This is true almost every time. This is assuming he will take care of speedwork and be smart about his training, which apparently you were not.
70 mpw is not even that much, and injuries heal, while slow times never do. Take your fitness jogging GU eating data crunching HRM obsessing advice to RunnersWorld or Reddit with the other fitness joggers. It is not needed here.
Patience is a virtue when dealing with girls, finances, and running. You don't want to waste your ability to improve on the mileage between 40 to 65-70 per week that you haven't done steadily yet. Meaning, it doesn't make sense to jump to 65-70 as fast as possible when you haven't milked 50 miles per week yet, or 55, or 60, etc.
Unfortunately the letsrun forum is still in the dark ages, which is to say it's mainly set up to gossip. Sharing information isn't always the easiest due to the formatting. Let me know if the "chart" below makes sense. I see you improving steadily with this progression and not hitting 70 per week until week 38.
Multipliers ----> 1.000 1.236 1.145 0.786
Previous 4 Week Avg Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4
40.0 ----- 40.0 49.4 45.8 31.4 ----- Wk 1-4
41.7 ----- 41.7 51.5 47.7 32.8 ----- Wk 5-8
43.4 ----- 43.4 53.7 49.7 34.1 ----- Wk 9-12
45.2 ----- 45.2 55.9 51.8 35.5 ----- Wk 13-16
47.1 ----- 47.1 58.2 53.9 37.0 ----- Wk 17-20
49.1 ----- 49.1 60.7 56.2 38.6 ----- Wk 21-24
51.1 ----- 51.1 63.2 58.5 40.2 ----- Wk 25-28
53.3 ----- 53.3 65.8 61.0 41.9 ----- Wk 29-32
55.5 ----- 55.5 68.6 63.5 43.6 ----- Wk 33-36
57.8 ----- 57.8 71.4 66.2 45.4 ----- Wk 37-40
I disagree with the add such and such percent per week idea as it is wrong and of no use at all. For example if you start at 0 and add 10% per week for eternity, you would still be at 0, which is not progressive at all.
To the contrary, adding mileage is a means of decreasing returns, thus the percentage should be the highest at the beginning, then decrease in a reverse exponential manner as the mileage goes up, i.e. the greatest drop of percentage would be after the first week.
However, there is no good reason to focus on percentages, but rather on how you feel as the mileage is increasing. Going from 40 to 65 or 70 is no big deal provided it's done right, i.e. by going an easier pace, and getting more sleep, especially the first week or two when increasing. All along you should keep feeling stronger and more capable of adding more mileage and running faster as well.
From the best of my recollection without checking, I was running less than 30 miles a week, went immediately to 56 and kept it there for a couple of months, went to 70 for one month, then after I'm not sure but hit a high of 132 miles in a week soon after, and then decided that just under 100 was best for me combined with my other training for the marathon. The point being that you go to the level that feels comfortable, stay there awhile, then go the next level that's comfortable, and so on.
Personally I think it is important to keep racing every week or at least every two weeks to keep topping up the training effects, which is what I did when increasing my mileage, and it helped quite a bit.