Push the mileage last 3 weeks before taper?

bad idea. the risk of injury from those extra 5 miles is far larger than any benefit you'd get at this point. Not sure exactly why, but Daniels is cutting you back for a reason, likely a key workout is coming up, then a taper. Your goal now really is to just get your last few workouts in and get to the starting line injury free and rested.

Stick with the plan, and up your mileage next cycle when its not so risky to do so.

stick man wrote:

bad idea. the risk of injury from those extra 5 miles is far larger than any benefit you'd get at this point. Not sure exactly why, but Daniels is cutting you back for a reason, likely a key workout is coming up, then a taper. Your goal now really is to just get your last few workouts in and get to the starting line injury free and rested.

Stick with the plan, and up your mileage next cycle when its not so risky to do so.

+1

I've seen so many people derail their marathon because they got greedy leading up to taper. A bit of extra training isn't going to miraculously shave 5 minutes off your race. But it can have serious negative consequences including not even being able to show up on race day due to injury. But more likely, just overtraining that even a solid taper can't make up for.

lightng wrote:

So I started the Daniels 2Q program at 15 weeks out from my marathon and originally planned on sticking with the 41-55 miles plan.

6 weeks into my training cycle I decided to switch to the 56-70 miles plan.

I'm now 4 weeks out from my marathon and my peak mileage in a week was about 75 miles.

My question is, given that I am 4 weeks out, should I try to push it to say - 80 mpw?

The mileage prescribed by Daniels' for the next 3 weeks is 63 mpw (0.9x the peak mileage of 70). Shoudl I stick to Daniels' plan? Or would I be shooting myself in the foot if I tried to push the mileage this close to the race?

I don't understand your entire plan. Let me make sure I have this right:

- You wanted to do the 41-55 mile plan, which means 11 weeks ago you were doing max 45 miles, since he starts you at 0.8 times your max. But you could have been doing less.

- Just 6 weeks later, you were now going above the 55 mile peak.

- A total of 11 weeks in, you went from 45 miles per week to 70.

After this incredible increase in mpw, you think it's smart to now increase to 80 mpw?

You have fallen into the ultimate "more mileage is better" greed trap that new marathoners fall into. Building up your mpw doesn't happen over a cycle, it happens over multiple cycles. You've already gotten away with an absolute crime at this point, just count your blessings and get the race done with a good taper.

lol yup, that's a good summary of how things have been going.

I admit that I was extremely greedy and the reason is because I had set myself a goal of finishing in under 3h30 min and was worried that peaking at 55 mpw wouldn't get me there.

My decision to compete in the marathon was made 15 weeks out on July 1st and had completed a 5k in 22:40 on that day. I plugged the 5k time into a calculator and it extrapolated to a 3h30 marathon.

I think perhaps I've exploited my youth (i'm 24) and thought that I could skyrocket my mileage relatively fast and it worked without too many issues.

What i'll do at this point is hit another peak of 75 mpw and take the last 3 weeks to taper down to the prescribed 56 mpw , 56 mpw, 47 mpw

lightng wrote:

lol yup, that's a good summary of how things have been going.

I admit that I was extremely greedy and the reason is because I had set myself a goal of finishing in under 3h30 min and was worried that peaking at 55 mpw wouldn't get me there.

My decision to compete in the marathon was made 15 weeks out on July 1st and had completed a 5k in 22:40 on that day. I plugged the 5k time into a calculator and it extrapolated to a 3h30 marathon.

I think perhaps I've exploited my youth (i'm 24) and thought that I could skyrocket my mileage relatively fast and it worked without too many issues.

What i'll do at this point is hit another peak of 75 mpw and take the last 3 weeks to taper down to the prescribed 56 mpw , 56 mpw, 47 mpw

Serious question - what do you hope to accomplish by running 75 this week?

How about running 65 this week, then taper down for the final three weeks? Those extra ten miles will not make your race, but the certainly can break it. why risk it? the hay is in the barn.

You're 24, you have plenty of time to ramp up your mileage in future cycles. Think long term.

Just trying to squeeze the last ounces of aerobic development that could possibly occur at this point.

Would I be better off cross training like on a stationary bike with the reduced mileage? Or could any additional aerobic activity hamper the taper?

lightng wrote:

Just trying to squeeze the last ounces of aerobic development that could possibly occur at this point.

Would I be better off cross training like on a stationary bike with the reduced mileage? Or could any additional aerobic activity hamper the taper?

I think you're missing the point of a taper, which is just to maintain fitness but get your legs feeling fresh on race day. By adding cross training, it feels like you think you can continue to gain fitness in the taper.

You need to understand that aerobic fitness is built over years, not one cycle. Yes, a good cycle can help, but it'll never be worth having multiple years of 50+mpw. There's a reason most people do not peak at the marathon until their 3rd or 4th try. Once you understand that logic, you'll see why even thinking one week of training can gain you any aerobic fitness at all.

You could run 100 mpw next week and it will not help you. The hay is in the barn,just get to race day healthy!

Correct. The next few weeks are about recovery (physical and mental), not adding additional workload. You want to get to the starting line chomping at the bit.

Be patient, the timer for more mileage will come.