I've tried and repeatedly failed at mileage >40mpw

How old are you?

What time of day are you running?

Desk job/ manual labor?

Kids?

7 days a week of running?

Two options:

1. You are weak minded and running isn't your sport.

2. You're going too hard. Ease up the pace. Jog, do lots of easy jogging.

Another important question is your training age. When I got back to running in my 40s after a long break, it took me about 2 years before 40 mpw felt like just a basic week of mileage. I had longer weeks, but I couldn't hold it. Each year I've been able to handle a bit more mileage, but it takes time.

my 2c wrote:

Another important question is your training age. When I got back to running in my 40s after a long break, it took me about 2 years before 40 mpw felt like just a basic week of mileage. I had longer weeks, but I couldn't hold it. Each year I've been able to handle a bit more mileage, but it takes time.

Maybe this is it.

I'm 31, I've been running for about 13 years now. Started very small (3-9mpw). In 2016 I was able to average 50mpw for a few months but I felt wonky for all of it. Usually I can average 40mpw and it feels fine.

No kids

Desk job, not super stressful, 40 hours/week 99% of the time

Developed mild bedtime OCD which can make it a bit hard to get to sleep, but once asleep I'm fine.

I'm really eager to get the miles back up, but I keep bouncing between 40 and 50 mpw.

Piano_Man87 wrote:

I cleaned up my diet (I went 100% whole food plant based) - some improvements, but no super fix.

Are you still doing plant based? I've found nothing helps my recovery like animal fat/protein. In particular meat attached to a bone. Treat yourself to like 20 or so wings on Tuesdays at Buffalo Wild Wings when they're half priced. Thai Curry and Salt & Vinegar are great flavors. I also have a Muscle Milk shake immediately after every run. I'm not certain that it helps that much, but it certainly seems to based on my experience.

This could have a lot to do with your sleep. Provided you are running enough “easy” Miles and eating enough calories to sustain your energy output, you should not be working so hard to hit 40mpw. Especially with your schedule. Why don’t you take us through a typical day. What time do you wake up? Are you hydrating properly? Are you overweight? Do you have sleep apnea? Do you drink a lot of alcohol? What is an average run to you (pace, and distance)?

It’s just so tough to diagnose anything with such limited information. If it were me and I had a somewhat easy job and no kids, and I found myself with a lack of energy to run and I knew I was not getting enough sleep; I would almost certainly see a doctor and maybe even get in a sleep lab to find out what was going on.

If it makes you feel this bad, then back off. It sounds like you are feeding your OCD otherwise.

Try lower impact exercise. Biking, rowing, HIIT.

Anyone without serious disability could handle at least 100mpw.

If you feel like trash with 50mpw, then increase your mileage and hold it for a while. And then increase some more. You will eventually start feeling easier.

This is tried and tested.

The Way We Were wrote:

Anyone without serious disability could handle at least 100mpw.

If you feel like trash with 50mpw, then increase your mileage and hold it for a while. And then increase some more. You will eventually start feeling easier.

This is tried and tested.

This, feel bad at 50 increase it to 70. There is a numbing effect with increasing the mileage. Where your legs will get sore, but running more will numb the pain where you don't feel sore.

Sleep could easily be your issue. Would running in the morning mean you get to sleep more easily or on time? If so, then that seems like reason enough to try it. Morning runs sometimes make you have less energy as the day wears on, but a great sense of relief that you've already taken care of your workout.

What do you do for long runs? I think have a solid long run every once in a while has a way of making your daily runs seem quite a bit easier. It gives you a sense of perspective on how much shorter the daily runs are. The same can be said for hard workouts in general; the daily grind can almost seem like a relief when they seem like easy or recovery efforts.

I'd say to run in the morning and the evening to eclipse 40 mpw with less stress, but not sure with somebody having sleep trouble that this is a good idea.

Shocked to see such wisdom here.

I really thought people had forgotten this. The miles can get easier as you do more of them.

You need to push onwards, gently. The body will adapt. Be patient, but also be persistent.

Smoke/Vape/Eat a bit of pot at night. Lights Out.

Lydiard Cerutty wrote:

The Way We Were wrote:

Anyone without serious disability could handle at least 100mpw.

If you feel like trash with 50mpw, then increase your mileage and hold it for a while. And then increase some more. You will eventually start feeling easier.

This is tried and tested.

This, feel bad at 50 increase it to 70. There is a numbing effect with increasing the mileage. Where your legs will get sore, but running more will numb the pain where you don't feel sore.

This is great. Can't handle current training volume? Just increase training volume.

If you can run 40 you can run 60-70, you just need the aerobic fitness. You can try running 60-70 and then back down to 50 and 50 will feel easier

Switch to morning runs , get to sleep earlier, and you should sleep a lot better. Running after work (a few hours before bed) was problematic for me many years ago. I had to choose between feeling like crap for a run at 4:30am or getting poor sleep.

Stay at 40mpw or less, lift, crosstrain, be happy. Not everyone is built for high mileage but you can run 40 miles of quality and do fine especially if you don't train for marathons.