I don't have much to base my fitness off of; I ran a 5K in 17:55 a month ago which was off mileage and no workouts and in May, ran a 1:27:05 half-marathon with Achilles Tendinitis. I would estimate now that I could break 1:25:00. In regards to my training, I am following Daniels' but I am modifying it a little bit. If I feel like running more mileage, I do. And I have replaced some of the workouts with 1K reps @ CV pace/effort. Usually I run the long runs at a very easy pace, usually between 8:00 and 9:00/mile. However, I did challenge myself on my 19 miler 2 weeks ago and averaged 7:28/mile pace in which I felt fresh after. It did not make me sore at all.
I have one worry which is my pace during easy runs: Example: If I run 12 miles, I start out the first 2 miles at 9:00/mile to 10:00/mile and then will static stretch any spots that need it (my Achilles sometimes does and it helps), but after this I will run 8:30/mile to 8:00/mile for the remainder. Currently I stay towards the slower end since I am increasing mileage. I am a visitor of the boards here and know that high mileage and actual "easy" pace running is preached in order to improve. I think I am just discouraged when I see others posting runs faster than this, because I don't see people on my Strava or that I'm friends with on Garmin running slow like this. I feel I am doing this right as my legs feel fresh and I am really not hurting at all. Last summer, 70 mpw was a lot to me and I know I struggled with it but this summer, as I train for Chicago Marathon, high mileage has been no problem at all for me. I will list my mileage below and if there is anything I left out that gives you a better idea, please let me know: (Before this, I struggled with some injuries and had to take time off but averaged 40 MPW for 2 months before this):
Weekly Totals
May 14-May 20: 61
May 21-May 27: 60
May 28-June 3rd: 73
June 4th-June 10th: 72
June 11th-June 17th: 60
June 18th-June 24th: 78
June 25th-July 1st: 80
July 2nd-July 8th: 84
July 9th-July 15th: 73
July 16th- (present): On 60 with goal of 90