You are far better off capping your mileage at 80 and bringing down the overall pace
Even additional lower body strength work is a better idea than another 20 miles/week slow
Not sure why there have been so many downvotes on this comment. It’s not a bad idea to emphasize quality and work on building strength and durability.
Honestly, your weekly mileage should be a byproduct of smart training rather than the object of training. Maybe build a training program around increased threshold training. Or work backwards from goal race to figure out the interval and threshold workouts you’ll need to nail to get where you want to be. If your coach is determining your training in the spring, then your winter base mileage needs to be coordinated with your coach’s plan. I like your zeal, and I hope you have a fantastic breakout season that you feel proud of. Just don’t let the tail wag the dog. Mileage will come with deliberate, effective training; don’t get hung up on hitting a certain number at the expense of appropriate intensity and adequate recovery. Good luck!
He's not trying to peak now. He's trying to build more endurance and stamina. He's said nothing about needing more speed or that it is suffering under his current 90mpw. If he can handle more, he should do more, of all of "it".
nothing at all wrong with bumping up mileage as long as you listen to your coach and listen to your body. Overuse injuries are far more detrimental than skipping a few days (or even just adjusting down what was planned) during base build because your body wans hurting.
20mpw jump when already up at 90 is a big increase that brings with it some risks. It does put additional strains on your body, and these strains manifest as not just possible injury risk (which I would say is low if you’ve been hitting 90s for some time without injury) but as burnout risk.
I was up in the 80s-90 range in high school and eventually made my way into triple digits in college, topping out with a couple weeks back to back at 115 my junior year. Never had any injury issues, and lots of the mileage was easy. That said, tempo/threshold-type high-volume workouts plus hard long runs and MLRs paired with enough additional mileage can be enough to detonate your body, even if it’s acclimated to 90s. I’ve been there, and it’s not fun. Just a night or two of bad sleep or catching a small cold can push you over the recovery red line, and if immediate action isn’t taken to get back on the good side of that line (and by that I mean taking a few days in a row off or something of that sort), you can put yourself in a burnout hole that can take months to get out of. I sacrificed too many seasons doing this.
Yes, the possible upside may be worth it. Go for greatness. But be cautious. Don’t idolize the weekly mileage numbers. Don’t fall for the lie that you’ll lose your fitness if you take a few days off.
Be perfectly disciplined with sleep and nutrition. Use some of the tools that are available now that weren’t available when I was running (I’m thinking supershoes) to facilitate faster recovery and put less wear and tear on your legs. Don’t sabotage your energy and recovery with unhealthy habits and activities.
You can do even more if you are ambitious, organized, and determined. Here, my Senior year of college. It helps if you've gotten most of your school credits out of the way. Going into Nationals I was undefeated and set the record on everywhere I ran. The only thing that slowed me down was a fall that dislocated my shoulder the week of Nationals. Tough luck. Put some ice on it and get back in the game, Son.
Listen to this and read the bold part again. Then again, then write down how you will do this. Plan your week.
Shoes matter. Todays shoes makes 100 miles far less. 110 is fine and is needed, imagine running in the shoes malmo used. Sincesupershoes was introduced, I never hear any running mates (nor experience it myself) the old "my legs are stiff". Run controlled intervals, double and dont push both intensity and milage at the same time.
Would be interested to hear Malmo comment on other posters in this thread telling the OP not to increase their mileage to quickly because it will cause injury.
I had the following buildups and I'll highlight when I got injured: High school 9th: 30-40 mpw 10th: 45-50 mpw 11th: 55-65 mpw 12th: 65-80 mpw (injured knee skiing in track season) College Freshman: 85-95 mpw (severe fatigue - burn out very badly running too fast on easy days - everything sub 7:10, mostly around 6:20-6:30) Sophomore: 95-110 mpw (stress reaction in foot) Junior: 90-100 mpw (IT band in track - focus more on putting in some mileage, but a big focus on rest for workouts, mobility drills, and strength training) Senior: 90-100mpw (stopped running from IT band issues midway through XC because graduating early)
For me, the big takeaway was not that mileage is always better (even though I thought that since high school). For me, the big takeaway is that if you want to go all-in there are a lot of other things you can do in addition to running that have lots of upside with lower risk of debilitating injury. My best year of running was my Junior year of college when I was prioritizing rest, mobility drills, strength training, etc. Something that I didn't realize in college is that everyone has a physiological limit that they should not exceed without a great risk of injury. Something I also didn't realize until after college was that there are lots of other forms of cross training that can improve your ability to process lactic acid without negatively impacting your body. Cycling for example, there are some beginner/intermediate cycling programs that have you riding like 15 hours a week. Competitive cyclists bike 25-30 hours a week. I don't know many runners who are able to do this. But, by adding some cross training to your training mix, you can get fitter, workout longer, and potentially build more aerobic capacity.
I think the key is to find a coach or someone who knows about your training and develop a plan with them to realize as much potential as you are able to. At the end of the day, those folks will know more about what to do than many others on the boards.
"During an interview with a television station, a journalist asked Mike Tyson if it was true that he got up at 4:00 a.m. to run, to which he replied "No". - At 4:00 a.m., I'm already running...
- But you are world champion, why do all this? asked the reporter.
To which Tyson responded:
"That's precisely why, at this time all my opponents are sleeping and gaining weight. If I learn that one of them is running at 4:00 a.m. too, I will start running at 2 a.m., and if someone runs at 2 a.m., I'm going to stop sleeping to train. That's why I stay on top... It's my responsibility, not theirs...".
That's a refinement of Tom Fleming's "Somewhere in the world there's someone training when you aren't. When you race him he'll win." Out of curiosity, where is the Park Forest hill and about how long is it? When I was there the only hills I can remember doing repeats on went from College Ave. to the "top" of the campus.
That's a refinement of Tom Fleming's "Somewhere in the world there's someone training when you aren't. When you race him he'll win." Out of curiosity, where is the Park Forest hill and about how long is it? When I was there the only hills I can remember doing repeats on went from College Ave. to the "top" of the campus.
We were using that "while you are sleeping...." quote in high school years before we ever heard of Tom Fleming.
The Park Forest hill is actually two hills on North Oak Lane, aka "North Choke". Start at the bottom and go up the big/steep side. Jog to the bottom then up the longer flatter side. Repeat. Its not a hill for the weak. I guess if you use Google Street view you could find it.
There are no hills near campus that I would consider to be worthy.
This post was edited 6 minutes after it was posted.
Would echo what others have said regarding the jump from 90 to 110 being reasonable. Also agree with the sentiment that this is the only time in your life where you can dedicate that much time and effort so why not go for it. Some important things to add would be:
1. Take baby steps when bumping the mileage up, which you likely already have been doing to get to 90. Hit 95 then 100 then 105 before hitting 110. If you get to a spot where you are starting to feel run down, a down week back to a lower mileage will go a long way in helping with the adjustment process.
2. Make sure you are recovering properly. The 3 elements to this that I would highlight are getting enough sleep, eating enough food, and running slow enough to recover on east days. I was also fairly high mileage (100) in college and made the mistake of running too fast on proper easy days, which hurt me in the long run. Slower easy runs lead to better recovery which then leads to higher quality workouts and faster times.
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