Improvement from running more then 140 miles a week.

Ok first off if you haven't built up your mileage you will be injured with in a couple of weeks. second high miles doesn't always equal success. most people that focus on high Mileage stay around 110 but also maintain a good intensity. Also speed is more essential than just running alot. If you don't have the speed you sure as hell wont be able to maintain a very fast pace. Sure you might feel great cardiovascularly but you will be neglecting speed. Unless you are a ultra marathoner don't do this to your self. Personally I suggest throwing in morning runs with hard runs in the afternoon. Running is about consistency, too many people think that more work will automatically equal immediate improvements. A good philosophy is, you wont feel improvements until three weeks into training. Although you cant expect to drop from a 1730 5k to a 16:30. If running worked that way there would be hundreds of sub 4 runners.

Finally, running is more about the quality of the work not the quantity.

That post comes off like a series of misinformed cliches. Did you even read the guy's post? He's done high mileage before and is already doubling. In my experience you only "lose" speed if you do all your base mileage at slow paces; I've known plenty of guys who can pop off a good mile after high mileage training.

OP,

I am attempting to do something similar this winter/spring. This last summer I did over double the mileage I have ever sustained before (averaged 90-100mpw over about 8 weeks) and felt the best I have ever felt. Once I got back into college and the semester got busy my mileage dropped off quite a bit and I started feeling worse (don't run for the college I attend).

I just kept feeling better and better the more I did, and I am not scared what-so-ever of doing mega-mileage. Everything I have read and learned up to this point in my running career have led me to believe that this is the best direction for me to go at this point:

1) 140+mpw, most miles slow (approx. 8:00 pace or slower, whatever feels easy)

2) Several runs a week of faster running (such as progression runs or tempo runs)

3) At least 1 day a week raw speed work (<200m repeats w/ long recovery)

4) Light strength & core training 2-3 days a week

5) At least 8-9 hours of sleep a night

This is my basic plan, and I hope to be at 140+ by middle of February and hold that through May.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Constructive feedback only please.

I'm freakin' psyched!!!

Instead of bumping the miles above 140, why don't you just do each run at a faster pace? Jogging 160 miles a week at 7:30 pace will get you strong, but it won't get you fast and it really limits you in terms of being able to do workouts. Unless you are a professional runner committed to 12 hours of sleep per day, a healthy diet, massages, ice baths etc. I would not recommend running above 140.

fsdafsdf wrote:

Fat wrote:

more than, not more then

Thanks for your help, I accidentally typed the wrong word, but I also don't care because this isn't letsread.com it's actually letsrun.com so shove it.

In response to another post above, I've already tried 90-100 miles a week. In fact, I averaged about 110 this summer and hit 120 about 5 times this fall with a max of just over 140.

I wanted to know the benefits of averaging 140-180 miles a week for 2-6 months this winter/spring.

Great logic! It's also not LetsSpeakEnglish.com, but guess what most people do? Yep, there are a lot of things this site is not, but that is not one of them.

I fully anticipate you to get injured.

Do you know this from having run 140 or more?

the rocket. wrote:

Instead of bumping the miles above 140, why don't you just do each run at a faster pace? Jogging 160 miles a week at 7:30 pace will get you strong, but it won't get you fast and it really limits you in terms of being able to do workouts. Unless you are a professional runner committed to 12 hours of sleep per day, a healthy diet, massages, ice baths etc. I would not recommend running above 140.

I eat healthy, make my own ice baths, have a girlfriend to do the massaging, and sleep about 9 hours a day with a nap thrown in every once in a while. For the time being I have the capacity to train like an elite and certainly the time and desire to reach the mileage I want to hit.

I don't think ill be running 7:30 pace every day either, probably about half the time. I've always subscribed to long fast distance rather than long slow distance (and surprisingly have stayed healthy for ten years straight ).

Link wrote:

Frankly, based on my experience, the best thing to do is to set a goal for some total mileage for the next 6 months or so: If you can run 4000 miles between now and June 1, then you will be a much better runner, guaranteed.

Maybe I am doing the math wrong but isn't 4000 miles in 6 months basically a little bit more than 150 mpw?

Aaack! Yes, you're right of course. I think I meant to type 3000.

What kind of times have you hit/what are your goals?

How much did your race times improve? I assume that is the goal of this training.Personally I think a far more sane plan would be to try and average 110-120mpw. That is still a huge volume increase and you are going to be trying to hold it much longer. Running 140mpw at 8min/mile is a lot more training time than most of the elites do.

Haile G: "In total, I will normally run 160 miles or 220k in a week. That is the average."

This is a great book and, although not specifically about running, lends credence to your thesis and that of Link:

http://www.amazon.com/Bounce-Federer-Picasso-Beckham-Science/dp/0061723754/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1291997075&sr=1-1

The exact mileage is of course a very individual thing. We need to look at the macro view.

Aghast wrote:

Study some science. Dopamine release does not underlie or mediate pleasurable feelings.

eyyupp wrote:

I think you are all nuts. I vary the mileage a lot, I can get big gains from low mileage that you fools are completely unaware of, you know, actually running fast?

Then mileage should build endurance. But this stupid mileage addiction has nothing to do with performance for you nutcases, it's all about increasing your dopamine levels isn't it?

Help me out here, please direct me to the new research that disagrees with the dopamine/reward/pleasure/addiction hypothesis.

eeenope wrote:

eyyupp wrote:

Yes, but the better I became, the more talented I got.

That doesn't make sense. Sounds like something a talented person would say.

I could say: If you have to ask, you won't understand.

Or I could say that the word talent is only applied to those who make big improvements or who are deemed to have great potential.

So it actually applies to most runners. Unfortonately most runners deny their talent, don't ask me why.

pr100 wrote:

http://www.ethiopianreview.com/articles/32874

Haile G: "In total, I will normally run 160 miles or 220k in a week. That is the average."

220k = 136 miles not 160 miles

160 miles would be closer to 258k

So close but no luck wrote:

pr100 wrote:http://www.ethiopianreview.com/articles/32874

Haile G: "In total, I will normally run 160 miles or 220k in a week. That is the average."

220k = 136 miles not 160 miles

160 miles would be closer to 258k

Good point. So I wonder which it is? He also talks about doing 35km in the morning and 10km the dreadmill in the evening. If that were the amount every day that would be 315km a week - so... I dunno :/

The real killer is quote is "But even if I am in the gym, I will still do 10k on the treadmill and another 10k on the bike.". This is definite proof that cross training is the key:)I never believe any of these articles. Unless you see 4-8 weeks of training, you don't have a clue what some one is doing.

pr100 wrote:

So close but no luck wrote:

220k = 136 miles not 160 miles

160 miles would be closer to 258k

Good point. So I wonder which it is? He also talks about doing 35km in the morning and 10km the dreadmill in the evening. If that were the amount every day that would be 315km a week - so... I dunno :/