Is it physically impossible for many people to successfully run more than 50 mpw?

1. Running 50 mpw or more doesn't make you slower unless you are doing it wrong.

2. It sounds like you are doing it wrong.

3. Run most of your miles truly easily. Slow down.

4. Save hard efforts for the three workout/race days of the week.

You train wrong.

You have to gradually increase milage over time developed.

If you can't handle the weekly load, then try it slower. Don't run 7 day/week.

Also a possibility is if you can't handle higher milage your running form is unhealthy. Without changing that you have no chance to increase your mileage. Running form is highly underestimeted here.

Remark: I run since 1 and 1/2 year, and i am around 50yo and can handle 50mpw.

Much less than 1/3 healthy men ... wrote:

You have to realize poster, in the real world, outside the (150 to 250) folks who post here, there are healthy men in (175 to 225) pound range. Most healthy men are not (125 to 150) pounds. The vast majority of healthy men whom are about (175 to 225) pounds cannot run 50 plus miles a week.

I was a lot at healthier at 150lb than 210lb now.

I am 6 foot and had size 32 waist back then and have average shoulder width ie broader than the average runner and was a lot stronger then than now and legs more like a football playet than runner and could beat most guys a lot heavier in arm wrestling etc and never did heavy weights just circuit training. ok there are some fit guys going to the gym.

The other 90% are just overweight that's the real world

I got a lot of injuries even at 40-50 mpw. But should have done more miles and less intensity but bought into the Coe BS

sevenmilesperweek wrote:

Anyone can run high mileage if they build up to it. You can't just expect to feel good running that much if you haven't trained like it... heck, if guys like Donovan Braizer who run under 35 miles per week tried to run high mileage they'd feel like sht too.

Absolute nonsense. Letsrunners perception of reality is skewed as usual.

Old and slow wrote:

That's just 7 miles a day. It not all that challenging, even for an old f__c5 like me.

I think the problem comes when people run 5 miles a day, then tack on a 20 miler on a Sunday and wonder why the following day 50 miles a week is tiring.

Regardless, outside of those trying to qualify the Olympic trials, what's with this rabid obsession with 100 mile weeks in the USA? Most people here in the UK and Europe run much much less miles a week and get by with decent 5k times and marathon times. I sometimes think you guys think its easier to shuffle out 15 miles a day and obsess about heart rates than actually think and plan out some decent training plan that actually trains you rather than wear you out.

Has anyone asked what pace you are running your 50mpw at?

Given the overly dramatic way that you talk about it, I would guess it is all at marathon pace or faster.

50mpw of easy jogging isn't hard for most people. However fast you have been running your normal slow runs, do them slower, try 90s per mile slower to start with.

You're doing something very wrong. 50 miles is not hard at all if you build up to it. You're likely pushing it way too hard in some or multiple aspects of life and training. Slow it down buddy. I'm 40 and I've averaged 50 miles a week for 6 years straight. It ain't hard at all.

So predictable...

a lot of "I did 50-60-100 miles/week for 20 years with no problems so everybody can do it".

This is a long-distance running forum, the posters here are self-selected precisely for their ability to run for a long time. Of course most of them can run 50 miles/week!

In real life, I know very few people that regularly run 50+ miles/week; probably 2-3 out of the 20+ masters in my running group and nobody outside the running community. So I believe that the OP assessment of 1/3 is probably generous. Running 50-60 miles/week is not hard and has nothing to do with commitment and dedication; it is a fairly easy task: just one hour jogging every day. Most sports require a much bigger time commitment. The problem is that, if the body is unable to recover from these daily one-hour runs, the runner will stagnate or break down instead than improving. I have seen this happening MANY MANY times. Often, the runner that attempted ramping up the mileage hoping to improve their performance, became a non-runner afterwards. Sure, it may be argued that people is doing it incorrectly and yadda---yadda---yadda, but the reality is that the people that "do it correctly" seem to be the exception rather than the rule.

With proper training 50mpw are easy. At first You need to make Your body strong with lots of exercises, jumps, gym and so on.

Without that, You will be weak and run with bad form which leads to injuries.

And of course, most of running should be very easy.

I think you are pulling numbers out of your backside

The Subprime Minister wrote:

Much less than 1/3 healthy men ... wrote:

You have to realize poster, in the real world, outside the (150 to 250) folks who post here, there are healthy men in (175 to 225) pound range. Most healthy men are not (125 to 150) pounds. The vast majority of healthy men whom are about (175 to 225) pounds cannot run 50 plus miles a week.

A 175 lb man is not healthy and someone over 200 lbs certainly is not. Health isn't like pronouns where you can just choose what you like.

Huh? 6'0" and 175 isn't healthy?

What?! Rethink your nonsense.

100% this, well said.

I'd also add, a lot of the runners I know chose NOT to run 50+ miles a week, they get by just fine. Most of them realise the diminishing returns of going past this amount of weekly miles especially as you get older. I'd much rather run 35 miles a week every week and enjoy my running than chasing weekly mileage numbers which would equate to only a small return on race times for someone like me, yet potentially ruin me for months.

Glad somebody finally mentioned selection effects, jeez louise.

On the optimistic side, OP doesn't say how fast he was trying to run his mileage.

On the pessimistic side, I think the tradeoff gets worse fast if you have performance goals other than running.

On the pot-stirring side, anybody remember the Lydiard bit about "oh yeah, should take about 9 weeks for a guy to get to 100mpw"?

Zev wrote:

I'm a Masters Runner and until June 2020 I was running 55mpw for several years, plus an additional 50-60mpw cycling. Full time job 830-500 on top of it. I live alone which is a bonus, but I still had an active social life and got all my stuff/chores taken care of and managed to get 7-8 hours of sleep per night.

It can be done, and rather easily at that. It just takes discipline and managing your time wisely.

I got rather sick (not covid) in June of 2020 and didn't run much last year either. Currently back to base building and I should be back to 50-55mpw by the first day of Summer 2022.

16;38; 37:39.

not fast at all, but proof it can be done.

Just because you did it is not proof that everyone can do it. Have you ever considered the possibility that not everyone is exactly like you? That maybe other people might have different genetics than you? Different physical limits and capabilities? Declaring that just because you did something is proof that anyone can easily do it is very myopic.

Only runners with some amount of talent can run 50 mpw and have enough time for a normal life outside of running. Simply put, if you have a regular day job, you probably need to be at least a sub 22 5k runner to have enough speed to get all the mileage in while balancing the rest of your life. If you're running an average of 12 minutes per miles that's 10 hours of your week that would have to be solely focused to running....bascally 1 hour after work during the weekdays and then 2 to 3 hours of running Saturday and Sunday.

Unless you have no life, the above level is not sustainable for your average runner who has a day job and isn't solely focused on running outside of work.

Aside from the time investment, biomechanics and proper footcare are essential for those higher mileage. Recovery is most important and your ability to recover between runswill improve with improvements in fitness.

Also, you have to be light to minimize strain on your connective tissues. So that's another factor that would disqualify a ton of Americans. You can do the math and figure out how many pounds of force you're putting on your feet if you're a 200 pound male runner...The average person that big will break down quickly. People like Nick Bare are the exception not the rule.

well,, wrote:

sevenmilesperweek wrote:

Anyone can run high mileage if they build up to it. You can't just expect to feel good running that much if you haven't trained like it... heck, if guys like Donovan Braizer who run under 35 miles per week tried to run high mileage they'd feel like sht too.

Absolute nonsense. Letsrunners perception of reality is skewed as usual.

Running is easy for LRers so they assume it must be easy for anyone. They are young and dont know many people much less average people.

My very first week of running EVER I ran 40 miles. You think some average person could do that without getting hurt? No.

Alan

I ran a 4:27 1600 and a 5k of 16:40 on only MAX 30 miles per week! Everyone is different, I'm more about quality vs quantity. I do believe however 100 miles per week is insane and unhealthy, just my thoughts. Can I do 50? Yes, will it be bad for me? More than likely. I'm starting back up my running and recently ran a 18:30 5k on only 20 miles per week. I call my daily 4-5 miles junk miles, then my workouts the key thing.

bartholomew_maxwell wrote:

Only runners with some amount of talent can run 50 mpw and have enough time for a normal life outside of running. Simply put, if you have a regular day job, you probably need to be at least a sub 22 5k runner to have enough speed to get all the mileage in while balancing the rest of your life. If you're running an average of 12 minutes per miles that's 10 hours of your week that would have to be solely focused to running....bascally 1 hour after work during the weekdays and then 2 to 3 hours of running Saturday and Sunday.

Unless you have no life, the above level is not sustainable for your average runner who has a day job and isn't solely focused on running outside of work.

Lots of good points here.

It's kind of a vicious cycle. To be more efficient, you need to train faster. But to train faster, you've gotta put in a shyte ton of easy miles at the beginning, even if it's at 12 min/mile pace. Things get so much more manageable once "easy" pace gets in the 8-9 min/mile range.

And I do think that for me, 35-40MPW is the sweet spot for mileage, since I can knock that out running 4-5 days/week, and during marathon training I pretty much always do a beefed up Hal Higdon Advanced plan. I could probably beat my 2:44 PR by going up to 70-80MPW or even higher but injury risk is higher and I just don't have the time, energy, and frankly motivation with kids, work, and other hobbies.

The selection bias here is amazing.

Very few people can run 50 mpw and stay healthy. Your body has to be fairly symmetrical, with good biomechanics, and slight of build. Only a small amount of high school runners can run this much. At the college level the field has already been narrowed to mostly people that can run this much or more.

It is human nature to imagine things that are easy for you are easy for everyone. That doesn’t make it so.