5k pr vs. mileage

I ran 15:17 in HS off of 35-40, and 14:34 in freshman year off of 55-60

runner39 wrote:

Runner38 wrote:

Is running not about pushing your personal limits. Not everyone can run 40-50 miles a week and run 16:30. Bravo, to whoever ran that 16:23, keep up the miles. Don't let retards like runner39 tell you otherwise. If you enjoy high mileage keep it going bro.

probably a good idea that you go back to school and work on your language skills

I agree. Runner 38 should have called you an Ftard instead of a retard.

Is it possible the eighty mile a week runner could just keep running 80 a week at a gradually faster pace and his race times will come down? Yes. Is it possible he could take 6 weeks and lower the mileage while increasing the intensity and run faster? Yes.

though i believe there is magic in the numbers, there is much more that goes into running a great 5k than simply mileage numbers. you best be utilizing a multi-dimensional approach to your quality work while supplementing with proper amounts of running on the days in between. this is from somebody that has run many many 100+ mile weeks over the years. if you can run your mileage properly... then high mileage totals will only help reach 5k potential.

mileage is milage wrote:

runner39 wrote:

probably a good idea that you go back to school and work on your language skills

I agree. Runner 38 should have called you an Ftard instead of a retard.

Is it possible the eighty mile a week runner could just keep running 80 a week at a gradually faster pace and his race times will come down? Yes. Is it possible he could take 6 weeks and lower the mileage while increasing the intensity and run faster? Yes.

go back to the trailer park and don't forgot to pick up the welfare check before xmas!!!

Ok so I'm the tard that ran a 16:23 (finished in 26:56, went out fast) in a five mile race off 80 mpw.

My coaches are big on mileage and currently have me running 90 mpw. I was going to shoot for 100 next week but after reading this I feel like that is pointless. I feel this kind of mileage is not neccessary to run at least under 1550 for indoor. As a side note I am currently in the base/strength phase.

So from what everyone on here is saying, barring everyone being different talent wise, it seems like it is only neccesary to run about 60 miles a week to run under 16 minutes.

So my question to my fellow letsrunners is what kind of workouts are you doing at 50/60 mpw? More speed? 200s? 400s?

answers, comments, smartass remarks greatly appreciated

I ran 14.51 in high school with about 35M, 14.30 sophomore year at 55M and 14.10 junior year at 65M average (top wk 85M). I figured building up to 100M in the next 2 years I could get to 13.40, but overtrained as I tried to combine high quality with high mileage and never improved.

When I did 55M-65M a week, I basically did about 7-8 runs, with once a week long tempo's on the track 1000's or 800's (total about 4-6K work with about 2-3 min between intervals), once a week 400's (about 10-15 with 60sec break) and once a week a tempo run of about 20-25 minutes in a long run of 10-11M. The rest was easy jogging. Simply put: if the intensity of the track workouts increases, the easy days have to be easy to recover. I ran as easy as I felt necessary. When I started running faster on my easy days, I overtrained and never raced as good as before.

Most collegiate XC runners should be running 80+ mile weeks. If not the athlete will not reach his or her potential. The aerobic system needs to be worked about 9 to 11 hours a week in order to be developed to its potential. Most likely D2 XC guy would be running 16:45+ 5k's if he were only running 50 mpw (5-6 hours per week).

DII XC Guy wrote:

Ok so I'm the tard that ran a 16:23 (finished in 26:56, went out fast) in a five mile race off 80 mpw.

My coaches are big on mileage and currently have me running 90 mpw. I was going to shoot for 100 next week but after reading this I feel like that is pointless. I feel this kind of mileage is not neccessary to run at least under 1550 for indoor. As a side note I am currently in the base/strength phase.

So from what everyone on here is saying, barring everyone being different talent wise, it seems like it is only neccesary to run about 60 miles a week to run under 16 minutes.

So my question to my fellow letsrunners is what kind of workouts are you doing at 50/60 mpw? More speed? 200s? 400s?

answers, comments, smartass remarks greatly appreciated

Please listen to your coach! Runner39 is an example of why American distance running has not been very competitive. Its all about developing the aerobic system (runs at 65 -75% of heart rate) over a long period of time. Your heart becomes more efficient at pumping oxygen rich blood the longer you work it at this level. East Africans are very good examples of runners who focus on developing their aerobic capacity. Geb ran 12 miles round trip as a boy to a from school. He developed his aerobic capacity which led later on to him being able to sustain a really fast pace after a few months of anaerobic training (speed training).

"good example to follow for high schooler's and the 16-17 min 5ker's, don't overload yourself with mileage until your ready"

This is why high schoolers sucked in the general timeframe of the 90's.

Once high schoolers started reading on the internet about training and started running more miles, they started running much faster.

start of high school at 20mpw - 21:14 5k

end of high school at 45mpw - 16:05 5k

start of college at 60mpw - 15:42 5k

in college now at 80mpw - 14:48 5k

bump

45 mpw - 19:15

Yes, by all means listen to your coach!!!

There are plenty of people out there who can run 16:00 on very low mileage, some of them even without doing workouts. And a lot of those people seem to really enjoy telling others who are not so gifted, "Stop working so hard! Just be like me and train less, you'll be faster!"

This is like a skinny person with a naturally fast metabolism telling his chubby friend who is struggling to lose weight, "Stop being so careful about your diet! Just be like me and eat whatever you want, you'll lose weight!" You can understand why they might think this based on their experience, but they're wrong.

How much mileage you should be doing depends on your training history, not your PRs. If you can handle 80mpw without getting injured or feeling worn down and tired during your workouts, then trying 90-100 for your base phase might be very reasonable. On the other hand, if you feel too tired to run good workouts most of the time, then maybe you're doing too much.

Talk to your coach about it. If you tell him you're feeling worn down, maybe he'll tell you to run less mileage, maybe he'll tell you to go slower on easy days. Do what he says, he knows more about your situation than we do.

Don't listen to the skinny people telling you to lose weight by eating junk food.

great analogy

since everyone else is posting their progression through mileage:

30 mpw - 18:20

30 mpw - 16:45

40 mpw - 16:12

40 mpw - 15:55

40 mpw - 15:35

i just kept pretty much the same mileage and increased workout intensity and have consistently gotten better. all regular runs between 7:00 and 8:00 pace.

bump

just added up a 48 week span of running for 2011...not including this week or the very first two days of the year...

47MPW AVG. / 17:46 5K

You have to find a balance...it's important that at whatever mileage you are running that your staying healthy and feeling fresh at time of the race...you can be extremely fit from training but if your not fresh on race day your race results won't be reflective of your true fitness level....most of my Prs came after 2-3 wks of little or no training....the reality is I was in great shape when I was doing the training but it never showed in races bc I was always worn out from training plus the emotional and mental stress of racing/traveling...one of my best seasons was when I was running 25 mile wks....I was not even close to the best shape of my life but I ran the most consistent and best times...So to put it in perspective when I was training harder and running more mileage I was probably in 5-10 secs better shape than what my mile Pr is on paper when I was running 20 miles a wk...my highest wk ever was 80 and I averaged about 55-60 miles (6 days wks) over a prolonged period of time....mile pr 4:13(which I ran twice...1rst after 2-3 wks of no training after being in best shape of my life but was collapsing unable to finish races and 2nd time when I was running 25 mile wks). The 4:13 was reflective of my fitness when I was running 25 mile wks but not reflective of my true fitness after 2-3 wks off from injury...

5k pr 15:30