How do runners get so fast with so little volume?

bugattiaron wrote:

There's talent, and there's also the conversation of quality vs volume.

But if you want to develop true speed, high volume is the way to go. There's plenty of guys running 60-63 minute half marathons off of 70-90mpw, but I seriously doubt you're ever going to find a 58:xx guy running less than 110 miles a week.

I'm currently building back up towards 90mpw, and come Summer I intend to increase to 100mpw and try to get up to 115 by late Fall. High quality miles build a good base, but ultimately high mileage is what leads to big improvements and break throughs

For the longer distances, yes. For the 10k and below it is debatable. Not many of the top guys in the U.S. or even the world are running that high mileage these days. BTC are all in the 80-90 range. Monson and Hoare are 80-90. I can only think of a few guys on the track running over 100 mpw that are truly competitive. Klecker and Mantz come to mind. Farah and Rupp did but they were also doing a lot of grey area stuff. I recall seeing that Cheptegei only runs like 150k per week. Jakob is in the 180km range. Stewy 150-160km.

Training for the half marathon does not translate to the marathon. For the 10k to the half marathon range, 70-80 mpw is more than enough if you are smart about it. However, for most people, it is suboptimal for the marathon. A good half marathon does not translate to a good marathon, unless you ran the half on marathon training.

This forum tends to overvalue mileage too much. Pro athletes are pro because they can handle 100mpw without injury while most people cant. Running is a high impact sport so optimizing milage is a key factor. When I was younger I used to train way more than I do now (18-20h/week), now with a full time job I only manage to run 80-90km/week and I am running faster than ever.

That's not overvaluing mileage. That's acknowledging that mileage is really valuable but that only some people can manage to do it.

70 mpw for a half isn’t that low even at the elite level. How much mileage you need or can sustain until you hit the point of very diminished returns and/or high injury/overtraining risk depends on your physiology and there is a wide range, probably a good 2x mileage factor difference across all elites running a race about equally well. Fast twitchers for one need and can sustain less mileage, and twitch composition although can change with training is limited in how much it can be changed.

Look at like Geb who ran 165 mpw for the marathon. For every Geb, there are a hundred low level pros who only are elite because of training at that volume.

Timing is everything in high school. If you're the 4:17 freshman, that likely means you're at a peak, and will be halfway to becoming your father by the time you're a senior. We accept this with the gals, but nobody realizes it happens with guys, too.

Best is to time it for your late junior and senior years, then enjoy the ride in college for a year or so. Much better than being the fastest kid in school in the 8th and 9th grade.

Genetics aka talent aka ability. 70 mpw is not low volume for HM training btw. I was 4:16 1600 in HS off of 45 mpw tops and 4:06 mile in college off of 60 at the most.

The same old topic that gets revived every year, or in this case from three months ago. Some people race on high miles and others on low miles. It's what works best for them. Not everyone. Doug Padilla raced great back in the 80's on just 35-50mpw max. Also took a fair amount of time off every Fall just after getting back from the European track circuit.

Personal best(s)

1500 meters: 3:37.95
Mile: 3:54.2
3000 meters: 7:35.84
5000 meters: 13:15.44

Jeeeez, you are fast dude. Keep grinding