Yes. I went to the higher mileage (70-115) within the first couple years when I first turned to running as a lifestyle thing. For me the gradual build up was not a physical battle, and the biggest problem was making time for it, being a recent parent and begining a new career. Didn't worry about training for races: just did my long, slow (LSD era) distance with variety of pace and terrain. Ran road races for fun and a social contacts (our running club only ran one relay and a couple races we put on. If there was any real pain or strain it was because of weather, injury (very rare), illness (almost never) or the occasional bro competition w others at our biweekly club runs.
But I agree, the increase in distance was slow and easy (my fave.)