I have built up to running 80-90 mpw consistently---- now what?

Just to add, I do not completely want to abandon this high-mileage running, since it is quite a nice base that I built up to.

What’s your end goal if not racing? If it’s to be push yourself to your limit I would say go with a lydiard approach. Your already done with the first face, next would be hills where you keep similar mileage but do hill work to add leg strength. After that would be the real work sessions which look pretty brutal on paper as lydiard had his athletes do a “workout” almost everyday. If you do go this approach there is much more information on these boards and on the internet.

I would adjust training to fit goal races. If no races, maybe do some time trials with friends.

I’d probably be interested in doing some form of racing

As a 22 year old, should I start with 5k/shorter-type races? And would it be advisable to keep the mileage high even with such a focus?

In regards to the Lydiard approach, what are the long-term effects of such an intense workload? I do not want to burn out early from injury/overtraining.

My advice is go to the roads. Without a speedy background, anything on the track might be out of your wheelhouse. On the roads, you’ll have more opportunities to race and a wider array of competition. You have an excellent mileage base, so shoot for half marathons with some 10k races sprinkled in.

In terms of workouts, start with 5xmile on 1min rest plus a hard long run effort (maybe 16 miles at 6min pace). Keep the mileage up high but slow down on recovery/easy days. After a few weeks of that, add in some other workouts such as 12x400 or an 8 mile tempo, but maintain 2 hard efforts per week (so drop the hard long run).

Switch it up every so often, and don’t forget to taper for a big race. Even if it’s virtual!!

Race whatever your heart desires. You have a solid enough base to do well anywhere from 3k-half marathon. Start adding in some speed, that can be tempos, vo2 max, economy, sprints, hills etc. I don’t know how you didn’t get bored of months of just mileage with no change in speed day to day.

D1 athlete wrote:

My advice is go to the roads. Without a speedy background, anything on the track might be out of your wheelhouse. On the roads, you’ll have more opportunities to race and a wider array of competition. You have an excellent mileage base, so shoot for half marathons with some 10k races sprinkled in.

In terms of workouts, start with 5xmile on 1min rest plus a hard long run effort (maybe 16 miles at 6min pace). Keep the mileage up high but slow down on recovery/easy days. After a few weeks of that, add in some other workouts such as 12x400 or an 8 mile tempo, but maintain 2 hard efforts per week (so drop the hard long run).

Switch it up every so often, and don’t forget to taper for a big race. Even if it’s virtual!!

Thanks for the advice, although I would like to also work on my speed/fast-twitch muscles for soccer (plus higher vertical jump, agility, etc.) However, I do want to end up injured/over-fatigued as a result.

Would you suggest me keeping the mileage around this amount year-round? Or a more periodized approach, which I would follow in terms of intensity but not sure about volume?

Hmmmm! wrote:

Race whatever your heart desires. You have a solid enough base to do well anywhere from 3k-half marathon. Start adding in some speed, that can be tempos, vo2 max, economy, sprints, hills etc. I don’t know how you didn’t get bored of months of just mileage with no change in speed day to day.

It would be fun to experience at least one race of each type. I notice you stopped at half-marathon and not marathon?

Is there a way to tell which race I'd be best suited for (after racing at least one of each, of course)?

It's not clear to me what you're looking to do. You say you've never raced but don't say if you plan to. If you're thinking of being a seriously competitive runner I'd say get into some races (if you can find any now) or at least run some all out time trials at a few commonly raced distances and keep your mileage at 80-90, though you might even inch it up a bit more over time.

On the other hand, if you don't really expect to race seriously but rather stay focused on soccer I'd say to do what you want. If you're enjoying running 80-90 mpw there's no reason to stop but it's also a lot more volume than you need to be fit for playing other sports.

D1 athlete wrote:

My advice is go to the roads. Without a speedy background, anything on the track might be out of your wheelhouse. On the roads, you’ll have more opportunities to race and a wider array of competition. You have an excellent mileage base, so shoot for half marathons with some 10k races sprinkled in.

In terms of workouts, start with 5xmile on 1min rest plus a hard long run effort (maybe 16 miles at 6min pace). Keep the mileage up high but slow down on recovery/easy days. After a few weeks of that, add in some other workouts such as 12x400 or an 8 mile tempo, but maintain 2 hard efforts per week (so drop the hard long run).

Switch it up every so often, and don’t forget to taper for a big race. Even if it’s virtual!!

+1

I would also say that you could add some striders (4x100-200) at the end of your runs to start gaining some speed. You could do striders 2-3times a week. And with most of your runs between 6:20-6:50 I think you should be able to run good times 3k-HM like mentioned before. I would maybe dropped mileage down to 60-70 and start doing some random time trials and see it goes from there.

I'm not sure that 90 mpw with speed workouts, goes well with playing soccer. Particularly if avoiding injury is your priority. Soccer will be giving you speedwork, but not the optimum kind for running. I would be tempted to do some races, at different distances, just from your mileage, and take it from there.

You will perform significantly better if you follow the 80/20 rule. That being to do 20% of your mileage as workouts, 80% easy. That is what will help you progress.

Alfie wrote:

I'm not sure that 90 mpw with speed workouts, goes well with playing soccer. Particularly if avoiding injury is your priority. Soccer will be giving you speedwork, but not the optimum kind for running. I would be tempted to do some races, at different distances, just from your mileage, and take it from there.

So should I just focus on soccer training for my interval work and have the majority of my runs be easy?

This idea may be too radical to actually put into practice, but maybe, oh, I don't know, ACTUALLY RUN A RACE? Crazy, I know.

I don't know why so many people around here got the notion that real runners just train 24/7/365, and never race. What on earth are you training FOR?

Confused runner wrote:

So should I just focus on soccer training for my interval work and have the majority of my runs be easy?

I would race at a variety of distances first. This will set a baseline, and give you a better flavour of which distances(s) you have a talent for and enjoy. If you then decide to take up racing seriously, then is the time to set up a plan, for mileage, speedwork, soccer, that is balanced and sustainable. It is difficult to give your best at more than one sport, normally, one has to be prioritised.

If soccer is more important, I’d lower your mileage to keep the speed up. Running 80-90mpw will lower your speed drastically, as well as general explosiveness. If you went down to, say, 50-60mpw and incorporated workouts such as 12x300, short (1min) hill sprints, and 100m strides after your easy runs, then you will notice a significant improvement in your speed, explosiveness, vertical, etc. It would also put you in a great position to run a fast 1500, mile, 3k, something in that range.

This would not lead to fatigue - in fact, you will most certainly feel more energized doing lower mileage and higher speed/intensity.

Cheers!

- H

Alfie wrote:

I'm not sure that 90 mpw with speed workouts, goes well with playing soccer. Particularly if avoiding injury is your priority. Soccer will be giving you speedwork, but not the optimum kind for running. I would be tempted to do some races, at different distances, just from your mileage, and take it from there.

I agree that with 90mpw speed wont be fun, but I've also mentioned that they should drop their mileage to 60-70mpw before adding the speed workouts. For myself my mileage ranges from 55-70 with 2 workouts a week with speed. And it works well for me!