I've done ok on low mileage, but how much more do I need to be respectable?

People always ask this sort of thing here but there really is no one size fits all answer. And what do you mean by really excel? You mention 3:24 as a respectable marathon time and as things are now it really is. But you could switch the first two digits, be fifty minutes faster and you still would not really excel. You'd be faster than gobs of people, probably well into the 90th percentile at any race outside of Lake Biwa but still be an also ran.

You have done decently and I'd think you could be much, much, faster with 65-80 miles a week but no one can truly tell you how much faster though many would give you numbers. But the numbers would be guesses. When I began building mileage up, going from maybe 35 to as much as 150, I was sure it would make me a lot faster and it did. But I had no real idea how much faster and really was probably better off not knowing. I just wanted to see what would happen, to see what I could do if I really threw myself into running. Shorter once told Sports Illustrated that his reason for running as much as he did was because he didn't want to wonder what would have happened if he did. I really think that's what you need to sort out; if you don't work up to 60-80, or whatever, will you regret that in a decade or two?

I respect your post, honestly.

My main goal is to BQ but I know I need to work harder and put in more mileage. I think I should have been more specific honestly about "wanting to excel."

Thank you for the kind response (no sarcasm).

I was going to retire my ages old name here and vanish behind other identities but don't really like the idea. I am glad the post did not come off as critical or nasty. A lot of people now look at their training as a kind of investment and want to know if the pay off will be worth that investment. Nothing wrong with that. For you, I'd think qualifying for Boston is reasonable without a massive effort. I found that getting to 50-60 a week got me some major improvements, an hour five minute one in my marathon best at the time.

Aim for 65-70 this season. While 80 is better than 70, you should take it one step at a time.

Just take it one bit at a time

What isn’t respectable about a 3:24? Completing a marathon is respectable no matter your time so long as you gave it your all at that time.

Base building is the time to build a base, get to an appropriate mileage to follow your program, and then follow it. You’ve taken some extended time off it sounds like, so I wouldn’t do anything like running way way more than you have before.

Stick to what’s worked, and if you’re curious about what a bit more mileage would do, then do a bit more. But don’t go out on a quest for strava fame and mileage highs. That won’t be the thing that helps you. Consistency is.

Mileage is overrated.

The faster you get the more miles you will run.

The sweet spot for most is somewhere between 30-80 miles per week for a lot of runners. Beyond that you run into more injuries. But you have to listen to your body. That's the one you have. Sounds logic I know but a lot of people try to do what other people do.

Since you have a 3:25 Marathon time right now, I would not go higher than 50 miles per week right now.

Frank Shorter here wrote:

Mileage is overrated.

The faster you get the more miles you will run.

The sweet spot for most is somewhere between 30-80 miles per week for a lot of runners. Beyond that you run into more injuries. But you have to listen to your body. That's the one you have. Sounds logic I know but a lot of people try to do what other people do.

Since you have a 3:25 Marathon time right now, I would not go higher than 50 miles per week right now.

This is so wrong in every way.

Of course, you're going to find your true potential if your body can handle 100+ mpw.

I would start making 40-50 comfortable, and then build up to 60-70. You also don't want to start with 100mpw while you're still improving at every distance. You don't need that many slower miles at this stage.

There is no perfect answer but, generally, more miles is better. You just need to make sure you don't rush into something you can't handle. Think about a mileage progression in terms of years and not months. Give yourself 3-4 years to get to peak mileage for the marathon. Your goal times will change as you progress.

There's no secret! Slowly increase your mileage and listen to your body. The poster above is right, even if you drop 50 minutes you won't be elite. Few people have the talent, coaching, or opportunity to be elite. The good news is you are free to try things and out enjoy the process of making big improvements. There is a lot of satisfaction to be had with training hard and logging miles and it's only worth it because you don't know how fast you can be until you try. You're already a respectable runner, especially doing what you've done without an organized team, so I don't think you're going to hit a new level of "respectable" but you should gain a lot else from trying high mileage. (Also don't listen to those who say nothing under 100/week is high. For a normal person with a job/life 50+ is pretty serious work).

I think being consistent year-round around at 60 mpw (not only 4-6 months a year) will be enough for sub-3 if you ran 3.24 averaging 40-ish mpw & peaking at 60 mpw. 70-80 mpw is unnecessary at your level and you'll only ask for trouble (injuries). Maybe next year aim for 70+ and see if you can run a 2.50.

Honestly, I wouldn't set precise mileage goals in advance. You don't know how your body is going to respond to it. I'd aim to increase and simply see how it goes from there. I'd try staying at 40mpw for a little bit. You're coming from v low mileage.

Jecht,

After a long layoff, I ran a 3:47 marathon a year ago on a schedule that peaked at 56 miles. I upped that to 70 and ran 3:13 a few weeks ago. So, mileage has helped me. Next marathon, I'm considering bumping that up to a peak of 80-85.

The best way to handle this, is to increase your mileage a bit for a few months and see how it goes. If no injuries pop up, increase it a bit more. Keep the hard workouts to a minimum until you know your body can handle a new mileage level.

Race periodically and see where it goes. If it pays off, keep going. If you get injured, hold up.

If you can stay injury free, it's likely to pay off.

Thank you!

I did 1 6-mile time trial each the week of Feb. 6, 13, and 20. When I started

The week ending Feb. 27 I had worked my way up to 21 miles (half week). I did 30-35 mpw for 3-4 weeks, including a cutback. I did 41 last week and will hold steady at 41-43 for a few months until I hit 18 weeks out for the marathon. Then I may either do Pfitzinger or switch to Marathoners In Training (Columbus training group).

Even with a ton of EZ running, 1 long run and a tempo run I'm already seeing a big drop in times. Was able to do a few 7:05 miles in the heat during a 7-mile fartlek (otherwise ran the other miles in a steady 8:22). I'm also slowing the EZ running down to 9:20 or slower on slow days and keeping my breathing light. That's the key for stacking mileage, I'm discovering!

Lots of good advice in this thread over the last three weeks. I'm glad to see you have been improving steadily since then, so cool to see an update.

My thoughts are similar to others. Keep working to do more, but make sure it is manageable and don't just set number targets. I realize this is hard to do, and I have to remind myself not to do it all the time.

So, how do you do that? Simply run more. Looking over your summary in the first post you take tons of time off. Change that. Start running 50 weeks a year. You'll be amazed at how much more work you can get in if you just keep running. All of a sudden you're doing 40 miles per week and that is a super down week for you and you feel like you got a huge break. But now that is one of your biggest weeks.

Just keep getting out the door. And reevaluate your training every few months.

Oh yes, I definitely take the advice here well. I am just realizing is a coach worth $1800 a year? LOL

I appreciate it, itdepends.

I am also building slowly.

21, 30, 32, 36, 33, 41, and will have 42 this week.

I'm adding 1-3 miles a week but every 4th week I'll drop 4-5 miles off to be safe.

You can trust me jecht! 600 bucks per year and you will run like a rocket in some months.

You can also take a test period with my system and just 70 bucks per month. Welcome!

My detractors here at LRC doesn`t have a clue my system gives very fast clear positive results.I guess in a couple of years my fee will be trippled. :) If you have FB i will send you some proof of my world class coaching that is true and nothing else! :)

The Wizard JS wrote:

You can trust me jecht! 600 bucks per year and you will run like a rocket in some months.

You can also take a test period with my system and just 70 bucks per month. Welcome!

My detractors here at LRC doesn`t have a clue my system gives very fast clear positive results.I guess in a couple of years my fee will be trippled. :) If you have FB i will send you some proof of my world class coaching that is true and nothing else! :)

If there is one thing no one can trust is your word.

Watch out for this man's scamming, OP.

Find out all about the lack of success athletes have had with his training, and all about his lies here:

I know I'm going to come off sounding like a jerk, but I couldn't imagine running in the 70 + mpw range and having a marathon goal that starts with a 3. That just would not be worth the effort to me.

That said, the older, the more respect I do have for people slogging out 3 hour plus long runs. When I get to that point, I'm hanging up the racing flats for good because I just don't have that in me. I'm not sure how people can do that.

I'm just glad that you recognize that the race times you are turning in now are NOT respectable for someone of your age/gender. Run as much as you can but not too much.