Is there any benefit for a 55 year hobby jogger running 80 miles (13 hours of running) in his training build up for 4 hour marathon? He is healthy with no injuries. He built a 16 week training schedule from 50 to 80 miles. He has 14 years of current running history. He loves high volume training, but just doesn’t run fast. He has a 4 :00:11 from 2016. It just seems crazy to run that much for a possible 4 hour marathon at the 2021 Chicago Marathon
The main issue, is that he doesn't get injured from the heavy mileage.
If he keeps up this mileage, he is very likely to run well under 4 hrs.
Helps to keep weight in check. Also might lead to a faster than 4 hour time. I'm certainly expecting that it will in my case (54 year old, 80 - 85 mpw)
An issue for older runners is that they cannot do high volume plus hard workouts.
So it comes down to whether the volume or workouts will have the greatest impact.
If the volume is being done at a slowish pace, the injury risk is much reduced.
You're a hobby jogger. Do what you enjoy most!
If you love high mileage, crank up the volume.
If you hate high mileage, do 400 reps until you drop. 🤷♂️
2 hours/day for 6 days and a 1 hour run on the 7th day? Sounds like a bit much to me. Maybe build up to that 80 mile week and then bring it back down to more 90 minute runs instead of 2 hour runs but add some quality. 5 miles easy / 4 @ MP for ex.