Got beat in a 5K by someone doing 15 mpw. Basically all of their runs are workouts. It's got me wondering whats the point in running so much mileage?
(Yes I know this won't work for HM and marathon and yes some of you will think those times are slow).
Well, for one, you really don't get good aerobic gains or the strength to hold fast pages for longer.
That 10k time is really slow compared to that 5k time. It should probably be at least a minute faster in a well trained runner.
But at the end of the day, you gotta train how you like to train.
I ran a 34 minute 10k with work mates for charity after not running a step for 2 years.
55507 wrote:
Got beat in a 5K by someone doing 15 mpw. Basically all of their runs are workouts. It's got me wondering whats the point in running so much mileage?
(Yes I know this won't work for HM and marathon and yes some of you will think those times are slow).
He's probably runs much more than that, but is one of those people that loves to brag about "how much they achieved on so little effort." It's very common.
If running "bare minimum mileage, as fast as I can every run" worked, your local 5K would have everyone running 17 min. But it doesn't work, because 99% of casual runners are doing the "minimum mileage, as fast as I can" thing and they can't even sniff 17 min.
Even this is true, that your buddy ran 17:06 off "15 mpw, all out" that doesn't mean it'll work for you, or that he's achieving his potential. You probably need higher mileage, with the majority comfortably aerobic and a small percentage at moderate to fast pace, like the rest of us mere mortals.
55507 wrote:
Got beat in a 5K by someone doing 15 mpw. Basically all of their runs are workouts. It's got me wondering whats the point in running so much mileage?
(Yes I know this won't work for HM and marathon and yes some of you will think those times are slow).
I think you should try and report back!
Someone runs a faster 800 than me on 5 miles a week
Many of us can run faster than that without training but that isn't the method to do our best. If Grant Fisher gets tired of running and takes a few years off, he could show up at a random race and run 16 minutes looking easy. He could run 14:30 on 15 MPW easy.