Big runners doing high mileage: how do you stay healthy long-term?

hi sorry for the late reply— I’m not great but I do NSM levels of mileage/intensity (+ very brief and easy morning doubles most days!), and I’m 6’5 105 kg so am in the same boat, low in the water. I do a lot of running on incline on treadmill (probably the majority) and even some backwards walking, slow jogs in swim shoes or barefoot on grass, and pretty padded shoes for road and trail runs. Recovery is the occasional prolonged cold shower on the leg, lots of food, and massage gun and vibration plate. Had calf trouble a couple years ago but no problems since. It was excess stretching before a nearby vertical run (bored in a terrible work meeting on zoom for a couple hours) that did it. Hard to be a clydesdale— get em buddy

i should further specify that a lot of the incline treadmill runs are at 12-14% and thus a glacial pace. This allows me to jog in swim shoes too. The tradeoff, in my thinking, was either risk calf strains this way or risk everything spending more time on flat. so I just give my calves extra care and hope for the best. worked out ok so far but probably a really dumb idea for serious sprinters/ short distance people, but I’m just a middle aged hobby jogger so these aren’t pressing concerns for me compared to aerobic health.

I’m 36 y/o, 6’4”, 91kg. In run similar mileage on average, but will be closer to 100-110km per week during my build. I did have a few weeks of up to 150 per week in my last build and was able to remain healthy.

Like you, I do the strength work and other things to stay healthy. However, I’ll echo what the poster above mentioned - I do Norwegian Singles and I would say that has probably been the biggest factor in staying healthy. I believe the less intense sessions have really gone a long way from a recovery an injury mitigation perspective. When you describe small mistakes as compounding faster, NSM alleviates those concerns for me quite considerably.

I was 5'10" and about 165 and did 100-150 a week. Injuries were never a problem and I think just running by feel and not worrying about injuries was what did it. Avoiding stretching was also important.

Stay on soft surfaces as much as possible and don’t race your training.

Im about 5”10/5”11 and 165 and I feel like this constantly. I don’t know how much of it comes down to overtraining or under recovering long term but if I get 1-2 bad days of sleep/poor nutrition everything falls apart VERY quickly. The big thing I noticed is Sleep is most important, nutrition second, then soft surface running at 3rd. Last year I was doing 80-85 mpw and about 80-90 percent of it was soft surface. This ultimately came down to running solo on a grass soccer field instead of with most of my teammates. Things unraveled when I even tried introducing some non soft surface running back in. Run by feel also helped me a lot.

I'm 6'1" and about 185 lbs (184cm - 84 kg) and a hobby jogger who is not very talented in running but almost never gets injured regardless of what kind of training I do. I have never needed to take a break more than a week or so in the past 10 years since I started running due to injury.

However, when I have minor niggles, the main thing that helps is to slow down your runs as needed. There is really no need to go faster than around 70-75% of your max HR. If I'm not doing workouts (which I usually dont') I have a tendency to speed up day by day not realizing the incremental fatigue, because I naturally "feel good" around 80% max HR. I think it has to do with running form and I suspect also my muscle fibre distribution, but if you make a conscious effort to slow your easy runs, you'll see the incoming injuries never arrive, the fatigue dissipates, and you feel more energetic. That's the only thing I can think of that helps.

Taking days off doesn't really work for me when I have a niggle. I think blood flow helps. Also, running on soft surfaces doesn't work for me. I actually think that running on hard-ish surfaces forces you to run with better form than soft surfaces as your body receives signals more strongly to correct gait, prevent heavy heel landing, etc. But again at your weight maybe it'd be helpful.

All in all, just slow down. Remember a runner like Yuki Kawauchi who is a sub 2:10 runner runs big majority of his runs at 8min/mile pace. Frank Shorter ran his easy days so easy that almost any level of runner could join him. There are many many more examples. Running slow would not hamper your performance while keeping you healthy and injury-free.

I am not of really large dimensions -190cm and close to 80kg - but always find myself to be the highest and the most massive runner in my group.

I am running now for 20 years, currently 35 yo. Only had a few minor injuries, which sidelined me for up to a week. Currently close to 80k lifetime kilometers, typically between 4k and 5k/year after my first years, which were naturally lower mileage.

I would say lots of easy running, especially in the beginning, really helps. I never was an athlete/HS runner, but immediatelly went into HMs and marathons. In retrospective, first two or three years without any running faster than 10k pace, but just running, probably helped a lot for building a hardware. Also I started from a quite low level. Only after several years, when I already ran sub 3 marathon, I decided to try to improve my shorter distances and trained with more structure. Eventually got to 1:13/2:35, so not a huge talent, which is probably also helpful for reducing chances of injury, aince everything is slower. Keeping the same or very similar level for almost 15 years now, so I am happy with this. Bottom line, what I do regularly:

- I adjust easy paces to feel, can range 4:20-6:00/km

- Am not afraid to change the plan, actually dont have a very strict plan, tried to follow everything from Daniels, Pfitz, EIM, NSM, but just miss the variety and freedom.

-I do only easy to moderate running for at least one month twice a year (like maybe January and July), better two months. So a good old fashioned base, without anything faster than MP. I find this helps a lot. Also, having a well developed LT1 really helps with faster recovery, LT2 gives results, but good LT1 allows you to train without constant heavy legs, which eventually lead to injuries.

-think of injuries in advance, better do less than more. This is always said, but rarely respected :)

-I do more cross training in the summer, since heat really wears me down. As is the case with most bigger runners.

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At your size, consistency matters more than chasing volume. What helped me most was capping mileage and being strict with intensity. Two quality days per week max, everything else truly easy. I stopped adding miles when things felt good and focused on staying healthy instead.
Sleep and fueling are non negotiable. One bad sleep week hits bigger runners harder. Strength work stays year round, but lighter and simpler during heavy run blocks. I also rotate shoes often and back off at the first tight Achilles or calf sign. Missing one workout beats losing six weeks.

I’m 6’2 (188 cm). I started running at 107 kg (235 lbs) and I now weigh 79 kg (175 lbs). Frankly, the human body is not meant to run high mileage above 100 kg. Dropping those 70 lbs is THE factor which has allowed to stay injury free long term.

That being said, being a hefty boi can be mitigated by:

- Max cushion shoes like Bondi, Invincible, Superblast. The more forgiving the better.

- Spreading out the mileage. Shorter runs are better. Look up the recent study which showed that the largest running injury risk is increasing the volume of your longest run, not total volume.

- Building mileage slowly. I went from 0 to 100+ kpw within a few months of starting running. Don’t do that, you’ll get hurt like I did. Rome wasn’t built in a day (or even a month or a year).

Also, things I didn’t do:

- Zero strength training of any kind. This helped me lose muscle as quickly as possible.

- Stopped eating a caloric surplus. Decreased protein intake. In combination this helped with the muscle loss.

- Drinking. Not cold turkey, but cut back to a few drinks per month. Avoids empty calories and your sleep quality skyrockets.

- Workouts. You need to get in shape to get in shape. If you really want to excel as a runner, your aerobic base needs to increase and your weight needs to decrease. The best bang for your buck is easy/steady mileage and strides. Save the workouts for when you are lighter.

Edit: You are not as large as I was and significantly taller, so don’t take the above advice too seriously. I responded to this post in a way that my younger self would have found useful.

I'm a bit taller and heavier at 106kg but I don't run nearly as much as you do. I try to keep to soft surfaces as much as possible and I feel that helps keep me injury free to some degree. I'm definitely a "hobby jogger" and never ran in high school or college but did play other sports.

I’m not quite your height, but definitely on the heavier side for a runner, and for me the biggest thing was being ruthless about intensity. Most runs truly easy, workouts limited, no “medium hard” days. I also capped mileage where I could handle it year after year instead of chasing a number. Once I stopped forcing progression and focused on consistency, the little calf/Achilles stuff stopped turning into real problems.

I coach runners that usually come from strength backgrounds, and have had good success getting them up to 60+ miles with almost no injury issues. My guys range from 5’10” x190 to 6’7” 290. Biggest thing I’ve seen is the more strength training they bring in, the better off they are. We also take it very slow early season, easy pace at like full conversation pace, and from there i only make incremental changes week to week. So if i add milage, I dont add intensity, if i add intensity i dont add milage, etc. Because i 100% agree the negative effects of a bad tendon are compounded. My recommendation would be maybe cycling your volume increase with your lifting like a season. So take a gap of 2 month with lower milage and when you hit the gym, focus on tendon strengthening exercises in areas you suffer. Good luck! I fully believe big dudes can run well, it just takes more strength to hold the bus together.

I'm neither big nor heavy, but my running form is basically a stomp. For me, the one time I strayed from maximally cushioned shoes ... boom! ... stress fracture in my femur.

6'4, 200 here. I just completely gave up on doing high mileage. We have the same bones, tendons, and ligaments as smaller runners. It's no wonder that we get hurt all the time if we try to run decent mileage.

I think Parker Valby-style cross training on the elliptical might be our best bet.

Eat more than you think, drink more water than you think. Eat a carby snack before bed to help your body recover. Your calorie intake as a larger person should match your body's needs - not what the recommended intake for a standard runner is. Most injuries happen in a dehydrated state and most runners under fuel.