Is 33 percent too much mileage to accumulate at threshhold pace for a week of work?
Is 33 percent too much mileage to accumulate at threshhold pace for a week of work?
I think it varies based on how much mileage per week you are doing. Not linearly but it varies. If you are doing 40 mpw, it should not be difficult to get 33% at LT. But with 120 MPW, I think doing 33% would be a bit of overkill.
I think Daniels recommends a maximum of 10%.
The risks go up exponentially when anything higher than 20% of your weekly mileage is LT or faster (and for many runners, AT).
A decent runner doing 75 miles per week can successfully have 3 hard days: 1) 8 x 800 at 5k pace (4 mi total quality), 2) 5 x 1-mile at LT (5 mi quality), and 3) 15 mile long run with the last 6 miles at AT pace (6 mi quality).
Well, 33% would be possible, though perhaps not optimal. It really depends on your physiological strengths and weaknesses more than your total training volume. The runner who has a limitation more on the speed side could certainly handle more than 10%/ week in tempo training, and even 33% could be reasonable given the right athlete and circumstances.
If I run 6 miles/week, 33% would be a whopping 2 mile run at tempo pace/week, and lightly trained runners will often take off running above "threshold" pace without much of a thought. So I'm not sure the higher mileage workload per se would infer any advantage when it comes to piling up tempo work on a percentage of volume basis. Certainly 10% as a rigid guideline for all is a bit silly. truthfully, the runners who can handle more tempo type training are almost often the one's who need to move beyond the basic approach to make further progress.
Daniels' suggestion for threshold pace is also on the high side of the spectrum and really just one approach of many. There are other efforts that are also worthwhile and perhaps more so, in the proper doses. Also no evidence that sustained running is more effective than long intervals, or that you'll turn into a pumpkin if your tempo effort lasts beyond 20', or if you skip the tempo work altogether. So much of it depends on who you are and where you are at.
His 10% figure also assumes you want to leave room for all the rest, the weekend snail jog, and the "V02max" intervals he suggests which too are likewise open to some debate, and may or may not be optimal for you. He offers some good basic directions, also just one opinion, and his suggestions were never intended to be viewed as etched in stone. A good coach will always outdo a formula, and a smart, experienced runner will learn to adjust the plan for even better result.
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