How many miles per week to break 32 min for 10km

Did you read the original poster's stament and background? Everyone was offering the "minimums" on what he could get by on b/c he said he was NEW to running and didn't really run much, mainly gym and cardio mixes. That's why. You don't just suddenly jump in from no running experience and start doing 80-90 miles a week (yes, contrary to your statement, mileage like that CAN hurt you). No one is saying that down the line a lot of mileage would not be good for him, but w/ the natural talent he posted about and his unfamiliarity to the running scene, these were the "low mileage" options for him to break 32 minutes while doing the most beneficial training for RIGHT NOW in his situation.

How prone to injury you are will play a massive part in this. Theres a guy in my club who is extremely talented and ran about 17.00 5k, 36m 10k off about 1 or 2 runs a week for a couple of months, but every time he tried to train specifically for running he would pull a muscle or injury a joint and never progress. However, he could turn up to a race having not ran at all for 10 weeks and still run 36.30 odd for 10k. Others cant break 37 off 60mpw

6.1 miles or 10,000 meters per week, you have to at least finish the race

irunbutterfly wrote:

anywhere from 6 if you are super talented to infinite miles (cause it aint gonna happen) if you are not talented.

Most people could pull off a sub 32 with something between that.

Why do people post this crap? At the beginning of every "what can I run thread" I see it. Do you think you're making a point that isn't obvious to every single person that reads it? The guy wants to know averages, otherwise he would have asked about his specific case. He wants to know what MOST runners have to put in to run that fast. Please stop being an idiot just because you think you're making the point of the century.

-Thanks (from the rest of us)

What an excellent thread! So many positive contributions, full of real experience and details. Worth keeping. Thanks.

irunbutterfly wrote: anywhere from 6 if you are super talented to infinite miles (cause it aint gonna happen)

Olly Olly Oxen Free wrote: Why do people post this crap? [...] Do you think you're making a point that isn't obvious to every single person that reads it?

Presumably to try and make a point beyond the one which is obvious to everyone (i.e. that "it varies" or whatever) - I think the "beyond" point is something like "it's just a bad question, a not-helpful way of framing the whole endeavor." The question seems to presuppose that *most* runners start with comparable talent and respond similarly to training, for starters.

I agree that a somewhat better question would be "how many MPW to run your best?" The answers would still cover quite a range - even if you weeded out the responses from the majority who simply never tried running enough to find out how much was optimal, how much was too much - but at least they'd represent more of "the same standard" for each runner, and fall within some kind of recognizable if fairly broad range (like say mostly 80 to 140 MPW with some outliers).

When people talk about "mileage needed to run X time," what mileage are they talking about? Is it average over a season, average over a year, peak mileage, etc? For example: I run average about 70 miles/week in the 3-4 month base building phase before XC, during this time I peak at about 90-95 miles, during racing season I average about 60 miles/week, and over the course of an entire year (with off time after each season) I average only about 50-55 miles/week (2500-2800 miles/year). I've run 32:30 for 10k, but would i say I've done it off of 50, 60, 70 or 95 miles/week?

I've just gone up to 60 miles and I'm feeling fricking exhausted at work. Does the feeling go away after a few weeks?

Wow, I broke 37:00 off of 40-45MPW, back in the mid to late-80's.

I didn't consider myself talented, then again I could rarely get over 50MPW for long periods as I always got ill: flu, colds, bronchitis.

Maybe there's a bell curve there somewhere out there for all of us.

I recall an old book by Manfred Steffney which listed more or less general MPW mileage ranges for differing marathon/10K times, remember these are very (!) general:

Marathon 10K Time MPW

4:00:00 ~50:00 30MPW

3:00:00 36-37:00 50-65MPW

2:45:00 32-33:00 65-85MPW

2:20:00 ~30:00 75-125MPW

~2:10:00 ~28:00 125-150MPW

This book ("Marathoning" I believe was the title) was published circa 1979.

Hope this provides some guidelines of sorts. My guesstimate is that 70MPW might be the range you want for starters for 31-32:00, around 10 miles daily in raw numbers.

Apologies to Herr Steffney if my memory is faulty & this data erroneous.

Good luck.

I ran 30:18 off 45 mile 12 month average, and only had pb of 4:04 for 1500m.

It's impossible to answer that questions in a general sense.

I hasten to add that I'd have run faster on bigger mileage but injuries limited me.

The piint is that you can get away with lower mileage /high intensity to a point at 10k and even up to half marathon.

I'm also not that quick, but have a naturally high Lactate threshold which allows me to beat much quicker 1500m guys at 10k even without running as much as them.

Thanks for the input I take it from reading peoples posts that I should increase my miles gradually and introduce some form of session once a week. A couple of runners I know have told me to race myself in to shape so I may plan on racing every other week over a number of distances. My initial question was to find an average of what my weekly mileage would be in order for me to run this time! I guess the question was hard to answer I will up my running to around 30-40 over the next couple of months and see were it takes me. I did run occasionaly but not seriously at school, ran some decent times over 800, 1500 and xc but stopped at 16. I ran 2:04 and 4:16 but havent run since then other than at the gym or when I fancy going for a run. I am now 22.

That's a solid plan. Up the miles (carefully), get a quality work out in once a week, and race.

Mileage is so variable, especially when considering what type of workout plan you're doing and what type of runner you are. Some people are higher mileage types, some are lower mileage types.

i ran 29:39 at 60-65 per week. i did 8x300 (at current 1500m pace R) once per week and 3x3200m (at threshold pace T) once per week for 11 weeks. Then for 2 weeks i did two 5k pace (I) workouts per week. Towards the end of that 13 week span i ran a 12k (36:30) and a 1500m (3:57). Got to race day and the pace was VERY easy.

For 2 years before that i was hammering away at 75-85 MPW doing 5k/10k pace 75% of the time and tempo runs 25% of the time. 30:42 and 30:42. What the..?! Oh, i need footspeed to run a fast 10k. Everybody does, in different doses.

Best thing you could do is read The Daniels' Running Formula and live it.

My brother ran 5 miles a day while starting his professional career in his late 20's. Ran 5 miles a day - max. And on the few occasions he ran a 10K, he did so in about 29:30. The point is talent does make a difference. He ran a 4:10 mile in 10th grade (on about 30 miles a week), so I do submit he was an unusual talent. So the question on this post has to be framed in terms of the relevant talent.

It doesn't need that much. A 4:10 1500 runner who is 15:20 shape can do it off of 50-60 miles per week, though 70 is about average.

80-90 will get you to low 31 high 30 if you do it right.

Remember, "The miles don't make the man, the man makes the miles."

when i was 18 (first time i ran that fast) i ran 32 flat off of 60-65 miles a week. but a lot of people on this board have it right, you don't need to do too much unless you want to run a lot faster. although you are new to running so anything more then 60 may take time to get used to.

bump

depends on how talented you are. but i'd say 40-60 miles/week to break 32:00. make sure the training is good quality training.