Really the only reason for about half of the mileage is weight control and general aerobic conditioning. You can accomplish these by crosstraining while giving your legs a break from the pounding which causes most of the injuries.
Really the only reason for about half of the mileage is weight control and general aerobic conditioning. You can accomplish these by crosstraining while giving your legs a break from the pounding which causes most of the injuries.
QQ, do you work full-time? And I hate when people on here bring up international runners or professional running training schedules. Let's keep this realistic. Running high milage in addition to min. 40 hr. week work schedule will only fatigue you.
"johnny rotten," that may be true. But as I stated before... the high milage schedule in college, over the span of 4 years really burned me out... and with all of the injury and physical therapy... I have to believe that those 4 years will have decreased my running lifetime in the longrun rather than made me stronger. After the spring of 06 (my last year of college running) I took close to a year off (like barely running at all) because I was so sick of it, physically and mentally. Now that I've gotten back into it over the past year, I'm not so sure my college career has anything to do with my current condition.
agree some amatuers have to work, only a minority are full time elites! Everyone is different and they run according to their lifestyle and environment. You do what suits your circumstances and try your best according to your ideals, goals and aims. excess mileage can cause burnout and injury.
80mpw in excessive and too high for some runners, whilst others can easily cope with 100mpw- its all an individual thing!
Yes mate. I think my point was quite clearly not about professional runners, as I said that many good national runners and previous internationals worked full time (ie doing something else for a living) and ran seriously quick on high mileage.
To say high mileage will just fatigue you is far too general - it may fatigue you as an individual but it doesn't fatigue me and I feel a lot stronger for it like hundreds of others - not that I'm saying it works for everyone of course.
Good point "athletics freak," I think that is very true. "QQ," more power to you man. That's great that you can handle the high milage... my legs just can't. Perhaps with age, I'll be able to tack on more and get faster. How old are you?
That's a good point, I'm 28 and been running competitively for 12-odd years, so age will definitely be a factor in how much volume and how much intensity you can handle.
[quote="routechange"]Message:
QQ, do you work full-time? And I hate when people on here bring up international runners or professional running training schedules. Let's keep this realistic. Running high milage in addition to min. 40 hr. week work schedule will only fatigue you.[/quote]
Please. 40 hours a week is not going to fatigue you. 9-5? You can run at 8 and 6 and still have plenty of a life.
Crosstrain how fast are you and how old? You can cosstrain fore me give me a break it also overrated.
You go into a race not only with the training you've done over the last few weeks but also th training you've done over the last few months, years, and decades.
Alan
I'm just going to throw this out there... but this definitely supports my advocation for reduced, quality milage. I plan on continuing my training in this manner and am signed up for a marathon in mid March. My inspiration has been and continues to be from my dad and his experience with running. He raced competitively during the early to mid 80's. He ran a 2:29 marathon... twice. With a family and work, etc. he has not been competitive for awhile, but steadfastly consistent (40 mpw) About a month ago he told me he was signing up for a marathon and I decided I would hop aboard and do my first one. My dad's resume speaks for itself. He did 3 big marathons (philly, then boston, then marine corps), the latter 2 clocking the 2:29's. When constructing my training regime, I was biased towards the high milage (what I did in college). My dad stands by the reduced quality milage formula, which is what I've been doing. Now, if I've already experienced positive results with this formula, and my dad, at 27, working full time, running 2:29 marathons has, there have to be more out there who have similar experiences. btw. my dad never hit over 80 mpw when he ran those times.
"TickTock," I'm up at 5:45 and home by 6. 40 hrs./week is standard fulltime. Unfortunately, I don't work at a job where I clock in at 9 and clock out at 5. Those jobs are few and far between. If you have that luxury, you should prob. spend less time running and more time finding a better job.
routechange wrote:
Yeah... only ran the 10k twice in college. That pr was actually on an xc course. I ran it on the track as a freshman... went out in a 15:40something and then died (33:28...ouch!) Primarily, just a 5k guy.... def. not a miler... couldn't break 4:30 if my life depended on it.
your saying you can't break 4:30 but your 3k PR is 8:29.
that's roughly, give or take, 4:32 a mile.
you would have to be retarded not to be able to drop 3 seconds.
Why would I drop 3 sec. in the mile to place midpack in heat #3? I'm not a miler. I would rather drop 4:40's in the 5k and be seeded to be in the front pack. Do you know anything about college running?
I have run 100 mpw working 40 or more hours a week, both with an 8am and a 6am start time for work. Heck a month or so ago i ran 100 miles off a week where i worked 8 days straight. I had no trouble getting in the miles. Its called being motivated. Miles work for everybody, but 100 or more mile weeks aren't for everybody. The 70-80 range is better for most people probably but i would say that all that work you did in college is catching up with you as others have already said. It also depends on how did different you are training compared to then, maybe your coach was having train to hard and now you have found the right formula for yourself to run faster.
That point was already discussed and put to rest. But I appreciate the reaffirmation.
So some 90 year old runner will win the Zurich 10000m? I no I no he train and ran 158.0000 miles in 40 years I see.
routechange wrote:
"johnny rotten," that may be true. But as I stated before... the high milage schedule in college, over the span of 4 years really burned me out... and with all of the injury and physical therapy... I have to believe that those 4 years will have decreased my running lifetime in the longrun rather than made me stronger. After the spring of 06 (my last year of college running) I took close to a year off (like barely running at all) because I was so sick of it, physically and mentally. Now that I've gotten back into it over the past year, I'm not so sure my college career has anything to do with my current condition.
Well, I'm not going to convince you of anything, since it's pretty clear that you've come to the conclusion that your mileage in college did more harm than good--which may well be true. I'm with Alan, though, that your fitness includes the sum total of everything you've run over the years. I would not say that your year of running only minimal miles necessarily negates all you did in college. I'm quite curious about how you do in your marathon on the reduced mileage formula, as I am a coach and am interested in the way you respond to this training. BTW: 80mpw doesn't exactly qualify as "low mileage."
As for the 40 hour work week and high mileage: I've done it for years. I get up at 5:00 and run. Then I get to work (at the high school where I teach) at 7:00 and work until 3:30-4:00. Because I coach track and xc, I can often get my second run in with the team, although not always. I've averaged 100mpw for the past two years (after 11 years as an IM triathlete) without undue fatigue or loss of family time.
I am in general agreement with your position. It is also fair to say that you have benefitted from a few years of high mileage, so this year may not be the best example of success on lower mileage.
However, I agree with the post that said 70 on singles is as good or better than 90 on doubles. The key is the 2-3 hard runs during the week. In fact, it has occurred to me that if a good runner ran 8mi in 39-40 min 3x a week, what else would he really need? That would be a bold experiment, but just because it is so unconventional doesn't mean it wouldn't work.
I have been reading Lore Of Running over Christmas, and it seems unbelievable but the stars of the 1900s ran 4:16 or so on 15-20 mi a week! Interesting food for thought.
So because they have a set 40hr/week schedule their job is crap? So a better job you spend all your time there and never see your family, thats how divorces happen dude! I've seen it. My uncle works for a well known company, upper management level, and makes a shit load of money. Works 40 hours a week, 9-5.