Going from 30mpw to 80mpw in a week (and 90 miles next week)

I need to add that I have the time to do this (working part-time for the next few weeks) and I intend on getting plenty of rest (no partying and stuff).

The problem is when you feel pain in your knee during a run and can't rest because you got a 12 miler the next day and another one the day after that and on and on...

So yes it's stupid, so you better be stupid in a smart way. Run mostly on soft surfaces like grass, take ice-baths, stretch and sleep way more than you usally do.

So, you have a plan. Do you have a purpose?

What is your goal race?

Why the need to risk the fitness you've built up?

Have patience and perseverance.

Do you have a Coach or mentor?

What would they think?

Thanks krims. I will do some of my runs on dirt but not all of them unfortunately.

Ice baths do not work well for me. In the past my legs have reacted in a weird way and looked almost bruised after icing. I'll stretch and take extra rest for sure.

Do you have a purpose?

- Just want to build up base and get faster ultimately.

What is your goal race?

- I'd like to race a marathon and a half when I'm back in shape, this winter if possible. I would like to PR in a half, it has been a while.

Why the need to risk the fitness you've built up?

Have patience and perseverance.

- You're right, I'm not patient. I feel like I should try harder...right now.

Do you have a Coach or mentor?

What would they think?

- No, I run on my own.

I don't think a lot of people have tried that. I'm curious to see how it turns out.

Personally, I don't think 1 or 2 weeks of high mileage will help that much. Even if you make it through that training plan, chances are you won't feel right at the end and will have to rest a long time. What you're planning isn't much different from running two ultramarathons in a week.

Peter Snell once went from 0-100 in 3 weeks. I myself am in a similar situation to you having averaged only 35-40 miles per week this summer. The week before I started training hard again I was injured in a rugby match so could not run at all. These past 2 weeks have been 78 and 81. The first week had sprints Monday and Friday, weights Monday, WEdnesday and Sunday and a hill workout on Saturday.

This past week had sprints tuesday, Hills Wednesday, Friday and Sunday with weights on Thursday and Sunday.

Doubles were everyday with one day of triples.

You will get tired, but you will have trouble falling asleep, you will have trouble walking around, when you do fall asleep you will sleep at least 8 hours, possibly up to 10-11. Some runs your legs will just give out after a few miles, often even a jog feels tough because of the fatigue. The start of most runs will be fairly slow. But keep at it, eventually you will start feeling ok on your runs, then after a few months you will start feeling good, then maybe in half a year you will feel fantastic. That's what I'm hoping for anyway. Feel free to email me, if you're not a troll that is. If anything I would scrap the singles, at least while you are adapting to the mileage.

Best advice:

Don't.

Things take time.

Jin, I agree that 1 or 2 weeks are not going to do anything. Those 2 weeks are just the kick-off start of my fall training. I will go on with high mileage afterward.

After these 2 big weeks I will take an easier week (65/70) then go back to 70/80mpw for the next two months.

At that time I's like to race a half-marathon and see if I can PR.

Right on. I think fUrCeOsNhN is right on the ball. I've increased my mileage in less dramatic but still sizable jumps and experienced what he's described to a lesser degree.

Good luck and I hope it works out. Don't forget to taper.

Back when I was a soph in HS i was only used to doing 20 miles a week. Once summer started, with the passion you have, I wanted to better and bumped my mileage to 60 miles all of a sudden. I hit 61 miles that week, but I felt like one more step and my bones were going to crumble.

Be smart. Dont bump up mileage that drastically.

I went from consistent 40's to 82 followed by 65 the next week. Ended up with a stress fracture in my shin. Stupidest thing I've ever done during my running career, and I sincerely regret it.

Basically it took me a year to get back to where I was before the jump from 40 to 80. Not worth the risk.

This summer I went from 40 mpw during the last week of track to 50 mpw the first week of summer (all done very slow with either my dad or my younger sister 8:30+ per mile). And then jumped right into 100 mpw. I continued to run 100-125 mpw for the next 14 weeks.

I went from 16:30 3miles/28:10 8k to a 15:15 3miles this year, and thats at practice in a time trial in the middle of a 120 mile week.

I'm not saying everyone can to do it, but I jumped right into high milage and it worked for me

I would also recommend eating A LOT of food after your harder/longer runs. I find that helps with recovery significantly. You want to get it in ASAP and in large quantities. Being in a calorie deficit, and thereby staying in a catabolic state, is the last thing you want when you're increasing your training.

Wondering how it will work won't matter.

Once you do that 20-miler you will be done for a while anyway. If it was that easy to "bump up" your mileage everyone would do it.

There is a reason you are running middle-school mileage: that is what you are ready for based on your past year or so.

Try the patient and disciplined approach.

90 miles a week? Honkey please? you aren't going to make it to 90 in a week any time soon.

so basically you should go 30 60 then 80 and double alot more, you'll actually make it (mostly or atleast for awhile) and you won't be that far behind your goal, also running on not asphalt is key when your bumping up the miles it'll really make a difference trust me i did somethin like this its not a good idea to jump as much as you are but if you double alot and do alot of it off road you might make it (especially don't do 20 mile runs quite yet, nevermind two of them)

Curious Theodore wrote:

I've been running about 30mpw this summer and want to up my mileage this fall...

Is it stupid (injury risk too high)?

Thanks!

To answer your question, I do know good podiatrists, orthopedic surgeons and physical therapists. You'll be meeting many of these same people soon.

I agree, scrap any single run more then 12 miles, at least for now. They just tire you out too much, and if you hit a wall at 6-7 miles (which may happen after a few days, trust me),finishing up that last 5-6 miles could leave you injured if you loose form and start to overstride, get sloppy on the downhills, etc. The 20-22 milers will crush you right now. That's basically what you were doing over 4-5 days during your previous workload. If you REALLY want a high milage day then split it up into 5/5/10 (say 6am, 10am and 4pm, kenyan style).

The easiest way to do 80 miles a week is running at least 10 miles a day but no more then 13 and double nearly everyday. I don't think I've had a run over 8 miles yet. Last year when I was doing a few 15-20 milers a week but also taking a couple days off a week, the legs tightened up a lot between runs. With doubles they just don't have as much time to tighten up. Run short and often, and if you are feeling good run fast the 2nd half of a run (start each run slowly, even if you feel ok).

And yes, you should be eating like an animal right now, that's one mistake I've made in the past couple weeks, sometimes I would only eat one or two real meals a day because I would just not be hungry when I would try and eat right after a run. So what I would do is have a gatorade and a protein bar, which I think is ok. Just try and force the food down, if you don't you will regret it later if you don't. Going to bed hungry when you know you have a run in the morning isn't fun.

My personal feeling is that building mileage should not be done overnight. Running is like cooking in that way. On the other hand I know how tempting it is to just jump straight up to high mileage. So I would suggest a more moderate approach of like 30-50-65-75-80-85-90-95-100... (so thats about 2 months to get up to 100 mpw with the whole second month above 80mpw). It is risky, but I hopefully it will be satisfying (as you feel like you are quickly accomplishing something) and relatively safe. As the Brits say, "Whoever dares wins."