drastic increases in mileage?

I have just recently went from zero miles to 100 in 10 weeks (by way of lydiard trainig)and feel good. I was doing 50-55 mpw got injured and did nothing for 12 weeks. Then followed the lydiard training to 100mpw in 9 weeks and feel very strong and fresh. forget 3 month to 100mpw you can do it in 9 to 10 weeks. Im actually going out for a 20 miler right now if your interested in how to build to 100mpw leave your e-mail and I will send you the article. it will change the way you run and with in a couple month will see great results.

Hey Joe Runner,

It sounds like your ramp up went well. How close did you stick to the 9 week build up in my Lydiard thesis?

Thanks for the info. I would appreciate it if you sent me the article.

thanks

I have been running for 31 years, and had previous ~100 mileage, and last winter decided to ramp up without worrying about conventional buildup. I went from straight 30 miles/week to 100 mile weeks for 13 weeks without any intermediate weeks, just made sure I got lots of sleep, food and massage and ran lots of dirt (only worked part-time). Unfortunately, it didn't seem to help my race times much, as I tend to anemia, and apparently my body couldn't make enough new RBC's. It was fun to be able to go out and cruise the miles like that, though.

I think drastic increases depends on a couple factors.

1. Are you breaking new ground? If you have had experience in the 100+ range before, it is much easier to go back than if you are going there for the first time.

2. Are you in a racing season or just building a base? If you are doing heavy/fast workouts or racing a lot, building that quickly would be very tough.

3. Are you injury prone, or one of the lucky durable types. I've never had many problems with building up quickly, but I've always been very durable. At the same time, I have a couple running buddies that would have a lot of trouble going from 30 to 100 in less than a month without getting injured.

I have a question for you high mileage folks. If you determined that you can run a good 1500m or 1 mile or even a good 5K with 10x400m, would you run just the mileage appropriate to do that kind of speedwork?

Or, do you insist high mileage is the only way for you to get fast?

could someone forward me this article as well... I'm in a similair position, was running 75+ weeks and am now running zero

mmmike_m@hotmail.com

runduderun wrote:

I have a question for you high mileage folks. If you determined that you can run a good 1500m or 1 mile or even a good 5K with 10x400m, would you run just the mileage appropriate to do that kind of speedwork?

Or, do you insist high mileage is the only way for you to get fast?

I am now running 40-50 miles/week w/ workouts such as 10x 400 at goal mile pace, and seem to be (just starting race season) in as good shape or better for the mile as when I was coming off of the higher mileage- but I do have the limitation of iron reserves I mentioned above. I would never do harder interval training (800/1500 race pace) while actually running 100/week- just some tempo and longer interval/fartlek stuff.

So, for me, I seem to be able to run the 800/mile as well or better off of moderate mileage with lots of faster-paced tempos and fartleks as off of slower, higher mileage. But I have a large overall base of miles under my belt as well, so mainaining and developing speed seems to be a priority, in my case.

This doesn't really apply to me, as I'm looking at distances over a mile (over 5K as well), but here are my thoughts.

I think for long-term improvement, and to fully realize potential, high mileage is definitely the way to go. Look at the best runners....are they just doing the mileage necessary to do a 10x400 workout? At the very least I've found high mileage to be the most effective method in my experiences. I honestly think that 400 workouts (in the long run) do more harm than good to distance runners because so many people insist on doing them week in and week out without really thinking about it. There is a time and place for 400 workouts, but not with the frequency that most runners do them. And don't think that high mileage=no speedwork.

So, I guess I would say that people can get "fast" on these 10x400 workouts, but to really hit closer to maximum potential, high mileage is necessary.

I agree with pretty much all of what Dennis is saying- I think that if you don't at least TRY an extended base-building period of higher mileage (whatever "high" is for you), then you are selling yourself short. I will certainly go to higher mileage when I intend to race 5K-marathon more seriously.

I went from around 35 miles a week up to around 60 miles a week over this last summer. I ran great for about a month and a half, but a combination of not listening to my body and not getting new shoes quick enough got me hurt. After I got healthy and came back to school, I jumped back up to around 50 to 60 miles a week and I've been at that level ever since. All it took to handle it was some cycling, ice, ibuprofen and backing down when I felt something starting to strain. I guess my increase wasn't that drastic, but it sure felt like it.

i had an injury this past summer and when it had fully healed i went up to 100 in a few weeks:

week 1: 0 (injured)

week 2: 0 (injured)

week 3: 46

week 4: 52

week 5: 66

week 6: 115

stupid? most definitely, but it worked for me. i was just so excited to be able to run again i ran twice a day monday through saturday and then did a 15 miler sunday

Why stupid? Stupid is wasting months to get where you can in weeks.

"Don't waste good time" - John Ngugi

i jumped from 60's to 120's (previous high week was 85) over a span of 9 weeks:

wk1-60

wk2-70

wk3-70

wk4-85

wk5-100(1st time ever)

wk6-110

wk7-123

wk8-124

wk9-130(if i can get my ass out the door today)

honestly...it has been so easy that i am almost ashamed i didn't do it years ago. i am thinking of filing a class action lawsuit against runner's world and jeff galloway for ruining what could have been my elite career. you want in? ;)

seriously, i have just gone slow and kept running....i have been sore and tired at times, but have been doing remarkably well. i am very encouraged.

also...i run mainly 8-9 min pace over rolling terrain...i realize that until i start goiing faster in training i am going nowhere with this...but i am also starting to weave in 16-18 milers @ 6:40, plus some hill fartleks, so it is not entirely garbage-slow miles that i'm running.

my goal is to stabilize and adapt at 115-130 so i can run at 7min pace for 50-70 of those miles...and 6-6:30 for 25-30 of them. the rest (my morning runs, mainly) will continue to be 8-9 min pace. i figure this will take me the resat of the winter and most of spring, then i will be ready to train for a fall marathon the way that studs do it. for example, i don't think canova's training is even possible for me at this point..,i don't think i have adapted to my new volume well enough to recopver from the requisite long-fast runs.

... but 3 mos. from now, look out.

zatopek wrote:

Thanks for the info. I would appreciate it if you sent me the article.

Zotapek, I sent the articles, but my e-mail is all jacked up so let me know if you got it.

John Molvar wrote:

Hey Joe Runner,

It sounds like your ramp up went well. How close did you stick to the 9 week build up in my Lydiard thesis?

john, its going very well. Im a little tired at times but thats to be expected. Also my knee swelled up with no pain for two days, but lydiard said this type of thing might happen so I wasn't concerned just iced after running.

I did exactly the way lydiard suggested.