How long should I expect to be tired from increased mileage?

I could be wrong sounds like your're going stale. Your diet and sleep must not be compromised. If it hasn't been chronic get some glutamine powder and take it after your workouts and LR. Of course you could be having anemia, hence don't compromise your diet. Whatever you do, do it fast. If the rot sets in you'll be forced to rest. Voluntarily by taking action, or injury/etc. Best of luck.

If you are feeling tired all the time, you are not ready for the mileage. Back off, recover and gradually build up again until you can handle the mileage. If you just feel like you can't run the usual pace you did at low mileage, that is ok. You will need another 6-8 weeks before you fully adjust to a mileage base building program. Just remember that you need to focus on running easy to build a mileage base.

Just my experience: once I got to around 100, I was tired all the time. Still am, running around 130 a week, but if I do a 100 mile down week to cut back for a race, I feel great. So my advice is keep it up and expect to pretty much be tired until you taper at the end of the season.

You feel tired all the time from high mileage. That is just the fact of life.

When you do it for 4-5 years then back off to 70-80 you feel great and see some big returns for about 4 years. But as of now you will feel tired all the time. Just have to deal with it...

This...seems wrong.

So you averaged 70 miles a week, then go and average 95 mpw for three weeks in a row? That's a huge increase. There is no mystery as to why you are tired, your body is suddenly getting the crap kicked out of it. My guess is you felt great your first week at 95, then progressively worse over the rest of that month.

At 80 mpw, you would be making a jump that is significant, and prob right on the edge of what your body can handle and also benefit from. But once you pop in those 95 mile weeks, you go over an edge for 4 weeks in a row, and OF COURSE you feel terrible!

It is time to back off for at least a week, bring it down to 60-70, then 70, then back to 80. If you feel decent at 80, keep it there and have the DISCIPLINE to not run more than that.

So many people think that the hard part of running is pushing yourself past your limits everyday. They are wrong. The hard part is managing your limits consistently, working with your body rather than against it, and pushing past your limits on the RIGHT day.

Take a couple of days off completely

Try to have 1 easier wk per month either in terms of miles or intensity

Tiredness is normal but push to far and you stop improving or go backwards

Your body is not a machine, sometimes you can do more work than others - its telling you what to do lay off a bit

You could be anemic, a common trend in high mileage women.

Thanks everyone for all the advice. I'm not sure where the 95 mile weeks came in. 285 miles over 29 days averages 70 a week and the highest week I ran was 80. I recognize tiredness is normal with high mileage, I'm just trying to figure out the balance between whats normal or what is too much.

pace of runs?

Right now most easy runs are around 8 min pace, long runs 7:50. Tempo's are around 6:35. My usual pace is 7:30 and 6:10 for tempos. Interval paces vary of course.

runforever wrote:

Right now most easy runs are around 8 min pace, long runs 7:50. Tempo's are around 6:35. My usual pace is 7:30 and 6:10 for tempos. Interval paces vary of course.

With such a drastic jump, you are lucky you have not also injured yourself. I agree with the guy who said to back off and build it back up, no more than a ten percent increase per week.

Keep trucking, you'll feel better eventually.

Many, many coaches and distance runners reckon you need 10 weeks for the base stage.

Anecdotally the most popular mileage routine by far seems to be '2 weeks up, 1 week down'. You might do 70-70-50, for example, then pop back up. If you're feeling fresh at the end of the down week, nothing to worry about. And two weeks is a nice target - you have to run through some fatigue, but then you can look forward to a break. The next cycle should be easier. Make this your easy week!

Before XC, did you sustain 70 for many weeks, or just get up to it briefly? If the former, is your training different in any way? Also, are you doing anything to stimulate your nervous system? Personally I find high mileage depressing - but a few hill sprints, 200 reps on the track, or a short session of explosive stuff in the gym perks me up amazingly for a couple of days.

For me it is not mileage that is depressing but winter cold and/or the length of the day. In the summer I can sleep less, diet and increase my mileage all at the same time. In the winter, I can only do one of the 3 without crashing.

Before XC, I ran close to 700 miles for the summer and hit 70 mile weeks consistently for the a month. This was for the end of the summer and the beginning of the season. I had somewhat of a more gradual build up which may have helped. Also, that makes sense about the nervous system stimulation...I did quite a bit of work on the track.

I also used to swim in the summer after workouts (just 10 minutes easy). But I have trouble doing that now when its so cold!

so[%HI -b5 wrote:

..In the summer I can sleep less, diet and increase my mileage all at the same time. In the winter, I can only do one of the 3 without crashing.

Good point - me too. This is natural and why track season is in summer. I think we're also wired to have a few more pounds in winter anyway. Unless you have a weight problem (and professionals agree that it's safe to lose some), this is the wrong time to be dieting. Make very sure you're getting enough calories.

Back off to 55-60 and stay there for 2-3 months or until you begin to feel really good and strong and want to do more.

Then slowly (S-L-0-W-L-Y) work back up of the you still feel you can benefit.

runforever wrote:

Right now most easy runs are around 8 min pace, long runs 7:50. Tempo's are around 6:35. My usual pace is 7:30 and 6:10 for tempos. Interval paces vary of course.

tempo's?