Advantages of running 100mpw of more...

I think you should do some racing this spring and take a break. That's an awfully long time to just train, otherwise.

DON'T LISTEN TO THE CRITICS WHO ARE TELLING YOU TO TAKE A BREAK. They want you to slack off so they can beat you. Listen to your body and coach for when to back off the miles.

First, it takes about two years of higher level training to maximize your potential. How long did it take Lance to come back after he beat cancer? Exactly two years. For the sport of long distance running, let's consider anything over 70mpw high level training. The more solid weeks/months you can get at higher mileage, the better (as long as your body can handle it).

Second, red shirting is a great idea. You are letting your body physically mature another year, but really you're gaining four years of maturity, as you'll be competing as a 23 yo instead of a 19 yo for one of your years of eligibility.

Anyways, it sounds like you are making the most of your opportunity as a runner (100mpw commitment). Keep up the long hours on the roads/trails and good luck with your college career!

I'm pretty sure that very few people on LR are actually true "distance" runners.

xcsdaf8i wrote:

I'm pretty sure that very few people on LR are actually true "distance" runners.

You mean 5k/10k types? What makes you think that?

I like the idea of hitting 100 mpw or more but what do you guys think about the idea of building for 3 weeks and then taking a down week? For example something like 100, 105, 110, 90 etc...??

Ya I think there are perks to the 3 weeks up, 1 week down. It gives you that one week of mental rest. Would you take it easy on workouts as well and just make the entire week easier? I also like just staying consistent at about 100, taking some weeks easier on workouts than others. I am really looking forward to seeing the results of the hardwork/high high mileage.

You want to hit a down week when you need a down week. Ninety is not all that different than 100. If I felt the need for a down week I might go lower than that. But 100 is not really all that high and once you've adjusted to it you may not need a down week unless you get sick or something. The thing is, if you aren't used to that sort of mileage you'll likely feel tired a good bit of the time. Coping with that tiredness and adjusting is a big part of getting stronger. On the one hand you'll want to push through that tiredness. On the other hand you don't want to overdo. So when you have that down week make it be down enough to recover.

what I found when I did loads of miles was that I could count on getting sick every couple of months. It would be gone in a couple of days. I think that might have been my body's way of forcing a little down time.

My point is that he might have trouble timing his XC peak correctly this way, especially if he ends up running track workouts this spring. At the very least work it out with your coach and not us. I have known plenty of people who redshirted track and peaked at the beginning of XC.

I see your point on peaking too soon but if he coordinates with his coach and makes sure to do base type workouts and not speed workouts then he should be fine!

Also if your doing 100 mpw correctly I do agree that you do not need to take down weeks, but I think that at least once every two weeks you should have a day where you run less than an hour.

longdistance wrote:

I see your point on peaking too soon but if he coordinates with his coach and makes sure to do base type workouts and not speed workouts then he should be fine!

Also if your doing 100 mpw correctly I do agree that you do not need to take down weeks, but I think that at least once every two weeks you should have a day where you run less than an hour.

The only workouts he should be doing are a tempo once a week and something like 5xmile or some 300s all WITHIN himself. He should not have his eyes rolling back into his head. If he does this he will not peak, he will be in very good shape in the fall and ready to roll once the real workouts come around in september

What do you guys think of using a HR monitor for training? I have heard ALOT of things about this, good and bad

I had about a year long fling with a monitor in the mid 90s after reading John Parker's book that guaranteed improvement to people who used one. Didn't happen and I found that the thing was nuisance. I decided that I don't really need a machine to tell me if I'm tired or not and if I want to know my heart rate I can stop for a few seconds and take my pulse.

But I don't think it did any harm and even now I somtimes think that having one for interval sessions and the like would be a good idea because I always seem to end up with my HR at 200 or so when I do reps and naturally don't want to stop in mid rep to check the rate. For someone who really has a hard time staying in control a monitor could be a good thing. But remember that it's a servant rather than a master.

so you want to build a really big base?

Summer of Malmo

centuryrunner wrote:

Ya I think there are perks to the 3 weeks up, 1 week down. It gives you that one week of mental rest. Would you take it easy on workouts as well and just make the entire week easier? I also like just staying consistent at about 100, taking some weeks easier on workouts than others. I am really looking forward to seeing the results of the hardwork/high high mileage.

If you 'like just staying consistent at about 100' then you are married to the miles. a previous poster had it right, so what if you're redshirting, run track races anyway. Your ultimate success is the cumulative effect of building a base, but part of that base is racing.

Let 100 miles be a target, not a 'must do.' When your body tells you to back off then back off.

In my opinion the real advantages of doing 100 plus mile week is the trickle down effect.

If you are doing 100 mile weeks, you can feel strong through a 12 mile tempo run. With that extra strength you can do your 10 by 1000 meter workout much better.

I used to think about just building mileage to reach mileage goals. And you will still see benefits from doing this. but i also ran into problems because i ended up running the same pace too often.

Now i think of running mileage purely in terms of stepping up how long i am on my feet on my easy days and long run days in order to allow me to increase the duration of my tempo runs and workouts.

i know (by how my legs feel) i need to be hitting around 70 miles a week before i can do a tempo run much longer than 6 miles without it being more detrimental. However once im around 80, i feel strong for the whole 8 or 9 mile tempo run.

I only run 2 workouts a week, plus a good long run, so in reality most of my week is just "mileage" but that doesnt mean my mindset is not mostly focused on what is going to make that 16 miles of workout pace miles go best each week. my two cents.

depends what your goals are at the end of the day. What's the hunt? You hunting a mouse or a lion. If you're going to hunt the lions of distance running 100 mi/ week comes in handy.

you now qualify for your man card. but, seriously....you will see all of your prs drop big time, cause you will now have the strength to carry a faster pace over indoor 2 mile and outdoor 5 and 10k races....even your 1500,/mile time will drop.