Why does everyone emphasize Cam Levins mileage as somehow key?

Haile has had the longest career out of anyone and he ran 160 miles a week when preparing for marathons. If you go about it the right way high mileage will not result in a shortened career. Some guys can not handle it but others adapt well to huge mileage.

Levins' mileage is emphasized because it's worked for him in a pretty spectacular way, as was the case for Lindgren and Ryun.

What the future holds is never clear but it's also not clear that any of these guys would have run the times they did at ANY age without doing the volume they've done.

for instance Bernard Lagat, who does 60-90 miles a week

Lagat hasn't been a 5/10 guy now has he? Doc Patton has had a pretty long career without high mileage too, so maybe you're right.

If you train like everyone else you are probably going to end up in the middle of the pack unless you have an unreal level of talent.

Have there been any low mileage guys win the 5K / 10K double? That might be a tough one to pull off if you don't have a tremendous base under all your training.

the base running of most African greats is 3 times and day with high milage. Most Americans can't or wont do this do get better...either because they lazy or their body's wont hold up to the training.

tjmiler wrote:

Why does everyone emphasize Cam Levins mileage as somehow key to his success? Think about former mileage hogs, Jim Ryun and Gerry Lindgren, both of whom peaked at a young age and possibly suffered from early burnout...then think about those with longevity in their careers, for instance Bernard Lagat, who does 60-90 miles a week

Most anyone with a brain would realize you don't need 160 miles a week to excel at the 5000/10000, practically its all about tempo runs at ~10k pace, max V02 sessions at 3k pace, and mile pace training to improve economy, then throw in a little 800 pace stuff for speed

I've never seen how excessive mileage much really matters unless you are trying to do a half marathon or marathon

Because he did all that stuff last year while running 120mpw and got 7th in the 5000. This year he did all that stuff at 160mpw and won the 5000 and 10000. I think the answer is pretty obvious here.

tjmiler wrote:

Why does everyone emphasize Cam Levins mileage as somehow key to his success?

everyone?

His coach says clearly in the flotrack interview after the race that none of his other runners could handle the mileage that Cam handles. This is the key to Cam's success--not the mileage that he does, but the fact that he can handle it.

Good for him (and his coach) for experimenting into whether he could handle it.

I am not sure it is everyone, but it's many people. I think they analyzed the situation intelligently, with an understanding of the effects of high mileage training.

Your snarky "most anyone with a brain" comment is sort of silly, when a few words later, you confuse the fact that one doesn't "need" super high mileage with the fact that it is beneficial.

Let me be a little more clear. Your whole argument is based on you acting as if not "needing" high grades to get into Harvard is enough to disregard the fact that that they surely help, and are "somehow key."

By the way, using Ryun as an example of a high mileage guy, instead of a high intensity guy is find of funny to people who know about him. Read more. Yes, Lindgren was a high mileage guy.

I once bought a new car. Well, it wasn't new, but I just bought it, so it felt new. One door panel had been replaced, so my white car had a red door. It looked like a giant Tylenol.

As I pulled into my driveway, I saw a giant goat in the garage. I thought, "Good Grannies alive, what's that goat doing in here?" It was then that my wife stepped out of the front door and asked what was going on. I said, "There's a goat in the garage!" "A goat in the garage?" "Yeah, a goat in the garage."

Wouldn't you know it, our cat came out of the kitty door. He started going, "Meow, meow, meow!" All crazy like. Then the goat turned its attention to the cat food dish and started chowing down like a horse (well, more like a goat, really). "Meow!" Cat's still going crazy.

I thought about the situation, and decided then and there that if I ever want to PR in the marathon again, I've GOT to increase my mileage!

tjmiler wrote:

former mileage hogs, Jim Ryun and Gerry Lindgren, both of whom peaked at a young age and possibly suffered from early burnout...

Yes, it had nothing to do with the fact that track and field was an amateur sport and priorities were changing as they got older.

By the way, Jim was not a mileage hog....he peaked at about 120 in preparation for munich games in '72.

then think about those with longevity in their careers, for instance Bernard Lagat, who does 60-90 miles a week

Bernard Lagat tested positive for EPO and is a dirty drug cheat. Who cares what he does.

someone had to do it wrote:

Jim was not a mileage hog....he peaked at about 120

What?

Huh????

Actually, that is the funniest thing I've read in a long time.

RukiddingMe!! wrote:

the base running of most African greats is 3 times and day with high milage. Most Americans can't or wont do this do get better...either because they lazy or their body's wont hold up to the training.

body's? Bravo, sir!!

someone had to do it wrote:

Bernard Lagat tested positive for EPO and is a dirty drug cheat. Who cares what he does.

You sir, have merely demonstrated your willful ignorance of the nature of the EPO test, gel electrophoresis, and the effect of heat degradation on protein structure (e.g. why does the meat on spare ribs just fall off the bone when you cook them long and slow).

someone had to do it wrote:

Bernard Lagat tested positive for EPO and is a dirty drug cheat. Who cares what he does.

William Nye wrote:

You sir, have merely demonstrated your willful ignorance of the nature of the EPO test, gel electrophoresis, and the effect of heat degradation on protein structure (e.g. why does the meat on spare ribs just fall off the bone when you cook them long and slow).

He's a lost cause. Let him rot in his own hateful ignorance.

William Nye wrote:

You sir, have merely demonstrated your willful ignorance of the nature of the EPO test, gel electrophoresis, and the effect of heat degradation on protein structure (e.g. why does the meat on spare ribs just fall off the bone when you cook them long and slow).

You sir, have merely demonstrated your willful ignorance about the nature of drug use in sport.

uuuuuhhhhhhhh......... wrote:

What?

what?

William Nye wrote:

someone had to do it wrote:

Bernard Lagat tested positive for EPO and is a dirty drug cheat. Who cares what he does.

You sir, have merely demonstrated your willful ignorance of the nature of the EPO test, gel electrophoresis, and the effect of heat degradation on protein structure (e.g. why does the meat on spare ribs just fall off the bone when you cook them long and slow).

You sir, have cut-and-pasted some long words from wikipedia in an attempt to fool us that you know what the f*ck you are talking about