If you were encountering a week in your schedule where you were supposed to plateau for total mileage, would you pause any increases in your one long run a week, or keep increasing mileage on that single run, but just make sure the rest of the week is shorter?
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Whatever Dude wrote:
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Not sure what this response is telling the poster to do? I guess he means if your long run is only 0 - 10 miles, go ahead & extend the long run that week?
no. he thinks im trolling, thus rating my troll attempt as 0/10.
Ill expand. I am training for a marathon. I have never run one, and never run more than about 90 minutes in one run. I need to obviously have some plateau weeks as I ramp my mileage up. However, I am aware I need to increase my long run, being probably 12-15 wks out from the marathon. Im asking that if I plateau my weekly mileage, should I still be moving upward on my weekly long run, during the plateau wk.
example:
week 1: 45 miles - 13 mile long run
week 2: 50 miles - 14 mile long run
week 3: 55 miles - 15 mile long run
week 4(plateau week): 55 miles - ? long run
Where the question mark is, should I stay at my 15 mile long run, or move to 16 miles?
Pete Pfitzinger, Jack Daniels, and Hal Higdon (listen for jeers) all have "step back" weeks every 4-6 weeks, where the long run backs off.
I'm trying to train for a marathon this fall and I'm kind of blending all 3 plans with advice from all, distance being an average between Pfitz 18/55 & Higdon Intermediate 1. I'm injury prone and ramping up to quick would bite me.
Just an idea. You might be better suited to the build up.
Master to be (not to bate) wrote:
Pete Pfitzinger, Jack Daniels, and Hal Higdon (listen for jeers) all have "step back" weeks every 4-6 weeks, where the long run backs off.
I'm trying to train for a marathon this fall and I'm kind of blending all 3 plans with advice from all, distance being an average between Pfitz 18/55 & Higdon Intermediate 1. I'm injury prone and ramping up to quick would bite me.
Just an idea. You might be better suited to the build up.
Do you mind posting your wkly mileages, and corresponding long run for that week?
I would have done a cutback in week 4. 40miles with a 12m long run. I do 3 weeks of increasing mileage and 1 week of regression. It lets your body recover from the increases and you will feel alot stronger after a recovery week.
As for your question. I wouldn't increase the long run. Leave everything the same way as the previous week. I would highly advise taking cutback weeks every 4th week though as you will be way less likely to get injured or over train.
How old are you?
Describe your training experience
bro science wrote:
Master to be (not to bate) wrote:Pete Pfitzinger, Jack Daniels, and Hal Higdon (listen for jeers) all have "step back" weeks every 4-6 weeks, where the long run backs off.
I'm trying to train for a marathon this fall and I'm kind of blending all 3 plans with advice from all, distance being an average between Pfitz 18/55 & Higdon Intermediate 1. I'm injury prone and ramping up to quick would bite me.
Just an idea. You might be better suited to the build up.
Do you mind posting your wkly mileages, and corresponding long run for that week?
From memory, so it might be off, the first 5 weeks are:
37 - 12
39 - 13
41 - 14
35 -11
43 - 15
I'm low mileage, planned peak of 50. My max increase per week is week 1 to week 2. As I said, injury prone and 40 years old.
Can you explain why an injury prone master would try to run marathons, knowing they can't train properly for them?
?)NHE%& wrote:
How old are you?
Describe your training experience
I am 28.
Training experience, ran competitively from 2000-2005, mileage during that time was between 30-70mpw. I haven't ran seriously since then. Generally off and on, generally 0-5 mpw. The last 2 months, I have been between 25-40 mpw, not sure if I should attempt to get up to 70 before my marathon or not.
Can you explain your logic?
40 miles per week, done right, could be pretty good training for a 5k. Even 70 miles a week is only mediocre training for a marathon at 28 or even 40. Just making 70 mpw a couple times in a 15ish week plan doesn't give your body time to become a marathon machine
Why don't you run several years between 40 and 60 mpw and run some reasonable times for 5, 8, and 10k. Then move up to the marathon, run one marathon a year and try to do it on a solid base of months at something approaching 90 miles per week?
You may never get around to running a marathon using a longer term approach but you are less likely to get injured.
My logic is that I want to run a marathon. I gave myself from April to October to train, and I think this is sufficient. With some weight loss, a decent time might not be unobtainable either.
Id venture to say not all who are training for a 'thon are running 70 mpw. A small portion probably run 70 mpw or more.
Yes, very few people who run and/or complete a marathon are running, or even peak at, 70mpw. A lot of the faster people are, but "faster" is a relative term. A guy/gal running a 2:55 is "faster" than me, but that's not really very fast in the big scheme of things. If you want some decent free plans for different levels of runners to look over and possibly put into practice, take a look at Hal Higdon's web site (Google Hal Higdon). If you feel like Higdon's site is too cheesy because he's a free resource for thousands (at least) of everyday runners, which most of the wannabe's on this site ARE by the way, go buy a book by Daniels, Pfitzinger, Hansens, etc. They generally cost less than $15 and provide a great deal of useful information, some even for multiple distances such as the Daniels book that covers distances from cross country to the marathon and most distances in between.
BTW, the answer to your original question is No. When you do a "cut back" week, most coaches generally suggest you cut your weekly mileage by about 25-33% and also cut your LR by a few miles as well. For instance, if your mileage this week was 40 and your LR was 15, for your cut-back week you'd cut the mileage to around 26-30 and the LR would be 10-12.
Good luck, you've got plenty of time to train for an enjoyable marathon as long as you have realistic expectations for race day.