How to build up from 40 miles per week to 65 or 70 miles per week in 10 weeks?

J.R. wrote:From the best of my recollection without checking, I was running less than 30 miles a week, went immediately to 56 and kept it there for a couple of months, went to 70 for one month, then after I'm not sure but hit a high of 132 miles in a week soon after, and then decided that just under 100 was best for me combined with my other training for the marathon.

gerry's a badass wrote:

There is no way in hell that you did what you've described above IF it was the first time you'd ever hit those higher mileages. From 30 to 132 in a few months? That might--might--work if you had extensive, grooved in experience at higher mileages. Otherwise, it's lousy training advice.

You're just showing your ignorance, and making me laugh.

There is NO USE planning your mileage 12 weeks or even 2 weeks in advance. Just have weeks where you 'run as much as you can,' then when you're tired step back down for a couple days or a week. Then go back up... eventually you'll be hitting 60+ consistently and won't need to step back down.

People don't get injured/overtrain because they ran too much too soon, they get injured because they decided IN ADVANCE they were going to run X miles that week (whether X is more/less/same as previous weeks) and failed to back down when they needed.

get off hobbyjogger wrote:

He will run faster on 70 mpw than 40 mpw, period. This is true almost every time.

Dumbest thing ever posted on LRC.

Hey kid.

The only thing you should take away from this thread and building your mileage is that however you do it you NEED TO BE PATIENT. I wasn't patient at your age and had success for a few years but a more gradual, holistic approach is the key to continually improve. I know it's really hard at your age, but take a deep breath. You'll break 16 and then realize you can break 15 for a 5k. But if you rushed or cut corners, you're not going to get there as quickly or be as happy running as you could.

Talk to a good coach or a very successful runner about mileage specifics and don't listen to letsrun advice. Some of it is totally solid but you need a coach to help you develop your instincts and basics. Most young runners know little about training themselves. It's not bad, just reality.

Know you're body and be realistic with what you can handle and when you should back off. Take notes.

In addition to other posts here, consider 2-a-days especially when starting the build up for 2 or 3 days of the training week. 5 am and 5 pm, etc. Definitely back off every 4th week, the body compensates at rest, not at ever longer/harder workouts.

I second the idea of running doubles. I'm currently running 70mpw on doubles and I started at 35mpw 2.5 months ago. I will say though...

At some point in the build-up, add in some workouts. When you add workouts, don't add mileage. And back off the pace on easy days.

When you can fit in two quality workouts per week and successfully recover...time to increase your mileage again.

get off hobbyjogger wrote:

pop_pop! wrote:

And yes, I'm a old hobby jogger. But, I'm going faster now than I ever have on a low volume program that focuses on speed over a given distance. Volume injuries are nonexistent.

Then you are severely out of touch with what it takes for a young person to run at a high level.

He will run faster on 70 mpw than 40 mpw, period. This is true almost every time. This is assuming he will take care of speedwork and be smart about his training, which apparently you were not.

70 mpw is not even that much, and injuries heal, while slow times never do. Take your fitness jogging GU eating data crunching HRM obsessing advice to RunnersWorld or Reddit with the other fitness joggers. It is not needed here.

OP will run faster at 70 mpw. For sure. But how much faster? Faster compared to alternative plans? How long without injury?

Your post is the forum equivalent of running on pure hate. I love it!

I bow before your anorexic wisdom and glory. I'll be sure to stay off your lawn too.

JR spouts lots of crazy things on here. But, jumping mileage from 30 to 130 and settling in the 90s for marathons just isn't crazy. It is not necessary for HS XC, but depending on what you have been doing it can be done. If you are 15 and have been on a traveling soccer team for years, you might be able to handle it. If you have worked on a farm since you were 9, most likely you can handle it. Like most talents, most people do not have the ability to run 130 mpw. However, those that do have the talent to hold up to lots of miles, can get there in a year.

Is that the best way to do it? Well there are lots of details that go into answering that question.

Rupp increased his average weekly mileage by 5 miles per year. Just sayin'.

Yes. Mileage does not cause injuries.

I am not anorexic, though I wouldn't be surprised if you are fat and think that.

tsneal123 wrote:

I just finished up my HS track season, and starting to build base for XC in the fall in a couple weeks. I was wondering if anyone knew how I could build up to 70 miles, and if anyone could help me out with a weekly milage schedule. Thanks.

If you don't run twice a day, then start running twice a day. Problem solved.

If you are already running twice a day, run a few more miles for each run. Problem solved.

Going into my senior year of high school I went from a junior year in the 35mpw range to a summer that looked like:

25, 30, 70, 70, 72, 64, 70, 75, 75, 84, 60, 70.

I got a hell of a lot faster too. After I went through hell.

ijfd745 wrote:

jumping mileage from 30 to 130 and settling in the 90s for marathons just isn't crazy. It is not necessary for HS XC

No one said to do that type of mileage, especially in this day and age where people are afraid of their shadows.

I'm a high school runner and I have gone from 25 miles milage for 6 months to increasing my milage to 43 it worked pretty well but now I want to jump to 65 after 4 weeks but I will do 6 miles in the morning an 4 miles in the afternoon 2 mile jog on Saturday with 13 mile long run but it will all be at mostly easy and a little bit of medium intensity I'm just trying to build a base since cross country season is 4 months away and I will work on more speed training more a month before cross country season my 5k pr is 19:50 but that was a while ago I'm sure I can run low 19 I will do most of my runs at 7:30-7:50 pace I trust my instincts and know it will work it out btw mile time is 4:59 I will be back to tell how it went.

"People don't get injured/overtrain because they ran too much too soon, they get injured because they decided IN ADVANCE they were going to run X miles that week (whether X is more/less/same as previous weeks) and failed to back down when they needed."

The hard way, I am learning this is true... As I retrace my steps of past injuries, there was always that moment where I was on the precipice and knew it, but instead of backing off for 3-4 days, I pushed on. The result is predictable.

tsneal123 wrote:

I just finished up my HS track season and starting to build a base for XC in the fall in a couple of weeks. I was wondering if anyone knew how I could build up to 70 miles, and if anyone could help me out with a weekly mileage schedule. Thanks.

Hey! I just finished a 70-mile week so I'll throw in my training from the past few weeks. Leading up to 70 miles I ran 51, 55, 62, & 63. During the 50-55 mile weeks I was doing two track workouts a week and after that is when the entire quarantine situation happened. I changed my entire training focus on rebuilding my base. I mostly run between 8-12 miles a day and only double once a week the day of a light workout. This week I also doubled once and my average run was 10 miles. Take it easy and just get comfortable with the mileage. Try running a different route every day if you can to enjoy the most out of it. Once you start feeling good then throw in fartlek workouts or whatever you prefer 'tempo, progression run, longer intervals @ 10k-5k pace' nothing crazy. I also do strides after most of my runs and been running a lot of hilly runs to get stronger. Good luck!