Will I improve going from 75 mpw to 100 mpw if the extra 25 are all "junk"?

i was able to run a 2:32:12 marathon doing 90 miles a week for several years. i did not run until i was 31 year old and found that going from 50 to 70 mpw was a big jump. going to 90 was a much much bigger jump. but you get used to it over time. i could not handle a 100 mpw (did it once and felt flat for a week). the miles definitely help and at least 10-15 were quite slow. without the increase there is no way i could have broken 2:40. it also helped me to run doubles 2 days a week as the stress of shorter recovery time eventually became normal as i became stronger. in my late 50s i increased my longer runs considerably . at 61 i finished 4th in 60+ division in chicago and i attribute that to 5-6 runs of at least 24 miles. yet at that point my mpw was only 60 or so.

hope this helps.

srewrwer wrote:

Only you can answer this. Is doing a 5 mile run at 7:30 pace or slower as a 2:30 marathoner going to have any benefit at all?

Yes, absolutely there's a benefit as long as you're not overtrained and failing workouts. Plenty of people much faster than 2:30 would tell you that.

Yes. Next question?

One more vote, based on personal experience, that the mileage increase will help.

Two points of caution.

Respect the distance, and do it carefully. Try to stay within yourself and not just blindly hammer more miles.

Step up your refueling, nutrition, flexibility, and sleep game. These things will become more critical. You will need to eat more, at the right times, of the right things, for example.

Good luck! Exploring the next personal frontier. I'm excited for you.

I started running in my late 20s. After around 3yrs I ran a 2:50 marathon with average weekly mileage in the 40s. I decided to dedicate myself and started running 70 mile weeks. I got injured over and over and over again, eventually got my marathon PR all the way down to . . . 2:48 . . . and then got injured a few more times and quit trying. Based on my experience I would recommend that you build more gradually, which I don't think will hinder your improvement. Make sure to stay on top of foam rolling/stretching/sleep as you increase your training load.

On the other hand nobody every got a stress fracture sitting on the couch.:) It is easy to say keeping everything else the same and add another 30 miles of running. Doing it is a lot harder. Even if you don't break down, you can end up tired enough to reduce the quality of the previous training.

Realistically, start running 30 mins 3 days/week and see how your respond over 4-6 weeks. If things are going well you can either up the length (say 40-50 mins) or the frequency (5 days/week). If you don't get any benefit try something else. And don't be afraid to come back to something later on. Maybe you can only do 80mpw now but in another 18 months you can do 90.

For me my pb's on 75mpw 2.39.39 on a 100mpw 2.29.29 and on 125mpw i got 215.59. This was done while working 40 hours a week as a plumber and most evenings as male stripper at a ladies only club. I reckon if I was full time athlete I was on for about 2.12pb