Real Low Mileage performers.

I believe Hanry Marsh was a low mileage guy (30 miles per week?), and was a world class steepler in the 70's.

There are probably more than we know. Henry Marsh is definitely one of them. Bill Bowerman, coaching Marsh at the time of 1984 Olympics, told me that if he runs more than 9 mile (or something like that), he'd get injured. 1968 Olympic 800m champion, Ralph Doubell from Australia, who has been a subject of several threads here, is another one. There are quite a few Lydiard men ran against; Tony Blue and George Kerr, both of them a darn good world class runner at the time with something like 1:46 or 47 (on cinder track).

There are some who have written books or articles or whatever to, as far as I'm concerned, misguide the audience about low mileage. I remember reading a RW article about running a successful marathon with 25 miles a week training. This guy did something like 2:45 on this program. It turned out he was a world class runner in the 60s with thousands of miles under his belt. With that background, it can easily be done. John Walker, in the middle of his running career, had a terrible calf (I believe) injury and couldn't train more than 30 minutes or something. So he trained as hard as he could within that 30 minutes before the pain set in. He continue to break 4-minutes for the mile but, again, he had run thousands of miles early in his career (consistant 90~110 miles a week during the build up).

Training, or evaluation of training, should always be looked at as a line, or a flow, not a point (of time). Some well-known physiologist posted the weekly training of Herb Elliot and claimed he only trained 30 miles a week. Well, that was his typical trainig week during the racing season when he didn't train much. He was running up and down the sand dune more like 80 to 90 miles a week months before the season began.

Thank you.

I was a 800m/1500m guy in college (1:49/3:48)... ran about 30 miles a week... and would usually run low 25 minutes for a 5 miler during cc season (with the same weekly mileage).... My coach always emphasized quality miles over quantity mileage.

those r some good times off of that mileage. can u give an example of a weekly schedule

I'm the same way. My PR's are a little slower than yours but I run about 25 miles per week. I try to do more speed work than distance because I was a sprinter for most of my track career.

Here is a great post by the now legendary Antonio Cabral:

"The runner that i coach and that did 13:36 with a full time Job occupatioon (7 hours a day – 5 times a week) that´s Rui Lopes. The name may not say noting to you, but the moment that he did that and what did keep my attention and I did try to analyse that´s why with 40-45min continuous runs every day and 1 “weak” workout as Control test once a week (Ex: 4X1000m 2:50-2:52 average 4 min intervals).

Thus that´s very easy to remember his weekly traning schedule

Monday,Tuesday, Thurday and Friday – 40-45min continuous runs going a few times in 3:10 by kilo.

Wednesday – 30min warmup + 4-5X1000m in 2:50-2:52 avarege range with 4min intervals

Saturday and Sunday (if ther´s no weekend competition) – the same 40-45min.

If thare´s a weekend competition – Saturday: 20min easy and Sunday – competition.

I asked to myself – if he is not able to run faster that that in workouts (2:50/kilo that´s 14:10 5000m pace) then why he did 13:36? We were in the early 80s and I didn´t know yet what are LT runs, but it took my attention that the runner did every 45min very fast than their teammates – his continuous runs weren´t easy jogs, but tempo runs.

The history of that run is that he got a good team contract change from my advise to another coach he did start training twice a week and more training volume, more track workouts. Result: Actually he is a 47 years old man, but his PB still remains 13:36 !

In my analyse as his coach I did get 2 conclusions:

1/sometimes times “less” is better. Some volume trainings are megalomaniacs according the runner talent.

2/while training LT runs very frequently you reach your top too early to soon, but after that ther´s the risk that your progression ends there, after a couple of seasons. Thus even Lt training that must be done with precaution.

Another example that I can mention is the Portuguese runner José Regalo.

Open that and go to 1988 5000m world rankings

http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/archive/rankings/men/5000worldranking.pdf

Look he is on the top of a Dieter Bauman among others.

After 2 years of training – he did nothing as a runner or no one physical activity before that - in that 1988 season, José Regalo (13:15 PB in 1988) did win all international meeting circuits (what we now call the golden league) and he did the Seul Olympic final. After loosing their shoes after 2 kilos in the semi-final (and running with no soaks) he did 3 last kilos in pain and with his foot with lots of blisters he couldn’t recover in time to be 100% in that Seul final or we would win !

What did train José Regalo? Never more than 1 hour once a day and 3 track workout reps by week.

Next year he did start to train more volume. What did happen? He falls down in the obscurity and rarely did sub 14:00 in the rest of his career that it lasts for more than one decade after that 1988 year."

I too was a sprinter early on (actually a long jumper)... and wasn't doing all that well. My freshman year of college after barely breaking 20 ft for the long jump I went to my coach to tell him I didn't think college track was for me. He told me he thought my stride was better suited for a middle distance runner... and to not give up, but to try the 800m next year... I thought he as crazy, but followed his advice... ran the 25 - 30 miles a week, and gave it a go my sophmore year.... first race indoors was 1:58, and I was hooked from there.... got it down to 1:49 a couple of times junior and senior year (did a 3:48 twice my senior year in the 1500m)... but never really went over 30 - 35 miles a week.

Here is a typical in season track week of training:

Monday... 8 X 400 @ 59-60 with 3 minutes rest

Tuesday... quick (for me) 6 miler... 6 minute or faster pace

Wednesday... shorter faster workouts... 6 X 300 @ 39 - 40 with 3 minutes rest

Thursday... 5 - 6 miler (6:15 - 6:30 pace)

Friday.... 5 miler easy

Saturday... race

Sunday... off

sorry... just checked the old log... my wednesday workouts were more like 6 X 300 @42 (last one in 39) on 3:30 rest... thought my memory was better...

at 18 I ran 9.11 for steeple off about 10 miles a week.

low mileage wrote:

at 18 I ran 9.11 for steeple off about 10 miles a week.

At 17 I ran 8:48 for steeple off about 5 miles a week.

at 16 i ran 6:48 for steeple off about 0 miles a week

see...i can make up lies too

the thread was about performing well from low mileage, 10 miles a week is about what I was doing, if that. 9.11 is reasonably good at 18.... 10 miles a week was not what I thought would bring the best performance, and I am sure that with extra miles I would have been far better...But 10 miles was what I did because I was not a runner and didn't want to train any more than that. no lies.

What I'm wondering though is whether running LT pace everyday is sustainable for the average runner in the long run. I did that for a while and I had great improvements the first few months but by the end of my second season (spring track, then cross country) doing it I was having a hard time bouncing back and running the easy-ish days still at LT pace. Eventually I was running those easy days at "quality junk" (fast enough not to recover but too slow to hit the LT) pace and as could be expected, that didn't do too much for me. Would it be smarter to run everyday at LT pace for like three months at a time and then move and then spend three months building base?

I consistantly ran 22 minute 5Ks on about 6 mpw. Before that I had run 11.4 (100) and 22.8 (200) and 51.0 (400) on less mileage then that.

The 2:45 guy you're referring to is Bruce Tulloh. I remember reading about his low mileage time, I think it actually was 2:35, and having the same reaction you did. A lot of "low mileage" success stories are from guys who did more at one time. Some examples that come to mind, however:

Bernie Allen, 2:17 at Boston in 1974 off of 40-50 mpw. That was pretty common mileage for Bernie, maybe even a bit high. Later, he did 2:29 at altitude off of one 20 mile run a week, with an occasional second run of 10 miles.

Ted Medeiros, a New England marathoner from the 50s, I believe, worked 80 hours a week and ran in the 2:40s on one Sunday 20 miler. Steve Mahieu who managed 1:34 for 30km running an all out 4 miles most days, @20:00, and a Sunday 20. I don't know what sort of background Steve had when he began this routine. I had a college roomate who ran 5-6 miles a day, usually 5-6 times a week. He did 15:00 for 3 miles on that and could run marathons in the 2:40s. If he was really serious, he'd add a "long" run of 10-12 miles.

There was, not too long ago, an interesting thread started by ghost about this. I think it was called "13:48, 28:49, on 50-60mpw."

If you go back to the really old days, you'll find lots of guys running single digit weekly mileage and sub 4:20 miles. Joe Binks used to train about a half hour a week and did 4:16 for the mile and had some success at xc. Charlie Robbins from Connecticut won many US road championships in the 1940s and 50s on about 3-4 hours of training a week. He was running sub 40 for 10km in his late 60s on a mile and half each morning and the same again in the evening,

My training partner of the late 80s/early 90s still holds the UK age 17 best for road 10k of 29:44 and he was doing no more than 40 miles a week. Ironically when he upped the mileage as a 19/20 year old he kept getting stress fractures and eventually gave up.

Thanks. I'd be interested in hearing more of these sorts of stories.

i ran 2'10'43 running 40 miles a week.