Running more miles but getting slower

random person # said: it can be something as simple as not having low ferritin, which is more common among female runners, but happens with men too due to foot strike hemolysis.

apart from the double negative in the quote, some other things worth considering:

1. low ferritin levels do not mean you are anaemic. ferritin is how iron is stored in the liver, spleen, and bone marrow. ferritin levels determine the rate at which dietary iron is absorbed by the body. this means that if you have low ferritin levels you will naturally absorb more iron from your diet, and when ferritin levels are normal your rate of iron absorption adjusts to suit.

2. your body produces around 180 million new red blood cells EVERY MINUTE.

3. exercise induced hemolysis is a thing, in the sense that many forms of exercise, swimming, rowing, weight training, and yes running too, cause a loss of red blood cells. there is no evidence that footstrike is a primary cause of this, and swimmers don't have footstrike but they lose red blood cells during exercise, too.

4. women runners experience exercise induced hemolysis at exactly the same rate as men.

5. exercise induced hemolysis is not going to make you anaemic.

cheers.

When I was 49, I spent a year averaging 60 miles a week to build base. I raced a handful of 5ks and could barely break 20. The following year I started racing in March. My first race, I was over 20 minutes. I dropped my mileage to 35/ week and did dedicated speedwork while running very easy the other days to stay recovered. Ten weeks later, I ran 18:40. Went on to run a 5:18 mile, 38:47 10k, 64:20 10 mile and 1:26 half that summer. The last time I ran fast was a little under 18 for 5k when I was 45.

My advice is to set up a race schedule of 5 to 6 races (or more if you like to race) and do a race every 1 to 2 weeks. Run a speedwork session in the middle of each week. The other days run just enough miles to stay recovered for the two fast days. When your times start evening out, go back to higher mileage and repeat. It's all about specificity.

In summary, OP, just do something or another, or the opposite of that, and you'll find your times improve a great deal.

Frank Krueger wrote:

In summary, OP, just do something or another, or the opposite of that, and you'll find your times improve a great deal.

I agree with this. Just do something, OP. It is obvious you need to do something.

It looks like you run too many miles with no specific training.

12 miles 5 times a week is not a good training plan.

As others have mentioned, try to pick one distance and train for that specifically. Don't worry about the weekly mileage.

Also look what else is going on in your life. Maybe you are just too focused on getting faster. Maybe a more relaxed attitude might help. Maybe 5k is not your thing anymore? Just ask yourself these questions and just relax. It's only running you do this for fun and it should be fun for the most part.

Honestly do what makes you happy, in a sense that you enjoy running. A weekly fartlek, tempo, and speed session with decent mileage will get you pretty far.

adding doubles, strides, core, drills all help tons but do what ever you want. Don't seek out stressful training

hmmm Miles mean sh*t. stupid Americans, use KM's :)

Seriously it doesn't mean anything if you run more miles.

More important is you training and how often you race.

Logging slow miles just makes a slow runner. However it might be good to start to build a aerobic base using lots of miles prior to the transition phase. But don't forget to run fast sometimes, otherwise you will just become a slow runner.

This has been on my brain for a long time, but can you elaborate on "drills?" I always see that on this board or in articles and stuff and do not know what it means. I've been running for about 2 years now and am clueless. I do strides after a few runs a week but have never known what "drills" people refer to, and I'd love to incorporate them.

@ OP, you increased your workload to generate a bunch more accumulated fatigue, then took a little bit of a break during one week and tried to go all out. Your results are about what you would expect with that approach. You can't just toss more miles on and expect to get better.

1) Make sure you increase calories enough throughout the day to continue recovering sufficiently from the extra workload

2) learn how to peak properly for your race speed by tapering the appropriate length of time.

3) If you're not already, make sure you have a training program with the appropriate mix of progressions for the type of run you are planning.

I mean this without any irony at all--it is nice to see some reasonable, encouraging posts here in reply. I feel similar to the poster (with different times and an older age...50). Understand the frustration/desire. Sometimes I see posts on here that say things like "why do old, slow people pay for coaches," or "why run so much when you are so slow."

Thanks, CosbyBabies

Sorry for the poor grammar. What I meant to say by that point was many people think concerns over iron levels is mainly an issue for female athletes (due to menstruation), but it is an issue for all distance runners and worth looking into if you are feeling particularly sluggish, especially with an increased workload.

High mileage can help build aerobic capacity and neuromuscular adaptations, but can also cause hormonal suppression - e.g. decreased testosterone. And if that happens, then whatever benefits came from the mileage become quickly and thoroughly undone. Not only does your speed go out the window, the endurance does as well. Speaking from personal experience :-)

In your situation, I would do the following:

- Make sure you are getting good sleep

- Do what you can to improve your diet

- Stay away from harmful substances

- Do what you can to streamline your schedule eliminating unnecessary stress. If you care that much about running, it might be time for a job change.

- Break up your runs into doubles

- Possibly even break up your long run or do without one.

- Make sure to do a good amount of fast running, but do not overdo it

- Test your adaptations weekly by picking up the pace for a mile or two to about 6:20 and see how it feels. If you are doing it right, it will start feeling easier or you will be running 6:10 or faster with the effort that in the past produced only 6:20.

71 miles on 5 runs is a lot. I would focus on trying to increase to 6 or 7 runs each week rather than overall mileage - I think the consistency will help. Also, 71 miles down to 24 miles is a hell of a taper for a 5k - I wonder if you may have wound up a little flat as a result. Other posters have asked how much quality you're doing; mileage alone can get you pretty far but if you've plateaued that may be the missing piece. Just shoot for 2 harder (not killer) workouts each week, 1 long run, and then 3 or 4 easy recovery runs to fill out the week. It doesn't have to be complicated.

A slow runner wrote:

Yes but it’s still unbelievably frustrating and I want to get better. I really do. That’s why I’ve been putting in the extra work.

I am talentless compared to this community. I will never run a sub 16 5k or a sub 35 10k. I’m not comparing myself to others. I am comparing myself to me at age 29 when I was setting PRs. I want to get to 18:30 5k and 39 10k. I want to run a 1:28 half or a 3:10 full.

This is why I run. And this is why I post here today. I would like to learn from those who are way more talented than I am. I want to chip away at my times.

Are you doing track workouts? Hill workouts? Tempo runs? I'd aim to do at least two of the three every week. There are benefits to having periods in your training cycle where you concentrate on amassing a large volume of easy miles but after 2 or so months of that, it's time to cut the mileage and focus on quality for a while. It really is the hard workouts that make you faster.

If you want to get faster, here's what you should do. Pick a distance to focus on (I'd recommend 5k--it's long enough that getting faster at it will make you better at anything from the mile to the marathon and it's short enough that you can race it every other week). Get a coach if you can or a copy of the Daniels' Running Formula if you can't and follow a set plan for a season. If you follow Daniels' Running Formula, don't be afraid to drop workouts if you are still recovering from the last one. The density of training in that book is too much for a lot of people but it at least gives you a rough plan for how to structure a season of training.

in a few years you will wish you could run these times

don't miss enjoying what you can

"Because I enjoy running? No because I’m obsessed with my times."

In all that you wrote, that's the issue right there. It will also lead to burnout (and sounds like that is what is happening). Now that you have the awareness of your motivations, it's probably best to take some time off in order to fall in love with running again.

External motivators can only go so far. Read Deena Kastor's book while on a break. That will help, too.

This is actually an issue you see a lot with competitive runners. Needs to be talked about more. No matter what level you are at, if you don't at least enjoy what you're doing, you're not going to last very long.

" Running more miles but getting slower"

Sounds like it's time to starting running ultras. The only time you'll be worried about is how long it takes to grow an ironic mustache.

Add some hill work and one day a week on the track... your choice of repeats.

you probably have bad form and body mechanics, if so you need to correct those issues before adding more miles of improper running...