Let's end the mileage debate once and for all

Teg Fan wrote:

Matt Tegenkamp was in the 80’s for mileage and ran 12:58 along with 3:34/7:34/8:07 AR.

For most 1500-5k guys I would say 70-90 is optimal. 5k and up 90+.

10k to marathon 100+

Run slower if you run more. If you feel tired, run slower. On easy days err on the side of slower.

If JS is the coach

it looks that 50-60 is optimal for most 1500-5k guys.

Teg Fan wrote:

Matt Tegenkamp was in the 80’s for mileage and ran 12:58 along with 3:34/7:34/8:07 AR..

Were those badger 80 miles? If so, that's more like mid 90s to hundred miles a week.

What if I told you that it isn't the miles, but the mindset of the runner that makes all the difference? Al the miles in the world would not help a runner who only likes to run and cannot mentally compete. You show me a mental champion and you will have a champion regardless of the miles run.

It is what's between the ears that will cause a runner to do more miles or work harder at intervals or tempo runs. Either will work, depending on the individual.

MIMTW wrote:

What if I told you that it isn't the miles, but the mindset of the runner that makes all the difference? Al the miles in the world would not help a runner who only likes to run and cannot mentally compete. You show me a mental champion and you will have a champion regardless of the miles run.

It is what's between the ears that will cause a runner to do more miles or work harder at intervals or tempo runs. Either will work, depending on the individual.

What if they run no miles at all but just visualize?

Here's what we know:

1. If you run zero miles per week, you're not going get that fast.

2. The more miles you run, the faster you'll be, up to a point i.e. diminishing returns, which will be different for everyone.

3. There are low responders and high responders to physical stimulus(mileage is a stimulus).

4. How you do the mileage matters. Is it all over hilly/mountainous terrain? How much tempo work? Speed? Etc.

5. Everyone's sweet spot will be different. Look at Bill Bowerman. He had Kenny Moore run low mileage, even though he was marathoner. Yet, had some of his milers and 5000 guys running north of hundred miles a week. And the frequency of workouts was different for Kenny Moore, his training schedule was adapted to a 9 day schedule instead of 7 day schedule. So how much mileage(and frequency of the workouts) you should do DEPENDS on the person.

So, high vs low mileage? This is a false dichotomy. We shouldn't focus on the mileage. We should focus on what works best for you. Some will run sub 13:20 on 40-50 MPW and others it will take 100-120+ MPW to do that. Some thrive on high mileage and others thrive on low mileage. So don't get all caught up on high vs low, find what works best for you.

literally the top5 best running conversation started ever is mileage, why end it. Everybody is different.

why exclude injury? If i ran 80mpw and my body was not recovering and did another 80mpw, I'm opening myself to injury. It doesn't mean im injury prone at high mileage. Could be something simple, like my shoes are worn out and I'm too broke to get new ones and I gotta keep my fitness high.

Is this thread over yet? What did we all decide in the mileage debate?

Waiting For the Results wrote:

Is this thread over yet? What did we all decide in the mileage debate?

It depends.

Here's what we know: wrote:

Some will run sub 13:20 on 40-50 MPW...

And they will run sub-13 on 100mpw.

Badger miles wrote:

Teg Fan wrote:

Matt Tegenkamp was in the 80’s for mileage and ran 12:58 along with 3:34/7:34/8:07 AR..

Were those badger 80 miles? If so, that's more like mid 90s to hundred miles a week.

Good question. Tough to tell.

It’s from this old article that has several other gems: