I’m a junior in high school and I love running 50-60 mile weeks but I don’t seem to run much better than if I was doing 30-40 miles. What should I do?
I’m a junior in high school and I love running 50-60 mile weeks but I don’t seem to run much better than if I was doing 30-40 miles. What should I do?
It's because it takes time. Be patient and don't except immediate results.
can't think of a good username right now wrote:
It's because it takes time. Be patient and don't except immediate results.
+1
Adaption to training is a marathon, not a sprint. One exception are max sprints/CNS workouts, the body adapts very quickly (2-3 days) to them.
A long run, or a high mileage week, takes 5-6 weeks at least for the body to fully create all adaptions.
mycoachisbad wrote:
I’m a junior in high school and I love running 50-60 mile weeks but I don’t seem to run much better than if I was doing 30-40 miles. What should I do?
Also, you need to make sure you are not doing TOO much. 30-40 to 50-60 would be way too much increase. Your recovery couldn't keep up anymore, and that's the only thing you can get better - if the stimulus is right enough (not too easy, not too hard) for the body to adapt and recover and get faster.
yea I made sure I eased into it, worked from like 30-55 in the last 2 months. Ig i’ve just never done high mileage consistently enough to see noticeable improvements.
mycoachisbad wrote:
yea I made sure I eased into it, worked from like 30-55 in the last 2 months. Ig i’ve just never done high mileage consistently enough to see noticeable improvements.
What's also important that you have 2 workouts and a long run each week. Just grinding easy mileage won't do enough, it only makes you good at running easy and slow. That's a common mistake that people only run easy, and then when they have to run quicker they get out of breath quickly.
LateRunnerPhil wrote:
mycoachisbad wrote:
yea I made sure I eased into it, worked from like 30-55 in the last 2 months. Ig i’ve just never done high mileage consistently enough to see noticeable improvements.
What's also important that you have 2 workouts and a long run each week. Just grinding easy mileage won't do enough, it only makes you good at running easy and slow. That's a common mistake that people only run easy, and then when they have to run quicker they get out of breath quickly.
Except, fitting it all into a week is not necessary, particularly if your fast days are long and your long days have a fair amount of intensity. Ima say 2 workouts (long run counts) in a week is plenty.
Also not everyone experiences the same type of improvement at similar mileage. You may find that if you work up a little further for a time you'll see huge improvements. Or like the others said here wait a couple of months longer and see what happens. Ultimately we still don't have enough info on your background and what your runs are actually like.
Going from 30mpw to 45mpw I had big improvements and then from ~50-60 I didn’t have as much in the way of improvements as i would have hoped. Took the next summer super seriously and doubled a lot and ran relatively consistent 70-75mpw and had massive improvements all year.
Not saying you should jump to 70, but it can take time and sometimes it just takes a little bump to see big improvements. Other things matter too. I was doing a steady run at 6:00-6:20 pace 1-2 times a week (easy pace was ~7:30) and occasional hill sprints and lifting.
50-60 mpw is not high mileage.
You should try running more .
Try running 70-80 mpw and see how you improve.
LateRunnerPhil wrote:
mycoachisbad wrote:
I’m a junior in high school and I love running 50-60 mile weeks but I don’t seem to run much better than if I was doing 30-40 miles. What should I do?
Also, you need to make sure you are not doing TOO much. 30-40 to 50-60 would be way too much increase. Your recovery couldn't keep up anymore, and that's the only thing you can get better - if the stimulus is right enough (not too easy, not too hard) for the body to adapt and recover and get faster.
I agree, don't increase too much too quickly. Try to increase only 5-10 mpw every 6 months. But if you do the 5-10 mpw increase every 6 months, then in 3 years that's an extra 30-60 mpw and now you're knocking out some pretty solid mileage. It's about the long-term, not the short-term.
flyingfacefk wrote:
LateRunnerPhil wrote:
What's also important that you have 2 workouts and a long run each week. Just grinding easy mileage won't do enough, it only makes you good at running easy and slow. That's a common mistake that people only run easy, and then when they have to run quicker they get out of breath quickly.
Except, fitting it all into a week is not necessary, particularly if your fast days are long and your long days have a fair amount of intensity. Ima say 2 workouts (long run counts) in a week is plenty.
Yes, my recommendation was for a typical 800-10k runner running a very easy, conversational long run (just jogging). As soon as the long run gets some intensity, or is hard due to the duration itself (for a 50 mpw runner like OP even a 90 min easy long run could be a noticeable effort), then it would be important not to have too many hard workouts a week since he would never be able to recover to the stress.
Also, what OP might be underestimating is sleep and nutrition. These become even more important as he increases mileage, since the body needs more rests and nutrients to adapt positively to it.
As an ultra runner, I’d say that higher mileage is ultimately more of a long-term investment.
Yes, it builds your base & potentially your speed. A bigger benefit is for your overall life & health. Time spent running is time that isn’t wasted.
mycoachisbad wrote:
I’m a junior in high school and I love running 50-60 mile weeks but I don’t seem to run much better than if I was doing 30-40 miles. What should I do?
Keep running high mileage. Be patient. Now is the to do it. Search Summer of a Malmo. Start doubling. Get to work. Keep doing it. Day after day. Week after week. See the results.
[quote]ThatAverageRunner wrote:
Going from 30mpw to 45mpw I had big improvements and then from ~50-60 I didn’t have as much in the way of improvements as i would have hoped.
Of course you didn't. You are comparing a 50% increase in mileage with a 20%.
Trust me, higher mileage will bring results.
What kind of fast stuff are you doing? You're not training for a marathon. If you're jeopardizing doing really hard workouts to run more miles, that is not the best approach to race shorter races in HS.
Expect mileage to pay off in fall xc much more than shorter track races.
(Plus, how can you tell with everything cancelled and apparently no taper?)
Balance, son, balance....you need some distance runs mixed with some intervals...thereby shooting for a MEDIUM amount of miles rather than just low or just high mileage. In high school I ran real well on 50 miles per week ----- with one long run, one interval run, and one race....in effect I had a balance of aerobic and anaerobic.
Moo Goo wrote:
What kind of fast stuff are you doing? You're not training for a marathon. If you're jeopardizing doing really hard workouts to run more miles, that is not the best approach to race shorter races in HS.
I’m still doing a short interval session, a tempo. and a long run every week.