High Vs Low Mileage

ecoli

i was just wondering what are peoples views on this. it seems that many of our best athletes avail of the option of american scholarhips. while facilities is one aspect American training philosophies seem to lean towards higher mileage than here at home. Does this mean in order for our best athletes to develop they must do higher mileage or can u achieve top levels on low mileage.
Just wondering what are peoples views on this?

Mr Mister

Just referred to this in the 3k thread. Unless you are running 800m or under you cant get away with not doing high mileage. The best training for running is running so while all the other factors like diet, core, weights etc. are important the way you will see most improvement is by increasing your mileage.

I guarantee you the lads running well in the states are doing 90~ miles a week, with obviously Fagan doing a lot more. The best Irish runners have always done the miles, Kenyans do loads of miles, Ethiopians do high mileage. If you can include the other stuff thats an added bonus. People say about Seb Coe doing 60 miles a week but that is bull, he was doing 60 miles without counting sessions, cool downs etc. I would say he was doing at least 80 miles during winter.

Woddle

In the July/August issue of running times there was an article about Bernard Legat and the fact that he only does low mieage and he's not half bad although I think his reasoning is injury prevention, his body can't handle high mileage.

Mr Mister

I'd agree Lagat is not "half bad", however im sure he has a big base of miles built up from years of running at a high level. Again i would imagine that even low mileage for him would probably be 80+.

Obviously if you are injury prone you have to work with limitations but people are so afraid of injuries they dont get out of their comfort zone. Im not advocating 100+ miles a week for everyone, but saying people should be testing their limits more

ss43

Mr Mister wrote: »

Just referred to this in the 3k thread. Unless you are running 800m or under you cant get away with not doing high mileage. The best training for running is running so while all the other factors like diet, core, weights etc. are important the way you will see most improvement is by increasing your mileage.

I guarantee you the lads running well in the states are doing 90~ miles a week, with obviously Fagan doing a lot more. The best Irish runners have always done the miles, Kenyans do loads of miles, Ethiopians do high mileage. If you can include the other stuff thats an added bonus. People say about Seb Coe doing 60 miles a week but that is bull, he was doing 60 miles without counting sessions, cool downs etc. I would say he was doing at least 80 miles during winter.

Running is the best training but high mileage cannot be at t expense of quality in later years of training. 1500m runners need to do high mileage when their in their teens but as they get closer to their peak the training gets more specific i.e. shorter and faster.

To be able to handle a large quantity of high quality, supplemntary work needs to be done, in my opinion. The supplementary work should be pretty specifc to running though. ONce adequate strength is there, squats should be done one legged, free weights should be used instead of machines.

About Kenyans and mileage. Their mileage isn't super high, I'd reckon 90-110 per week in the high volume phases (not particularly difficult for full time runners training 15 times per week). What's remarkable about their runs is the intensity. Lots of their runs wind up almost to race pace by the finish. Their recovery runs on the other hand are probably slower than 5min/k. Mileage isn't what sets Keyan training apart from the rest of the world, intensity is. I don't know anything really about Ethiopian training so I can't comment there.

I'm under the impression that Coe was doing low mileage at the end of his career but when he was a teenager he used do cross country and 3k and more mileage and as he got older he increased the quality and reduced the volume.

Mr Mister

ss43 wrote: »

Running is the best training but high mileage cannot be at t expense of quality in later years of training. 1500m runners need to do high mileage when their in their teens but as they get closer to their peak the training gets more specific i.e. shorter and faster.

Id agree with that somewhat but I think the mileage base would more be in the early to mid 20's rather than teens but you probably mean the same thing.

ss43 wrote: »

About Kenyans and mileage. Their mileage isn't super high, I'd reckon 90-110 per week in the high volume phases (not particularly difficult for full time runners training 15 times per week). What's remarkable about their runs is the intensity. Lots of their runs wind up almost to race pace by the finish. Their recovery runs on the other hand are probably slower than 5min/k. Mileage isn't what sets Keyan training apart from the rest of the world, intensity is. I don't know anything really about Ethiopian training so I can't comment there.

Yea I've heard that about them. In saying that I think intensity is nearly tougher on the body than volume. Most Kenyans will have been running since a young age and will again have an accumulation of miles in them that allows them the strength to train at that intensity. And yes, their recovery runs are SLOW.

ss43 wrote: »

I'm under the impression that Coe was doing low mileage at the end of his career but when he was a teenager he used do cross country and 3k and more mileage and as he got older he increased the quality and reduced the volume.

He probably was doing lower mileage at the end of his career. Maybe the reason why he never moved up past 1500m - his 3k and 5k bests dont come near his shorter distance times. (probably a good idea on his part though, I think he ran his 1500 pb in 1986)

tergat

Some words of wisdom about training:

1) Run a lot! Volume done just below your personal limit, week after week is gold!

2) Vary your training intensity (some easy paced, some moderate, and some faster). A mix of about 75% EZ, 15-20% moderate, and about 5-10% faster is about right for the vast majority of people running 5k races or longer.

3) Run hills in training 2-3 times per week. Specific leg strength is vital to running success. The stronger your legs are the more training you can do without breaking down. The more training you can do without breaking down the better your race performances will be, on average.

4) Don't overthink. Set up a simple plan, as I have outlined many times, and stick to it. Stop worrying about all the x and y parts of training and just execute a well designed weekly schedule over and over and over.

A week that includes 1 CV interval session, 1 tempo over hills or tempo plus hills, and a long run or a 2 runs of about 45-60 minutes with some of it moderate, plus 2 strides sesisons per week (5-10 x 100m at 5k, gradually increasing the speed as you legs warm up, and never straining), plus plenty of easy distance work is going to place 95% of the runners at 95% of their peak fitness - or better.

5) Race intelligently. That means don't go out too fast! Use self-control and know your current limits. Stay under your limits early in the race and you will run a solid race overall. Patience is a virtue!

6) Take care of the details. Sleep enough, eat wisely, hydrate often, and prevent or take care of injuries before they side-line you. Stay away from people who are sick, and wash your hands with soap and water often.

7) Always remember that you must keep the ball rolling. Momentum is the backbone of progression!

Tergat