Mileage for a Marathon

OBWON

I was having an argument with this guy on Sunday. He thinks he knows everything.

But anyway it was in relation to the miles ran per week for training for a marathon. I told him that I am currently doing between 45-50 mpw. With about 25 of those miles on grass and the remaining on the road. He was saying that was way too many miles to be running.

I would be very interested to hear from other peoplw what type of mileage they do for marathons and do you think mine is excessive, because I feel it isn't.

hunnymonster

There are marathon training plans that peak at anything from 30 to 120 miles a week. Of course there will be lower mileage weeks before and after the peak weeks. Some of the most tried and tested (for success) plans peak at about 50. Many experienced racing snakes like to top 100 mpw. It's a question for which there is no right answer but plenty of wrong answers and calling 45 mpw excessive (unless there are other factors we don't know about) is a wrong answer.

cfitz

Your friend does know everything. Sammy Wanjiru won the London Marathon and the Olympics and he only runs 16 miles per week.

brutes

45-50 is ok, depends what your aiming for. I started at 30-35 mile for a 3 30 marathon, but did 90 odd average for 2.47 last year so more miles means better times, no doubt about it.
. Unless your a natural talent, then I think you need 60-70 miles to go sub 3, and virtually all the top lads ( say sub 2.40 time in Dublin) would be on weeks from 80 minimum up to 100 plus weeks on average. ( there s always a few exceptions, but they are exceptions!). Miles and miles, with long run , tempo run ,and a marathon pace run as the key sessions,

Stupid_Private

Miles are over rated - it's all about recovering from the miles.

I've never gone above 70. I'd be at my most comfortable at 55 miles a week.

wizwill

Brutes, you mention 60-70 miles to go sub 3. I did 3.25 in DM last year on 25-40, 41 maximum. I have since up'd it and currently do about 50 average per week, i plan to up it again to between 60-70 for next 6 months for next DM, do you think you need a year at 60-70 to break 3?

kennyb3

cfitz wrote: »

Your friend does know everything. Sammy Wanjiru won the London Marathon and the Olympics and he only runs 16 miles per week.

i take it this is tongue in cheek, your some man cfitz

billyhead

OP,

You will find a lot of what you do might be junk miles. I ran 2hrs 50 mins in my first Martahon on only 45 miles a week training. You must ensure you cover one speed session, one fartlek or tempo run and most importantly one long run (keep incresing this to a max of 21-22 miles antry running the last 5-6 miles at maratho pace i.e your target marathon time.

brutes

wizwill wrote: »

Brutes, you mention 60-70 miles to go sub 3. I did 3.25 in DM last year on 25-40, 41 maximum. I have since up'd it and currently do about 50 average per week, i plan to up it again to between 60-70 for next 6 months for next DM, do you think you need a year at 60-70 to break 3?

Hi. That should do it , 6 months is plenty! Consistency is key , plus the key sessions mentioned by me, billyhead should be done. Think 60-70 miles is about right for your average club runner for a sub 3 ( say 36-37 min ten k pace) , those more blessed with talent and pace can work it with less miles, but that worked for me, and a good training crew of ten odd other lads (and lady) last year/2007 in the west who ran Dublin and cracked three !

thirstywork

Stupid_Private wrote: »

Miles are over rated - it's all about recovering from the miles.

I've never gone above 70. I'd be at my most comfortable at 55 miles a week.

I used to think the same myself but latley i see guys running very well off 80+ miles a week.
Sean Connolly(winner of natioanl 10k)runs 80-90miles a week all year round,id say Vinny Mulvey 100+ and Barry Minnock 85+
then again its all related to how fast you want to run the marathon or your fitness levels beggining training.
There are no shortcuts in marathon training,perfect exaple was Seamus Power running Dublin and collapsing with a mile to go,this was a guy who was unbeatable in ireland over cross country for years.
your friend is probably a gaa player !!!!:D
them lads are the fittest in ireland:P

shels4ever

Everyone is different to say to run 3 hours you need to run X amount of miles this is just not correct. If you have a coach they would be able to set a plan that is best for you . But 80 miles a week for x weeks doenst mean you'll run sub 3 .. would be nice if it was that simple.

Peckham

billyhead wrote: »

OP,

You will find a lot of what you do might be junk miles. I ran 2hrs 50 mins in my first Martahon on only 45 miles a week training. You must ensure you cover one speed session, one fartlek or tempo run and most importantly one long run (keep incresing this to a max of 21-22 miles antry running the last 5-6 miles at maratho pace i.e your target marathon time.

Billyhead - that's an impressive time off relatively low mileage. Would expect that you're an exception to the "rule" and that most of those finishing that marathon around you were doing up to twice the weekly mileage you are.

That said, would agree wholeheartedly with the advice in your post.

Peckham

OBWON wrote: »

I told him that I am currently doing between 45-50 mpw. With about 25 of those miles on grass and the remaining on the road. He was saying that was way too many miles to be running.

Just took a look at your training log. Am just wondering if that guy meant it was too many miles to be doing now, i.e. 5 months out from your target marathon (Berlin). Not sure what your training history is, but if you've recently gone from low mileage to 45-50, then it may be too much (i.e. if you're depending to peak at 50-55 mpw in training, then doing that sort of level now could lead to burnout).

wizwill

thanks brutes and shels. I know there is no hard and fast about sub 3, there are no guarantees but i think the best place to start is those who have done it and work from there. cheers

OBWON

Peckham wrote: »

Just took a look at your training log. Am just wondering if that guy meant it was too many miles to be doing now, i.e. 5 months out from your target marathon (Berlin). Not sure what your training history is, but if you've recently gone from low mileage to 45-50, then it may be too much (i.e. if you're depending to peak at 50-55 mpw in training, then doing that sort of level now could lead to burnout).

Thanks Peckham for the reply. I have built it slowly since I started running a couple of months ago I havent just jumped in at 45mpw. I ideally would like to peak at 65mpw. I just feel by doing more miles, I will have greater confidence come marathon day to complete it and also get a reasonable time.

I would hate to go to Berlin and be under savage pain for the last 6 miles or is this just part of the course.

RJC

there is a balance between miles and recovery. I have trouble going over 60-70 miles max per week - The legs start to break down after that. I'm with SP on the mileage - 40-55 miles suits me best. The older I get the less junk I do. Now I try and get a hill session, a tempo a LSR and maybe a recover trot or two.

I have 3 kids which means I can't get out for scheduled club runs. If I can get the marathon down under 3:20 I'll think of a club to make the miles count more than at present.

bo-sco

It's about your capabilities primarily. I ran 2.55 in my first marathon off 25-35 miles a week and 2.43 a few years later off 45-55. I've never run more than 60 miles in a week to be quite honest. But the more miles you run in general, the faster you'll get (well as long as you're doing the right things I suppose). Having said all that, to be training properly for a marathon you should probably be doing at least 50 miles a week on average I would think.

trotter_inc

Training for my first marathon (Cork) at the moment and have been peaking at 45 - 55 miles per week for the past month. Finding the going Ok as long as I get enough sleep.

TFBubendorfer

bo-sco wrote: »

I ran 2.55 in my first marathon off 25-35 miles a week and 2.43 a few years later off 45-55.

Are you serious? Those are outstanding times for that mileage.

RJC

trotter_inc wrote: »

Training for my first marathon (Cork) at the moment and have been peaking at 45 - 55 miles per week for the past month. Finding the going Ok as long as I get enough sleep.

excellent point made indirectly. Training has 3 components:

mileage, nutrition and sleep. The last 2 can be harder than the first one.

trotter_inc

bo-sco wrote: »

I ran 2.55 in my first marathon off 25-35 miles a week and 2.43 a few years later off 45-55.

How did you manage that great time on that mileage?? What was the key?? Speed training? Tempo runs?

Fair play!

billyhead

I find it hard to belive anyone could run sub 3 hours on a max of 25 miles a week unless you were extremely fit (had very good cardio fitness) from other sports i.e cycling and swimming. When I ran 2hrs 50 in New York on my first marathon on about 45 miles a week training I was cycling on other days and swimming aswell and took part in traithlons. I made sure that i got those 3 key runs in per week as already mentioned. The longest run each week is the most important run. You must get the body used to running for a long duration and distance.

bo-sco

trotter_inc wrote: »

How did you manage that great time on that mileage?? What was the key?? Speed training? Tempo runs?

Fair play!

Didn't do any speed work for the first marathon. I used to just go out and run for about an hour three days a week. Looking back I hadn't a clue what I as at to be quite honest. Did a few long runs then in the last couple of months before it. I think a couple of 18's and a 20. Those would have been my 35 mile weeks.

It's about 5 years ago now though so I don't know how fast I would have done my normal run though. Probably faster than I'd go on a normal day now. I was playing hurling then though which would have involved more intense running in matches, probably did no harm.

Had a fair idea what I was at the second time, last year. Would have done a lot of lactate threshold training and I raced a lot in preparation. I would have trained often (6 days a week) but still not that much mileage, relatively speaking.

bo-sco

billyhead wrote: »

I find it hard to belive anyone could run sub 3 hours on a max of 25 miles a week unless you were extremely fit (had very good cardio fitness) from other sports i.e cycling and swimming. When I ran 2hrs 50 in New York on my first marathon on about 45 miles a week training I was cycling on other days and swimming aswell and took part in traithlons. I made sure that i got those 3 key runs in per week as already mentioned. The longest run each week is the most important run. You must get the body used to running for a long duration and distance.

Yeah, well now that you say it I would have cycled in and out to work during the training for the first marathon and been playing hurling as well. Hence, the low mileage.

Having said that, when I ran the second marathon I wouldn't have been cycling or playing any other sport. The 45-55 miles a week would have been all my training. That and a couple of trips to the gym a week for weight training and sit ups etc.