Mileage- How much do you do?

pconn062

So I thought it might be interesting to discuss mileage, how much/little do you do? Some people log really big mileage to get the same results that others can achieve on half the amount. How did you go about finding your own personal sweet spot? Are runners these days afraid to put in the big miles that are necessary?

Myself I floundered around for a few years at the 35-40 miles a week, getting some marginal improvements. Last summer however I decided I was going to up my mileage and started hitting 50-60 a weeks with some serious improvements over a few short months. After a few months of lower mileage over the summer I am again planning on putting a big winter in, aiming to peak around 65 a week.

What's your goals mileage wise? Have you had any big improvements with increasing (or maybe decreasing mileage?)

rom

45M weekly avg in 3:04 marathon build up.
55M weekly avg in 2:58 marathon build up.

However I run less in summer and do more shorter distance stuff. Doing the same thing year round ain't good for the head. Not marathon training ATM but had a 15M LSR yesterday.

Specific training to the event you are training for is more important than just mileage.

Running around 50 miles a week ATM. But that's 3 sessions and an easy long run so focus on quaility with 4 week old in the house.

pa4

This year I averaged around 50-53 miles, peaking at 55 miles which is the most I've ever done. I feel like I could do more at times whereas other weeks if I have some really intense sessions there's no way I could do any more. It'll probably begin to increase now closer to 60 in preparation for the XC season.

Billy Mills

Run around 50 miles a week year round. Topped out at 65-70 for the last mara in Oct. Think the consistency brings good improvements. Ramping up for DCM so currently at 70 or so the last couple weeks- will top out at 80-85 if my body can take it.

I think increasing milage is a calculated risk - there is a positive impact on running w/ each increase but the injury exposure is way higher

I also think unless you've been running consistent decent milage for a couple of years you're asking for trouble doing really high miles. My two stress fractures in my late teens came from going 40 miles pw to 85 over a very short space of time- never underestimate the benefits and protective nature of strength building over time.

pconn062

Last year I built up from 35 miles a week (coming back from an injury) to 60 mile a week over the course of about 10 weeks, with no real injury problems which was down to that slow build-up. I think for track runners the winter mileage is very important, as Joe Rubio says in the winter a miler should be training to become a great 5k runner.

Ososlo

I've decreased mileage significantly from 55ish to about 35 a week as my focus is more quality and not quantity this year and I just need to be fresh for sessions which are the main focus.
I am a bit addicted to the miles though and miss doing higher mileage but I don't think I need to do the miles I was doing to improve. I think maybe less is more for me at the moment.
I was doing about 55 miles a week this time last year as a novice marathon runner but I probably didn't need to. I did have brilliant endurance built up by October though and could have run more than the marathon on the day so it helped me in that respect but I don't think it helped with my "speed".
I think I'll always like to run plenty of miles though especially when training for halves and marathons.

66_Lad

Billy Mills wrote: »

I also think unless you've been running consistent decent milage for a couple of years you're asking for trouble doing really high miles.

Agree completely. Made few stupid mistakes making 20% weekly mileage jumps and got lower leg injuries in the past. Build slowly is a must. I am at weekly high 60's/low 70's at the moment and my times are improving for definite. The reality is that higher mileage improves the regular club runner ...but everybody has a max point also depending on their structure, mobility, and type of training runs.

skeleton_boy

Have been running between 40-50 for most of the year. Will be looking to peak at 72 miles in the coming weeks as I work through marathon training.

66_Lad

Billy Mills wrote: »

I also think unless you've been running consistent decent milage for a couple of years you're asking for trouble doing really high miles.

Agree completely. Made few stupid mistakes making 20% weekly mileage jumps and got lower leg injuries in the past. Build slowly is a must. I am at weekly high 60's/low 70's at the moment and my times are improving for definite. The reality is that higher mileage improves the regular club runner ...but everybody has a max point also depending on their structure, mobility, and type of training runs.

Cona

Great thread BTW
I am a very, very average runner and have been pretty stagnant over the last 6 months or so in terms of running. At first I thought I wasn't getting faster because I didn't do enough fast running so I focussed on the shorter speedier stuff for a while. I have a marathon pb of 3.55 (quite soft actually) which I am hoping to lower to 3.30 in DCM with proper training. Realistically though, I would much prefer to see the biggest improvements in my 5k, 10k times next year.

Over the past 2 years, I don't believe I have ever run many weeks of 40+ miles even after 2 marathon build ups which is a bit clear as to why I am not getting faster i.e poor aerobic base and no consistency.
As of about 2 weeks ago I started a marathon plan for DCM where I am doing around 45 miles per week at the moment and I hope to peak at around 60-ish miles with plenty 55 mile weeks assuming my body can take it, I am very cautious not too over do it.

This is my first experiment with increasing mileage so I guess I am excited to see what results it will bring...My only worry is that I will not be able to fit in much sessions as I increase mileage but I guess you have to sacrifice quality in order to build the mileage...

ger664

You should be able to comfortably run more then the peak mileage in any training plan before you start that plan. This applies to anything from 1500 up, A lot of runners could hugely benefit by taking 6 months of competitive running/racing and just building up their mileage.

jebuz

I'm averaging 60 miles a week this year (with a spring marathon) and have made some great gains in the last few months purely from banging out quality sessions and consistent 55-60m weeks. I've been running for a few years but gone through phases of 20-30 a week, then up to 60-70 for a marathon plan then went off travelling. This year I've been consistently running at least 50+ a week so it looks like that's my sweet spot for improvement (right now), doesn't tire me out and have stayed strong and injury free...so far. Throwing in a few doubles a week have really aided progress and they're a nice way to get the milage in. For the next few weeks I'll be at 70 per week, increasing the long runs and will probably hit 85-90 during DCM training, that's almost unknown territory so we'll see how the body will react.

I hear people say not to make weekly milage your goal, means to an end bla bla bla but it's kinda hard not to focus on it, it's one of the base metrics of your personal progress and consistency. It's important to listen to the body and back off when you feel it but for me something inside me recoils in horror when I throw a low milage week into the mix even though logically it makes sense....does that make sense?

Duanington

I averaged 40-50 miles or so per week for most of last year, creeping over the 50 mark a few times during DCM training.

So far this year I worked my way up to running 55-65 miles per week but I'll be dropping off slightly ( somewhere around the 50 mile mark) over the next few months, as with others - I am hoping to improve the quality of my runs and rest when required

I do think there is a tendency to obsess a little with high mileage at the expense of quality ( I'm guilty of this myself) and I often wonder if the perceived gains from higher mileage are in fact linked to the sessions we run each week and not necessarily the higher mileage.

Having said that, if life\work permitted - I would run 70+ miles per week without doubt!

Either way, I'll be trying a plan with slightly lower mileage for the next few months to see how it works out

Cona

I'm averaging 60 miles a week this year (with a spring marathon) and have made some great gains in the last few months purely from banging out quality sessions and consistent 55-60m weeks

I wonder is that the key point to this. Some gains will be made by upping overall mileage as you get fitter but I guess you wont make the gains you would like without keeping the overall mileage high whilst applying the stress of running faster i.e banging out tough sessions every week.

pconn062

An interesting (but not surprising) side-note is that I have dropped my mileage for the last two months or so during the track season to accommodate more intense track sessions, and I have noticed a major drop in my endurance. I suppose it was like sacrificing endurance for a bit more pace, but now I'm keen to get my endurance back up for the winter.

rainbow kirby

Not enough! Have been quite tri-focused this year but have a half-marathon in early September. I don't run well in heat, so it's been quite hard to motivate myself to do really solid run mileage lately when I find swimming and cycling a lot more comfortable when it's 25c+ outside. Cycled a metric century a week and a half ago on a 27c day, probably would have given up after 45 minutes of running in that.

On the other hand though, I am on my longest injury-free stretch in years. Touch wood.