Someone recently asked me what my training looked like to get ready for this year's Boston marathon. Oringinally, I started talking about the mechanics of what I did - which you can find a good summary of in my Race Report. Then, I started thinking about what was important - beyond the simple mechnicacs - to try to extract some basic pricinciples. This is what I came up with. Enjoy.
Why run long? Because you enjoy running and you want to run faster. If you don’t like running and even going for a simple 6 mile run in the early AM feels like work, I wouldn’t recommend getting into a high volume running program. Life is too short for your hobby to feel like a job (after all, we’re not pros). So, if you do enjoy running, high volume running is a way to make you a stronger runner and ultimately, I think it will make you faster. There are of course lots of ways to train & get fast, high volume running is only one path – one I happen to like & believe in. The advantage of higher volume running I believe lies in strength. High volume running makes you really strong – not big muscles, pick up a car strong – but it builds a workhorse foundation in your physiology that lasts a long time. It makes your bones, joints & tendons, muscles and aerobic systems all stronger and develops the foundation those things are built on to a deeper level. Will high volume running make you faster? I suppose the true answer is – it depends – there are no guarantees. What I do know is that I am much faster at 55 MPW than I was last year at 40 MPW, and much faster than 2-3 years ago at 20 MPW. I also know that some folks at Running Times & Runner’s World have done informal surveys and studies of entrants to marathons & half marathons. These have shown a strong correlation between higher mileage and faster times at those distances. Finally, I think there are some unique benefits for triathletes simply because the run is last. You always run tired in a tri. Even in a sprint distance race, you have already been racing for at least 45 minutes before you even start running. Running at longer distances teaches your body how race when already tired (the idea is similar to brick workouts). Of course the trick is managing a higher volume of running while still managing enough cycling time to have a solid bike leg as well. Honestly, I have not figured an answer for that issue yet, something I have to keep working at.
How Long is Long? I think the answer depends on each person. It depends on time, priorities, desire & also on physiology & run mechanics. I don’t think triathletes need to put in 100 MPW & if anyone tried, their legs might drop off. All that time spent cycling and swimming is going to do a lot to develop your aerobic & muscular systems – stimulating the amount of glycogen your muscles can store, increasing the efficiency at which your body recruits fat for energy, improved oxygen –carrying capability of your blood, increased mitochondrial density, etc (to the medically inclined, please forgive me, hopefully I haven’t mangled these concepts too badly). So, all those hours of low impact activity is great for developing those muscular and aerobic system, and I think those benefits cross over to running. However, the skeletal adaptations your body makes as a result of run training are unique and only come from running decent miles. How much is enough? Not sure exactly. However, I think the RT guys have as a good a point of view as any I’ve seen here. Based on this, I would say for triathletes putting a lot of cycling miles, I would say 60 MPW might be a good maximum with an optimum mileage in the 40 MPW range. But this is going to vary by individual.
Basic Underlying Proposition I am not a doctor or an Ex Phys type. However, from what I have read, the important systems in running adapt at different speeds – aerobic systems develop relatively rapidly, muscular systems slower and your skeletal system (joints, bones, ligament) develop quite slowly. Compared with swimming & cycling, running is unique in because of the relatively high impact – as the Tick would say “Gravity is a cruel mistress”. Running beats the hell out of your skeletal system, but given MODERATE stresses over enough time, your body will strengthen this system and will leave you a stronger runner. I’ll say more about moderation later, but I have to also say a little more about time here because I suspect that time requirement for the greatest benefits of high volume running is misunderstood. The greatest benefits from high volume running are seen only over months and years, not weeks. This is simply how long it takes for your body to adapt and for the benefits to accrue. A simple 10 week cycle where you build to 40 miles is good, but if you just go back to 25 MPW after that, the benefits will be fleeting. I once heard someone smart say (I think it was Mitch Thrower) that people tend to overestimate what they can accomplish in the short term – 6 months – & underestimate what they can accomplish in the long term – 3-5 years. Point being, you have to give the program lots time to take hold, but over time, you will get stronger and faster. Consider Lance Armstrong’s experience. Ten days after Lance’s first marathon, a shin splint that first surfaced in training turned out to be a stress fracture and Lance spent 3 months rehabbing. The guy is one of the fittest athletes on the planet and a huge stud, but his skleteal system was not equipped to handle the pounding of a marathon. I suspect the training plan Lance implemented was probably the best plan that could be put together given a relatively short time frame in mind and his aggressive goal – sub 3 Hours (I claim no inside knowledge of Lance’s run training program, only what is documented in sports news. So it was built on relatively low mileage and lots of cross training. Know any triathletes that fit this bill?
Principle #1 – Know Thyself/Heal Thyself First things first, you can’t go into any program injured or with major mechanical defects. Get yourself healthy first. Get to where you can run maybe 20 MPW – all of it easy, pace doesn’t matter - over 5-6 days without pain and can do that consistently for a number of weeks. When you’re doing this – I’ll call it background work – you should be getting comfortable with your running mechanics & equipment as well. If you have mechanical issues that might lead to injury down the road, it’s a good idea to identify those. Be sure you have found several pairs of comfortable running shoes that fit your running style and will support your feet, ankles, etc. This is a good time to go find the Ragged Mtn dudes and get a gait analysis and some quick coaching to ensure that you are solid in these areas & that you have a plan to address any issues they might bring up. Think of this as getting your car ready for a coast to coast road trip – before you leave, you want your car in good working order with fluids topped off, brakes good, engine tuned up, etc. This time it take build this foundation is irrelevant, for me I spent about 2 years running 20-25 MPW before I was even interested in running longer distances – again, leave lots of time for your body to adjust.
Principle #2 – Build Mileage Gradually I’m sure you’ve heard all about the 10% rule, which says that one week should only be 10% more mileage than the last week when you are adding miles. Personally, I don’t always follow exactly 10%, but the spirit behind the rule is correct. When you’re embarking on a cycle to increase running mileage, you should do so with caution. When you add miles, you are by definition adding more pounding on your joints and ligaments (in the form of more miles and more hours on your feet). So, if you’re at about 25 MPW right now, you might build a plan than adds a couple (no more than 5) miles each week for a few weeks – maybe 3 or 4. I can’t stress enough to BE CAREFUL when adding miles to your program. I believe the #2 reason (#1 is in the next section) runners get injured is because they add too many miles to their schedule before they’re ready. So, when doing this, also keep in mind Principle #4 – utilize mileage plateaus.
Principle #3 – Speed Kills Whatever pace you do your runs at for your 25 MPW, slow down while you build mileage. Most people I speak with who go through significant injuries, seem to go back to running too fast for too much of their training. I don’t have a good scientific basis for this myself, I can only offer my own anecdotal experience & what I’ve heard from others. However, I am convinced the #1 reason runners get injured is from running too many fast miles. So slow down during build weeks! Don’t do any fast stuff, just get the miles done at a pace that is comfortable. The ideal pace in my mind is one that when you’re finished running, you could go for a few more miles if you had to. For folks who are used to doing lots of fast running, this might be disturbing at first. However, the collective stresses that are applied build hugely when you do a week that is 12 miles, 10 miles, 15 miles, 8 miles, rest day, 18 miles. That’s an average week I did in early March during my Boston Marathon prep – and that 8 miler mid-week was tough – I felt no need to do anything other than just make it. During my build cycle, I do exactly zero speed work. Once I reach a plateau, I will start to carefully insert some tempo work. For example, last year I spent the first 3 months (Jan – March 2007) building to a 40 MPW average. Once I reached that plateau, I stayed there and remained consistent throughout pretty much the rest of the year (leaving out a few weeks of vacation and other things where mileage went way down). Around June, I started adding a weekly tempo run every Wed I would go 10 miles – first 5 easy, second 5 at half marathon race pace. That was my speed work. So out of a 40 mile week, 5 miles were “fast”, but fast in this case is HMP.
The topic of speed is controversial and often misunderstood – I will confess that I don’t understand all of it. I think it is more complicated for triathletes because you can train injury free at much higher intensities for cycling and swimming than you can for running – it’s that gravity thing again. I suspect many tri dudes who come from swimming or cycling backgrounds simply assume they can train for running the same way they do for the other two sports – namely very fast & very long. Gravity makes running a different beast with some unique problems – you can only run fast AND long for so much without risking serious injury. I won’t claim what I do is the best way, I suspect that I could benefit from some additional speed work properly planned and placed. But I do strongly believe that when you are trying to build to a higher mileage plateau, speed is the first thing that should go on the shelf for a while.
Principle #4 – Use Mileage Plateaus Your body needs time to build stronger joints, ligaments and bones. As I said, according to the science types, the skeletal system takes the longest to adapt. It’ll happen, but it’ll take time. So building to a weekly mileage number is really just the start. Your body will continue to adapt as you stay at that on a weekly basis – for months & years. The good news is that after several weeks or months, that weekly average will start to feel much easier. So, when you build to say 40 MPW, you’ll be tired after that first week. But then hold it there at a weekly average of 40 MPW for a few months, over time that weekly average will start to feel pretty comfortable. You will find you will be moving beyond “survival mode” – where you’re just trying to get the mileage in and don’t care about pacing. You’ll start to speed up and want to add some faster stuff in. That’s how you know your body is getting stronger.
Principle #5 – Listen to your Body About 75% of all my running is done with no stopwatch at all. When I leave the house, I’ll check what time it is, then I’ll check again when I return and an estimate for the total time. I almost never check my pace during a run. Nor do I ever use an HRM. I run based on how I feel. Running this way requires some faith and some experience. But it is not necessarily difficult to get to. The idea is to be comfortable for the entire run. Then when you’re finished, you should feel like you could have gone for a few more miles if you had to. I’m not advocating that everyone should put all their gadgets away forever (OK, maybe I am), but I do think that it is incredibly important to learn to listen to your body. Running based on feel is a great way to do this. After a while you start to get a feel for your running based on your breathing patterns and effort level. You start to know almost at an intuitive level when you can push it a little and when you’re tired or achy and need to back off and jog for a while. I know that numbers jocks will have a hard time with this – I was an engineer once, I know all about the love of tracking and graphing progress. But I also know that an intuitive feel for your own body and its capabilities is much more valuable than the worlds prettiest graph. You then of course need to act on what your body is telling you. Learn to know the difference between tired or achy muscles (which are normal) and truly sore or painful tendons – unfortunately I suspect experience is really the best teacher between these two.
I’ll close this with something I once heard Marc Allen say – “the guy who wins Ironman isn’t the fastest guy - it’s the guy who slows down the least”. This is exactly what high volume running is designed to do. You are developing your systems so that you can go all day and not slow down. This is the best way I know to describe how I approach running. My goal is not necessarily to get blazing fast, my goal is to slow down less than the other guy.
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