Aug
31

Lessons From a 255-Mile Month

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Photo credit: Tired Runner by Flickr user Rennett Stowe, used under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 license.

Today, I hit a new milestone in my training – with a 10 mile run (plus strength and core training mixed in the middle), I reached 255 miles of running for August.  I think my previous high was in July, at 221 miles, so this was a significant (15%) step up from that.  It wasn’t my intent heading into the month; I knew I would probably have at least 225 miles, but throughout the month I started stretching out some runs, threw in a few extra lunch runs here and there, and before I knew it, 250 miles was well in sight.  Obviously, current circumstances make finding the time to put in extra miles easier, so I’m not sure I would have been able to do this otherwise, but I am considering this a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to test how well the body reacts to increased mileage.

At the same time, I have started picking up my “easy” pace and pushing things a little bit on long runs as well, including a half-marathon PR on a training run last week.  I’ve decided that if I want to be a sub-3:00 marathoner, I need to start thinking like one, and convincing myself that 7:00 / mile is “easy” (for mid-length runs, at least).  I was worried that if I didn’t shift my mindset, it’d be far too easy to fall back to a 7:30 pace when the going gets tough in the late stages of the Akron Marathon next month.

I recognize that a lot of what I’m doing goes against conventional wisdom.  You see advice like “easy runs should be at marathon pace + 20%,” or “if you continually put in over 50 miles a week, your risk of injury and fatigue skyrocket,” or “don’t go beyond what your training plan calls for.” I’m not suggesting that this is bad advice.  At this point in time, I am feeling no signs of any injury, and while I am more tired than normal in general, my recoveries from all but the longest runs have been good, leaving me able to put in quality workouts up to 5 times per week.

I’ve stated before (in The Running Manifesto) that you sometimes need to “sacrifice to learn.”  Given how I have felt, and the bit of a roll I have been on (keeping in mind that this is just training – the proof will have to come from race results), I decided it was the right time to put myself out there a bit and see what this aging (but still sub-40, for those who may have wondered) body is capable of.  Ironically, the question-of-the-day on Dailymile yesterday (8/30/10) was, “What’s the most valuable lesson you’ve learned about training/pushing the limits of your body?”  The expected answer was probably involved taking rest days when needed, listening to your body at the first sign of injury, or something of the sort.  My answer is that I have learned you don’t know what you are capable of until you take some risks, set higher expectations, and push yourself to achieve them.

I’m not advocating that everyone should go out and try this approach.  What works for one runner may not work for another.  Maybe I had a particularly strong base going into these past two months.  Maybe I have the luxury of an efficient running style that puts less stress than normal on my joints.  I’m not going to take for granted that this momentum and luck will last forever either, so I’m going to take advantage of the situation while I can.  With one exception – just as I have trained hard for Akron, I’m going to taper hard too, to be as refreshed as possible for the race.

I don’t know what this all means for upcoming race results and beyond.  I had not intended to go for 3:00 at Akron as I was thinking that was a bit of a stretch on the back-end hills of the course.  However, with the amount of work I have put into training in July and August, I shudder to think that even more may be required to break 3:00 at Boston next year.  Therefore, we are going to give it a rip at Akron, knowing that there is the risk of the “bonk” and a resulting failure to even set a PR.  However, since I’ve learned you don’t know what you are capable of until you take some risks, it is time to lay it all on the line for a race, and find out exactly what that means.  My fast recovery from Cleveland suggested that I didn’t push myself as hard as I could at the end – I probably cruised a bit once I knew a BQ and PR were firmly in reach.  I don’t want to recover quickly after Akron.

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Posted in Training
9 Comments Posted by Greg

  • http://twitter.com/BrennanAnnie Ann Brennan

    I totally agree. I don’t add mileage as my way to push my limits because I have stress fractured that way twice to often. Instead I push myself past the comfort level as far as speed goes. It sounds easier to do that than it actually is. I find that when I am on a treadmill I can just do it because I have to keep up with that belt but no matter what I tell myself before an outside run, I almost have to bully myself into working harder. That being said, when I do push myself, the results are incredible. I spent an entire 6 month period focusing on the hard stuff and cut 20 minutes off of my marathon time. My husband did the same thing and cut more than 40 minutes off of his. Hard work does pay off.

  • http://gregstrosaker.com Greg Strosaker

    Thanks Ann. You are spot on in pointing out that increasing the intensity or quality of workouts is more important and beneficial than adding mileage. I would argue that even pushing on the treadmill can be difficult because you always have the “reduce” intensity button right there as your bail-out – though I don’t have much experience with treadmill running so don’t know how much the mental aspect differs from running outside.

  • http://runningrecon.blogspot.com Drew

    As I watched your miles rack up over the past couple of weeks I wondered what you were up to. I knew it certainly wasn’t conventional wisdom. It’s great you been able to push the boundaries of your fitness without sacrificing your health. Being in tune with your body should hopefully allow you to continue this trend.

    Without having a marathon under my belt I often wonder if I’ll be capable of maintaining my race pace in November. Part of me wants to tell Hall to shove it and push hard on a long run to find out, but the other, wiser part knows I don’t have the experience yet to make that kind of call. For now I’ll defer to his expertise and follow the rules. But if I don’t BQ under his tutelage I may have to enlist the guidance of another mentor. Until then I’ll keep the faith.

  • http://runningrecon.blogspot.com Drew

    I find I do the same, Ann. Instead of increasing mileage I cheat by completing a workout in excess of recommendations. On tempo runs I’m supposed to arc at a 10k pace, but I go beyond that. On intervals I could get away with slightly slower laps, but I push myself as hard as I can. The mind games we play… :)

  • http://gregstrosaker.com Greg Strosaker

    Thanks Drew. I’m going to post a critique of Hal’s training plans after Akron – obviously it would not be credible to do so now. Having done almost every one of his plans through what will be my 8th marathon, I think I’m in a fair position to judge. He has gotten me 2 BQ’s, so they do work, but I think there does come a point when it’s time to move on. Some coaches seem to write plans designed to attract followers versus deliver results.

    Your concerns on maintaining a race pace is probably the most common one about the marathon (once you get over the concern about finishing). I think two aspects of Hal’s programs that are underemphasized are the mid-distance (6-10 miles) marathon pace runs and the “right” to finish the last quarter of long runs at a faster (maybe even marathon) pace. If you do both of those on a weekend, I think you have a good set of workouts to deliver confidence.

  • http://www.strengthrunning.com Fitz

    Great recap here Greg. I’ve found that when I push the boundaries of what I consider hard training, my race results show my hard work. “Work works” is a great slogan for this. And the best part of all this hard work is that you can continue building upon it so a year from now, maybe 6:45 pace won’t feel so hard!

  • http://gregstrosaker.com Greg Strosaker

    Thanks Fitz – I hope you are right, as it’s been a grueling summer of training. If the results don’t show at Akron, it will be tough to get motivated to do it again at Boston. But then, if that’s the case, I’ll certainly look at alternative training methods to getting there (instead of relying on building off of the Hal Higdon approach).

  • Paul Henry

    Greg, I would actually disagree with the statement ‘Increasing the intensity of workouts is more important and benificial than adding mileage’. For me it depends entirely on what your goals are. If we exclude sprinting from the discussion then the shorter the run the more important Lactate Threshold and a well trained lactate Shuffle is to your performance. However as the distance goes up the significance of your Aerobic Capacity increase. For Marathon it is the overriding factor.

    Training at LT or even Anaerobically will do very little to improve your base Aerobic Capacity. Further more you recieve significantly more effect training Aerobically after about 70-90 minutes of Aerobic activity when glycogen stores are becoming depleted.

    Unfortunately what this means is that to achieve the best results you need to be able to complete a large volume of training, which as youve pointed out not everyones body is capable of doing successfully without a very long adjustment period, which most of us are too impatient to give it. On the upside however, since the increased volume is made up of mostly easy paced running the injury risk and recovery times are not as high as if that same volume was done at higher intensity.

    I wont argue that other approaches dont bring individual successes, or that some idividuals may perform better with alternative approaches, but for the vast majority the simple truth is the more aerobic running you do the better you will perform come marathon day.

    -Paul

  • http://predawnrunner.com Greg Strosaker

    Paul, thanks for your comment. My thinking on this has shifted radically the past year, mostly after reading Pfitzinger’s book and adopting his 70 mile/week training plan, focused mostly on aerobic training. The past 4 months have been at or above 250 miles, and I recently PR’d in a half-marathon, and am confident of doing the same in an upcoming marathon.
    You make the key points – the ramp-up does need to be intelligent and gradual (spent the first 4 months getting from nothing/injury to 50 miles / week), the recovery time and injury risk does seem lower, and different approaches may work for different individuals. However, I think that for most cases with marathon training, a focus on aerobic capacity is, indeed, the key.