Mileage check, workout placement help

[Joe]

I like making my own training plans but after a little plateau this year, I'm finally looking for a little assistance/critique to breakthrough in Boston.  Here's my history:

Late Summer 2009 - start running, 10:00 pace for 2-3 miles.
Nov 2009 - 3 mile race in 22:30
Apr 2010 - HM in 1:40
Jan 2011 - Marathon in 3:25
Apr 2011 - Marathon in 3:16
Jan 2012 - Marathon in 3:01
Apr 2012 - Marathon in 3:02
Nov 2012 - Marathon in 3:00

I should finish this year having averaged about 60/week for 2012, about the same as 2011.  Peak was 80/week for 5 weeks before marathon #4.  That was the most in shape I ever felt, after those 5 weeks....quick recoveries, good speed.  Unfortunately that marathon was hot and humid so I tanked.  FYI, here is my mileage plan for this next cycle: http://s1212.photobucket.com/albums/cc460/joegolf222/?action=view&current=Capture.png 

To save you the trip, it is definitely the highest mileage I've run, avearging about 84/week over a 12-week stretch.  I don't know that I can be dissuaded too much from those totals (I want to test my limits a bit) but am I going about it in a reasonable way, or should I make some changes?  In the spreadsheet, green = double.  I've entered a HM race on Jan 13 and my goal race is Boston, Apr 15.

I've ben doing Pfitzinger-type training, adding in Tinman-type Big Workouts on my longer runs for over a year now and am ready to switch things up thanks to reaching a plateau this year.  This is what I most need help with, I think.  Speed first, MP later?  Don't worry about intervals?  Concentrate on LT initially, and AT later?  Or will the high mileage be enough stress?  Typically I can always do at least 1 workout per week on any week/mileage, and 2 workouts/week when I feel good (as I get used to the mileage).  Never been able to do more than 2/week and recover in time for the next one.

Long post, sorry, wanted to get all the info out there.  Thanks in advance for any advice.

[Jake Krong]

Some quick thoughts...

-Its an ambitious mileage bump, but it can be done if you are smart about it. You've got a gradual buildup which is good. I think the only thing I would change is that you have a long higher mileage stretch from late January to late March... maybe schedule in a down week (or two). Four weeks up, one down. Or three-one. Something like that. It will help you absorb the training, especially with harder workouts.

-Train for the half-marathon initially. Make it a focus and for a big PR. Mix up the workouts - but don't worry do much about the marathon specific stuff that far out. Maybe throw in some AT stuff once in a while, but focus on LT and longer reps.

-Then you've got two months until Boston after the 1/2... so that's where the focus should switch to more marathon-specific workouts.

-Two workouts a week is fine. If you do that consistently, man... you'll be rocking it in Boston. Also, find a way to train for the course in Boston... it presents some unique challenges.

That's my two cents, and its what I'm going to be doing. I'm on a shorter timeframe for the next marathon cycle, but I'm devoting the first half to running a good half-marathon, then hopefully building off that and locking into marathon mode.

(Oh and send me an email, I have a PDF I want to share w/ you that I think you'll find very useful)

[Andrea North]

I know you don't want to be dissuaded from the mileage totals, but I do want to caution you about increasing your work capacity too much in one training cycle. If you've been averaging 60mpw for the last two years with several weeks at 80mpw, I do agree that you can aim for higher mileage during this next training cycle. However, there is a huge jump between 60mpw and 85mpw. It's a significantly higher stress on the body and increasing by that much in one cycle could put you at a high risk for over-use injury. I recommend you read this article about work capacity - http://maximumperformancerunning.blogspot.com/2012/11/work-capacity.html.

[Joe]

Jake - Oh yeah, the recovery week.  See, this is why I posted here.  There's a perfect spot Feb 18-24 that should give me 4 tough weeks on either side, then maybe 55-60 on the recovery week (1/3 drop)?  Good stuff, will probably ease into the LT stuff (slowly) starting next week.

Andrea - I like that website, and that was a good article.  You are probably 100% correct about the risks.  Sounds crazy but I think I'm ready to risk it a bit, although I probably won't be stacking up a bunch of workouts initially, before I'm used to the mileage.  I haven't been injured in 2+ years (and even then, only for a few days) -- not saying it won't happen, but I don't seem to be injury prone and hopefully I can back off in time if it starts to be too much.  I looked again and if I don't count the taper and reverse-taper weeks for the 3 marathons this year, I'm more like 65/week for 2012.  Still a decent leap but I'm hoping since I haven't increased capacity in awhile, that the ol' legs are ready to give it a go.  You are a good yin to Jake's yang!  You guys should start a run-coaching business.

thanks for the help!

[Andrea North]

I hear ya, Joe. Adding down weeks in the middle of that hard training block is a great idea. I like how you've incorporated a low-mileage day and a medium-long run each week.

[Sasha Pachev]

Joe:

Your problem is 18:39 5 K. From that stem other problems. I suppose your marathon and half can be improved marginally without improving the 5 K by upping the mileage and increasing the volume of long tempo runs, but it will be difficult to jump 10 minutes in the marathon.

I would caution about increasing the mileage beyond what you are doing now too fast and too soon just like Jake and Andrea have said. Two reasons - one is general - for each extra mile you need to sleep more and more, the mistakes in the diet are less and less forgivable, and the payback in fitness even if the recovery is perfect is less and less. 60-70 miles per week tends to be a critical threshhold where benefits marginalize and recovery needs are magnified. The other reason is 18:39 5K off 60 miles a week while still being able to run 3:00 marathon (if you could not, we would just say you might be a natural sprinter). This suggests that you likely have biomechanical issues, which would could make you prone to injuries as the mileage increases.

What I would do is try to smooth out the form and add some power to the legs with some carefully planned speed work. Step number one is figure out your breakdown point. Do time trials in 100 meters, 400 meters, 800 meters, and the mile, and also race an all out 5 K to verify that it is still 18:39 (if it got faster, we might need to reevaluate). Post the results and we will go from there.

[Joe]

Sasha - just saw this, thanks.

I actually have been a little perplexed about my 5k, so it's funny you should mention that.  The thing is, I don't think I am much faster than that 18:39, even right now.  I just did some interval work today that kind of confirmed that.

I will do some time trials in the shorter stuff next week and report back.  Would it skew the results to do all the track stuff in 1 day?  I am planning to jump in the next local 5k, though they are few and far between over here.

Thanks.

[Jake Krong]

It would skew the results a bit if you did all of those time trials in the same day... but you could probably run the 1600m and then take a good, long rest and run the 400m. And then on another day do the 800m and 100m in the same workout. Or some variation of that.

[Joe]

Track was snowy/icy all week, will try again next week...should be melted

[Joe]

800m in 2:29 (72,77)
100m in 15.7

This was probably not the best day to do it (see actual entry for my list of lame excuses) but there's some of the data anyway.  More next week...

http://slowjoe.fastrunningblog.com/blog-01-02-2013.html

[Sasha Pachev]

Joe - will comment on the actual entry.