How Much Discomfort Can I Tolerate?!

Hey Will - Really impressed with your consistency with the 200s last night, and the 82 400! sick man! :) You're getting speed. I don't know about the increasing mileage thing it's up to you. Personally, if I were you I would take Friday and Saturday easy. I know you know as well as I do that most experts say to stick to the 10% rule, though one of my training plans through Galloway actually had a 15% weekly increase. I am sure you are also familiar with Lydiard who stated that even a sedentary person could work to 100 mile weeks in just as little as 2 months. I think the point to take to heart is go on the feel of your body. I know how great it is to feel all this improvement, but just remember that the improvement is a cumulative result of all your months of hard work and consistency. In retrospect I found my achilles problem probably came about because I started back with a 50+ mile week after a half marathon, when in all reality I should have been shooting for about 20-25 miles. Now you are in much better shape then me and you know your body best. I just don't want to see you going and hurting yourself. So I'd suggest real slow running the rest of the week, and maybe only a couple striders to work on the leg turnover. That's just my opinion though. Keep up the great work mate!

Benn, thanks for the thoughtful analysis. It is a tough call, your suggestion to skip the long run is most likely correct. I have read that if speed and hills are combined in a week, it is best to cut mileage to prevent overwork. My mileage went up this week because of the morning runs, without those I think I would be fine. However, the morning runs are very easy, just a kind of slow aerobic effort to stretch my legs and make me feel good. I am finding I really enjoy those short morning runs.

Also, my mileage pattern seems to be 1-2 weeks of moderate mileage, followed by a larger mileage week. I think my body realizes this is a larger mileage week. If I were to hit 75 miles this week, I would only be increasing 7% from my previous large mileage week (70).

Here is a listing of my previous weeks to give you an idea of how it has gone, starting from February - 60, 62, 31, 52, 55, 42, 63, 42, 70, 45, 42. If I had run only one hard workout this week I would have no worries about running 75 miles. But the 2 hard workouts were massive (for my standard), which is why I am hesitating. I will follow what you say and listen to my body, and hopefully I will make the right decision. If I blow it and injure myself I will be really disappointed.

That being said, it is currently 70 degrees and sunny, I am going out for a very easy run through the park and woods, the sun and warmth will feel soothing!