Rolling the Dice... (Read 791 times)

If I were in your position, I would try another 2-3 weeks in the upper 40s and low 50s (assuming 30s to the 50s is the jump you're making) and re-assess. 

 

I thought that was stability shoes.

In this thread it's the 10% rule.  In some other thread it will be stability shoes, or Garmins, or heart rate monitors, or barefoot running, or shod running, or some other thing.

It's a lot dumber to think a nice round number like 10% has any relevance to you.

FWIW,  I jumped straight from 60-ish to 101.  It was a kick in the pants but nothing broke.  I backed down to the 80s the next week but stuck between 70-105 from then on.  As long as you don't injure anything (and I hate when people won't test themselves based on the possibility that they MIGHT get injured) mileage is a lot easier to handle than intensity increases.  And volume should come first, so go for it.

If it works, you'll acclimate and be in the position to later increase the volume of intensity and set yourself up for a breakthrough in the fall.

Did I mention that in order to keep from getting injured I am transitioning from stability shoes to barefoot running? For the next few weeks I will be running with a stability shoe on my left foot and going barefoot on the right. After a couple of weeks I'm going to switch.

That tactic will just make you run in a circle.

Not foolish at all and you don't even need to cheat anybody.  The 10% "rule" is the biggest load of crap ever sold to the running public.  Listening to your body is more valuable than any formula or detailed plan on a spreadsheet.

110% agreement.  Just wanted to clafiry for the sake of the Old Man...

It is actually claimed that this "10% rule" is originated from Arthur Lydiard.  If you have time to actually research it, you will probably find that this "10% rule" is actually associated with Lydiard.  We were contacted by a certain "authority" to clafify this point a few years back.  The message came to me and Lorraine Moller and Barry Magee (one of Arthur's original runners) since the man himself had been dead.  All 3 of us came to the conclusion that Arthur would have NEVER given such a "rule".  Then I made a comment that I could very easily see some persistant interviewer trying to get some "idiot-proof" formula and kept asking and asking and asking...  Lydiard was never a patient guy.  Most probably the guy said, "What about increasing the mieage by 10%?  Does that sound reasonable?"  By then, I'm sure this meaningless Q&A had gtone on for a half an hour and Arthur most likely had snapped and said, "Yes!!"  So it was printed as; "Arthur Lydiard suggests to increase the weekly mileage by 10%..."  Now, you also got to realize that this was probably early to mid 1970s when "joggers" ran about 50~70 miles a week; not 20 miles a week.  Increasing the weekly mileage by 2 miles is absolutely rediculous.

The last time I was with the Old Man, I actually threw a question about increasing the weekly mileage.  He said, "Just get up to 100 miles a week..."  He was one of the first people to experiment increasing the mileage, gone the extreme of running 250 miles a week for some stretch.  He said, "I can remember sitting in a gutter, completely exhausted, wondering what the hell I was doing...  But after a week or two, you get so much stronger..."

Now, I'm probably a bit softer than that (or practical?)--I wouldn't suggest, if you're currently going 20 or 30MPW, to get up to 100 to see how it feels.  What I would suggest, if you're not necessarily a competitive runner, is to get out at whatever the pace/effort you feel comfortable with and run the alternate of 30 minutes and an hour everyday and maybe 1:30 on the weekend (yeah, take a day off if you want...whatever).  Once you can handle that, do 1:30 twice a week...then throw one day of 2-hour run...  Your own body will tell you if it's too much or not.  NO ONE ELSE can tell you what's the most appropriate way to increase the mileage.  Some people can get it up very quickly; others might take a bit longer.  Don't worry about how many miles you're running--as you get fitter, you'll be running faster and the mileage will take care of itself.

Great thread

sorry to hijack the thread but i have a question i would like to ask (before i forget) but what do you think of cutback weeks that a lot of people talk about doing say every 4th week