Beginners and Beyond

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How to add more MP miles to a training plan (Read 317 times)

xor


    Yeah. 85 mpw is a pretty big time/life commitment.  If you are talking about fiddling with existing miles to make more of them MP, I'd be kind of careful with that.  It would be an interesting test, but you want that "mostly easy" bit to remain true.  If you are talking about adding more miles on top of that 85 peak... um, well, ok.  That could have some goodness.  Maybe not as much as you think.  Hard for say.  I can tell you from experience, it is a lot of freakin running and a big chunk of time.

     

    I wouldn't get too rocket science about all of it.  The danger in trying to take what seems to be the coolest bits from various plans and turning it into the pupu platter of running is that you wind up doing too much hard stuff and get away from the tenets of the plan you supposedly started with.

     

    Also "what scrape said".

     

    You pretty much kind of did your own thing for your first marathon in the sense that you jumped in with both feet and did way more than the typical first timer and you had great results.  I still say, exercise caution, but you aren't likely to listen.  And everything worked great for you that first time, so you shouldn't have anyway (I'm being sincere).

     

    xor


      Oh btw, this is yet another awesome question for the main board.  You want input from bhearn, jeff, nobby, and a cast of characters who will never ever poke in here... but running-wise, they can be your best friends.  And some of these folks are actually real life coaches, not internet people who read a lot (wait, that's me).

       

      B-Plus


        I'm assuming that the recent Pfitz vs. Hansons comparison prompted this question. In addition to that thread, check out this older one on Hansons: http://www.runningahead.com/forums/topic/1f9277a637ed491eaddaf7939ffe6348/0 On page 3, one poster posted a link to the advanced plan from the book in his RA training plan if anyone is interested. +1 to Lopez about posting this kind of question in the main forum. I've lurked here on and off for a few years, and I always read the entire posts by those dudes (I usually don't read anything that is more than a few lines from most peeps - sorry). That said, this post is a novel by my standards and I probably wouldn't read it if I saw a post this long. RMTB - This is just my opinion, but I think you still have huge gains to be made at your current level of mileage, especially with you being so new to running. Stay at 70ish for a year with the Pfitz (or other) quality workouts, and I think you'd be surprised with the amount of improvement you make if you stay healthy
        runmomto3boys


          I appreciate and value all of the advice.  Thank you so much!  No, I was considering working the MP miles into the existing plan I'm doing, which is the Pfitz plan.  It averages 76 mpw and peaks at 85 (I think that's what the math worked out to).  I was initially hoping to run closer to 80 mpw over 7 days this cycle, but I don't think that's going to happen based on how trashed I felt after running 80 mpw for the last month (evidence: my current week is a rest week...I haven't ever had or needed one since I started running!).  Once I get into the 70+ mpw range, each mile extra is pretty taxing for me. I ran 74 mpw last cycle over 6 days (peaked at 90) and handled it OK, though I was tired towards the end. I'm surprised what a difference the 6 miles (or the extra day?) are making me feel when I bumped up from 74 --> 80, so tossing more quality in there...yeah...I get it.  Anyway, I'm just playing around with some ideas, but I think I'll just take things day by day / week by week and be flexible, depending on how my body feels.  I like the idea conceptually, but in theory, it just might be way too much. 

           

          Thanks, again, for taking the time to respond in such detail.  As always, I learned a lot and you all brought up some great points worth considering.

          Love the Half


            Doubles do a body good.  I was never able to handle more than about 50 mpw until I started doing doubles.

            Short term goal: 17:59 5K

            Mid term goal:  2:54:59 marathon

            Long term goal: To say I've been a runner half my life.  (I started running at age 45).

            runmomto3boys


              Doubles do a body good.  I was never able to handle more than about 50 mpw until I started doing doubles.

               

              I was JUST talking about this with someone else too, an hour ago...that's something else I have to consider.  Thanks for mentioning it.  I am not doing any right now (well, I did one a few weeks back), but I did some over the summer.  Thanks!

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