Forums >Running 101>Scarred of increasing weekly mileage at ‘reasonable’ rate
I started running regularly in late 2012 and made a mistake of increasing weekly mileage too quickly. In just few months I went from not running regularly to running 50 mpw and got injured (metatarsalgia). Instead of taking complete rest for few weeks and because it sucked not running, I would run whenever I feel better and then cut back when I feel pain. I did that for 6-8 months. I have been feeling fine for 3 months now. I feel like I better run little regularly then not to run at all. I am scared of getting injured and feel like I am being too conservative in increasing weekly mileage. Below is the chart of average (average over last 12 weeks) weekly running time in hours. I feel like I have several decades to run and there is no hurry in going longer. At the same time I feel like I am being too conservative and should increase weekly mileage a little more.
Thoughts/comments?
Proboscis Colossus
Why is it you feel you "need" to increase your weekly mileage? Weight loss? Goal race? To be one of the "cool" runners?
"God guides us on our journey, but careful with those feet." - David Lee Roth, of all people
I'm mostly concerned about the scarring.
I'd assume because he wants to improve. I guess you could do it for weight loss, but then again that's mainly diet controlled. Can pretty much run a 1-2 lb/wk weight loss whether you are running 15 or 80 mpw...though I guess you could eat more each day with higher mileage.
This mainly. The fact that you have been feeling good for 3 months now is probably a good sign, especially given you seem to have been able to up the mileage just a bit of late.
If you know how to massage scar tissue do that, if not it might be worth consulting someone trained, though I can't guarantee it's necessary.
They say golf is like life, but don't believe them. Golf is more complicated than that. "If I am still standing at the end of the race, hit me with a Board and knock me down, because that means I didn't run hard enough" If a lot of people gripped a knife and fork the way they do a golf club, they'd starve to death. "Don't fear moving slowly forward...fear standing still."
Why is it you feel you "need" to increase your weekly mileage?
In fact, why run at all, really?
To the OP, yeah it looks like you're being overly conservative. If I'm following the timeline right, you're actually doing less running now than you were during much of your injured period. The thing with inflammation injuries is they're really good at letting you know when you're doing too much too soon. Did you ever root cause your injury other than just too much too soon? If there aren't any underlying bio-mechanical issues then there's not a ton of risk to gradually increasing mileage.
Runners run
To able to run longer.
Trail running feels great. The longer I am able to be on trails, better it feels. Due to whatever excuse/reasons I have, I am not able to hit trails more than once every other week or so. If you view my log, you would see that I do long runs every other week or so and they are on trails. I already do not follow 'long run as 25% of weekly mileage' rule & a lot of my long runs are at 60% or higher of weekly total (time wise). I want to increase these long runs and I think it is a good idea to increase weekly mileage to support long runs to avoid getting injured.
GETM.
To be one of the "cool" runners?
Oh, nicely done! This should score you gobs of brownie points.
In fact, why run at all, really? To the OP, yeah it looks like you're being overly conservative. If I'm following the timeline right, you're actually doing less running now than you were during much of your injured period. The thing with inflammation injuries is they're really good at letting you know when you're doing too much too soon. Did you ever root cause your injury other than just too much too soon? If there aren't any underlying bio-mechanical issues then there's not a ton of risk to gradually increasing mileage.
You are correct in observing that I am doing less running now than I was doing during injured period. I got injured, but did not want to stop running. So I would run on the days I feel fine and not run on days I feel pain. I kept doing it for a while, but my pain would keeping coming back every few days. So I finally decided to keep reducing mileage till I felt fine. The nagging pain finally went away a little over three months ago.
I think root cause for injury was too much too soon.
To able to run longer. Trail running feels great. The longer I am able to be on trails, better it feels. Due to whatever excuse/reasons I have, I am not able to hit trails more than once every other week or so. If you view my log, you would see that I do long runs every other week or so and they are on trails. I already do not follow 'long run as 25% of weekly mileage' rule & a lot of my long runs are at 60% or higher of weekly total (time wise). I want to increase these long runs and I think it is a good idea to increase weekly mileage to support long runs to avoid getting injured.
Great answer, hectortrojan. Sounds like you just like to get out there and run. I think you're on the right track being conservative in your mileage increase. You're in no hurry - or at least you shouldn't be. The only advice I'd have is maybe try run/walk'ing part of your long trail runs until you build your weekly mileage for awhile. It will probably help you go longer and not get as beat up as running the entire thing. Good luck and keep at it.
That's fine, then. I get the sense that my comment came across wrong to some here, apologies if it did. It just seemed like you feel some sort of pressure to increase mileage as quickly as possible, but aren't sure if you should, and if there isn't any real reason to, I could give you a very simple answer. But wanting to be out on the trails for longer is a perfectly legit reason, IMO.
Anyway, I'd say the increases I'm seeing on your graph look pretty good...you could probably bump up the rate of increased mileage a tad, but like mikeymike says, if something starts hurting, go ahead and take a rest day or two.
...says the guy with an ice pack on his quad as he types.