JMac That's an interesting read, but I think it raises more questions than answers, as most studies do of course. I think we are a long way away from really understanding how this kind of running affects the body. Not to mention genetics must play some role. I think overall, if 100 miles a week is something you only do a few weeks of the year or so, you are much more healthy than the average American.

My Week:                                                 Time:               Miles:       Kilos:       Pace/mi:      Pace/kilo:

1/23: Easy 8,

leg strength later                                     1:03:14               8                12.9           7:55                4:55

1/24: Easy 6 on mill,

rowing, upper body and

core after                                                   50:10                6                 9.6            8:22                5:12

1/25: 1 mile w/up and

c/d. 6 X 1 mile tempo with 1 minute

rests on a mile road loop.

6:07 avg                                                     58:16                8                12.9           7:17                4:32

More leg strength work later

1/26: Easy 8.5. Legs dead.                      1:10:30              8.5              13.7           8:18                5:10

1/27: Easy 5, upper body

and core later                                             39:18                5                  8              7:52                4:54

1/28: Easy 9 + strides                              1:10:42               9                14.5           7:52                 4:54

1/29: 1 mile warm up,

Burke Lake Half Marathon

1:27:40 (trail)                                           1:38:04            14.1              22.7           6:57                 4:19

Total: 58.6 miles, 94.3 kilometers, 7:30:14

Ran the half marathon as a "hard" training run. Did a 15 second negative split. The course has an absolute ton of turns. It felt like I was always turning. On top of that it was a double out and back. Was at a bar last night. Didn't think I drank too much but I had the taste of alcohol vapor on my breath for almost the first half of the race.

Aerobically it felt like a long run pretty much. Heart rate was 170 right after I crossed the finish. My legs just didn't feel like running fast apparently. Nothing in particular hurt really, just some tightness in the glutes. Still a much trashier time than I expected to run. It is what it is.

darkwave - I think you're on the money.  Yes, there may be some negative effects but overall I think us runners are way better off, even at high training levels.  Not just in terms of cardiac health but many other aspects too.  Definitely can't overlook the mental side either.

mmerkle - Nice week, and very nice workout on that trail half.

Tyson Fury - Does your Dad drive you crazy playing "Glory Days" by Bruce Springsteen?

me - Another good week with 2 really good workouts.  Felt very strong on the long run, even pushing the marathon pace a bit.  I've got a down week with an extra rest day now, which in the past I may not have wanted but I'm doing (almost) everything the new coach tells me.  Then I've got 2 high volume weeks and the motorway half on slightly tired legs.

Weekly for period: From: 23/01/2023 To 29/01/2023

Total distance: 94.43km (58.69mi)

I don't think anyone would (sanely) argue that somehow runners are in worse shape than sedentary people. I think the point more is that everyone who is running very high mileage is doing it out of love of the sport, and that we have to recognize there is some risk in it. It's not better than just running 4 days a week for 30 minutes. That in my mind is pretty clear at this point.

But we all do stuff we enjoy that isn't perfectly healthy, and that is the point: otherwise we'd never have a single drink, eat any ice cream, or frankly get in a car. Sometimes your mental well being / happiness is worth more than an extra X days of your life.

51 miles running, 3 hours pool-running, and ~1000 yards swimming.

M: 10 miles on treadmill, including 6 "Iwo Jima" hills [2:00 at 2% incline and 8.7 mph; 90 second jog; 30 seconds at 9.3-9.5 mph; 60 second jog], followed with leg strengthwork.
T: Upper body weights/core and 90 minutes pool-running.
W: Streaming yoga and 10 miles very easy (9:29) plus drills and two hill sprints.
Th: 90 minutes pool-running and upper body weights/core.
F: 10 miles, including a 5K tempo in 22:23 (7:22/7:09/7:00/0:52); followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yard recovery swimming.
Sa: 10.5 miles very easy (9:16) plus drills; yoga in afternoon.
Su: 11 miles, including 8 Iwo Jima hills (2:00 powerful up a 2% incline, then 90 second jog; 40 second downhill stride and then 60 second jog to bottom). Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 meters recovery swimming.

This was my second week back from the Houston Marathon, and also my first full week on Rytary, which has my legs feeling really good and coordinated and bouncy.

Since my legs felt fully recovered, I went ahead and introduced some faster running with a short tempo book-ended by two hill workouts. Definite improvement over where I was - my gait is more powerful and bouncy, I feel more comfortable on downhills (though still room for improvement there), and I'm running much more smoothly when running in crowds or in the dark - two situations that triggered my neuro issues in the past. Notably, my hill workout on Sunday was one of the fastest that I've done in several months (which probably shouldn't matter that much, since the workout is not about speed per se).  Friday's tempo was also before the sun came up.  It was near miraculous - I could tell with my feet where the track was.

I've got some races on the schedule for the next few months - a 5K in February, a half-marathon in March, and the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler in April. For the next few weeks, I'm not going to do any long runs - with two marathons in the last four months on my legs, I don't have a pressing need to do long runs right now. Instead, I'm going to focus on intervals and tempos, and sub in hill workouts on Sundays to improve my gait. All with the goal of improving my gait and my speed, now that the neuro issues seem to be improving.

As long as you are regularly contributing and commenting and not just coming here to post about yourself and then disappear, I think you're good.  (again, I am not thread dictator)

 

This was part of my hesitation in joining the thread. I'm already involved in a number of other RA and FB groups, so I expect to be more an occasional contributor than regular.  BTW I assume those weekly stats everyone is posting are from Strava. I haven't given in to peer pressure yet to join Strava. RA and my own spreadsheets work fine for me.

Weekly summary:  1/23-1/29  38.1 miles,  9:07:05, avg pace/mile 14:21

Mostly brisk walk 15-20:00 for warm up, alternate run/walk for 30-40:00, moderate 8-10:00 walk cool down more or less daily.

Rehabbing ankle injury, possible torn tendon, so gradually increasing amount of running now that I've given the tendon time to heal.

High Mile Weeks:  My doctor, non-runner, has no problems with the mileage or races I run, nor has my cardiologist tried to discourage me. My overall impression from various articles is that there is some temporary damage after long races that is reversible, but also some changes from long term endurance activities such as running, which may or may not be harmful.

dktrotter:  Glad to hear the 15K + 20M worked out for you

HM and Marathon pace runs:  I see these in a lot of training schedules but haven't been convinced that they serve any purpose that isn't already being served by tempo runs.  Come race day I'm going to race by perceived exertion anyway, not a predetermined pace, so any HM or marathon pace runs are arbitrary and a guess anyway.

 

Re: HM and Marathon pace runs, I reckon the purpose there is to dial in pace/effort. Some people like me have no idea what MP feels like, so it's good to practice it a ton so you don't speed ahead on race day.

 

Yeah I agree with this. I am pretty dumb about the science of running, but I am of the understanding that there are no true physiological benefits of MP/HMP, as there are with VO2max or LT. But to me it’s (1) get some muscle memory so the body knows how that pace feels, and (2) build confidence in my goal—if 10 MP feels a certain way, that’s a good MP to shoot for. Or alternatively if it’s a struggle, I may need to adjust. With a structured training plan, MP/HMP shouldn’t be completely arbitrary or a total wild-ass guess. It’s difficult for most of us hobbyjoggers to race solely on perceived effort, especially at the start.

Got some really nice weeks being posted! I'm a little behind but wanted to get the week out there.

DW - Really nice to see the progress as you work through the neuro issues.  Tried my first workout "before the sun" on Wednesday and it was tough and I don't have any of the other stuff you have going on! Not sure what was more asleep my brain or my legs.  Once I got the first mile at tempo done it was easier but I will try to schedule workouts for mid day in the future if possible!

Merk- Looking very solid. Your paces on the slow/recoveries are creeping down which I always see when my training is on track! this is where need to try to focus on slowing down at least one or two of my runs to try to make them true recoveries rather than more aerobic work.  I will admit I'm not always successful or practice what I preach.

Steve- another solid week.  You seem to be in tune with the new coach. Excellent LR (although I vehemently disagree with the KM measurements 

WC I took the post as a reminder that it's not necessary to comment on everyone's posts or to be worried that you missed someone.  Just contributing is appreciated.  I try to get to read most stuff but I'm fully aware that the pages fly by sometimes and I do miss some.  I also try to post when I have a question/comment but don't feel the need to comment on everyone's.

 Dave- I agree with the theory... but it is REALLY painful to go out for a long run with miles at M pace and wrap my head around "this is not going to benefit my fitness but it will train my brain." I know the theory but I'll continue to fool myself

 

RE: pre-race meals, I’ll be the controversial person to put sushi on the list. Wile it’s not ideal if your body hasn’t gotten used to the preservatives yet, and I would’t try a new place the day before a race, there’s a lot of protein and a lot of carbs… honestly, I could not do a double-portion of meat! That sounds like a recipe for disaster for my gut! 

 

Re: rolling totals, they’re interesting to me, but I won’t change what I’m doing because of them. I like the monthly rolling stat sometimes after a race, because I can see better that way how many miles I did since the race. 

 

Re book recs, I took a few notes as well. I’m getting the one you suggested, wcruner2. Zebano, would you recommend the Training Essentials by Koop? 

 

Alright, so that took like 75 minutes, but I'm back in the loop!

I have also done the pre-race Sushi meal. I want to say it worked out well but the race was a DNF. It was the first 50k I ever signed up for and my right shoe's upper and sole detached around mile 16 at which point I walked to the S/F at mile 20 and dropped. My gut was absolutely fine that day so I should probably try sushi again.

Re: Contacts. I ordered some cheap goggles (speedo vanquishers) the other day and went to swim this weekend. While removing the stickers I found each eye had a -8 sticker on them.... I didn't know they made prescription goggles. 🤦‍♂️

Re: Koop - I'm not far enough into the book to have a recommendation yet.

Flavio - I took enough time off of strength work that I'm rebuilding but I did 3x6x185 deadlifts the other day and they didn't feel too hard. That said I've found a balance where hills are feeling easier (huzzah) and I'm not wrecked for my next run, so I'm going to increase really really slowly. More exciting than the deads however, I did some cleans yesterday. They were only at 95 lbs but my ability ot do heavy cleans correlates really strongly with my 1 mile race results so this is a great start to the year.  You must be able to do quite a few pull-ups if grip strength is limiting you. I'm only at a paltry 3x3 right now. Great long run and tempo workout. Your fitness is really high right now.

HCT - the only 1 leg deadlifts worth doing IMO are the ones where your back and off-leg make a straight line. I saw a dude doing those on a bosu ball... wow.

Merkle - solid race, sometimes if the trails are twisty enough it's just hard to build up and maintain speed.

RE: HM/M pace. I think these are absolutely close enough to LT and stressful enough on the body that it's a big stimulus to improve. Maybe it's not optimal like running exactly at LT, but I don't think our body says "sorry this is 15 seconds too slow, we're not going to rebuild better".