*HIS* reply to the idea of my running was that he had recently read a study where 28mpw seems to be where bad things can happen.  He said that the stud showed every person seemed to have less positive results and more negative results after that mark.  And, he didn't even know I ran 30mpw.   

 

Coincidently, 28-30 miles per week seemed to be my sweet spot in 2013.  I went as high as 35-37 per week, but that taxed my body.  I felt okay keeping at the 28-30.

I've been adding some cycling (one spin class a week for now since the weather is not conducive to outside cycling) in hopes that it will help my cardio fitness and leg strength.  It's still too early to tell, but so far it seems to help -- my runs are a little faster at the same effort.

 

Pffft.....speak for yourself.  I was healthy as a horse on 10-20mpw for years and as soon as I bumped it up to 30mpw??? ------> INJURED!!!

 

Hardly anemic.

 

In fact, while I'm typing in here (and I don't want to start controversy) I had a 3rd doc's opinion on running. (he was a student doc helping my PCP) and before my PCP came in the room, he was probably the closest thing to a running advocate I've found so far in the medical community.  *HIS* reply to the idea of my running was that he had recently read a study where 28mpw seems to be where bad things can happen.  He said that the stud showed every person seemed to have less positive results and more negative results after that mark.  And, he didn't even know I ran 30mpw.  I thought it quite interesting myself but I'll tell you this.........

 

Think I'm ever gonna go over 28mpw again if I ever get a regular schedule back on these feet??   NO WAY!! (And, no I'm not kidding)

 

Just food for thought.  (P.S.  I was never big on long runs.  Overall mileage and speedwork.  That's where it's at.  Period!)

We are all unique individuals therefore YMMV. It's not always the raw numbers [mpw] but how those miles are divided or performed. I'm just one individual but my results are similar to many other runners I know - instead of being more prone to injury with increased mileage I found the opposite to be true. And don't even get me started on positive results. I've been running [mostly] since high school. I'll be 57 YO in March. While I'm not setting all-time PB times, based on the calculators my times are faster now as a grand master than as an open runner [<35 YO]. My marathon PB is 3:05:01 from 1983. My master best is 3:28:13 from 2009. I ran less than 900 miles in 1983. I ran 3753 miles in 2009. My peak week in 1983 was 50 miles [once]. My average weekly mileage in 2009 was 71.2 miles.

Since recovering from my torn PTT in '96 I was able to begin increasing mileage in 2003. In that time I've been able to set at least one [1] new master / grand master PB time each year until 2013. I ran 1300 miles in '03 and the last 5 years I've averaged 3000+ mpy, that's triple the mileage I was running in my 20's.

I would agree that as you ramp up the miles there are more associated risks involved but I would argue that higher mileage runners are not more often injuried than those that run fewer miles. Look at the injury thread. I haven't but I bet most of those on it aren't high mileage runners. And definitely disagree with the statement about "less positive results". I know of few runners that experienced less positive results after they increased yearly mileage. Sometimes people break down after exceding their mileage ceiling or apply unwise training practicing but I wouldn't point the finger at mileage alone as the issue.

This is very interesting and I'm glad I asked. I personally think for me issues do happen when my LR is put of proportion to my weekly mileage. Despite my best intentions, I never run as much on weekdays as I want. With my work schedule I need to run in the mornings and I am NOT a morning person so I way too often oversleep or can't get myself out the door fast enough and end up skipping or having to cut short runs on weekdays far too often. But I always manage my weekend long run.....which can end up being half of my weekly mileage sometimes. The times I've been most consistent during the week have been the times where I have put in the highest weekly mileage, but also the times I've been the most healthy. This summer I had much lighter work schedule and put in miles, miles, miles and was very healthy. As soon as the ratio slips is when I think I get hurt more. Maybe I'm wrong though and there's something else I'm missing.

 

We are all unique individuals therefore YMMV. 

 

  Look at the injury thread. I haven't but I bet most of those on it aren't high mileage runners. 

^These things.

IMHO, that doctor is an idiot, and/or that study is likely flawed or misleading.  To pick a single mpw figure to apply to everyone seems totally arbitrary and unlikely to have any scientific merit. Of course I have not seen the study - maybe 28 mpw is the average point where people break down, but what is the standard deviation? You can more easily do your own study right here on RA, and find results will be all over the map.

Run whatever you are comfortable with, whether it be 10 mpw or 100. Or course you may find your breaking point the hard way, always the risk of being active. And it may not be a pure mpw figure - you may find trails keep you healthier than the road, or going slower lets you run longer, or working in more crosstraining helps.

The injury thread is a chicken/egg scenario though.  Are they repetitively injured and therefore low mileage, or is it the low mileage that causes the injury?

 

One thing that happens when you ramp up mileage is that you do also ramp up the amount of stress on the body - back to the acclimation piece from earlier.  If you have a muscle imbalance or other issues, what can be fine at 15 mpw will become an issue at 25 mpw.   So I don't think it's just a matter of low mileage being a higher risk of injury but that with folks who tend to get injured, they are likely taxing a system more than it was ready for or capable of.... and running more won't help that until things are addressed.

 

Besides, I've seen plenty of high mileage runners here get injured.   PF, piriformis, hamstring, etc. etc.   It happens to everyone.

I don't think anyone's saying people are getting injured because of low mileage. And I don't think there's any dispute that higher mileage puts more stress on your body, and on average may make you more susceptible to injuries. Or that anyone who runs is likely to get injured at some point. I think the main point is that you cannot create a single rule that applies to everyone.

I wonder how much doing core work prevents injury. My first few injuries were due to my core being weak. My PT made me do a bunch of core and that fixed my problems. I don't do as much core work now as I did then, but it hasn't seemed to hurt me. Most the people I know most of the people who do a boatload of miles do a bunch of core work. Of course everyone is different.

I wonder how much doing core work prevents injury. My first few injuries were due to my core being weak. My PT made me do a bunch of core and that fixed my problems. I don't do as much core work now as I did then, but it hasn't seemed to hurt me. Most the people I know most of the people who do a boatload of miles do a bunch of core work. Of course everyone is different.

Don't worry about any of that stuff, just stay under 28 mpw and you are good. 

 

That's what the B&B is all about - it's a regular love-fest here! Except i just called someone's doctor an idiot.