Increasing Mileage

Triathlon Forum
1

I’m looking to do my first 70.3 at the end of the summer & while planning this, i know i need to run a 1/2 mary at some point before then. Well our local (Glass City Marathon) is on April 26 and i’m toying with the idea of making this my 1/2 mary… even though i hate running in the cold, i’ve been HTFU-ing (wow! first time i’ve actually used that term… I think I’m an official SlowTwitcher now :D) and getting a few runs in.

My question is… is going from my standard 6.5 mile run to 13.1 in basically 2 months too much? I had ITBS problems after last race season & just a few weeks ago i’ve gotten back up to 6.5 with no problems. I was looking at possibly moving up 1.5 miles every 1.5 weeks with probably 3 training runs per week (yeah, go ahead & give me crap for only 3, but with school, work & everything else… I don’t have anymore time for training until i’m out of school in May)

I know you’ve all got opinions… I’ve read enough posts around here to know that you’re not shy about stating them. So lets hear it. Oh, & be gentle…

2

I’m looking to do my first 70.3 at the end of the summer & while planning this, i know i need to run a 1/2 mary at some point before then. Well our local (Glass City Marathon) is on April 26 and i’m toying with the idea of making this my 1/2 mary… even though i hate running in the cold, i’ve been HTFU-ing (wow! first time i’ve actually used that term… I think I’m an official SlowTwitcher now :D) and getting a few runs in.

My question is… is going from my standard 6.5 mile run to 13.1 in basically 2 months too much? I had ITBS problems after last race season & just a few weeks ago i’ve gotten back up to 6.5 with no problems. I was looking at possibly moving up 1.5 miles every 1.5 weeks with probably 3 training runs per week (yeah, go ahead & give me crap for only 3, but with school, work & everything else… I don’t have anymore time for training until i’m out of school in May)

I know you’ve all got opinions… I’ve read enough posts around here to know that you’re not shy about stating them. So lets hear it. Oh, & be gentle…

Why do you think you need to run a 1/2 marathon before your HIM? For sure you need to put in the running miles before the HIM, but there’s nothing magical about running a 1/2 mary. You will run plenty of 13+ mile long runs between now and late summer.

The conventional wisdom I’ve always heard is to not increase run mileage by more than 10% per week, and I usually scale that back to 80% of max every 4th week. So, for example, if you’re at 6.5 mile long runs right now your weekly long run between now and late March could look something like this: 7.2 mi, 7.9, 8.7, 6.9, 9.5. This would put you at a ~10 mile long run before the 1/2 mary. At that point, I’d think you could run 13 on race day if you really wanted to do that race. The thing I’d be most careful of is your history of ITBS. If you ramp the run mileage too fast you run the risk of screwing your whole season. Others may be more tolerant of ramping run mileage quickly, but every time I’ve tried to ramp running mileage faster than 10% I end up injured.

Edit- sorry, after rereading your post and drinking some coffee I realized your 1/2 mary is in late April, not late March. Based on the 10% ramp and a weekly long run of: 7.2, 7.9, 8.7, 6.9, 9.5, 11.4, 12.6, 13.8, leading up to race week, you should be OK for a 1/2 mary at the end of April.

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If you run a standard 6.5 miles each session you’re probably not making many improvements. You can up the mileage for your weekly long run (3mi/3wk may be too steep), but you need some quality days with high-intensity intervals mixed in. Otherwise, you’re just beating on your legs with distance and not building speed, strength, or endurance. While running 13.1 by race day would be beneficial, building good endurance with a lot of 10-11 mile runs will probably get you there just the same. I’ve never seen an iron distance training plan that calls for running 26.2 before race day - then again, there is a tremendous difference between the rigors of 13.1 and 26.2. I say, up the mileage on your long day by 1/2 mi/wk initially, and see how it goes. If it works, then build faster.

4

I think you have the time to ramp up. A good rule of thumb is increase by no more than 10% per week (mentioned above) and your long run should be no more than 1/3 of the weekly mileage.

The problem will be only running 3 times per week. Either all of your runs will be the “long” one or your actual long run will be 50%+ of your week. When you get to the 11-13 mile runs you should be at 30+ miles per week. Tough to do that on 3 runs.

You may be able to get away with it but you could be opening yourself up for an injury.

I’m not an expert so take it with a grain of salt. But, think the ST running gurus will agree.

5

Unless you really want to run this 1/2 mary, there is no reason for it. If your focus is the 70.3, take the time to get up to mileage slowly and safely. I’m doing my first 1/2 this weekend, and have been increasing from 25 mpw to 45 for the last 4 months. Slow and steady.

What about a summer 1/2 just to fit it in?

6

If you are in reasonable shape and can run 6.5 miles, you can run 13.1. What value that race will have, I don’t know. I would not want to “race” a 13.1 on 3 runs/wk and just finishing won’t really do much for you. Other than the mental victory and increased risk of injury, I suppose.
I am unclear what your running plan is though. Are you just doing 3x 6.5 mile runs now? Or is 6.5 your long run? Weekly mileage is far more important. Being able to run say, X miles on fresh legs is completely different then running X miles at the end of a high mileage week.
Personally, I would skip the April 13.1, spend the summer increasing weekly mileage (and frequency to at least 4/wk), and do well on the 70.3. Just my opinion and for clarification, I am primarily a runner. I have also never had ITBS.

7

Ultimately, it comes down to how important it is to you to prepare yourself for the race. Most people today have a lot of stuff going on, so the whole “I don’t have any more time for training.” isn’t going to get much sympathy. I’m quite sure we could find a couple of extra one hour slots in the week where you could add some runs if you wanted. If you add 2 30-40 minute runs each week, you will increase your mileage by ~50%.

Are you swimming and biking currently?

8

Similar situation here. I have been doing 3x10k per week, and now I’ve switched to 2x10k + 1 increasing long run per week in preparation for a half on May 2.

It seems perfectly reasonable to do so, though of course I have no prior running experience. I’m increasing half mile per week on the long run, which I think will get up up to around 12.5 the weekend before my race.

9

Thanks for the advice guys, hopefully more people weigh in as well, though i think i’ve pretty well got that I need to really figure out how important this race is to me & if i should really do it.

Normally when i train i do the same mileage every time. Last year when I was training for my Olympic race i did 6.5 miles 3-4 days a week while biking ~30 miles 2-3 times a week & swimming basically nil (2:16.xx) So yes, my 3 runs a week are all 6.5, does varying my mileage much really help that much? I just always feel like Im slacking it if i do a shorter than race distance run (thought that while doing Oly & sprint races… with 1/2 IM, I’m gonna have to become OK with that concept) Also, I live in NW Ohio so there’s not too many hills to train on , though there are a couple short/steep ones that are around that i do sprints on every once & a while.

I’m swimming once a week with Masters, hopefully getting back to 2-3 times a week sometime soon. & no cycling until it warms up outside (See NW Ohio above= way too cold for me on a bike) & i have a hard time motivating myself to do trainer workouts.

Thanks again guys, & keep all the good information coming!!

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  1. Tri running and open race running is very different. I don’t think running a 1/2M race is going to do anything for you but beat you up. Sustained miles at a faster pace is very tough.

  2. I like Daniels rec: hold mileage steady for 3 weeks then add 1 mile for each run/wk. So if you run 3x/week - you add 3 miles every 3 weeks…

  3. 10% a week can be a lot - you double your miles in 8 weeks.

  4. I’d try very hard to find a couple 20 min slots to get in 5 runs if at all possible.

  5. I’d also try to mix up distances a little. Make 1 run a couple miles longer. You can shorten the other runs a little to compensate.

  6. If you can run 10 miles in training at an easy pace and you pace the half IM properly - running the 13.1 in a half is very doable. You really need to ensure you bike according to present fitness levels though.

  7. Whatever you do in training - you can double and do it in a race. It gets tough toward the end but do-able. If your long run is 6.5 - you can double to 13. If your long run is 13 - you can double to 26. If your long run is 25 - you can go 50. Its not ideal - but you can do it…

Dave

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You don’t need to run a standalone half mary for any reason. I’ve done several ironmans, 3 ultras, and never ran a standalone marathon. Just do the training needed to do a 70.3. Only do a half mary if you got the time to kill and for fun. Try biking to it and home from it for some good tri training.

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So yes, my 3 runs a week are all 6.5, does varying my mileage much really help that much? I just always feel like Im slacking it if i do a shorter than race distance run
Varying mileage is not the key factor. Varying pace and distance is what’s key. If you run 10k at the same pace 3x a week you ran 30k. If you do 3 runs at 5k, 10k, and 15k the next week, you still ran 30k. If you don’t vary the pace, nothing has changed between the two weeks. If you never train fast, you’ll never race fast. Similarly, if you don’t train for endurance (with a weekly long run) you won’t race with endurance. Mixing it up will actually encourage you to get in 4-5 sessions a week.