Difference between revisions of "Notes from a high mileage experiment"

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−
== Introduction ==
+
For six months I experimented with running 6-7 days/week instead of my usual 4 days/week. During that time I ran over 3,000 miles, averaging 118 miles/week and peaking at 186 miles/week. I terminated the experiment when I started to suffer from [[Overtraining Syndrome]].
−
This is not a tip or advice, but a report on an experiment I conducted. As you probably know from reading this site, I recommend running four days per week, as getting sufficient rest is a critical part of training [[Supercompensation and Why exercise does not make you fit|Supercompensation]]. I've trained every day for long periods and found it to be less effective than four days per week. However, I decided that I would experiment with doing several [[Long Run|long runs]] close together. This was partly to get some sense of what a multi-day event would be like, partly to practice running when tired and partly curiosity.
 
−
== The Plan ==
 
−
My original plan was to take a week's vacation to run long each day starting Monday, following my Sunday day off. However, the preceding Friday and Saturday were tough enough to become part of this experiment. In the end, the runs that I consider to be part of this session were:
 
  
−
{|border="1"
+
=Background=
−
!Day
+
I started running four days per week in August 2009, and I've become a big believer in this style of training. However, I think it's important to try out ideas that conflict with our beliefs. To test out the idea that fewer days per week of running is more effective, I embarked on an experiment in July 2011 of running 6-7 days per week, and I kept it up for six months. During this time I was committed to the idea of running more frequently and I did not have a fixed duration in mind.
−
!Distance
+
 
−
!Notes
+
=Training Summary=
 +
While my training pattern varied somewhat, I typically did six long runs per week in the range 16-23 miles. Sometimes I took one day off per week, and sometimes it was a shorter run. For a few of the weeks I would run the same distance all seven days. This period includes one week of 185 miles as the overload week for a [[Three Phase Taper]], and a 118 mile week when I averaged 7:10 pace, which is quick for me. If you exclude the taper/recovery/illness weeks, the average jumps to 128 miles/week. (The only illnesses I suffered during this period were migraines, which impaired my running for about a week each time.) You can see a more detailed breakdown of my training at the bottom of the page.
 +
 
 +
=Overtraining and Termination=
 +
I converted back to running four days per week in January 2012. While I was doing surprisingly well physically, my psyche was suffering and I was getting at the beginnings of [[Overtraining Syndrome]]. At the time I did not understand Overtraining Syndrome, which I now believe should really be called "Training Induced Depression". These emotional changes had a severe impact on my family, and on January 16 I things came to a head. How bad was this time? So bad that it's only two years later that I can write about it. I instinctively knew that the training stress was at least part of the problem, so I reverted to training four days per week, and the main symptoms of Overtraining Syndrome abated over the next six weeks. Even now, it's unclear to me how much lingering long-term impact I have from this belt of overtraining syndrome.
 +
 
 +
=Evaluation =
 +
As you would expect, changing your training style for so long ceases to be an experiment, and becomes the normal. There are a number of advantages I found to running more frequently.
 +
* Running more frequently makes it easier to accumulate impressive weekly mileage totals. It's far easier to clock up 100 miles/week running 6 to 7 days, than it is when you're only running 4 days. In fact, running 100 miles/week was trivial and even running 120 seemed remarkably easy. I found 140 miles/week (5x22 + 2x16) to be relatively comfortable though time-consuming.
 +
* It easier to know what to eat when your daily calorie burn is similar each day.
 +
* Having the same routine every day is much simpler.
 +
* I lost weight while running every day, getting down to below 130 pounds (60 Kg).
 +
* I was surprised how much mileage my body could handle, and this provided quite a bit of confidence.
 +
There are also some downsides to running more frequently.
 +
* The risk of [[Overtraining Syndrome]] goes up with {{TrainingMonotony}}. For me, the personal cost of this was a high, and I would not willingly go back to that situation.
 +
* It takes a lot more hours per week to put in those extra miles. I got to the point where I didn't seem to do anything but sleep, work, and run.
 +
The big question is how my fitness changed with the greater running frequency. Overall, there was no improvement in my fitness with greater mileage and frequency, even though I was running about 50% more than other similar periods. I did have a good result in September (3 months into the experiment) at the [[2011 North Coast 24 Hour National Championships]], finishing second with 146 miles. However, by the end of the six-month experiment I felt like my fitness had gradually declined.
 +
 
 +
=Counter Perspective=
 +
Obviously an experiment of one cannot provide generalized results. More importantly, comparing the two extremes of 4 days/week and 6-7 days/week could miss a sweet spot in the middle.
 +
 
 +
=Lessons Learned=
 +
I feel that I learned two critical lessons from my experience.
 +
* The most important lesson is not around how frequently to run, but the importance of monitoring [[Mood State]]. The research I did into [[Overtraining Syndrome]] suggests that [[Mood State]] is one of the best indicators of how well an athlete is handling a given training load.
 +
* I also found as I researched [[Overtraining]] that {{TrainingMonotony}} is a key indicator of training effectiveness. I now monitor my training and make sure that my {{TrainingMonotony}} does not stay high for very long. I will intentionally tries it high as part of an overload period, But not as general training.
 +
The experience has confirmed my belief that rest is an underrated and critical aspect of training. Training harder but less frequently can produce greater results than simply grinding out miles.
 +
 
 +
=Training details=
 +
{| class="wikitable"
 +
! Date
 +
! Distance (mile)
 +
! Time
 +
! Avg. pace (min/mi)
 +
! Distance range (mile)
 +
! Num. activities
 +
! Notes
 +
|-
 +
| 7/4/2011
 +
| 118.01
 +
| 16:07:30
 +
| 8:12
 +
| 16.68 to 27.06
 +
| 5
 +
|
 
|-
 
|-
−
|Fri|| 26.2 miles||sub 3 hr
+
| 7/11/2011
 +
| 101.36
 +
| 13:06:32
 +
| 7:46
 +
| 15.95 to 20.61
 +
| 6
 +
|  
 
|-
 
|-
−
|Sat||32||The Sultan 50K, 6,000 ft ascent
+
| 7/18/2011
 +
| 122.95
 +
| 16:30:36
 +
| 8:03
 +
| 16.05 to 20.00
 +
| 7
 +
|  
 
|-
 
|-
−
|Sun|| rest
+
| 7/25/2011
 +
| 140.91
 +
| 19:29:12
 +
| 8:18
 +
| 20.01 to 20.26
 +
| 7
 +
|  
 
|-
 
|-
−
|Mon: ||30
+
| 8/1/2011
 +
| 80.46
 +
| 10:45:28
 +
| 8:01
 +
| 2.73 to 17.83
 +
| 6
 +
| Post migraine week
 
|-
 
|-
−
|Tue||30
+
| 8/8/2011
 +
| 151.07
 +
| 21:03:32
 +
| 8:22
 +
| 13.11 to 24.00
 +
| 7
 +
|  
 
|-
 
|-
−
|Wed||35
+
| 8/15/2011
 +
| 147.17
 +
| 19:15:33
 +
| 7:51
 +
| 10.19 to 24.22
 +
| 7
 +
|  
 
|-
 
|-
−
|Thur||36||Terminated by foot issues
+
| 8/22/2011
 +
| 185.6
 +
| 24:51:42
 +
| 8:02
 +
| 22.95 to 27.16
 +
| 7
 +
| Overload for [[Three Phase Taper]]
 +
|-
 +
| 8/29/2011
 +
| 112.78
 +
| 13:28:33
 +
| 7:10
 +
| 5.23 to 26.25
 +
| 7
 +
|
 +
|-
 +
| 9/5/2011
 +
| 62.15
 +
| 7:36:44
 +
| 7:21
 +
| 5.43 to 15.00
 +
| 7
 +
|
 +
|-
 +
| 9/12/2011
 +
| 164.18
 +
| 26:01:18
 +
| 9:31
 +
| 2.19 to 146.28
 +
| 5
 +
| [[2011 North Coast 24 Hour National Championships]]
 +
|-
 +
| 9/19/2011
 +
| 41.8
 +
| 5:52:18
 +
| 8:26
 +
| 6.35 to 16.15
 +
| 4
 +
| Post race recovery
 +
|-
 +
| 9/26/2011
 +
| 113.65
 +
| 15:19:34
 +
| 8:05
 +
| 11.82 to 18.35
 +
| 7
 +
|
 +
|-
 +
| 10/3/2011
 +
| 108.45
 +
| 14:09:54
 +
| 7:50
 +
| 14.04 to 21.32
 +
| 6
 +
|
 +
|-
 +
| 10/10/2011
 +
| 101.87
 +
| 13:43:00
 +
| 8:05
 +
| 13.14 to 20.40
 +
| 6
 +
|
 +
|-
 +
| 10/17/2011
 +
| 150.39
 +
| 19:49:24
 +
| 7:55
 +
| 17.67 to 26.17
 +
| 7
 +
|
 +
|-
 +
| 10/24/2011
 +
| 140.48
 +
| 18:10:16
 +
| 7:46
 +
| 16.31 to 22.02
 +
| 7
 +
|
 +
|-
 +
| 10/31/2011
 +
| 166.7
 +
| 23:14:46
 +
| 8:22
 +
| 21.15 to 25.12
 +
| 7
 +
|
 +
|-
 +
| 11/7/2011
 +
| 81.74
 +
| 9:37:49
 +
| 7:04
 +
| 3.10 to 35.44
 +
| 7
 +
| Paced 3:00 marathon group + 9 miles, then took some easy days
 +
|-
 +
| 11/14/2011
 +
| 119.93
 +
| 16:44:09
 +
| 8:22
 +
| 16.19 to 20.67
 +
| 7
 +
|
 +
|-
 +
| 11/21/2011
 +
| 140.1
 +
| 19:17:52
 +
| 8:16
 +
| 11.62 to 22.08
 +
| 7
 +
|
 +
|-
 +
| 11/28/2011
 +
| 89.07
 +
| 11:58:07
 +
| 8:04
 +
| 5.69 to 30.61
 +
| 5
 +
| Post migraine week
 +
|-
 +
| 12/5/2011
 +
| 105.04
 +
| 14:04:46
 +
| 8:03
 +
| 15.93 to 26.25
 +
| 5
 +
|
 +
|-
 +
| 12/12/2011
 +
| 123.59
 +
| 16:49:36
 +
| 8:10
 +
| 15.12 to 29.98
 +
| 6
 +
|
 +
|-
 +
| 12/19/2011
 +
| 119.59
 +
| 16:59:31
 +
| 8:32
 +
| 16.14 to 27.08
 +
| 6
 +
|
 +
|-
 +
| 12/26/2011
 +
| 102.68
 +
| 16:36:59
 +
| 9:43
 +
| 5.25 to 70.00
 +
| 5
 +
| Crash at Freedom Park 24 hour
 +
|-
 +
| 1/2/2012
 +
| 79.62
 +
| 11:00:54
 +
| 8:18
 +
| 4.02 to 16.17
 +
| 6
 +
|
 +
|-
 +
| 1/9/2012
 +
| 123.53
 +
| 17:45:40
 +
| 8:38
 +
| 3.14 to 21.11
 +
| 7
 +
|
 +
|-
 +
| Average
 +
| 117.7
 +
|
 +
| 8:10
 +
|
 +
| 6.3
 +
|  
 
|}
 
|}
  
−
Total mileage for the seven days was 189; I was hoping for 200. The fatigue built up after the faster run on the Friday, with each day becoming slightly slower. I used a run/walk pattern on Mon to Thurs, just like I do in most ultras.
+
Note that I normally suffer from 1-2 migraines/year, so the above incidents are not unusual.  
−
== The Lessons Learned ==
 
−
I learned a number of useful things from this
 
−
 
 
−
* It is possible to mimic some stages of a longer race by doing back to back runs. The 'flavor' is somewhat different, as there is no sleep deprivation, etc.
 
−
* I need to practice my walking. Walking is not just a break from running, but uses different [[Muscle|muscles]], so I will add in a walking day to my schedule.
 
−
* Walking in the Vibram FiveFingers has improved my walking style, and I could keep up a 13 min/mile pace without too much effort if I concentrated.
 
−
* Distractions burn time. I can walk at 13 min/mile, but if I'm adjusting clothing, eating, etc, my pace drops dramatically.
 
−
* My abs are weak and need more training. After some of the runs, my abs were so sore it hurt to cough, which is a bad sign. I do some core training, but not enough.
 
−
* My sore abs may be an indication of poor posture. Leaning slightly further forward relieved a lot of the problems, and I had no issues Wed or Thurs. I probably would not have discovered this unless my abs were so sore.
 
−
* Even though the temperatures were not warm (high in the 60s), I need to do some heat adaptation training. The rise in temperature slowed me down more than it should have.
 
−
* The Thursday run was terminated by swelling in the tendons of the left foot, which also terminated the experiment. I have had this problem before, and I know it is because of the different stresses when walking.
 
−
* After the final run, I found my left ITB to be very painful. I had no problems when running, but the issue must have been building up without me noticing. It is possible that the pain in my foot, which was quite intense for the last 20 miles of the Thurs run, masked the pain in my ITB.
 
−
* The day after the final run, my foot was fine, though a little swollen. The ITB was much more of a problem and I treated it with lots of TLC.
 
−
* I was able to run 17 miles on the following Saturday without any issues. The ITB is markedly swollen, but not causing any problems.
 
−
* Doing a multi-day event would be tough. For a 'go as you please race', I suspect the key will be to go slowly, with plenty of breaks. For a stage race, the key will be to manage day to day fatigue. For both styles, the ability to rebuild, refuel and repair will be critical. The extra running suppressed my appetite, and for a race I would probably need to resort to more appealing and energy dense foods (ice cream, cake, etc., rather than salads).
 
−
* Audio books can be great, but I'm much slower with them. I listened to five hours of 'Enders Game', which was great, but when I switched to music, my pace improved significantly.
 
−
== Conclusion ==
 
−
This was a stupid thing to do, but not 'unusually stupid'. I very much doubt if I will get any physical benefits from this training, and I missed out on any quality work that I would have done. On the other hand, I'm a little wise, I had fun and I think I avoided any permanent damage. I also know to practice my walking, strengthen my abs and do some heat adaptation.
 
  
−
To find out how the elites get on with high mileage, have a read of [http://trainingscience.net/?page_id=604 An Interesting Analysis of Some Elites’ Training History, Weekly Mileage, and Performance]
+
=Other athletes high mileage experiments=
 +
If you are interested in how other athletes have said when they increase their mileage I can highly recommend "[http://trainingscience.net/?page_id=604 An Interesting Analysis of Some Elites' Training History]". The article concludes "''The range of weekly mileage producing optimal performance by elites was 74 – 124 miles per week and some of the fastest performances ever recorded have been accomplished by elites running quite a bit less than 100 mpw. The data also support the belief that training at a too high training load results in a sub-optimal performance and may even permanently impair physical capacity.''"

Revision as of 15:41, 8 October 2013

For six months I experimented with running 6-7 days/week instead of my usual 4 days/week. During that time I ran over 3,000 miles, averaging 118 miles/week and peaking at 186 miles/week. I terminated the experiment when I started to suffer from Overtraining Syndrome.

1 Background

I started running four days per week in August 2009, and I've become a big believer in this style of training. However, I think it's important to try out ideas that conflict with our beliefs. To test out the idea that fewer days per week of running is more effective, I embarked on an experiment in July 2011 of running 6-7 days per week, and I kept it up for six months. During this time I was committed to the idea of running more frequently and I did not have a fixed duration in mind.

2 Training Summary

While my training pattern varied somewhat, I typically did six long runs per week in the range 16-23 miles. Sometimes I took one day off per week, and sometimes it was a shorter run. For a few of the weeks I would run the same distance all seven days. This period includes one week of 185 miles as the overload week for a Three Phase Taper, and a 118 mile week when I averaged 7:10 pace, which is quick for me. If you exclude the taper/recovery/illness weeks, the average jumps to 128 miles/week. (The only illnesses I suffered during this period were migraines, which impaired my running for about a week each time.) You can see a more detailed breakdown of my training at the bottom of the page.

3 Overtraining and Termination

I converted back to running four days per week in January 2012. While I was doing surprisingly well physically, my psyche was suffering and I was getting at the beginnings of Overtraining Syndrome. At the time I did not understand Overtraining Syndrome, which I now believe should really be called "Training Induced Depression". These emotional changes had a severe impact on my family, and on January 16 I things came to a head. How bad was this time? So bad that it's only two years later that I can write about it. I instinctively knew that the training stress was at least part of the problem, so I reverted to training four days per week, and the main symptoms of Overtraining Syndrome abated over the next six weeks. Even now, it's unclear to me how much lingering long-term impact I have from this belt of overtraining syndrome.

4 Evaluation

As you would expect, changing your training style for so long ceases to be an experiment, and becomes the normal. There are a number of advantages I found to running more frequently.

  • Running more frequently makes it easier to accumulate impressive weekly mileage totals. It's far easier to clock up 100 miles/week running 6 to 7 days, than it is when you're only running 4 days. In fact, running 100 miles/week was trivial and even running 120 seemed remarkably easy. I found 140 miles/week (5x22 + 2x16) to be relatively comfortable though time-consuming.
  • It easier to know what to eat when your daily calorie burn is similar each day.
  • Having the same routine every day is much simpler.
  • I lost weight while running every day, getting down to below 130 pounds (60 Kg).
  • I was surprised how much mileage my body could handle, and this provided quite a bit of confidence.

There are also some downsides to running more frequently.

  • The risk of Overtraining Syndrome goes up with Training Monotony. For me, the personal cost of this was a high, and I would not willingly go back to that situation.
  • It takes a lot more hours per week to put in those extra miles. I got to the point where I didn't seem to do anything but sleep, work, and run.

The big question is how my fitness changed with the greater running frequency. Overall, there was no improvement in my fitness with greater mileage and frequency, even though I was running about 50% more than other similar periods. I did have a good result in September (3 months into the experiment) at the 2011 North Coast 24 Hour National Championships, finishing second with 146 miles. However, by the end of the six-month experiment I felt like my fitness had gradually declined.

5 Counter Perspective

Obviously an experiment of one cannot provide generalized results. More importantly, comparing the two extremes of 4 days/week and 6-7 days/week could miss a sweet spot in the middle.

6 Lessons Learned

I feel that I learned two critical lessons from my experience.

  • The most important lesson is not around how frequently to run, but the importance of monitoring Mood State. The research I did into Overtraining Syndrome suggests that Mood State is one of the best indicators of how well an athlete is handling a given training load.
  • I also found as I researched Overtraining that Training Monotony is a key indicator of training effectiveness. I now monitor my training and make sure that my Training Monotony does not stay high for very long. I will intentionally tries it high as part of an overload period, But not as general training.

The experience has confirmed my belief that rest is an underrated and critical aspect of training. Training harder but less frequently can produce greater results than simply grinding out miles.

7 Training details

Date Distance (mile) Time Avg. pace (min/mi) Distance range (mile) Num. activities Notes
7/4/2011 118.01 16:07:30 8:12 16.68 to 27.06 5
7/11/2011 101.36 13:06:32 7:46 15.95 to 20.61 6
7/18/2011 122.95 16:30:36 8:03 16.05 to 20.00 7
7/25/2011 140.91 19:29:12 8:18 20.01 to 20.26 7
8/1/2011 80.46 10:45:28 8:01 2.73 to 17.83 6 Post migraine week
8/8/2011 151.07 21:03:32 8:22 13.11 to 24.00 7
8/15/2011 147.17 19:15:33 7:51 10.19 to 24.22 7
8/22/2011 185.6 24:51:42 8:02 22.95 to 27.16 7 Overload for Three Phase Taper
8/29/2011 112.78 13:28:33 7:10 5.23 to 26.25 7
9/5/2011 62.15 7:36:44 7:21 5.43 to 15.00 7
9/12/2011 164.18 26:01:18 9:31 2.19 to 146.28 5 2011 North Coast 24 Hour National Championships
9/19/2011 41.8 5:52:18 8:26 6.35 to 16.15 4 Post race recovery
9/26/2011 113.65 15:19:34 8:05 11.82 to 18.35 7
10/3/2011 108.45 14:09:54 7:50 14.04 to 21.32 6
10/10/2011 101.87 13:43:00 8:05 13.14 to 20.40 6
10/17/2011 150.39 19:49:24 7:55 17.67 to 26.17 7
10/24/2011 140.48 18:10:16 7:46 16.31 to 22.02 7
10/31/2011 166.7 23:14:46 8:22 21.15 to 25.12 7
11/7/2011 81.74 9:37:49 7:04 3.10 to 35.44 7 Paced 3:00 marathon group + 9 miles, then took some easy days
11/14/2011 119.93 16:44:09 8:22 16.19 to 20.67 7
11/21/2011 140.1 19:17:52 8:16 11.62 to 22.08 7
11/28/2011 89.07 11:58:07 8:04 5.69 to 30.61 5 Post migraine week
12/5/2011 105.04 14:04:46 8:03 15.93 to 26.25 5
12/12/2011 123.59 16:49:36 8:10 15.12 to 29.98 6
12/19/2011 119.59 16:59:31 8:32 16.14 to 27.08 6
12/26/2011 102.68 16:36:59 9:43 5.25 to 70.00 5 Crash at Freedom Park 24 hour
1/2/2012 79.62 11:00:54 8:18 4.02 to 16.17 6
1/9/2012 123.53 17:45:40 8:38 3.14 to 21.11 7
Average 117.7 8:10 6.3

Note that I normally suffer from 1-2 migraines/year, so the above incidents are not unusual.

8 Other athletes high mileage experiments

If you are interested in how other athletes have said when they increase their mileage I can highly recommend "An Interesting Analysis of Some Elites' Training History". The article concludes "The range of weekly mileage producing optimal performance by elites was 74 – 124 miles per week and some of the fastest performances ever recorded have been accomplished by elites running quite a bit less than 100 mpw. The data also support the belief that training at a too high training load results in a sub-optimal performance and may even permanently impair physical capacity."

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