Does high mileage benefit or harm the endurance runner? High mileage without proper progression can lead to overtraining and exponentially increase the risk of injury. Hence the need to alternate high-volume workouts with others where intensity is the priority.
We turn to the expert advice of our Sports Director, Iker Muñoz, who will give us some key guidelines when it comes to increasing the volume of work. More kilometers: more workouts or more kilometers per workout? When, how much and how should the endurance runner increase mileage toavoid a decrease in performance? The answers to these questions and many others follow!
Exposure to a high volume of work without proper progression, or without proper alternation between work and recovery, can lead toovertraining, overloading, injury, etc.
Can high mileage cause a decrease in performance in endurance runners?
A high mileage associated with an exponential increase (in a short time) can cause unwanted fatigue, lack of recovery and increase the risk of injury. If the increase in volume (kilometers) is progressive, is marked in the plan and responds to a concrete objective/s, it should not have any negative effect.
Sometimes it is thought that doing a high volume of kilometers slows us down, this may be partially true. If I do a lot of kilometers at low speed, it is normal that I become slower, due to a lack of stimulus. That is why, even when preparing for a marathon, speed work is always important.
How can a high volume of mileage benefit or harm us?
Being able to perform a high volume of kilometers will help us to generate and maintain important adaptations such as using fat as the main energy substrate (at low and moderate intensities), promoting mitochondrial biogenesis, and a long etcetera.
On the other hand, exposure to a high volume of work without an adequate progression , or without a correct alternation between work and recovery, can cause us to suffer overtraining, overloads, injuries, etc.
Running more kilometers: more workouts or more kilometers per workout?
This will depend on the availability of each person. Popular runners train what we can and when we can, so increasing the number of weekly sessions is sometimes almost science fiction. It would be very interesting to double the number of sessions one day a week, but it is not common.
It is necessary that there is an alternation between workouts with a high volume of work and others where the intensity prevails. It is not advisable to do 4 training sessions of 7 km approx. during the week and on the weekend to fill up with kilometers, both on Saturday and Sunday.
When, how much and how should the endurance runner increase mileage to avoid a decrease in performance?
Regarding the when, it will depend on the planning of the main race and the periodization of the training that is done (if it is done). There are different proposals, more volume at the beginning of the preparation, others that advocate a higher volume close to the competition and others where it is defended that this variable does not fluctuate much between weeks. There is no concrete answer.
- How much will depend on what we have been doing up to that point. All recommendations point to a progressive increase in volume, a weekly increase of 10% could be an adequate strategy.
- The how is more difficult to answer since there is no magic measure. It can be distributed in intensity workouts and/or longer runs, it all depends on the goal we set ourselves.
Can opting for individualized training be the key to avoiding a decrease in a runner's performance?
A training supervised by a professional and individualized will always be the key to achieve the objectives in an adequate and safe way. Letting ourselves be guided by a professional will allow us to advance in our sports goals without a doubt.
How to avoid, in these cases, overtraining? Where is the limit?
Overtraining is difficult to detect even in elite athletes. Therefore, in popular athletes who have less control it is even more difficult. However, being advised by a professional will be one of the key aspects to avoid this syndrome. Unfortunately, there is no way to know where the limit is or to determine how much is too much or how much is too little.
Depending on the objective, the number of kilometers will vary. Is there a common rule for different race distances?
There is no golden rule, we all know someone who trains little and runs a lot. However, for certain races such as the marathon, 4 days a week of training, with a maximum run of 30-32 km in the weeks leading up to the race seems to be the minimum to be expected to finish this race.
For shorter distances, a minimum of three days will be necessary. As for the weekly volume, it is somewhat more difficult to determine. 5 hours of work per week could be a good starting point to ensure progression and to prepare with certain guarantees for distances shorter than 42.195km.
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