Overtraining....Going too fast...Other?
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PrairieRunner2015
Posts: 126 Member
My training has been going great, that is until I hit the 16 mile long run. This is my first marathon training cycle and I just didn't know if the feeling of suckiness and just dead legs for the rest of the week is normal or if I may be overdoing it somewhere. I ran a Half Marathon this past April in 1:57:xx. I run my long runs (most runs actually) around a 9:38-9:44 min/mile. I had been running 10 miles on Tuesday, 12 Wednesday, 10 Thursday, 4-8 Saturday, and my long runs on Sunday(I have cut the midweek runs by a couple of miles each since hitting 16 miles for my long run.). My planned marathon isn't until mid October, so I was also thinking if I should run fewer 20 milers than the plan calls for, and run another 18 miler instead?
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I'm on my first marathon training cycle too, and holy crap! Those midweek runs seem really long! You might have just had an off day with the 16 miler and your form broke down, etc. which made you more sore than normal. But looking at those long midweek runs, that might be contributing to some over-training. What kind of mileage/schedule did you maintain while training for a half?
I'm not on a super-fast-track marathon training or anything, but I do a long run on Sunday (12-16 miles, doing 18 miles next weekend), then I usually rest Monday, then I do 4 miles Tuesday, 7-8 on Wednesday, 4 miles on Thursday, then I do a couple miles Friday and Saturday to keep things limber before the long run. I'm on an "advanced novice" plan, so you might be on a more intermediate/advance track, but for a first marathon, 50+ miles a week seems like a lot, but that might just be my own personal abilities talking
Edit: RE: 20 milers: I am running my marathon in mid-Oct as well, and I've got 2 20s on the schedule, but one will probably be 22; I just can't stand to leave 6.2 miles hanging out there. But alterations to your plan just depends on your personal preference and how long a distance you want to be prepared for mentally ahead of time.0 -
Are you following a plan and if so what is it? That mid week mileage seems very high. I wouldn't drop any of the 20 milers, those are important. But I would sloooow down your long run and cut back the mid-longs during the week. Cut the 12 miles on Wednesday down to 5 and do it at a recovery pace and that should help.0
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I was also thinking that your mid week runs seem long, what mileage were you runnig before you increased for marathon training? I was at 35ish in the off season and I am up to 50 mpw now with the hopes of topping off at 65-70 but it seems early in the cycle to be at such high mileage for a first time around? but maybe you had high mileage before so it could all be relative.
If its not the mileage increase, it might just be that fatigue of the first really really long run...but I feel like the mid week mileage might really be the issue.0 -
Could be many factors. The above posters made some valid points. Also, how fast are you building the weekly milage? If you are adding more than 2 miles a week or increasing weekly milage by more than 10-15%, then that could be it. Are you giving yourself enough rest? Either complete rest days or active recovery days? What about nutrition? Getting enough protein and good carbs in to recover muscle and glycogen stores?
Also, when I increase my long run milage, I make sure that the week before I have backed off on my long run a little bit. So say I ran a 16 miler long run this week. next week I may run a 10 or 13 mile long run, then maybe try 18 the following week. Also, I repeat distances for my long run at least twice. So I will do something like 16, 10, 16, 13, 18, 13, 18...
Pace on your long runs should not be that important if you are doing that distance for the first time. Another reason I like to repeat my miles before increasing.0 -
Excellent advice here. I'm not going to add, just encourage you to listen to them. They know what they are talking about.0
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How many 20 milers do you have planned ? I ran 2 and a 30K race and that was enough for me.
Your long run paces sounds a bit fast? I was running around that with a 1:45 half...
And like others said, your weekly mileage sounds very high (but it's all relative again). I know I couldn't manage that.
But you will get fatigue and soreness, that's for sure. Also, when I got into 14+ miles longs runs I always found that the next long run felt harder, then the week after it was better. Like there was some kind of suckiness delay?!? And recovery also got better with time; by the end, I wasn't limping around all day barely able to walk after a 16 miler like I was after the first time I did it.0 -
Meh reduced some of those 10-12 to 6-10. You'll feel better. Sometimes long runs suck. Actually they always do0
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Your schedule hurts my body just reading it! Scale back those midweek runs and give yourself a chance to recover but still have some healthy fatigue. Your pace sounds about right to me though.0
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lots of good advice listed. Listen to them. I did my long runs of Saturday (my day off). I do 35/40 on a average week and up to 50/55 when closer to the race. Don't push any harder than your body will allow. Good Luck! There is nothing like the feeling of finishing our first marathon0
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I am following a modified plan, and I honestly can't recall where/whose it is. The original plan calls for 6, 8, 6 for mid week runs, and I am going to go ahead and go with that. I changed the mileage to 10,12,10 based on advice from others. I think the advice was given to try to help, but is a little ambitious (Many have said this, and I agree.). My plan calls for one run of 20, one run of 20-21, and one run of 20-22. I ran 18 this past Sunday, and it was tough but I got it done (Legs cramped up pretty bad afterwards, but it's better now.) (I left my stingers at home and was really missing them at the 2:20:00 mark.).
My peak mileage for the half was a 34 mile week, and I averaged ~24-26 miles for the duration of the training for it. I averaged 36 MPW for the 4 weeks following the half (prior to starting training for the full.). I felt great during all of the training for the half, and the 1:57:xx wasn't an all out effort either.0 -
Wow, your long run pace sounds brisk given your HM finish? Check a training pace calculator on Runners World or Galloway site, they will likely advise something 1-2 min slower than your current long run pace. Of course, those calculators assume that your HM was a "race effort".
Maybe try running a "magic mile" or a shorter race such as 5k at all-out effort? Then use your 1mi / 5k time in the training pace calculator. I usually try to track at least 3 "magic miles" throughout my training season in order to ensure I'm training at the right pace.
Dead legs for several days are not good - goal of long runs is to run SLOW so that you recover quickly. Hopefully that is a one-off for you. If it repeats after long runs, try slowing down pace.
Other thoughts - nutrition during your run? Especially if you're training on the faster end of recommended range.
Good luck on your first marathon!0
