Benefits of adding mileage?

wabmester
wabmester Posts: 2,748 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I've been running for about 6 months now. I run about 5 days/week, 5K per day. Sometimes I'll run 8K or so, but 5K feels good, my strength and speed are still improving, and I'm injury-free.

While I'm happy with my current mileage (and especially my injury-free status), I'm curious about those who run marathons and half-marathons.

For those of you who run higher mileage, what benefits do you see?

Replies

  • Glossberg
    Glossberg Posts: 40 Member
    I'm not a marathon runner, but my runs range anywhere from 4.5 to 7 miles. A few months ago I ranged in the 2-3.5 miles. Personally for me I'm actually sleeping better and naturally burning more calories. Since I'm in the maintenance phase of my "health cycle" for lack of better terms, it means I can eat more to maintain weight. I'm not going to lie, I like eating and having the extra flexibility. :)
  • kristinegift
    kristinegift Posts: 2,406 Member
    edited July 2015
    I've been training for marathons since last April, and since tacking on more mileage (and doing some core work!) I've noticed these benefits:

    a) running faster, generally
    b) or: faster paces feel easier
    c) better mental toughness when it comes to longer distances
    d) I can eat basically anything I want
    e) when I run ~20-25 miles a week or less, I have more aches and pains than when I run 30-40 miles a week; we'll see if that holds up as I progress onto 45 and 50+ mile weeks this summer
    f) longer runs means more sight-seeing... you never know what you'll notice on a 1, 2, or 3 hour trek!

    The most important thing is to add mileage slowly and safely. Take most of your runs easy while you're building a bigger base, and once you're at a level you're happy with, then you can add more challenging runs like speedwork.
  • Charliegottheruns
    Charliegottheruns Posts: 287 Member
    Stronger and more efficient heart
    Enhanced cardiac output
    Lower resting heart rate
    Lower heart rate at any given level of work
    More efficient breathing
    Stronger respiratory muscles
    Increase in lean body mass
    Increase in metabolic rate
    Reduced atrial blood pressure
    Increase in day to day awesomeness
  • wabmester
    wabmester Posts: 2,748 Member
    Great responses. The idea of structural changes in the heart sent me to PubMed:
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1767992/

    ... it takes more than three hours of exercise per week to observe changes in heart rate, aerobic power, and left ventricular mass.

    I'm running about 2.5 hours/week now. Just under the threshold for developing an athlete's heart....

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