Failed Fit: A 60 Mile Week

By Jess in Minneapolis

Another weekend has come and gone. I hope you all had a good one!

This week was the biggest week for training for the Berlin marathon. Now it's time for the glorious taper. (I posted some tips for tapering HERE- check them out!). 

Chicago, Twin Cities, Portland, San Francisco, Milwaukee marathons...I have friends or family running all of these marathons, and they still have a week or two before the taper. But Berlin is only three weeks away, so it's taper time for Dustin and me. Here we come Berlin!

When training for the Newport Marathon I hit my first ever sixty mile week. It was a goal I had in mind the whole training season, and I was very proud of myself for accomplishing it. I know that sixty miles may not seem like that much to a lot of runners. In fact, in my interview with elite runner Jenna Boren (you can read that HERE) she said she runs at least ninety miles a week in the off-season! Even a lot "average" runners train 60, 70, maybe 80 miles a week regularly.

However, over the course of my past fourteen marathons, Newport was the first time I had reached sixty miles in a week.  So of course, I wanted to do it again this training season!

Did I accomplish that goal?  Well, here's how the week ended up in fitness:

Monday: 
10.5 miles hill workout with a few awesome rogue runners. A few of us wanted to get Tuesday's hill workout done on Labor Day, since we knew work could be busy on Tuesday, (darn those "real" jobs...). We met at the Calhoun Beach club at 8 am, and did the normal hill routine. It turned out to be a cool morning, and it was probably the best I have felt during a hill workout. We did seven hill repeats, and my splits were pretty consistent throughout. (More details on that hill workout HERE)
Tuesday:
Nearly 8 miles with Kelly in the morning
Wednesday:
Nearly 8 miles with Abby & Kelly in the morning
Thursday:
The Mumford & Sons concert on Wednesday night meant that I could not get out of bed before work to run, and then, unfortunately, I was stuck at work until pretty late. Yet I was determined to get in my 8 miles with 25 minutes at tempo pace. I had brought my running clothes to work, and got out of there as quickly as I could and hit the pavement. Unfortunately, my legs just weren't cooperating with tempo pace...it turned out to be more like half marathon pace.
Friday:
Complete Rest
Saturday:
Almost 23 miles for the long run, and probably the worst long run this season (more on that to come)
Sunday:
Very easy 4 mile run with Matilda

Total: Nearly 62 miles, 1 rest day...no cross-training at all.

So, yes, I did hit my 60 mile goal, but at what expense? I didn't do any cross training, and I feel like several of my runs were compromised. In fact, Saturday's long run was really hard for me.

Here's the scenario: Most of the group at the Calhoun Beach Running Club only had 20 miles on the schedule, so I had to add a few miles ahead of time. I ran a lap of Lake Calhoun (3 miles) around 6:45 am, so I could meet the group at 7:15 as they headed out the door for the regular run.

I knew right away on that first lap of Calhoun that it was not my day. I was already sweating like crazy, and just felt out of breath, even though my Garmin was telling me that I was only going 10 min/miles.

(My Garmin)

When I joined the rest of the group, I just couldn't find my groove. I have usually been averaging at least 9 min/miles on the long runs, but I very quickly decided to hold back and stick with a group of three girls who were running around 10 min/miles. I was so glad that they were there to run with, yet even that pace felt really rough. It was just so humid and hot. I couldn't cool down my core body temperature, and I couldn't drink enough water to feel not feel thirsty.

I dug in though, and did my best to at least finish "running." I didn't give up. On the final stretch, the other girls went a different direction around a lake to get to their 20 miles, and I took the short side of the lake to hopefully be closer to my planned 22 miles. However, as my Garmin beeped to mark 22 miles, I realized I still had quite a bit to go. I kept going for at least 1/2 mile more, before just walking it in to my car.  I felt so terrible- dehydrated and just beat up. Yes, I had completed the run, and was happy for that, but I was spent.

What happened?
Was it just the weather? I don't know. I hope it was just the weather, as the rest of my training has been going pretty well. If its just the weather, than I shouldn't have to worry too much, as I don't think Berlin will be that hot and humid (hopefully!). But I did run the Marathon to Marathon in Iowa in 2012, which was very hot, and I didn't feel nearly as rough as I did on Saturday.

Finishing at the Marathon to Marathon in Marathon, Iowa

Was it the high mileage week? Maybe....It was a busy week at work and in my personal life as well. Most days, we were working like crazy all day, and ended up staying at the office late quite a few nights. Dustin and I also went to Mumford and Sons on Wednesday at the Xcel (It was awesome!) which ended up as a late night, though definitely worth it.

Mumford and Sons

All in all, it was just a crazy busy week, between work, running, and life. I think my body was just really tired, and maybe this just wasn't the right week to shoot for that elusive sixty mile goal.

I'm taking today as a rest day from running, with just a Hot Power Fusion class at Corepower Yoga this morning to stretch out. Let me tell you, that pigeon pose felt AMAZING this morning. My body is definitely ready to scale back now in the taper.

Will I run 60 miles in a week again for the next marathon? A few of my current running friends say that its all quality over quantity. They say it's not so important that you hit the high mileage, but rather that you are rested and able to push it hard for each run that you do. Less is more. Run Less, Run Faster!

Another friend of mine, who regularly runs 3:05 marathons told me that the only way to get faster is more mileage. She said it's all about the high mileage to build endurance. Other runners have said the same- up the mileage for results.

Who is right??

I'm still undecided if high mileage is the way for me. I felt a lot better after Newport's 60 mile week than this time around, so maybe it was other factors that made this time so challenging. I definitely know that I need a break now. Taper time!

What do you think? Quality over quantity? Or high mileage all the way?

THIS recent article from Runner's World about overtraining definitely plays into this discussion.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments! What mileage is "overtraining" for you?