That was my finish time at this year’s New York City Marathon. It was also—to the second—my finish time in the same race last year. Putting aside the wildness of that (but what does it mean?) I learned a few lessons as I cruised through the five boroughs for the seventh time.
Specifically, although I ran the exact same time, my splits looked quite different. I ran the latter miles faster and they felt easier this year. And that comes down to one key training adjustment I made: adding more overall mileage to my week.
Here’s how and why I maximized my volume during this training cycle, and how it paid off in my strongest finish yet (even if not a PR). I ran the London Marathon in April, and both New York and Sydney last year, using an artificial intelligence training app. I programmed in that I wanted to run three days a week so I could continue to strength train two to three days a week as well.
Plus, I walk quite a bit as someone who lives in New York City (around four to five miles a day on top of any running). But then I reported on a series of articles about durability for Runner’s World and I started thinking more about total weekly mileage and how much I had (or had not) been doing. Turns out, I peaked around 30 to 35 miles for all three of those marathons.
It made me realize there was room for growth. When I got the opportunity to run New York again this year, I figured out how high I could go mileage-wise without upping my risk for injury. I started by talking to Andrew Kastor, head coach of the Asics Mammoth Track Club.
Before our call, I sent him the training plan I planned to follow for this upcoming training cycle: the Runner’s World Break Four Hours plan. (I also intended to continue strength training twice a week.) The peak week mileage for that plan: 48 miles, with at least four days a week of running. This may not seem like a ton to people who swear by super high mileage, but it is a steep increase relative to my previous builds. This plan also leverages mileage ranges, rather than firm numbers, allowing me to further customize it.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
