About a 13 years ago when I decided to run my first half-marathon, and cross off that bucket-list item (I know, classic right?) I bumped into an acquaintance who was running crazy fast half-marathon times at that point. Like sub 1:45 HMs, which were from another world comparing from my hope-full 2:15-2:20 finish time. And then he told me what his mileage looked like.
I was in shock that he was able to churn out 40-50km each week, throughout the year. My understanding was that you take a month of “training” before the race, try to survive and then bask in the glory of your success, which was not dying in the process.
Two years ago when COVID hit, I’ve remembered our talk and started looking into training plans and experiences from other people out there. It seemed that big mileage = big payoff. I started building to a point where I did 50km/week, 60km weeks, till I reached a point where 80km felt like a just another week. Then followed the Pfitz 18/70 plan which kicked my ass, but boy did I enjoy it. Peaking with two weeks in high 120s was definitely a confidence booster.
Mileage is king and I am a strong believer in it. Today I’m starting my base building phase. The hope is that the following weeks look something like this:
30km/40km/50km/50km/65km/65km/80km
So this is 80km or 50 miles by new years. Fingers crossed!
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