Step down or easy weeks--necessary?

[ericjoe]

Hey guys. I was just wondering what everyone's take is on running step down or easy weeks. I know Higdon's plans do that and Smart Coach does as well. The plan I have now has a step down week every 4 weeks. Basically it gives you a break from a long run that week. I am trying to weigh the pros and cons of cutting back mileage every 4th week.

Thanks

[frojoe23]

That is the plan that has always worked for me. Build for 3 weeks and cut back on the fourth one before doing it all again. However, I don't like to cut way down.

If my 3 week buildup has been 80, 85, 90 - I'll typically cut down the fourth week to 75 or 80 miles. I simply take anywhere from 2-5 miles off the long run, and take a mile off of alternating runs during the week.

So if week three was days of 20, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, then my cutdown week would look like: 17, 10, 9, 10, 9, 10, 10

[ericjoe]

Thats what I wanted to know. The plan I am using now has me cutting my long run by about 50% on the 4th week. Thanks!

[frojoe23]

I think that the long run should remain at a moderate level - after all you are running a marathon. Your goal is to run far, so why cut that run by so much?

Cutting the long run will not really save those legs. Keeping it at a high level will get you one more long run effort, but then cutting the mileage the rest of the week will allow you to recover and come into the next week's long run ready to go!

[ericjoe]

Thanks. Thats the direction I was leaning. The other thing I am looking to change from my training plan is to run 5 days per week instead of 4 and get my miles up from 40-50/week to 50-60/week. This summer/fall I only ran 30-35 miles per week but I ran 5 times a week and I felt great. Even with the increased mileage, I think I can handle 5 days no problem.

[kevinspradlin]

Glad your training is going well, Eric. Just be sure to keep your mileage increase a gradual one. I'm sure you already know that ....

And from an "ordinary" (a non-Jaron type guy), I also back off during the 4th week by cutting back on the distance and intensity of every run that week. I cut back the least, however, on my long run.

[Justin]

This subject is always interesting to me. I never personally was a fan of scheduled "rest" weeks. For me it's always just so hard to plan ahead with how I will feel. I've had times when it seemed like my body was absorbing everything I threw at it, so a rest week wouldn't make sense. I'd get more out of it if I kept on pushing. There have been other times though where I really needed a rest which wasn't scheduled. It's interesting to me to hear what others do. If the regularly scheduled down weeks works, then keep doing it.

[ericjoe]

I appreciate all the feedback from everyone. The thing with me is I have a ran 3 marathons, but that being said I had no idea what I was doing. (I followed Higdon for the 1st 2 and Smart coach for the 3rd one). Since I have now had a steady year of running and I know my body a little better, I feel like I can benefit from a step down or easy week, but I feel the modified Smart Coach I am using cuts back miles too much on those weeks. Example:

The weeks leading up were 31, 34, 36 and the easy week is 30. Weekly mileage is not off by much but the long runs are:

12, 14, 16, and the easy long run is 8.

I was thinking more like 12 for the easy LR and maybe shaving a mile or 2 during the week.

The other thing I am struggling with is that I have seen a couple "schools of thought" that say to run a 3:30 race, I should be doing at least 55-60 miles week. My current plan peaks out at 54 and most weeks are low to mid 40s. I think I can probably increase my weekly mileage (carefully) and get the miles higher.

[Justin]

In my opinion higher mileage will help you a lot, but I wouldn't freak out over 5 miles a week. From my experience marathons can be run well with moderate mileage as long as you're getting a good amount of race paced running in along with solid long runs.

I truly believe runners are too concerned with minor details of training and forget to follow sound principles.

[kevinspradlin]

<i>The weeks leading up were 31, 34, 36 and the easy week is 30. Weekly mileage is not off by much but the long runs are:
12, 14, 16, and the easy long run is 8.
I was thinking more like 12 for the easy LR</i>

I agree with Justin on this one (I hope I'm not misreading his comment). I wouldn't worry over 5 miles a week, either. But your last post, Eric, on dropping your long run down to 8 miles a week ... that raises a bit of an orange, if not red, flag with me. Your goal is 26.2 miles, not half that. 8 seems real short, even on an "off" week.

The long run, I believe, is part of those sound principles talked of. You're training to run long. Then you're training to run fast. Your primary goal is to cover 26.2 miles no matter how fast you go.

Just my thoughts. but I've learned there are many approaches to training, and many of them are successful. Finding what works for you is key.

[frojoe23]

While higher mileage helps, it forces you to cut out other things that may be highly beneficial to your training. For example, I do a ton of miles, but no speedwork.

Justin hit the nail on the head here - there area thousand ways to "cook the goose", but high mileage doesn't have to be a part of it, if you are hitting a lot of marathon simulation stuff like tempos and some quick long runs.

[ericjoe]

I do include tempo and speed work in my training so maybe that will help offset the weekyl total miles.