30-40 miles, another update

30-40, 35-40, somewhere between 30 and 40 miles for a 7-day moving average is, for me, the threshold beyond which running becomes, once again, familiar and easy. All the body parts seem to become readjusted to each other and to smoothly fit together. There are two data points so far, one from a layoff due to an injury shortly before a marathon in 2018 and the other from the two-year hiatus in racing due to COVID-19 (2020-21).

Now, there is a third data point, though not, so far, of the change in body response to running after exceeding 30-40 miles per week, but of the body response to very little running. Currently, I’m in the last week of a 12-week Boulder Outdoor Survival School (BOSS)-specific hiking training for the upcoming 28-Day course. During these weeks, I’ve also been running, but in support of the BOSS training. Running volume has been much lower, around 10-15 miles a week, compared with my usual marathon training volume of 40-60 miles a week.

At 10-15 miles a week, a 4-6-mile easy run no longer feels entirely “easy.” This is despite the fact that, physically, I’m probably as fit as when I’m in marathon training. Here’s a summary of my 12-week BOSS training:

There are two main groups of workouts: (1) Elevation workouts (inclined treadmill, stair stepper, step-ups, and stairs) and (2) road and trail hikes totaling almost 90 miles. All workouts were done with a backpack (modern and blanket) of increasing weights, with total elevation gain of more than 60,000 ft.

But, after three months of basically no real running, the specific parts of the body used for running have basically been out on vacation. That is because the usage of muscles etc. is different between running and hiking. The human body is fascinatingly smart! So quickly does it adapt to training for specific needs.

As a result, after this BOSS course, it’ll take a while to get back above that threshold of familiarity and ease and back to running shape, in order to be able to target the next marathon. But, on the positive side, this is yet another indication that, yes, it’s still mostly a matter of training!