How often do you run?
RunnerGirl238
Posts: 448 Member
I was usually a 3 to 4 day a week runner, but Inwoukd like to jncrease my mileage. How many days a week do you run? What do your runs look like?
I currently do my long run on Saturday, a recovery run on Sunday, speed work on Tuesday and tempo on Thursday. I do resistance other days. I'd like to add another day, Wednesday....any suggestions for tweaks?
I am currently training for a couple halfs.
I currently do my long run on Saturday, a recovery run on Sunday, speed work on Tuesday and tempo on Thursday. I do resistance other days. I'd like to add another day, Wednesday....any suggestions for tweaks?
I am currently training for a couple halfs.
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Replies
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4 x a week training for a half in May
Monday easy & strength training
Tuesday rest
Wednesday speed work
Thursday easy & strength training
Friday rest/ cross training
Saturday long run
Sunday cross training.
Friday is usually just a bit of walking or short bike session, Sunday is supposed to be 60 minutes of cross training.
Long run mileage gets up to 15 miles as I'm doing a full in October and need to get my weekly mileage up.0 -
@TavistockToad do you find that works well? I'm struggling to think up a way to lay out my days when I go back to 4 days per week because I didn't like running 3 consecutive days, but am wary of not having a rest day between the long run and the next one...
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it seems to be ok so far. its not a plan i have used before, as its essentially my marathon plan but less miles.
The Sunday cross training doesn't have to be all out effort, in can be walking (according to Hal Higdon anyway!)0 -
TavistockToad wrote: »it seems to be ok so far. its not a plan i have used before, as its essentially my marathon plan but less miles.
The Sunday cross training doesn't have to be all out effort, in can be walking (according to Hal Higdon anyway!)
Yeah, I used his novice 1HM last time and am now about to use his 8km, then 15km, then HM novice 2. Last time I ended up changing it to running Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, walking for cross training on Saturdays, long run Sundays and resting Mondays and Thursdays. Worked well, but there is a theory that gentle cross training the day after the long run is helpful.
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I'll let you know how the Sunday cross training goes once my long run mileage gets into double figures. which is in about 3 weeks time as i have had to move a few runs around in the next couple of weeks due to having a stupid social life!!! :laugh:1
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There is a little bit of a difference between my plan and my actual. And I'm sometimes switching days around. I have 2 plans - a long-range plan and a short-range plan. The Long-range plan is split into 'blocks' and changes over time. The block I'm in now is mostly treadmill because it is short runs with intervals.
*Intervals are warm-up, then 6x3:00 intervals above VO2 Max with 3:00 'rest'/slower running or walking in between to let my HR recover, then cool down. Usually around 5-6 miles and about 1 hr.
*Recovery runs are supposed to be 40 min. at a slow, easy pace to get blood flowing.
Day Plan Actual (usually)
Mon. Rest Rest
Tues. Intervals Intervals (typically end up with less than 1 hr. and closer to 4.5-5.5 miles)
Wed. Recovery Rest
Thurs. Intervals Intervals
Fri. Recovery Rest
Sat. Intervals Intervals or Long run
Sun. Recovery Intervals or Long run, depending on what I did Sat.0 -
Currently returning from an injury so I'm running 4 days/wk right now, usually split as:
M: easy run
T: XT
W: workout run (intervals or tempo)
T: easy run
F: XT
S: long run
S: XT or rest
My usual run schedule is 5 days/wk and will vary between two options depending on where I am in my training cycle or what the race I'm training for is
Option 1 (earlier in cycle or training for marathon)
M: XT
T: easy run
W: workout run
T: easy run
F: XT or rest
S: long run
S: easy run
Option 2 (later in training cycle for any distance other than marathon)
M: XT
T: tempo run
W: easy run
T: interval run
F: XT or rest
S: long run
S: easy run
I usually like to schedule my long runs for saturday but will often switch my saturday/sunday runs around depending on the forecast or what I have going on that weekend0 -
Grrrrr......
Frikken snow.
Nowhere near as much as I want to because I hate the treadmill and I'm not running through snow on ice.
And I have a 1/2 on the 23rd that I'm nowhere near ready for so just going to run/walk and finish whenever I finish.0 -
RunnerGirl238 wrote: »I was usually a 3 to 4 day a week runner, but Inwoukd like to jncrease my mileage. How many days a week do you run? What do your runs look like?
I currently do my long run on Saturday, a recovery run on Sunday, speed work on Tuesday and tempo on Thursday. I do resistance other days. I'd like to add another day, Wednesday....any suggestions for tweaks?
I am currently training for a couple halfs.
I am currently on the same running schedule as you, exactly. I am training for a marathon and have cut my running back to 4 days a week. I used to run as much as 6 days per week, but I am trying to avoid injury and have lightened my load in terms of mileage. I am also doing strength training on Mondays and Wednesdays as well as plyometrics class on Mondays and yoga class+ some form of cardio cross training (usually only 30 minutes elliptical or bike trainer) on Wednesdays as well. Fridays are complete rest. I do feel like I am not running enough and, since most of my runs are at a speedier pace, I do miss running the slow and easy runs. So I have been thinking of adding back a day. It will likely be a short, easy run on Wednesday if I do.0 -
5 days. When I am training, I am more prescriptive with my running. When I am not, I go with the flow. My training schedule looks something like this:
Sunday: off
Monday: easy + core (15 minutes)
Tuesday: speed work
Wednesday: XT + core (bike/swim)
Thursday: moderate or tempo or hills
Friday/Saturday: long run and easy run (depends on kids activities how I split)
I always have at least 1 day of rest.
I have not tested it, but I heard long XT helps increase running endurance. If you are concerned about overuse, but also concerned not enough miles, consider adding a 45-60 minute XT. Or an easy Wednesday run. I sometimes need a day to recover from speedwork. And you want to keep your tempo run "good".
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I am in mid-cycle of Boston training, running 5 days a week, listening to my body, and backing off when it turns out I'm not as elite as the training plan. I'm better at this than I was a couple years ago, but it remains to be seen whether I'm good enough at it to avoid injury.
It took me far too long to admit I can't run 6 days a week for the long term. I can do it for a week, 4 weeks, 6 weeks . . . but if I keep it up, I will get injured. Now I'm paying attention to total weekly miles and how hard I work in the quality workouts. Harder quality workouts mean I need to cut back on the total miles.
My current thinking is that I should be able to sustain 40 to 45 miles per week long term and stay healthy; but too much speed work, too much racing, or failing to back off to lower miles when I need to can interfere with that.
And I am far less confident that I have it right than I was in 2016 when I was training hard for my first Boston, running 6 days a week, and ended up crashing into taper a week or two early.1 -
I am in mid-cycle of Boston training, running 5 days a week, listening to my body, and backing off when it turns out I'm not as elite as the training plan. I'm better at this than I was a couple years ago, but it remains to be seen whether I'm good enough at it to avoid injury.
It took me far too long to admit I can't run 6 days a week for the long term. I can do it for a week, 4 weeks, 6 weeks . . . but if I keep it up, I will get injured. Now I'm paying attention to total weekly miles and how hard I work in the quality workouts. Harder quality workouts mean I need to cut back on the total miles.
My current thinking is that I should be able to sustain 40 to 45 miles per week long term and stay healthy; but too much speed work, too much racing, or failing to back off to lower miles when I need to can interfere with that.
And I am far less confident that I have it right than I was in 2016 when I was training hard for my first Boston, running 6 days a week, and ended up crashing into taper a week or two early.
My jealousy about your Bostin experiences runs deep!
I always get injured when I try to train for a full. I've always had to scale back to half. Some day...0 -
*BOSTON!!!! GEEEEZUS.0
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I am in mid-cycle of Boston training, running 5 days a week, listening to my body, and backing off when it turns out I'm not as elite as the training plan. I'm better at this than I was a couple years ago, but it remains to be seen whether I'm good enough at it to avoid injury.
It took me far too long to admit I can't run 6 days a week for the long term. I can do it for a week, 4 weeks, 6 weeks . . . but if I keep it up, I will get injured. Now I'm paying attention to total weekly miles and how hard I work in the quality workouts. Harder quality workouts mean I need to cut back on the total miles.
My current thinking is that I should be able to sustain 40 to 45 miles per week long term and stay healthy; but too much speed work, too much racing, or failing to back off to lower miles when I need to can interfere with that.
And I am far less confident that I have it right than I was in 2016 when I was training hard for my first Boston, running 6 days a week, and ended up crashing into taper a week or two early.
I think it's interesting that we both have gone from running 6 days per week in favor of lower mileage with more quality workouts. I think the idea of high mileage "base building" works to a certain degree, but then there is a certain point at which those high mileage training cycles begin to give you diminishing returns and you get more from those harder, quality runs and appropriate rest. Just an observation/opinion, so I am sure there are plenty who will disagree.1 -
lporter229 wrote: »I am in mid-cycle of Boston training, running 5 days a week, listening to my body, and backing off when it turns out I'm not as elite as the training plan. I'm better at this than I was a couple years ago, but it remains to be seen whether I'm good enough at it to avoid injury.
It took me far too long to admit I can't run 6 days a week for the long term. I can do it for a week, 4 weeks, 6 weeks . . . but if I keep it up, I will get injured. Now I'm paying attention to total weekly miles and how hard I work in the quality workouts. Harder quality workouts mean I need to cut back on the total miles.
My current thinking is that I should be able to sustain 40 to 45 miles per week long term and stay healthy; but too much speed work, too much racing, or failing to back off to lower miles when I need to can interfere with that.
And I am far less confident that I have it right than I was in 2016 when I was training hard for my first Boston, running 6 days a week, and ended up crashing into taper a week or two early.
I think it's interesting that we both have gone from running 6 days per week in favor of lower mileage with more quality workouts. I think the idea of high mileage "base building" works to a certain degree, but then there is a certain point at which those high mileage training cycles begin to give you diminishing returns and you get more from those harder, quality runs and appropriate rest. Just an observation/opinion, so I am sure there are plenty who will disagree.
I'm actually doing fewer quality workouts as well, and toning down some of them that I do. Doing too much speed work beats me up even more than running too many miles.0 -
@MobyCarp @lporter229 I'm following your comments with interest in regards to how training volume affects injury. I posted a question in the fitness forum inquiring about the Galloway run/walk method. Y'all are long time posters and seem to be experienced runners. Have you ever personally experimented with this method or do you know anyone personally that uses it? My personal physician is an Ironman competitor that swears by it as a way to stay healthy and tolerate the training load he has as he ramps up for full ironman events. I'm not interested as a "learning to run" method, but rather as a way to run the miles needed for marathon training while minimizing my injury risk. I just finished a 1/2 marathon with conventional training and did fine. I'm just poking around to see what opinions folks have.0
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@garystrickland357
I understand the theory of the Galloway method is to prevent overuse injury. Many people swear by it, and it makes a lot of sense for that purpose. I have no first hand experience of it, because I've only done walk/run intervals as part of my initial 5K training plan and as injury recovery before I could run for distance.
I recently read an article written by one of my running club members who had competed in world championship marathon in Toronto. He had several comments that lined up well with my experience, though he organized the thoughts better than I had prior to reading his article:
- Long runs are most important. Try for 6 to 8 runs of over 2 hours during the marathon training cycle.
- Next most important are anaerobic threshold (i.e., tempo) runs. The idea is to stretch the distance you can run at lactate threshold, which builds the ability to run for speed over distance.
- Short speed work is least important, and can be dropped entirely. There is no need to run any intervals shorter than 800m in marathon training.
- Running by feel and backing off when your body is beat up are more important than meeting weekly mileage goals. Get the long runs in, and let the weekly miles be whatever they need to be to stay healthy.
- Run as much as you can on grass or trails to minimize wear and tear on your legs prior to race day. But do get some of your long runs in on roads, to get used to the pounding.
Bear in mind that this was all written from the standpoint of training for a good performance (read: faster time) in a marathon, with the ability to go the distance being assumed. Most of what you can find as public information about marathon training will have the same assumptions.
Galloway is one of the outliers that specifically targets injury avoidance as a more important goal than finishing fast. To the extent Galloway methods look different than traditional marathon training, it's because the most important goal is injury avoidance, as opposed to traditional training assuming injury avoidance and having fast finish as the top goal.2 -
I will add that, while I have not personally used the Galloway method, I have run alongside folks in both half marathons and full marathons that were employing the run/walk method. Many of them would pass me during their run segments and I would pass them back when they were walking, thus we passed each other many times throughout the course of the race, yet finished nearly side by side. These were sub 4 hour marathons and sub 2 hour halfs, or faster, which are well above the average finish times. The point is that, while maybe people aren't winning races this way, run/walk does not necessarily mean "slow".2
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lporter229 wrote: »I will add that, while I have not personally used the Galloway method, I have run alongside folks in both half marathons and full marathons that were employing the run/walk method. Many of them would pass me during their run segments and I would pass them back when they were walking, thus we passed each other many times throughout the course of the race, yet finished nearly side by side. These were sub 4 hour marathons and sub 2 hour halfs, or faster, which are well above the average finish times. The point is that, while maybe people aren't winning races this way, run/walk does not necessarily mean "slow".
That's a good point. If I were to do a regimen of run 2 miles, walk 2 minutes, I should be able to run the 2 miles faster than marathon pace. I don't think I could run them fast enough to make up the drag from walking; that would require me to run at about my 5K race pace, and I doubt that's sustainable for 12 iterations plus a tag end to finish. But I wouldn't lose a full 26 minutes off my normal running marathon time.
Interesting puzzle, but I don't think I'm willing to do a walk/run marathon to find the answer.0 -
@MobyCarp @lporter229 Thanks so much for responding. This is helpful. At 57 years old I’m more interested in staying injury free and continuing to exercise than push my body too far and be sidelined for a period of time.0
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@garystrickland357 You run the first marathon to finish. Then you see what you learned, and maybe set a time goal for the next marathon. Or maybe not. I do understand your concerns; I ran my first marathon at age 59.
At age 62, I came to the conclusion that pushing for that last 15 seconds per mile was likely to result in injury at the marathon distance. So I backed off my expectations, started running with the goal of finishing healthy, and finished 2 marathons in 2018 without post-marathon injury. One of them was a marathon PR of 3:18:02 at Wineglass, because I just happened to get perfect weather to run a geographically favorable course.
At age 63, I think it's possible I could run a PR Boston. But it's not worth pushing to try to make that happen. If we get perfect weather on April 15, well and good. If we don't, I'll be content with running somewhere around 3:25 to 3:30. They can't all be PRs, and trying to push for 3:15 would be hazardous to my health.1 -
@MobyCarp Thanks! That really inspires and encourages me. I’m a cyclist at heart. It’s funny, I am registered for a 200K road/gravel cycling event in August, Texas heat. I respect the training I’ll need to do, but I’m not intimidated by the event.
A full marathon is still intimidating to me. I’m trying to get a handle on it mentally. I’ve actually done a 16 mile (regular) run before, so deep inside I know I can do it. I’ll be a happy guy to finish in under 5 hours.1
