Runners-Hard short runs while increasing mileage?

MallorieGreiner

I currently run Monday/Wednesday/Saturday.

3 miles on Monday/Wednesday, then increasing my long Saturday run every week, tacking on about a half mile each time. This last Saturday, I hit 10 miles. Normally, my 3 mile runs would be cake, I can run the entire thing in about 30 minutes. On my long runs, I stop every 3 miles to refuel.

Ever since hitting 8.5 miles, my Monday runs have just been awful. Today I could only run about a half mile before really huffing and puffing and having to stop and walk. Anybody else get this way? Anything I can do to help prevent it and make my shorter runs go smoother?

hilts1969

I currently run Monday/Wednesday/Saturday.

3 miles on Monday/Wednesday, then increasing my long Saturday run every week, tacking on about a half mile each time. This last Saturday, I hit 10 miles. Normally, my 3 mile runs would be cake, I can run the entire thing in about 30 minutes. On my long runs, I stop every 3 miles to refuel.

Ever since hitting 8.5 miles, my Monday runs have just been awful. Today I could only run about a half mile before really huffing and puffing and having to stop and walk. Anybody else get this way? Anything I can do to help prevent it and make my shorter runs go smoother?

Your post kind of confuses me which is easy tbh, to me a 10 mile run is actually running non stop for 10 miles not stopping after 3, if i have this right you run 3 miles monday, then 3 miles wednesday then 3 miles rest 3 miles rest etc... saturday

Is your pace different on a saturday? personally i would either build up distance on all 3 days or do 3 miles mon/wed then saturday run at a slower pace non stop for longer

runner359

If I'm understanding you correctly you are doing two 3 mile runs and 1 10 miler? If that's right then your ratio of total weekly mileage to long run mileage is way off.

I'd recommend that you google Hal Higdon and have a look at his training plans for a good template of what you should be doing. Hal is a world class runner that gives out a lot of good and free advice on his website.

MeanderingMammal

I currently run Monday/Wednesday/Saturday.

So what are your objectives? Are you wanting to increase speed, race a particular distance or are you running for more general health and fitness reasons?

3 miles on Monday/Wednesday, then increasing my long Saturday run every week, tacking on about a half mile each time. This last Saturday, I hit 10 miles. Normally, my 3 mile runs would be cake, I can run the entire thing in about 30 minutes. On my long runs, I stop every 3 miles to refuel.

So, for clarification you run two 5Ks per week and then one long run that's now approaching 16K, but you stop 2-3 times in that session?

It sounds like your session balance is out of whack. Subject to your goals there are several ways to approach it, but essentially you 'll benefit from rebalancing your distances. You're putting all of the stress on one session, and what you're seeing is that you're not recovered afterwards. Particularly if you're pushing out a rapid 5K.

With a total distance of 25K per week I'd suggest either three 7-8K sessions or two 10K with a 5K recovery.

My objectives at the moment are a combination of increasing my 10K time and working up to half marathon distance. With that in mind I do one long run of up to 18km, one short recovery of up to 5K at an easy pace, and three tempo or interval sessions of between 8 and 10K midweek. You'll see that the long run is still only just twice my other quality sessions, and my expectation of the 5K isn't much, that's about a 35 minute session.

MallorieGreiner

I currently run Monday/Wednesday/Saturday.

3 miles on Monday/Wednesday, then increasing my long Saturday run every week, tacking on about a half mile each time. This last Saturday, I hit 10 miles. Normally, my 3 mile runs would be cake, I can run the entire thing in about 30 minutes. On my long runs, I stop every 3 miles to refuel.

Ever since hitting 8.5 miles, my Monday runs have just been awful. Today I could only run about a half mile before really huffing and puffing and having to stop and walk. Anybody else get this way? Anything I can do to help prevent it and make my shorter runs go smoother?

Your post kind of confuses me which is easy tbh, to me a 10 mile run is actually running non stop for 10 miles not stopping after 3, if i have this right you run 3 miles monday, then 3 miles wednesday then 3 miles rest 3 miles rest etc... saturday

Is your pace different on a saturday? personally i would either build up distance on all 3 days or do 3 miles mon/wed then saturday run at a slower pace non stop for longer

Sorry for the confusion! I "stop" to walk for about a minute or so every 3 miles during my long runs to eat one of those power gel things and drink water, then I run on.

So what are your objectives? Are you wanting to increase speed, race a particular distance or are you running for more general health and fitness reasons?

My short term goal is a half marathon as well! Distance for the time being, when I'm able to run the 13.1 distance, I want to work on speed.

I love the idea of the 5K, then a little bit longer the next time, then adding to my long run distance! Thank you for the tip! I had been using the Couch to 5K (then 10K) apps, but once I started increasing from 6 miles, I did my own thing for a bit. I was following the Jeff Galloway Half Marathon training plan, and that's where I got my "2 5Ks" a week from. I've so far been able to increase that Saturday distance no problem, it's just my "Monday 5Ks" are really hard for whatever reason lmao

Thanks again to everyone who replied! It really helped!

brianpperkins

The fact that your distance ratios are less than optimal is already covered. If you plan on keeping those type distances during your weekday runs you might want to shift schedule a bit to something like a Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday plan. That gives you an extra rest day after your long run for your body to recover before hitting your next weekday run.

aswearingen22

All I was going to say is what's been said, your distribution of weekly mileage is off. It's never good to have 50% of your weekly mileage in one day, and you have 63% of it in one day. THAT'S why you're not recovered, you don't have the weekly base to support and recover from that distance. I aim to have my long run be no more than about 30-40% of my weekly mileage. So, backing into it, if you want to run 10 miles for your long run, then your weekly mileage needs to be at least 15 miles (10 mi long run out of 25 miles total = 40%), and you have 6, less than half of what it should be. So you need to back off on the long run mileage and gradually increase your weekday runs to be more around 5 miles each while also adding a 3rd day during the week.

This is the exact reason there are training plans. So you read Galloway, but then didn't really follow the plan? Either follow Galloway, or Hal Higdon, or something of the like so that you have your weekly mileage distribution at a place where you won't get injured. After you've been running for several years, and following well known training plans, then you will have a better feel for it and can make up your own plan. Especially if you're wanting to train for a half marathon, just find a training plan you like and stick to it. There are some that are 3 days a week if that's all you have time for, but that would be a very bare minimum amount to get you across the finish line, you'd have a much better experience on 4-5 days a week of running. Good luck!

MeanderingMammal

My short term goal is a half marathon as well! Distance for the time being, when I'm able to run the 13.1 distance, I want to work on speed.

I love the idea of the 5K, then a little bit longer the next time, then adding to my long run distance! Thank you for the tip! I had been using the Couch to 5K (then 10K) apps, but once I started increasing from 6 miles, I did my own thing for a bit. I was following the Jeff Galloway Half Marathon training plan, and that's where I got my "2 5Ks" a week from. I've so far been able to increase that Saturday distance no problem, it's just my "Monday 5Ks" are really hard for whatever reason lmao

I'm not a fan of Galloway, I think largely because I find the structured walk breaks just don't work for me at all.

Notwithstanding that, I'd suggest getting onto a more structured HM plan that will increase your runs in a balanced manner. If you have a Garmin, or if you use Endonomdo, Runkeeper or Runtastic there are plans included in all of those that will help you to work out your progression.

I can't see your diary, so don't know whether the issue you're having is more about fuel than anything else. You're describing a lot of gel for one run. Personally speaking I've reached the stage where I might take one gel during my long run, although I generally carry both electrolyte and water which I'll geerally finish. that said, before my long run I'll eat about 450 cals and afterwards I'll eat pretty much everything in sight and still end up short at the end of the day.

My midweek runs are done in the evening, and I generally don't have anything specific beforehand, so I'm still running on lunch. What are you using to fuel your training? If you're overdoing it on gels it suggests that you're not preparing for the long run as well.

kristinegift

I agree that your mileage percentages are way off, training-wise. If you are training for a half-marathon, you should add one more short run in a week to balance it out better.

Also, your Monday runs might be difficult because you're sore from your long Saturday run. I always find that my Tuesday runs (I do long runs on Sundays) are slow and difficult because I'm so stiff. Try some cross-training on the day between (biking, swimming, etc) as well as some stretching to make your comeback on Monday a bit easier