when do you start running every day?

alexandriamarino

Hi all,

I'm a C25k grad doing bridge to 10k now. I'm on week 10 and i cover 4.5-5 miles in my runs, which I do 3x a week.

I know that when you start it's not good to run every day, but I've been 'jogging' for a few months now and I'm wondering when I can start running on consecutive days? Last thing I want is an injury, I've been enjoying getting better at this. But I'm interested in some longer distances next year (i.e. more than 12 months from now) and will need to start getting higher mileage over the fall. I'm just not sure how to structure that mileage build.

I lift as well, although taking some time off due to shoulder issues now.

PinkNinjaLaura

I've been running for just over a year (started C25K in May 2013) and I still only run three days a week. My longest run is 14 miles, and I'll be running my first half marathon a week from tomorrow. I do other things though - I strength train three times a week, I take Pilates once a week, and I cardio cross-train one day a week. (I rest one day a week.)

I'm limited by time during the week so my two mid-week runs are only in the 4 mile range, but then I do a long run on the weekend. If I wanted to add more mileage I could add on a 4th day but that hasn't been necessary.

alexandriamarino

good luck on your half, that is awesome i'm hoping to follow you down that path! it sounds like your schedule is something like mine except that your long runs are much longer.

timeasterday

I think it would take several years to get to the point of running every day without injury. I run 5 days a week now: Tue/Wed/Thu/Sat/Sun. Last week I ran 6 days in a row and am still feeling it! Allow yourself a couple of rest days per week and build up that long run. Don't worry about running every day until you are doing 60-90mpw and trying to break a sub-3 marathon.

PinkNinjaLaura

good luck on your half, that is awesome i'm hoping to follow you down that path! it sounds like your schedule is something like mine except that your long runs are much longer.

I did C25K then 5K-to-10K. After that I built up to a long run of 8 miles before winter hit (I'm in Minnesota). I basically maintained mileage over the worst months of winter, then in March started building up my long runs. Did it gradually. In April I started HM training so that's when I bumped up my mileage further. But I've managed to build up without any injuries, so I'm glad I did it slowly.

MeanderingMammal

I'm wondering when I can start running on consecutive days?

I'd draw a distinction between consecutive days, and every day. I'd say that as long as your weekly mileage is reasonable and you avoid your harder workouts then it's easy enough to run consecutive days, but I wouldn't recommend moving to run every day at the moment.

If you are going to run every day, then it needs to be fairly short sessions. 1-2 miles so not even a 5K, which can start to get quite demanding.

When I was doing a 10K improvement programme I was on 5 days per week, and found that a bit too much, now I'm training for HM and I run four days, with three consecutive.

Friday - Recovery run of generally about 12Km
Sunday - Long run, somewhere between 14 and 24km
Monday - Recovery run of up to 10Km
Tuesday - Tempo Session of 10-12Km

Monday runs are always harder work after the long run, and I have some flexibility there to move the tempo run to WEdnesday or Thursday.

I would generally suggest a non running day after tempo or interval sessions.