Is running 3/4 times a week enough

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Ahrena
Ahrena Posts: 44 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm training for a tough mudder (12 miles) which is in just under a month.

I've been running 5 times a week following a Nike training programme. Recently my work has increased - I'm a freelance horse rider so my job is very physical, and to keep the running going I'm getting up at 4am and rarely get home before 8pm/9pm so I am exhausted. This morning I just thought right that's it, enough is enough, this is ridiculous.

I need to cut the quantity down but I still want my distance and times to improve, and I want to continue this after the tough mudder.

Can I achieve this in 3 or on a quiet work week, 4 runs a week? What kind of runs would you do?

For cross training, apart from horseriding and the associated jobs, I also do pole dancing and aerial silks 3 times a week.

Replies

  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,326 Member
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    tough mudder has a workout plan on their website to prepare you for the races. follow those

    TL; DR : No
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
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    There's not nearly enough information provided to give an answer, but probably. I mean, you can walk the entire TM course if you want to. You might want to spend some time in upper body strength tho
  • Ahrena
    Ahrena Posts: 44 Member
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    Sorry I didn't make much sense there.

    I don't mean so much tough
    Mudder just my general running as I want to continue after but running 5 x a week is taking over my life and I'm wondering if I'll still improve my endurance and speed running 3 or 4 times a week?

    I'm happy with my TM training at the mo as My long runs are currently 9 miles and I'm at peace with not running all of it. I have a lot of upper body strength thanks to my silks/pole dancing so sm happy on that front!
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
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    r
    Can I achieve this in 3 or on a quiet work week, 4 runs a week? What kind of runs would you do?

    Three is borderline for making progress, 4 is more certain and probably more in line with the majority of plans.

    One long steady, one tempo, one interval and one recovery run per week, generally 8-14km. That'll allow both increases in pace and distance over time.
  • Ahrena
    Ahrena Posts: 44 Member
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    Thanks - would just like to ask, what exactly is the purpose of a recovery run?
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
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    Speed and distance are both dependent on building adequate aerobic capacity; speedwork builds on that. You develop aerobic capacity through your easy paced sessions, so the recovery run gives you more miles under your feet. The stress of tempos and intervals means that you need time to recover from that as well.

    I'm about half way through a half marathon training cycle at the moment, so I'm doing:

    Long run of 14km upwards at about 6 min/km
    Recovery run of about 10km at 6 min/ km
    Tempo run of 12km at 5:30 min/km
    Interval run of 15 minute warm up at 6 min/ km, then 20 mins of some form of high intensity intervals, then 15 mins at 6 min/km cool down, covering about 8-10km

    Without a base to build on the tempo and intervals session wouldn't generate the improvements in speed that I want to see, so if I were to drop to three sessions per week I'd probably drop either the tempo or the intervals, or perhaps alternate them.

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