Running maintenance program (opinions wanted)

rybo

I tried doing a little research on line without finding much either way. Assuming one already has a solid base, I’m wondering what your opinions are on maintaining a good level of running fitness by running more days/week & fewer miles/day, or less days/week & more miles/day.

Just as an example I’ll use a 20 mi week. Is it better to run 3x a week @ 5, 5, & 10 miles or 5x week @ 4 miles?
The long term outlook is to just get thru fall & winter before starting up a marathon training program.

27strange

No expert here at all... but I would do the schedule that would be easy to maintain and incorporate into my daily/weekly routine. I'd probably do 4 days at 5-6 miles a day. Under an hour commitment, several times a week.

AggieCass09

i like doing different runs each day so my body doesn't get "bored" so at 20 miles a week 'id do:

3 easy run
4 easy run or speedwork (1 mile repeats @ faster than race pace with 1/2 mile jogs in between)
5 tempo run (3 miles @ race pace) or easy run
8 long run

i alternate speed work and tempo runs so
week 1: easy, speedwork, easy, long
week 2: easy, easy, tempo, long

oh, and every 4 weeks or so you should do an easy week of like 15 miles (3 x 5 miles or so) to give your body an active recovery.

runnersworld.com smart trainer has good plans even if you aren't racing.

Panda_Jack

You have an offseason?

aj_rock

Alternate easy/hard days. You should keep intensity up at least once a week to maintain your conditioning.

Exact same rules for muscle maintanence.

Ifican

You have an offseason?

I completely agree, however i do have an offseason. Every 4 or 5 years i just dont feel like exercising anymore. With that lack of movement comes weigh gain generally in the 20-30 pound range because i love to eat. I then hit a point where i feel fat and my belly gets in the way of everything i do so i get back to it. Once i get back to it i start easy and go from there. I suppose i am fortunate because the base i have built over the years (many thousands of miles) lets me get back to it rather quickly. That being said your answer is going to depend on what you are after. From the sounds of it its maintain as much as possible. In order to do that you need all of the above. To maintain what i would do 1 week at your 5x5x10 and then 1 week at your 4x5days. Your goal is to keep shorter faster runs in the mix for vo2 max work and to keep longer runs in the mix for endurance. Keep all aspects of running inline and you will maintain pretty well through your off season. Just dont do like i do and get completely lazy about it cause those pounds accumulate rather quickly.

arc918

I like 5, 5, 10 (or something like that) as I prefer to keep up a long run (comes in handy if you decide to ramp up for a half or something).