Question about MPW division and percentage

jessspurr · June 2014

Is there any benefit to running a different distance every day? Lets say you ran 4 miles 4 days a week and a long run of 8-10 (probably going to be crucified for that because I actually don't know what percentage of your MPW your long run should be...)
Would there be any benefit to running 3.5 miles one day, 5 miles one day, 3.5 miles one day and 4 miles one day(I hope that equals 16!:laugh: )
Now, just because I'm here I'm going to ask another question. Whatever percentage of your MPW is your long run, does that percentage come from only your week day runs or your weekday runs and your projected long run?
Let's say my MPW is 25 miles a week(which INCLUDES my long run). What should my long run be that week? OMG. I am so confused. :sad:

CarsonRuns · June 2014

Is there any benefit to running a different distance every day?

Yes, there is definite benefit. This of it this way. If you can run 4 miles every day, then you aren't putting optimal stress on your body, which is how we improve fitness. So, by taking one or two of those 4 mile days and making them 6 mile days, you add a higher level of stress. Then on the other days, you run a little shorter and it acts as recovery.

Whatever percentage of your MPW is your long run, does that percentage come from only your week day runs or your weekday runs and your projected long run

The generally accepted rule of thumb is that the LSD (long, steady, distance) run should not exceed 1/3 of your total weekly mileage. 1/4 is even better. Obviously, these percentages are easier to hit the higher your weekly mileage.

Let's say my MPW is 25 miles a week(which INCLUDES my long run). What should my long run be that week?

1/3 of 25 miles per week would be 8.25 miles. I'd say that, on that weekly mileage, you could safely go up to about 10 miles. The important thing to remember about the LSD run is that it's not the distance that is important, it's the time on your feet. There are specific adaptions that start to occur around the 90 minute mark, so targeting a run of 90 to 120 minutes is a better way to approach it. For a recreational runner running at an 11:00 per mile pace, a 90 minute run is 8.2 miles.

bingo_jenn · June 2014

Carson hits the nail on the head! I would have said the same thing.

One thing I like about varying my runs is that it alleviates the mental boredom of doing 4 miles day in and day out. A 3 mile run is fantastic now because it's so short compared to the other runs during the week.

wombat94 · June 2014

I agree with both of the above responses and will also add that varying the distance (and also varying the route, if possible) can also help by changing up the stimulus to your muscles even if your overall distance isn't any higher.

I've been doing the RWRunStreak this month in prep to enter into my formal training plan for my first full marathon.

I'm TRYING to run on tired legs, but I find that I feel better when it is different mileage - I just seem to respond better to the pattern the last two weeks of 3/4/5/4/3/10/5 - never running the same amount each day seems to allow recovery on the lighter days while still adding time on my feet and miles to my week.

vmclach · June 2014

When I'm not training for a marathon, I usually run 50 miles per week with a long run of 10 miles.. I do roughly 20% of my total weekly mileage (including the long run). In training for a specific event like a marathon, I would generally increase mileage to 60-65 & my long runs become 18 miles on average. This puts me more in the 25-30% of weekly mileage in 1 run which is rough on my body. I will burn out from that after an extended period of time.

As for your first question, I'm not sure. I have heard a lot of aerobic development happening most in the 60-90 min range running. I try to hit at least 1 run a week that's over an hour (besides my long run).

DavidMartinez2 · June 2014

I have noticed that I will end up doing several runs a week in the 6-7 mile range but each of them is done on a different route and terrain. The 6 miles I spend chasing high school kids who can run a 4:30 1500 on Monday night are not the same as the 6 miles on technical single track trail on Thursdays.

smarionette · June 2014

I tend to follow Hal Higdon's recommendations when training for a specific distance (soon I'll be starting Intermediate Half Marathon) and it does do the varying distances. The long run vs miles per week is a pretty reasonable percentage I found, and for the novice 1 program the peak week was 23mpw, with a 10 mile long run. A bit higher a percentage than other posters have mentioned, but I've never had an issue with his programs.

jessspurr · June 2014

Thanks so much everyone! I never would have guessed that mixing up distances would have any benefit but it makes sense!

lockeddoor · June 2014

When I was training for my half marathon, I was doing it without any research whatsoever. My long run was nearly 50% of my total weekly mileage, as my long run was 13.1 miles of course, and then I did 4 shorter runs per week, which usually added up to about 15 miles (I varied the distance on each one... one might be a really fast-as-I-can hard 2 miler, followed by an "easy" leisure 4 mile the next day, etc). Now that I've gone online and received some book recommendations, I don't really recommend having half your miles per week be your long run. That long run was always really hard on me, even at a slow pace (though I did finish much, MUCH faster than I expected during the actual race, but I credit adrenaline and nervous energy for that LOL). I've increased my MPW to 30-32 miles and I think it's already made a difference (I also strangely feel like I have more energy! Weird)

Mixing it up does help! Not just the distances, but the speed too and types of workout. I just recently started adding hill repeats into my running (oh god my legs and butt muscles are sore today), as it is really easy for me to just fall into a rut and do the same run over and over again (I have a mostly flat trail I like, only two hard hills in it, I can run that blind, but I don't think it's doing me any favors to always run the same route).

I'm not a very experienced runner, yet, but hopefully that helps

aldousmom · June 2014

I don't understand. are all the runs the same workout? each of my days have specific goals, so they tend to be different distances, but the run isn't about the distance. the run is about the workout for that day.

For instance:
Mon: 40 min easy run
Tues: 6x400, 400m recovery between, 1 mile warm up, 1 mile cool down
Wed: 60 min easy run
Thurs: 10 x 5 min hill @ 6%, recovery down hill, 1 mile warm up, 1 mile cool down
Fri: rest
Saturday: Long run 20 miles trail w/ hills
Sunday: 2 hours trail, walk hills, run flats.

See? typical week, no mileage the same. The Saturday long run is based on when my next ultra is. low week it's around 15, peak week(s) 20-30.

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Question about MPW division and percentage

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