Running Endurance Question!

Read the article here http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/articles and use the pace calculator at that site to calculate your various training paces.

To build endurance run lots of miles. What is likely to happen is that after a few months training to build your endurance you will be able to run a faster mile when you want to.

To really train for a 5k you should be running a minimum of around 30 miles per week. If your body can handle it, more is better up to around 70 miles per week.

I run 70 at my peek in the run in to marathon, will be doing similar for an ultra.

Advising someone to try to get to 70 miles a week for their first 5k? What planet you on brah?

I said 30. Beyond that, more is better up to around 70 as your body can handle it.

30 miles a week will still have them running 140% of the race distance every single day.

Yes. Building endurance requires miles and endurance is required to run a fast race. All the speed in the world means nothing if the endurance isn't there to maintain the pace. Also, even a race as short as a 5k is around 90% aerobic and the aerobic system is built on miles.

I said 30. Beyond that, more is better up to around 70 as your body can handle it.

She's asking for advice on how to get past 2 miles. Your advice is for her to run 30 and work on 70 if she can handle it.

Makes perfect sense.

She said she wanted to train for a 5k. She also said she has been running for a few years so its not like going from zero fitness. And anyone without some sort of physical disability can build up to 30 miles in a couple of months if they want to.

Funny I have similar issues, and this is how I deal with it...

Option 1)Plan a longer route say 3 miles, start your timer, take off the watch and leave it in the car/locker and go for a run stop it when you get back.

Option 2) Run an unfamiliar route where you don't know the mile markers, but plan to run for 10 minutes longer than your last run. When you get back map it or drive it to get the distance.

I jokingly call it Zen running because I just let myself run and enjoy it without the pressure of the pace. I do still check out my pace, I just do it after not during, and if I am training for a certain pace in a race I will use the watch once I am comfortable with the new distance. In my crazy mind this keeps me happy. Good luck

To really train for a 5k you should be running a minimum of around 30 miles per week. If your body can handle it, more is better up to around 70 miles per week.

I'm training to finish a half marathon and my peak week is only 25 miles...

^^^ Yeah, there's no way you need any where near 30 miles a week for a 5k!!! That's what I did for my marathon. (Probably not as much as I should have done, but I finished fine.) :laugh:

She said she wanted to train for a 5k. She also said she has been running for a few years so its not like going from zero fitness. And anyone without some sort of physical disability can build up to 30 miles in a couple of months if they want to.

Yeah, but if she could do 30 miles a week, she wouldn't need to train for a 5k. She'd be there already.

Funny y'all are arguing about different things. One person is talking about training volume to put up your best possible time in a 5k and the others are talking about completeing a 5k.

I don't think the OP is talking about dropping a sub 20 minute 5k.

She said she wanted to train for a 5k. She also said she has been running for a few years so its not like going from zero fitness. And anyone without some sort of physical disability can build up to 30 miles in a couple of months if they want to.

Yeah, but if she could do 30 miles a week, she wouldn't need to train for a 5k. She'd be there already.

He's saying work up to 30 miles a week, he never said to go out and do it this week.

If you want to fun farther, run slower and run more often.
If you want to run faster, run slower, and run more often.

Endurance is free speed..

Use a heart rate monitor and stay below 80% of your max heart rate.

Why below 80%? Would perceived effort not be better as HRMs tend to calculate zones based on 22-age?

I have to agree. It is really hard to predict your actual max heart rate. I can run 2-3 miles at 90% of my "apparent" max heart rate. I don't feel as if I'm working that hard either.

Anyways, what I have found that helps me is I slowed down my pace. I'm a glutton for pain so pushing myself past that "I HAVE TO STOP" point is typically easy for me, so I wish I could help with that.

Overall, what helped me what increasing my time. Before I even started I would tell myself "I will run for 30 min and not stop until then end. No matter how slow I run, I will not walk" Sooner or later you find yourself getting over that hump.

I actually answered that question upthread. Being that I said "80% of your max HR" and not "80% of your predicted max HR". You can test yourself and find your max HR. 220-age gives me 190. My max HR from a treadmill incline test is 201. And I ran 9 miles yesterday at 89% of my max, because I've built up aerobic endurance through running slower.

OK. I'll rephrase what I said. If you want to run 5k and already have been running for a few years and often run 1 mile fast then you can run 5k today. Just run slower and you can finish.

If you are interested in improving your fitness and running faster in races then run more miles.

http://runningtimes.com/Print.aspx?articleID=10719

Aha. There is a reasonable man under there somewhere ...

One thing we all need to keep in mind when it comes to training for a goal is that it's not an exact science. When prescribing exercise programs, it's important to consider the fitness level of the person who is trying to reach a goal. At this point, the OP is looking for ways to push beyond a 2 miler, in which case, those who've suggested slowing down a bit to cover the longer distance would, in my opinion, be giving the best advice.

As a former competitive runner, I know how hard it is to take this advice. I like seeing faster numbers on my GPS watch. But since I'm training for a half marathon, I know that I've gotta find a way to get in the longer runs. One thing I truly focus on for those runs is relaxation. As another person said, going by the RPE scale helps. If you're trying to to get in some more distance, shoot for like a 6-7 (on a scale of 1-10) rather than 8-9. Eventually, as your fitness level increases, so will your ability to do those runs at a faster pace.

At this point, increasing mileage just to finish a 5K to 30 miles a week, isn't really necessary. However, when I was at my peak fitness level, I was running 50-60 miles a week and focusing on 5Ks. Running that kind of mileage made racing a 5K a cakewalk.

So, again to the OP, considering your fitness level, you've gotten some great advice. As others have suggested, map out your run beforehand, and if you don't make it the whole way the first time, don't beat yourself up. Just strive to increase that distance a little bit each time until you're able to make the whole distance...then rinse and repeat for a further distance. Best of luck to you in your endurance mission!