I understand the 10% rule in terms of not increasing weekly distance by more than that amount. Does the same apply to individual runs, e.g. should my longest run each week be not more than 10% longer than the previous week’s longest run? I’d like to start ramping up the distance on my long days by putting most of my weekly increase into that single run, but not if that’s begging for injury. What do you think?
If your goal is to get faster, you should focus on increasing your weekly mileage and not worry about long runs. The long run is one of the most overrated elements of run training including marathon training.
The 10 percent rule is great until … well, it is not great. I just ramped my volume back up after a few years of running only 4-5 hours a week. I started at 6 hours and worked my way up to 7:30 over two months. I used to do this quite easily, but trying it at age 42 has been a weary exercise.
If you want to run for a lifetime you have to develop a feel for when too much is too much. That could be overall volume from week to week or day to day. When you go out for a run during your build and you just don’t have it, then you need to shut it down and walk home. On the other hand I’ve had plenty of runs where I feel terrible and then warm up and run just fine for the rest of the way. Usually between 20-40 minutes I’ll know this and won’t even made a conscious decision to keep running because I’ll be fine. It is when those 20 or so minutes pass and I still feel labored that I have to decide to cut it short. Some runs feel great but then you can’t do your workout the next day because your legs are trashed. Some weeks of training are great but then by the middle of the next week you cannot get out of bed. There is no easy answer on this.
In general, I only do a long run every other week because for me a normal run is around 1 hour to 1:15 and my “long run” is only 1:30. When I am increasing in volume I like to break down the weekly goal into 6 segments (7 if you run Sundays) and chew it off evenly. Your total volume is much more important than doing one long run.
What event are you trying to do? If marathon then you will need a long run up to 2-3 hours. If it is a half or O-distance then you may not need to go longer than 1:15 to 1:45, depending somewhat on the speed you run.
Chad
Chad, thanks for your response. I’m training for an unspecified marathon and triathlon some time next year. Like you, I’m noticing the effects of my age on my ability to recover from training now that I’m in my 40s. It’s been many years since I last ran regularly, so I’m trying to ramp up my training very carefully. It’s helpful to know that weekly milage is more important than the length of individual runs.
Yeah, I just startred doing this and the hard part, mentally, is some of the short runs (say 30 minutes, or less). They hardly seem worth the effort (getting dressed, showering, etc.). I’ve incorporated some core work and/or some light lifting (gasp) just to break a sweat and get the workout into the 1 hour range.
At 48, I know it’s safer to do the short runs than to take my long run from 1 hour to 1:30. It’s a process. Done the injury thing and don’t want to go back.
Good luck.
You younguns. Wait till you hit your 60s. After too many years of not running at all I restarted - couldn’t run more than a few hundred yards without walking. I was amazed (and pissed) that I couldn’t just go out and run after a long layoff as I had done in the past. Now that I can do a few miles I keep lamenting on how long it is taking to get past a jog speed for 5 or 10 Km.
I guess the lesson here is to not quit and have a multi-year layoff.
Oh and my bike speed is way down as well although endurance is there.
I guess the lesson here is to not quit and have a multi-year layoff.
Seriously! I’m working on my time machine and I’ll let you know when it’s ready.
Yeah, I just startred doing this and the hard part, mentally, is some of the short runs (say 30 minutes, or less). They hardly seem worth the effort (getting dressed, showering, etc.). I’ve incorporated some core work and/or some light lifting (gasp) just to break a sweat and get the workout into the 1 hour range.
At 48, I know it’s safer to do the short runs than to take my long run from 1 hour to 1:30. It’s a process. Done the injury thing and don’t want to go back.
Good luck.
Tack 1-2 of those short runs onto the end of a bike workout.
Kill 2 birds w/ one stone, and no extra clothing changes/showers/etc.
One of my fave hard/quick workouts is a 12m TT, w/ a 3-4m T-run.
You can bang it out in right around an hour, and it’s all the good stuff from a sprint tri, w/o the pesky swimming and registration and timing chips and whatnot.
The 10 percent rule is great until … well, it is not great. I just ramped my volume back up after a few years of running only 4-5 hours a week. I started at 6 hours and worked my way up to 7:30 over two months. I used to do this quite easily, but trying it at age 42 has been a weary exercise.
If you want to run for a lifetime you have to develop a feel for when too much is too much. That could be overall volume from week to week or day to day. When you go out for a run during your build and you just don’t have it, then you need to shut it down and walk home. On the other hand I’ve had plenty of runs where I feel terrible and then warm up and run just fine for the rest of the way. Usually between 20-40 minutes I’ll know this and won’t even made a conscious decision to keep running because I’ll be fine. It is when those 20 or so minutes pass and I still feel labored that I have to decide to cut it short. Some runs feel great but then you can’t do your workout the next day because your legs are trashed. Some weeks of training are great but then by the middle of the next week you cannot get out of bed. There is no easy answer on this.
In general, I only do a long run every other week because for me a normal run is around 1 hour to 1:15 and my “long run” is only 1:30. When I am increasing in volume I like to break down the weekly goal into 6 segments (7 if you run Sundays) and chew it off evenly. Your total volume is much more important than doing one long run.
What event are you trying to do? If marathon then you will need a long run up to 2-3 hours. If it is a half or O-distance then you may not need to go longer than 1:15 to 1:45, depending somewhat on the speed you run.
Chad
This is well written, I know that I tend to be more of the HTFU type and that is often to my detrmiment. Sometimes, you really should shut it down, it really is not easy knowing when to do it though.
It really plays with your confidence too. I have run some times that I never thought were possible for me, but I promise that if tomorrow on my long run I go out and have to shut it down and walk home, I will feel as though I am in terrible shape and not fit to go to my next race. It is not logical, it is not backed by evidence, it is just a mindset of “you are only as good as your last workout.”
It is a problem that I for one face at least everyweek; the irony is that I would probably be faster if I shut it down more often so that I could hit the good days even harder.
Get a puppy that’s at least half husky. Then wake up at 5am or earlier to make sure you can run it 5-8 miles before work every day. And on the weekends. Forever. Problem solved.
You may need to add naps in the afternoon to avoid excessive exhaustion.
I haven’t slept past 5:30 in weeks thanks to a demanding puppy. :-/
BarryP once commented on the value of runs as short as 20 minutes. I used to be of the thought that anything less than 45 minutes was a waste of time… of course, that mindset didn’t allow me to ramp my mileage without getting hurt. Going from 4x6 miles to 5x6miles is a 25% increase in mileage. I dropped one of my 6 milers, and added 2 shorter runs. Over time, those shorter runs got longer and longer. before you knew it, I was able to crank out 70 miles/week without any long runs. Just running 10miles a day. That took me from being a ~3hr marathoner to a sub-2:50 guy that is aiming to go sub-2:45.
Yeah, I just startred doing this and the hard part, mentally, is some of the short runs (say 30 minutes, or less). They hardly seem worth the effort (getting dressed, showering, etc.). I’ve incorporated some core work and/or some light lifting (gasp) just to break a sweat and get the workout into the 1 hour range.
At 48, I know it’s safer to do the short runs than to take my long run from 1 hour to 1:30. It’s a process. Done the injury thing and don’t want to go back.
Good luck.
3 miles every morning on the treadmill. You are done before you know it and then you can shower and go to work (no wasted “set-up” time).
So it seems that the long run is not needed? I always wondered this. I feel like I could run 60 miles/wk without going over 12 miles for a long run vs 40 mi/wk with a 16 mile long run and feel more fresh running more miles per week. The long runs always seem to give me problems.
Do a search for the BarryP running plans. Lots of good info in there
Do a search for the BarryP running plans. Lots of good info in there
Thanks. I’m always looking for good references so I’ll check it out this evening.
So it seems that the long run is not needed? I always wondered this. I feel like I could run 60 miles/wk without going over 12 miles for a long run vs 40 mi/wk with a 16 mile long run and feel more fresh running more miles per week. The long runs always seem to give me problems.
I understand the premise behind running more often rather than longer. BUT, when I did my long runs while training for marathons, I always found (and so did my training partners) that I became tired when I hit my last long mile mark…EOW if I did 12 miles last week and doing 13 this week, I will hit a wall at 12 miles. Next week when I do 14 miles, I will hit that wall at 13 miles (my last long run). Soooo, after I have biked 112 miles, I supposed to make it 26.2 when the longest run I have done is 20. Hum, I worry about that.
So it seems that the long run is not needed? I always wondered this. I feel like I could run 60 miles/wk without going over 12 miles for a long run vs 40 mi/wk with a 16 mile long run and feel more fresh running more miles per week. The long runs always seem to give me problems.
Sorry - I did not mean that (I really can’t comment on long course - I’m a short course guy) - I was just commenting that if you want to get in a short work-out and not feel like it was a “waste of time”, do it 1’st thing in the morning and then start your day.
Good to know, thnx. And nice work. I’m looking to ramp it up over the next 8 weeks for a PB at local 10 miler. The distance won’t be a stretch but doing it wisely is the challenge.
@ the OP - fwiw I’m using the BarryP method as my guide.
@ ML - I’m getting all to familiar with your hard/quick workouts; first Tinker Hill and now this. Thanks???
BarryP once commented on the value of runs as short as 20 minutes. I used to be of the thought that anything less than 45 minutes was a waste of time… of course, that mindset didn’t allow me to ramp my mileage without getting hurt. Going from 4x6 miles to 5x6miles is a 25% increase in mileage. I dropped one of my 6 milers, and added 2 shorter runs. Over time, those shorter runs got longer and longer. before you knew it, I was able to crank out 70 miles/week without any long runs. Just running 10miles a day. That took me from being a ~3hr marathoner to a sub-2:50 guy that is aiming to go sub-2:45.
The 10 percent rule is great until … well, it is not great.
Well, yeah. Such is the nature of rules.
I’m an enthusiastic proponent of the 10% rule (both daily and weekly), but it’s really most appropriate for novice runners. I’ve seen so many people (ok, maybe 6?) finish their first 5-miler, and they feel so great and psyched up they could run another 5 miles. So then they do, and after a jump from 2 to 10 wake up the next morning and can’t walk. So they never run again… So my impression is that the purpose of the rule is to instruct novice runners that if they make those huge jumps, even if it feels great while they’re doing it, they can get hurt.
But yeah, if you’re a lifelong runner who’s taken a break and know what your legs feel like, run as far as you want. And obviously if it hurts, great, and if it hurts* too much*, stop. But the rule is a great reminder that there’s no rush to build mileage. Or at least there shouldn’t be if you have a functional calendar. My guess is that anyone who’s ever been sidelined for a significant amount of time would far rather take a few more easy weeks (and maybe spend some more time in the pool) than be couch-ridden again.
I also have the sense that the 10% rule is very effective in preventing injury, but does anyone know someone who developed a significant training injury while building on 10% increments?
Mud
The 10% rule is often too much, actually. Think about it this way, ramping up from 20 to 100 miles would take about 18 weeks. For any but those who have done a lot of distance work before, good luck with that.