How Often To Run

There is a natural human belief that if some is good, more is better. This idea is all too often false, and can very destructive with training. It is important to realize that running does not make you a better runner - it is the rest that follows running that makes you a better runner (See Supercompensation). So the key to effective training is to balance the training with the rest.

Contents

1 How Often I Run

I have tried many different patterns of training and rest. I have found the most effective pattern for me is to run four days a week. These four days are all 'quality days'; I run for three hours Monday, Wednesday and Friday, then run four hours on Saturday. This gives me lots of long running, with enough rest to support that mileage. If I were training for the marathon distance or shorter, I would train three days per week. The key to running three or four days a week is that every run is a quality run that requires rest to recover. I don't take extra days off to make things easier, but to make things harder. Running four days a week enables me to train on those four days much harder than I could if I trained more frequently.

My Friday/Saturday runs are the only time I run consecutive days. The idea is that I have not fully recovered from Friday when I do the Saturday run, so I am doing my longest run on tired legs. I do this because I cannot afford the time that it would take to run the distances that would otherwise be required. I consider Friday/Saturday to be a single training unit, though not as effective as the mileage would be if I could do it on a single day.

Running four days a week is tough. It is tough to run hard enough to need the 48 hours recovery. But it is also psychologically tough; taking three days off is not as easy as it seems. The feeling that days off mean not doing enough, or that a rest day will cause fitness to dissipate is corrosive.

2 Exceptions

There are exceptions to this advice. If your running training is not hard enough to require 48 hours recovery, you will be better off running more often. If you are just starting to run, then running 5-6 days a week may work for you. If you are running for general fitness and not pushing your body to its limits, then running 5-6 days a week may work for you. If you are have DOMS, such as after a long race, Recovery Runs may help.

3 Training Plans

The FIRST plan is based around running three days a week, and is the only plan I am aware of that has undergone scientific evaluation about its effectiveness. Hal Higdon's Advanced II Marathon plan has 6 days of running, but two days are trivial. Jeff Galloway uses four days/week. The Runner's World beginners plan is four days/week. (The RW intermediary & advanced are 5 days.) Jack Daniels (my favorite coach) defines just two work outs a week, and leaves it up to you how you fit in the other miles.

4 Active Recovery/Easy Days

What about 'active recovery'? I've only found one scientific study and that indicated that active recovery does nothing to help. On the other hand, it did not indicate that active recovery does any damage either.

5 Active Recovery – Other meanings

• 'Active Recovery' can refer to doing low intensity exercise between the work periods of Interval Training, which is effective.
• Doing gentle exercise immediately after intense exercise (the cool down) may have some benefits. There is anecdotal evidence that walking for 20-30 minutes after a long run reduces muscle soreness.

6 See Also

• Supercompensation and Why exercise does not make you fit
• Toxic Miles
• Recovery Runs
• FIRST