RUNNING VOLUME
QHow much running should you do? Claire Graves
ADepending on the source you read, anywhere between 60-80% of runners will have an injury of some description over a 12-month training period. Though some of those injuries are acute, most are overuse injuries due to an increase in training load or doing too much too soon. So the simple answer to this question is: as little as possible!
But what is ‘as little as possible’? Well it’ll mean something different to each and every person and is closely linked to your goals. If you’re just starting out then it might be to just get round the distance. Triathletes can get away with less run training since they already have some of the training effects from other sports that runners don’t have. In comparison, pure runners need longer, steady efforts to build their aerobic endurance and, as a result, will spend more time running.
Any answer to this question must also include strength and conditioning in the dialogue. A good rule of thumb is to ensure that 20% of your time is spent doing S&C. Therefore, for every four hours of running, you want to be doing one hour of strength work. Don’t be afraid to add a little more into the programme in activation and warming up.
Looking across most athletes in triathlon and single disciplines, here are a few of my observations that could be used as general guidance:
• Increasing the running frequency is always a better way to go than the overall volume per week: 3 x 30min runs is better than 2 x 45min runs. It allows a better building point. In fact, I’d rather see someone do 6 x 10mins if they’re trying to build mileage as the first step rather than 2 x 45.
• Running consecutive days is often a milestone to aim for rather than the norm. Athletes can look to build to running every day if they need to.
• Running twice in a day is a great way to break up a long run and ensure better form for the same duration.
• Triathletes need to run less and can build frequency with short brick runs. If you’re doing three bike sessions a week, then running for 10-15mins off the bike inevitably leads to an extra 30-45mins of running – that could be an additional 5-10km of run training without even doing a ‘session’!
• There’s no such thing as an ‘easy’ run on your body. You’ll still need to recover from it.