Optimal mileage for a runner

When runners start paying attention to mileage (weekly distance running), running - a sport that is simple - tends to become complicated. You will have some questions like "Have I run enough? Is it too much? Should I run with the distance of other runners? How to determine the best goal and volume?".

While none of those questions have a definite answer, according to Podium Runner, there are some helpful ways for every runner to find the answer for themselves. The site also invites two experts to share their views, and offer advice to runners looking for optimal mileage.

Bearden defines "optimal mileage" as "accumulating distance enough for you to reach your highest goal without affecting your life". More mileage can help you improve, but if running that distance negatively affects other important parts of your life, that's not optimal mileage. "The cumulative distance can only be called optimal, if it takes place in a full and happy life," Bearden emphasized.

Nell Rojas, a Boulder, Colorado-based running and strength coach, the first American female runner to finish the 2022 Boston Marathon and ninth at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic selection of American athletes, added that the optimal mileage of a single rider is runner is an easy concept to change.

For both Rojas and his students, the "optimal mileage" will "systematically go up and down throughout the year". For example, in the baseline phase, when building strength and running with fatigue-free legs is the primary goal, optimal mileage per week has the longest distance a runner can reach. When increasing exercises and intensity, the distance considered optimal can be reduced by 10 to 15% to give the runner more time to recover.

With all this distance and time, she knows she can stay healthy, recover well, perform exercises, put stress on the musculoskeletal and aerobic systems at a level just enough to help adapt in training. practice and get positive results in competition. Rojas gradually achieved that mileage since high school and continued to do so as he pursued a career in marathon running.

Meanwhile, Bearden found that most runners seemed to run well with mileage between 80 kilometers and 130 kilometers, or about eight to twelve hours of running per week. These are the runners who gradually reach that mass after years of persistent training with the daily life supporting such training.

For those who don't have a lot of time to exercise, Bearden wants them to gradually increase the amount of training until they stabilize the natural speed of easy runs. "To determine the right mileage, these runners can do more uphill and accelerated runs for a period of time until they can complete lighter runs at a slightly higher pace. ", Bearden said. These runners can then slightly increase running distance and reassess training volume.

Rojas lists several other factors that need to be taken into account when determining a runner's optimal mileage. It's the race you want to go to, like whether you're training for a 5km race or a marathon, injury issues, volume of training, motivation, how much time you plan to spend. for both training, fitness improvement, strength training, rest, recovery.

If the answer to all three questions is "yes," Bearden advises these runners to cautiously increase mileage. He emphasized the word "caution", because runners are prone to injury if they run too hard.

The line between "running enough to increase fitness and maintaining stability" and "running so much that it causes injury or exhaustion" is very thin. According to Bearden, some of the common signs of runners who are running too much are decreased motivation or interest in training, aches and pains, persistent feeling, excessive fatigue after a day of rest, and a gradual decrease in speed. at intervals and unusually heavy feet.

Rojas' philosophy on running volume is simple: "More is not always better". According to this coach, running less but regularly is better than running too much, getting injured, resting and repeating the process. She emphasizes that every runner is different, and with a little trial and error, a runner will find his or her optimal mileage.