Contents
Using weekly mileage increase, marathon training plans, a professional warm-up style and running volume to go the extra mile
Increasing anything should take time. Well, increasing anything of value should take time. Be it your career, family goals or emotional well-being, patience is a fundamental aspect of life.
For those in the fitness world already, you’ll know the above to be resonant. But without putting too much stress on your plate, how do you go about increasing running distance without decreasing motivation or sense of ability?
In truth, it can be a grind. Running mileage is a pretty important metric for those runners among us, and overuse injuries are a constant fear. But with a little guidance, a little direction, your plans to increase mileage over time, up your weekly running mileage and keep adding more miles until the sun starts shining will suddenly appear a lot easier.
Let’s run through it.
Miles per week
A simple, straightforward yet challenging tactic is to up your mileage per week. It sounds obvious and that’s not a bad thing; less time figuring out a complicated training plan the better. In essence, running distances is a simple way to run longer distances…simple. But how much should you aim for?
Most runners are aware of a ”10% rule”, a rule that is what it sounds like (adding 10% onto the distance each run) but to keep it simple, why not add 1-2 miles each week? After a few weeks, you could find a 5-mile or even a 7-mile increase to your overall running distance.
But that doesn’t mean you need to do this with every run. In fact, it’s often better to sustain the new distance with a few consolidating runs, reaffirming the new distance as a reachable target each time.
Recovery and rest
There’s no rest for the wicked, so they say. Well, thankfully, there should be plenty of rest for those who need it the most – runners. If you want to increase your mileage, then you’re wanting to increase muscular endurance, aerobic capacity, anaerobic abilities and strength. In order to do so, you need to take a few breaks here and there. Rest and recovery are so important to allow your body to acclimatise to the new goals you’re reaching. If you don’t give enough time, then you could find overuse, injury and actually the opposite effect of what you want, as many runners, unfortunately, find out all too well.
Rest up.
Conclusion
With two pretty straightforward methods, you’ll get brilliant results, trust me. But if you want a little more bang for your buck, then you could check running frequency or form training too.
In any case, improving what you’re already doing is always going to help you advance. With things like strength training, long run times, and diet, you can improve all that you need in no time.
FAQs
How do I best avoid overuse injuries?
All you need to do is calm down on the frequency side of things, and make sure you have the right gear, that you’re warming up properly and you know what’s best for your physical health.
