A Better Way to Build Miles
Let’s talk about building miles! If you follow the Forward blog or Instagram at all, you know that I hate the 10% Rule. But the question I always get asked is, is there a better hard and fast rule when it comes to building miles?
Answer: There isn’t. Nobody likes this answer, but unfortunately, the reality is that every person and every body is different, so it’s impossible to say, “Everyone should be doing X to build their miles injury-free!”
Having said that, there are some structures (not rules!) that we can work with to encourage higher success rates when you’re building up your miles.
Cut back every 3–4 weeks
Try building your training into 3–4 week cycles. Why? A lot of physiological processes in the body take 3-4 weeks for adaptation to take place.
Let’s start with what a 3-week cycle would look like. Weeks 1 and 2 would be your building weeks. In these weeks, you’ll be adding mileage or intensity (but not both – more on that shortly). Week 3 would be your cutback week; in this week you drop your overall total mileage and intensity (including speedwork and long runs!).
Working in a cycle like this gives your body the much-needed break that it needs to build and let adaptation take effect.
How do you know if you should do a 3- or 4-week cycle? It’s a little bit of trial and error. Start with a couple of 3-week cycles. If you’re feeling really good, you can try throwing in a 4-week cycle (three weeks of building followed by a cutback in week four).
Alternatively, if you start with a 4-week cycle and you’re really lagging by the time you get to the end of week 3, that might be a sign that you’re doing too much for your body. Try scaling back to a 3-week cycle.
Pick a weekly focus
We’re runners. We like to get it all done in a week – long runs, speedwork, easy miles, track work. It makes our brain feel accomplished. Unfortunately, our body doesn’t necessarily agree. If you’re building your miles and you’re new or getting back into it after a break or injury, don’t tackle both intensity and mileage building in the same week. Pick one!
Let’s look at a sample week. Say you have a base-building week where you’re running 3 to 5 easy runs per week. The next week, pick a focus and alter one of your runs this week. If you want to add miles or intensity to your long run, don’t add miles or intensity to any of your other runs this week. Or if you decide you want to add some speedwork this week, then change one of your base-building runs to speedwork (which adds intensity) and keep the rest of your runs easy.
It’s that simple. Pick one run each week and change it. You want your body to know what it’s in for this week.
Feel it out, but carefully
Here’s the hard part about your training: It shouldn’t feel hard (all the time!) If the majority of your runs feel “too easy” or like you’re not pushing hard enough, then IMHO you’re doing it right. You can’t will your body to adapt faster than it is physically capable of. For most people, it’s a lot slower than we want and a lot slower than what our running community has been led to believe.
That being said, you should also be careful in listening to your body. Your body’s initial warning signs can be subtle. Just “not feeling like it” could be your first warning sign. Look for things like:
Really tired legs for more than 2-3 runs in a row that aren’t changing.
Soreness that lasts longer than 3 days.
Inability to get out of bed in the morning.
Tightness getting out of bed or sitting/stillness for a long time.
Social media will tell you things like “Go for a run when you don’t feel like it, because that’s when you need it most.” That’s not real! If you’re here reading this, chances are that you like running more often than not. You probably also push yourself into running whatever is on your training plan, whether you feel like it or not. Take it from me – if you don’t feel like it, don’t run! Your body might be trying to tell you something.
The rule here is…
… there is no rule. A lot of building your miles is trial and error because you are uniquely you – no one else can know your physiology better than you.
Yes, you can work with a coach or a trainer. Yes, you can follow a training plan. But with all these things, know that nothing is set in stone – you can and SHOULD modify your training plans according to your body and your needs.