Increasing your running mileage is the best way to improve your performance and become a better runner. However, many runners go about it in the wrong way. If you run more than your body can handle, then you're definitely going to encounter problems along the way. Therefore, when thinking about increasing your running mileage, safety should be your first priority.
Most fitness experts recommend the 10 percent rule as the only blueprint for safely increasing running mileage. This rule states that you should only add running mileage in percentage increases of no more 10 percent from each week to the next. Therefore, if you're running 10 kilometers this week and want to increase distance, you should only run one more kilometer so you can stay in the safe zone.
Nevertheless, this rule has its own limits and downsides. You can't go increasing running mileage forever. This article is going to teach you how to use the 10 percent rule to increase running mileage without losing your sanity.
Beginner Runners
If you're a beginner runner, then you should entirely forget the 10 percent rule. As a beginner, your main concern is to make running a habit and allow your body to get used to it. For some beginners, two to three workouts per week for 2 to 5 kilometer per workout is sufficient. Your goal here is not to increase mileage; it's just to acquire enough cardiovascular power to run straight without grasping for air.
Following the walk-run-walk method is a better training alternative than the 10 percent rule if you're a beginner runner - especially if you lack the endurance or fitness condition level to run for an extensive periods of time without trouble.
The walk-run-walk is simple: After a decent warm-up with a five minutes walk, run for a small segment - let's say for one or two minutes - and then take a walk break to recover from the previous running segment. And as training progresses, you can widen the running segments and shorten up the walking until you can run up to 20 minutes without much huffing and puffing. After reaching this training point, you could aim at increasing mileage.
How to Use the Ten Percent Rule
Let's suppose you are running three 3-milers (5k) a week now. Nine miles (around 14.5 kilometer) a week is a sufficient amount or training. As an example: You want to follow the 10 percent rule and increase your running mileage in the upcoming four weeks. Then how should your training schedule look like for the forthcoming 3 weeks?
Here is a training blueprint you can follow. There is not one solution to this question. Following the guidelines I just provided you with, a running plan could look as follows:
- Week 1: 3 - 3 - 3 Total = 9 miles (14.5 km)
- Week 2: 3 – 3 – 4 Total = 10 miles (16 km)
- Week 3: 4 - 4 - 4 Total = 12 miles (19 km)
You increase on week 3 by two miles. That's more than the ten percent rule. However, this is fine as long as you don't take notice of anything going wrong. Any sign of pain or discomfort should be regarded carefully.
Make Every Fourth Week a Rest Week
Nonetheless, on the fourth week, you should allow for recovery and limit your running mileage by more than forty percent. The recovery break gives your body the chance to rejuvenate and rebuild itself so it can adapt properly for the training load. The blueprint for consistent progress is to combine breakdown (training) and recovery (rest days). Don't feel the urge to do too much too soon; otherwise you'll regret it later on.
When the 10 Percent Rule is Too Much
When your running mileage is high, however, the 10 percent formula will start to become ridiculous and unnecessary. Fifty miles (80 km) a week is fifty-five miles (88 km) next week. This sounds insane and is a recipe to training disaster. In reality, most experts recommend that you must limit your weekly running mileage once you start running for more than 50 miles (80 km) a week.
