Best use of 3 runs a week?

4 days a week:

Tues: Intervals or tempo progression run (7-8 miles total)

Thurs: Steady state tempo (1 warm up + 5 tempo + 1 cool down)

Sat/Sun: At least 20 miles easy split between the two days depending on your schedule.

Because you're doing harder/longer workouts, I'd add a rest day after each of the workouts, hence I suggest doing the workouts mid week. Plus a rest day after the weekend long runs.

Try to get 20+ miles in over the weekend over two runs. Something like 14 miles one day + 6 miles the other day.

SouthernFriedRealist wrote:

COACH WIZARD 1 wrote:

I have coached USA hobby joggers on just 3-4 session per week with very good results. Then one maxVO2 workout ,one LT interval and one-two steady distance runs.

magic@coachjs.se

Running nearly 100% of your mileage at a harder effort is a recipe for disaster. A runner who only runs a couple of times a week will have no aerobic foundation and will not be able to recover well in-between higher efforts.

To be fair, a) I think the assumption is that one has already has an aerobic foundation, one is not beginning with someone untrained/unused to harder running, b) one will develop aerobically through all four of the mentioned types of run, c) one might well be doing light aerobic work on other days, e.g. cycling too and from work.

In general, I agree with the general consensus that one can get far on 3-4 days if all of them have good quality, with a mix of paces, especially if one is aerobically active the other days; but I would suggest that a 2 hour easy long run as some have suggested is not optimal, better with an hour to an hour and a half at a steady clip (or progressive, or a marathon pace tempo, or very long intervals, etc) if one is aiming at a 5km or 10km.

SouthernFriedRealist wrote:

COACH WIZARD 1 wrote:

I have coached USA hobby joggers on just 3-4 session per week with very good results. Then one maxVO2 workout ,one LT interval and one-two steady distance runs.

magic@coachjs.se

Running nearly 100% of your mileage at a harder effort is a recipe for disaster. A runner who only runs a couple of times a week will have no aerobic foundation and will not be able to recover well in-between higher efforts.

The fact that you suggest the same three hard workouts a week for high school kids through adults and lower mileage through higher mileage shows you have no idea what you're doing. You just throw the same recipe at everyone which results in poor long-term success, which you've shown us time and time again.

.

Again you just shows evidence of your ignorance.From where did you get your claim of three hard workouts? Besides the workouts I give my runners are not hard, just perfectly individual calibrated too fast durable improvement .That`s the Dancan way of smart training with reduced injury/overdoing risk.

I have seen many runners train 3-4 days per week on "quality"

They don't develop aerobically, but plateaux. They actually lose their aerobic base over time. Eventually they get injured.

I would recommend one hard session, and maximise easy mileage on the other days.

lolz, 3 runs a week and you too can run a 2:17 marathon!!

There are no short cuts. On 3 runs a week you get get wooped by anyone half decent.

Back in the 90s I knew a guy who ran pretty well off of 3x/week running. By well, I mean something like 5 or 6 minutes slower than his marathon PR.

Each week he ran:

1 easy 20 miler

1 hard 20 miler (or large portions of it hard)

1 long reps workout (like mile repeats or something similar)

This is correct! Dancan is the smart training! So smart it's the only training that guarantees the athlete will get slower.

It's so magic it takes a 62 minute half marathon runner and turns him into an amazing 2:19 marathoner.

Special Dancan is so smart!

tarckstar wrote:

Long.

Tempo.

Intervals appropriate to target race, otherwise long ones.

+1

especially for people over 40 years, 3 runs / week are pretty good to prevent injuries (and a training stop) or to improve recovery. the training of furman / first is based on 3 runs / week and two additional days of aerobic crosstraining (like cycling). the training plans are really good.

i'm almost 52. i am fine with 3 runs per week because i cycle to work, that's enough i stay healthy and i'm focused in training, with more runs there is always a violation. i agree with the poster who thinks that you can reach about 90% of your potential with 3 runs. with 3 runs plus aerobic crosstraining on other days even more. not recommended for elites but for masters or people living in the real world (job, familiy, stress, interests).

straight to the point wrote:

lolz, 3 runs a week and you too can run a 2:17 marathon!!

There are no short cuts. On 3 runs a week you get get wooped by anyone half decent.

Genius!

Bro, if not like everyone doesn’t know this.

This thread is about people who’d love to run more but their lives don’t allow for it at the moment.

Alan, you’re so full of bs. You’ve a different story on every thread. Make up your mind…

+1

I have recently gone through the same as you, decreasing your running. It did coincide with taking up more cross training on a spin bike at home (easier to fit in around work/ family). I have moved to time based training so that I can count my cross-training volume. I now do 4 runs Long (90m), Tempo (55m), Speed/ Hill/ Fartlek (55m), Medium long (60m), with 3 hours on the bike. This has actually resulted in me getting fitter, not picking up injuries, and having more time for a little strength training at home.

If cross training is an option to replace your easier runs, I think you can actually maintain/ improve.

Honestly, you got a lot of generic replies here. Yes, everyone knows vo2max, theshold and a long run is the safe answer that covers all the bases. But you're running 5k 10k.

3 thresholds. If you can run 4, 4 thresholds. You can do them norwegian style or you can mix it in with 1600m+ cruise intervals, fartleks, hills, 50min faster than m pace, standard 20-25min daniel's style threshold. No easy runs, and I probably wouldn't do any vo2max either since you'll burn yourself out with this much quality. You won't really need to sharpen since you're going to get so fit off the massive amount of LT runs.

I'm going to bring this thread back out of the shadows. I also believe that you can almost reach your personal potential with it, especially as a masters runner. A simple list:
+ better recovery and lower risk of injury
+ three runs with real quality (my tempo runs are significantly faster at the same effort level)
+ mentally you are sharper and look forward to the runs
+ there is always the chance to do more (cross training)
- you sometimes feel guilty (my neighbor is running again and I am having a rest day, am I lazy?)
- it requires a change of mindset (yes, today I am really not doing anything because tomorrow will be hard)
- you have to be willing to push yourself on the three days, that is often more difficult than you think
- adding cross training is not that easy because sometimes you realize the next day when you are running that it was a mistake
I have had good experiences with this pattern (54 years old):
Wednesday: 20 x 1min/30s walking rest (5k pace if possible), all year round
Friday: long tempo day, 10 miles, rarely up to 12 miles (a good part of it at 5k pace + 20s per k)
Sunday: long run, 15 miles, rarely up to 18 miles (progression run for example, the main thing is that it is not easy)
filler days: light strength training (push-ups ...) or light hiking in the mountains or light cycling, but never more than 30 minutes

The best use is to become a 400m runner. You can run a good 400m with 3 runs a week. One top speed, one speed endurance (5*200m or similar). You could use the third slot to go to the gym if you have no other time to so any exercise, or you could do hills or something. You won't run your best possible 400 off this but you won't be too far away.

Essentially, with 3 runs a week, you will run nowhere near your best at any long event, but could run well over the shorter stuff. I'd prefer the feeling of attacking a new event and going for the latter.

If you do want to go for distance, then I'd do a hard tempo of 30 mins, a V02 max workout, and a hill repeats workout.

I somehow missed that thread when it first popped up.

Thanks for reviving it as I am currently on 3 to 4 runs per week.

My goal races are short trails (5 to 15 miles for now, considering moving up to 20 miles sometimes) with a bit of vert without being full-on mountainous.

For now my typical week would be :

- one long run (approx 75 to 100 minutes) on varied terrain (mostly trails, some hills). Mostly easy effort but by feel (no strict HR restriction although I very rarely go higher than 140 I would guess - I don't have a HR monitor, just measure it the old way when you feel you've just made a significant effort).

- one shorter easy run with a handfull of strides at the end with longer jog recoveries

- one workout I tend to think about as a sub-T (typically 10-15min warm up then 3x7min30 @ approx 2hr race effort with 2min30 rest then whatever is needed as a cool down to come back home but I can modulate for some other structures keeping the idea of longer intervals with some healthy dose of recovery in between and at least 20 minutes of warm up and cool down at easy effort around that). I sometimes check my HR at the end of the last rep and am happy if it's no higher than 160, but the main thing is that it must feel like something I can sustain for 2 hours.

- if I have time for a 4th run, it would probably be a non-taxing speed/power work, which could also be interpreted as glorified strides. Typically a longer warm up then a bunch of 30s accelerations from recovery to all-out with 2min jogged recoveries. Usually on not too steep trails as I see benefits in doing them from very slight downhill to significant but still runnable uphills. If I spent more than 2 weeks without this session, I could swap the sub-T session for this.

I'm not saying this is optimal for everyone. I just like that schedule and feel like I'm progressing whithout feeling fatigued. It also alignes well with some of my beliefs in what I should train in my situation and how I can train those elements.

A 90 minute run.

A 90 minute run.

A 90+ minute long run.

If you want to mess with threshold or other pacing in any of those given runs, have at it. But even doing most or all of them easy will probably help you a lot.

Perhaps one more comment. As I said, I also run the 20 x 1min/30s walking rest in winter, but the long tempo day is only 8 miles long in total and the long run is around 80-90 minutes; both are pretty fast though. From February onwards, I increase it usually to the higher volume that I described in my first post here.

I notice that I really need the rest days (probably because of my age) and will pay more attention to the filler days/rest days in the future than in the past (i.e. only very light activities). The adaptation processes are simply more optimal and the quality of all three runs is appropriate. With this program, I have reliably achieved well over the 80% mark of the age graded times for years.

If I was running 3 days a week, would it be OK to do a 15 miler if my weekly total is 30 miles...?