So I did 30 miles total last week. This might be a dumb question, but would it be too risky to jump to 35 miles this week?
I have 35 before and up to 42, but that was last August, so it’s been a while.
Idk I just feel like everyone’s always saying to be sure you should never build by more than 10% each week so a part of me is scared to go 30 —> 35 and not 30 —> 33.
Thanks
Depends on how much experience you have with building mileage. If you are on your first ever mileage build, increasing 2-3 miles per week might be the safest way to go. If you are building back after a training block or peak race, I wouldn't see a problem with increasing by 5mpw until you hit 50. After 50 mpw then go by the 10% rule.
The 10% rule is completely arbitrary and has zero scientific backing so no, you do not need to follow it.
As for whether that is a safe increase depends on a lot of factors. If you’re building back from an injury or have never consistently ran much higher mileage than that then increasing by more than 10% in one week is probably not the smartest. If your body is feeling good at 30 and you feel like you can handle more then don’t force yourself to drag your feet in your mileage build just to follow the 10% rule. You’ll know if it’s too much by how your body responds and will be able to back off if needed before it leads to injury.
Realistically, at that mileage you’re probably going to be fine with the increase unless you’re injury prone or aren’t following a smart training plan. Your body can handle a lot more volume than that and should quickly adapt to a small 5 mile per week increase without issue.
Not 10% wrote:
So I did 30 miles total last week. This might be a dumb question, but would it be too risky to jump to 35 miles this week?
I have 35 before and up to 42, but that was last August, so it’s been a while.
Idk I just feel like everyone’s always saying to be sure you should never build by more than 10% each week so a part of me is scared to go 30 —> 35 and not 30 —> 33.
Thanks
No, going to 35 and even 40 is not a big deal. But, if you do it for a few weeks, do make sure you get a down week in there. On the other hand, aren’t you in track season right now? Why the desire to build right now? If you are doing a bunch of intervals and racing now that you weren’t doing a couple of months ago, then I would be more careful.
Build the volume in the off season, then hold it while you start introducing harder workouts, then taper toward the end of the season.
You die if you don’t