What is the Science Behind Running Every Day?

Why?

Because people who run 7 days a week are better than those that 6.

Now in the mid-30's a strength day may not be so bad. But you're still at it 7 days.

His question is typical of non-runners who don't understand running, why people do it or really ever pushed himself.

HRE wrote:

Eee wrote:

Actually yes. Plenty of runners have run well off of 1-3 days off per week.

He said "great."

I saw what he said. My statement remains true.

Eee wrote:

Math whiss wrote:

I am correct. Any time you aren't running you're recovering. If you spent two hours running today then you spent 22 hours recovering.

You are not correct. Recover and recovering are different things.

Present and progressive tenses as the same verb. Keep digging kid.

Eee wrote:

HRE wrote:

He said "great."

I saw what he said. My statement remains true.

Yeah I'm sure they ran some great BQ's.

It's more about what type of running you do. How many of your runs are hard sessions and how many are easy. I'm in my 40s and I'm a sub 3 hour marathon runner and a coach. Still learning all the time though.

There isn't one right answer to your question which isn't very helpful.

From experience I know that if I trained hard 6 days a week I initially got better quite quickly but eventually I suffered from overtraining and I started to slow.

So I had to work out days to train hard and days to run easy. On the easy days I run really easy, over 4 hour marathon pace for anything from 3 to 7 miles.

I usually run Mon - Easy Tues - Hard Wed - Easy Thur - Hard (track) Fri - Rest Sat - Hard Sun - Long Run

That works for me and a lot of my runners.

So I happen to run 6 times a week and I'm improving but I wouldn't shoot someone down if they did run 7 times a week as long as they had recovery runs at a slow pace.

I know a former international runner who used to do 125 miles a week and he said he couldn't do that mileage unless a lot of it was at a slow pace compared to his race pace. So he was doing 7 min mile pace in a lot of his training, but running a 2h 11 m marathon. He was killing his speed sessions though.

Also I have 2 runners both in their early 20's (their choice to do them that young, and I've changed my opinion and thing they're right to run them) and both about 2h 45 for a marathon. One does about 40 miles a week but doesn't have a car so does a lot of cycling (just for transport), the other is up to 80 miles a week. I'm not convinced the one that does 40 miles a week would improve if he did more. Knowing him I think he might get injured as he'd probably push every run hard. The one doing 80 miles a week is obsessed with numbers and I'm sure he'll be doing 100 miles a week soon. I'm happy while he's improving to stay at 70 or 80 but if I say do a 80 miles a week, he'll do 90. He's just that type of person. It's really interesting to compare the 2 to see who will come out on top. A challenge for me as a relatively new coach to keep both improving.

So from my limited experience, sometimes less is more. Although less could mean running at a slower pace or having a rest day.

Run twice a day everyday! That's all the science you need.

Eee wrote:

HRE wrote:

He said "great."

I saw what he said. My statement remains true.

It doesn't remain true because it wasn't true to begin with.

tracknoob wrote:

The point is to make sure you get recovery days in at least once every week.

Why does 7 seem to be the magic number?

I give my runners microcycles of 10-12 days.

break or brake wrote:

math whiss wrote:

You need not take a full day off to recover.

If you're in your 30s like the OP, it's probably a good idea.

I am in my late 30s, run every day, and haven't had a serious injury in over a decade.

The science behind running every day is that science hasn\'t yet added anything valuable to running (apart from drugs).

Surely the key question for anyone other than someone trying to be the best in the world would be "roughly how many seconds faster over a 5k would I be if I ran every day vs 6 days vs 5 days etc etc

My entirely unscientific personal opinion is that for most people varying your schedule by adding in 1 extra rest day is unlikely to make much more than 20s difference over such a distance, so therefore it needs to be up to the runner to determine whether the commitment of that extra day of running is worth the few seconds of improvement.

I run only three times a week because that is all I can justify in my family life. As someone who only started running in their very late 30s, that took me to an 89 minute half. Perhaps with 5 runs per week I could get that time down, but its not worth it to me or my family, so I don't.

My oh my wrote:

kj wrote:

.... If you replaced a day of running with a day of strength, you will be faster and better."

...

Seems like I remember hearing a great Kenyan or two that ran 6 days a week, but that was much more the exception than the norm, and seemed like an extreme example where the easy day was completely no running. They were still getting in mega mileage with 11-12 runs per week. If you're having trouble recovering, 6 days a week wouldn't be a horrible idea, but probably not necessary.

Jared Ward runs six days a week.

However, I think the OP was asking about great runners only running 3-4 days a week.

Kip Keino reportedly only ran 3 days per week.

As a 38 year old, and without commenting on the detail, I'd certainly recommend that runners in their 30s think very hard about what training they're doing and what would work best.

You're not 23 any more and you're a very difficult animal now to what you were then. Your body's requirements have changed to some degree and its response to stimulii has changed.

I've found that there's less need to focus on mileage as I've got many years of running in the bank so now its just maintenance, recovery from hard efforts is more important and you need to try and maintain speed. Managing aches and strains is also crucial.

This all points towards an approach that focuses more on making the best of the aerobic base your body has and keeping free of injury/fatigue, rather than trying to "increase the size of the engine" as you might be looking to do whilst still developing.

Eee wrote:

Math whiss wrote:

I am correct. Any time you aren't running you're recovering. If you spent two hours running today then you spent 22 hours recovering.

You are not correct. Recover and recovering are different things.

Your brain must hurt every time you open your mouth.

gateshead83 wrote:

Ya ya ya wrote:

But the great runners run more than 7 times a week.

I heard Joe Vigil answer a question about cross training/ triathlons at a clinic. He said "That training is fine ... for weaker minds."

I wonder if this PT is into Triathlons or he's stuck in the 80's where "low mileage" was the rage.

"Low mileage" was the rage in the 1980s? Compared to the 1970s, maybe, but you should see what runners do now. 30 miles a week and they think they're ready for a marathon.

That's what the weekend warriors do. The competitive runners today are running more mpw than the ones in that era.

I´m 47 years old, and there´s not way in hell I can run every day. I used to be a reasonably good runner (31 min 10k) but nowadays it´s more a question of keeping the ball rolling rather than trying to do high mileage or superhero workouts.

Needing to take a day off from any sort of running (unless you are injured) depends on your fitness - or perhaps your lack of fitness. Nobody would suggest a person can't go for a walk 7 days a week. But the general unfit population sees any run as being hard and "hard on your body". Which simply isn't true, unless you are so unfit that you are unable to run at an easy pace without it actually being hard on you (a workout). Which is what non-running people, like your PT don't understand because any run is hard for them. A fit runner can do an easy run that just isn't a workout and isn't going to be breaking down their body any more than a walk would - and, what's more, it will aid recovery from a hard workout the day before.

I have observed through coaching older runners a few things.

Runners in their 30's might need an extra day between hard sessions but in most cases do not need a day off. On really sore days they can go run on trails or some other soft surface and feel way better the next day.

For runners in their 40's and up I like to throw in a rest day every now and then. On these days they can water run, bike, or something else so that they are active. Sometimes we get a little out of control with a session or they run a hard race and we go for a complete rest day.

I have experimented a little with the idea of having a rotating schedule for mileage where if an athlete is used to running say 80 miles per week we will go for around 80 over a seven day period then take a rest day and start tallying the mileage again over the next seven days. This keeps them confident and it seems to help over the long haul.

I have noticed a tremendous difference in runners that had run a lot in their 20's and 30's that are now master runners than those that did little in their 20's and just picked up the sport in their 30's. The latter example is not quite as worn down as the experienced runners are.