Better to run 7 days or 5 days a week?

why don't you do a seriously EASY run on one of those off days. seems like two days in a row is a little unnecessary.

You are a loser. If you need two days rest then you aren't training smart.

If you can handle that kind of daily mileage, why don't you do another double day and push it to near 100?

I plan on it, right now I just want to hit my weekly mileage goal. Im just wondering if its better to do it in five days or expand it out over the course of the week.Im not saying I NEED two days off, hell I could just skip the two doubles and make it 7 days. Just wondering physically if its better to finish it all up in five days or to expand the week out.

neofight wrote:

If you can handle that kind of daily mileage, why don't you do another double day and push it to near 100?

I would suspect that it would be better to expand it to at least 6 days. It seems that most runners either run 6 or 7 days a week, but not 5--if you stretch it out, you might be able to complete some of those runs at a stronger effort than if you were doing them as a second run of the day.

Are you training to run faster or to hit some arbitrary mileage number in your log???

Running 80 miles in 5 days as opposed to 7 days is two entirely different things. Your body is stressed more during the 5 days than it would be on 7 since the daily total is bigger, yet then you do nothing for 2 days every week...I'd guess you'll improve significantly less on the 5 day schedule.

Run good workouts and appropriate rest days of a consistent volume that your body can handle. The mileage total will then take care of itself. I don't even look at mine until I total it up at the end of the week.

Here is a schedule I would use to get 80;

Sun 20 long

Mon 8 recov

Tues 8 (4 mile tempo)

Wed 10 / 5 recovery.

Thur - 12 - however you feel.

Frid - 10 - however you feel OR tempo run.

Sun - 7 REALLY EASY.

3 days is the best, just ask Runners World

Thanks for the reply. Good advice :)

AH wrote:

Are you training to run faster or to hit some arbitrary mileage number in your log???

Running 80 miles in 5 days as opposed to 7 days is two entirely different things. Your body is stressed more during the 5 days than it would be on 7 since the daily total is bigger, yet then you do nothing for 2 days every week...I'd guess you'll improve significantly less on the 5 day schedule.

Run good workouts and appropriate rest days of a consistent volume that your body can handle. The mileage total will then take care of itself. I don't even look at mine until I total it up at the end of the week.

For 80 mpw the 20 mile LR seems a little too long. I would think running 6 days a week would be of more benefit, but I don't have much to base that on than personal experience.

slump dog wrote:

For 80 mpw the 20 mile LR seems a little too long. I would think running 6 days a week would be of more benefit, but I don't have much to base that on than personal experience.

I guess that would depend on what event he is aiming for. If he is aiming for 5/10K events, then 16 ought to be plenty.

When I was running 80 mpw, I never went farther than 16 for my long run. I didn't take a day off, but I would have one day where I didn't go farther than 6 miles. That left me with 58 miles over 5 days. For me, I ran 3 12-mile days and 2 11-mile days. I did it in singles, but it could be broken up.

Very good question. Interesting comments so far. Someone called you a loser for doing "nothing" for 2 days....Optimal Stress + Optimal Rest = Optimal Progress. Maybe 2 days off is optimal. I've used a 14 day cycle where it was 10-11 on, and 3-4 off. I was no slouch. The off days are PART of training. Training in CYCLES is the way. Microcycles, macrocycles. We get too caught up on The History Of Runing Schedules. Be unafraid to do what feels right for you. I do what many would consider a crazy assed running program from outer space, but I did a 4:33 Mile this year at 43yrs. It's a program that speaks to me.

how about 6 days a week.

u must be jewish.

I'm doing this now and I like it a lot...and improving too.

Training for 'thon

m 3 easy with a few strides

t 12 med to hard

w 3 easy with a few pick ips if I feel like it

t 12-15 med to hard

f 3 easy

s off or 3 easy

s 15-18 med to mp

You need to enjoy your training