[Complete Pete]

30 minute runs (3 miles for me) have their place. As my mileage creeps up, I find that a 30 min easy run is a great help, way better than a day off. I'm working on transitioning to 6 days of running per week. No major jump in mileage, it's just replacing 2 of my 3 days off with a 30 min easy run. I feel less sluggish the next day.<br><br>
It's a psychological boost, too. Cranking out miles and not even having it register on your mental workout radar makes me feel strong.<br><br>
That's for me, where I'm at in my training. I'm not promoting anything or giving advice; just sharing what I'm currently working on for the sake of discussion.

 

[RichardC]

I agree on the 3 mile run.. I still use it from time to time...

 

[SLOjim]

Maybe it's age ..... but it takes me at least 3 or 4 miles to get into a good groove.... I'm finding I enjoy my 7 and 8 milers more than if I try to do more short runs. Since I've turned 50, I've been experimenting with mileage and number of days/week and am finding 2 days a week of total rest is less stressful than spreading out my 40mpw into 6 days.... I try not to run more than 3 days in a row.

 

[RichardC]

Jim, it normally takes me 1-2 miles to get everything feeling right... My favorite distance to run is 12 miles.. however I only do that once or maybe twice a week... normally I run one hour which is 6 miles for me.

 

[rugby]

I run about 2 or 3 per month. I actually try to run them really slow on the tm only, just to work up a sweat. I can't run much more than 3 on a treadmill, to boring.<br><br>
rugby

 

[cliffburns]

I prefer an 8 mile run. It takes me about 3 miles to get into a groove too. 8 miles isn't so short that I've barely gotten into it, but not so long that I'm tired out at the end.

 

[Flounder]

Some of us have our minimums - 2 - 3 - 4. Mine just happens to be 4 - probably because when I set the minimum I was in shape enough that 4 was 30 minutes at easy pace.

 

[Dougie Fresh]

I liked a 3mi recovery run the day after a LSD, which for me is 7-10mi.

 

[Hippo]

I'll toss another thought into this: it always pays to be flexible and not get too wedded to a certain length of run.<br><br>
I ran a one mile run this week. That was my longest run since Feb 10 when I effed my knee up during a marathon. I'm ecstatic that I got my one mile run in at a pace that I consider to be my 50 miler race pace.<br><br>
This past weekend was going to be the first of 2008's 4 goal races for me. I had hoped to take a shot at breaking 100 miles in the 24 hour race that is held just up the road. Instead, I'm happy enough that I got in my 1 mile "long run." <img alt="smile.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/smile.gif"><br><br>
Sometimes the road back from an injury, a layoff, or getting old is long. It took me a long time to get past the inevitability that I will never again be able to bang out dozens of sub-six minute miles in a row.

 

[cgerber]

It usually takes me an hour to get "warmed up" to where I feel good... so I try to do an hour as my shortest run (on my lunch hours). Everything else is normally 90 minutes or longer.<br><br>
The hard part for me is getting out the door, so I figure once my fat carcass is out there in motion, it's best to heed Newton's advice and keep the body in motion <img alt="biggrin.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/biggrin.gif">

 

[Dougie Fresh]

I did a 1mi run last week. I wanted to do a "brick" workout using my new bike trainer so I biked 10mi and jumped on the TM and did 1mi to remind myself of that feeling of running off the bike. It's hard, especially when I haven't done a brick since last August.<br><br>
I run all kinds of different distances depending on my mood. My plan might say today is "4mi" but that could mean 3.8-4.5 depending on my route, what else I have going on and how I feel. Sometimes 6 could become 7 and 7 becomes 8 or 6 becomes 4. Whatever. It's just a plan. As long as I am not totally skipping out and the weekly total comes out to about what I planned I am good.

 

[Flounder]

Its all relavant and personal choice<br><br>
As far as exact mileage - I never know unless on TM - I have routes that I have my own agreed upon mileage, but never have GPSd them or driven them - I have just run them enough times. Other days I just run at an easy pace and call it something and then it doesn't matter where I go. It really doesn't matter to me if I went 19 or 21 or 20 miles.<br><br>
The other time is on the track, but the only time it really matters is on race day. Hrd pace is hard pace / Easy = Easy - not matter what the real minute mile pace is.

 

[RichardC]



Its all relavant and personal choice<br><br>
quote]<br><br><br>
Exactly!

 

[Dennis]

I believe it is important to vary distances, runs and paces. I averaged 58-62 miles a week in Jan & Feb training for the Shamrock marathon. And I found the short recovery 4 miler to be an important part of training.<br><br>
Long Runs & Pacing: My typical schedule included a mid week middle distance run of 11-13 miles and a weekend long run of 15-22 miles. Some of these runs were at marathon pace (9:10-9:20) and some of these runs were ran at 9:40-9:50.<br><br>
But I would toss in a 4 or 5 mile at recovery pace which is a 10 minute mile for me. I would also run a 3 miler at 5K pace with a mile warm up and mile cool down. I would do the same but substitute 3 miles on TM at 3.5 inclice. I would run 7-9 milers beginning at a 9:40 then progressively pick up pace as the run persisted.<br><br>
I agree with Pete that a short recovery run is important to training physically and psychologically. 2 days after the Shamrock marathon I used an afternoon 2 miler and an evening 3 miler to work out the stiffness. That enabled me to run a 7 miler stiffness & pain free and nearly at marathon pace only 3 days after a marathon.

 

[cgerber]

I agree with you Dennis on the short runs for recovery. A couple of 30-45 minute runs in the days following an ultra always seem to get me back on track faster than just doing nothing for a week. If I'm too beat up to run, I'll walk. It seems, at least to me, that the first 2-3 runs after a long race are always horribly miserable, so it's best to do a few short ones right after the race and get it over with.<br><br>
One thing I do that seems somewhat unusual in the running world is that I run by time and not distance. I run for however long I planned to run, then note the distance when I'm done. Since all my runs are on trails, and usually different trails, it seems to make more sense to go by time and heartrate vs just distance (or distance and time)... since there is a lot of variation. I have some 20 mile loops that I can run in 3 hours and some that take 12.<br><br><br>
I try to do a few easy one hour runs at lunch during the week, a few 90-120 minute runs at night or in the evenings, then long runs on the weekends. The long runs vary a lot in duration, but 3-8 hours is typical.

 

[sb70]

As usual..hippo is a genius!! I know I have learned to appreciate any pain free run, no matter the length!!

 

[RCL]

I can no longer replicate the distances I used to do 15-20 years ago, at least not day in and day out, so I need 30 minute runs to allow me to recover.

 

[Dougie Fresh]

What's a pain free run? <img alt="wink.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/wink.gif">