via Physiotonic
1. The ‘THREE’ rule
Listen up all you runners out there…. Most runners don’t need to run anymore than 3 times per week. Here is the break up of what you should do:
- Run 1: A longer run (increasing the distance each week to help you get to your target). Keep in mind that to train for a marathon, you don’t need to run a marathon everyday. Your target distance to reach when training for an event should be about 85% of the race distance. Reach this peak distance a couple of weeks before the event, to allow time for tapering.
- Run 2: A medium distance run
- Run 3: A shorter, faster run. This is where you can add in sprints and hill workouts. This session helps improve your anaerobic fitness (i.e. your quick energy stores) which will then help improve your aerobic endurance.
2. Spread it out
Make sure your runs are spread out during the week so you don’t EVER run on consecutive days. By spreading out your running sessions, this allows your soft tissue structures to recover between sessions. If you push through too hard and run on too many consecutive days, then you are exposing yourself to injuries like stress fractures.
3. Vary it
On the “off” days from running, you can definitely still do a cardio session but vary the type of exercise you choose so its completely different to running. Give your joints a break by making sure each session outside of running isn’t high impact exercise. So choose a low impact cardio session such as swimming or cycling.
sport such as basketball, netball, squash or tennis. Instead, get on a bike or into the pool. This will allow you to exercise other parts of your body and give your joints a break at the same time.