Comments on: Forget the 10% Rule: How to Increase Mileage Safely

By: How to Ramp Up Your Mileage to Get in the Best Shape of Your Life

How to Ramp Up Your Mileage to Get in the Best Shape of Your Life — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 19:02:18 +0000

[...] do you increase your mileage and how do you do it safely? You should already know that I think the 10% rule is incomplete at best and bogus at [...]

By: Lee

Lee — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 22:18:12 +0000

Great advice. I always wondered where the 10% rule came from and wondered if there was some genuine research that lead to the common usage.

By: Mileage – "Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end; then stop.” ~ LC

Thu, 11 Aug 2011 15:37:07 +0000

[...] Fitzgerald over at Strength Running has a post that dissects the 10-percent rule and provides some advice on how he thinks you can safely increasing running [...]

By: Fitz

Fitz — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 10:24:57 +0000

Thanks for your comment. You’re right – increasing mileage is incredibly personal and depends on what you’re ready for. That’s an interesting method that you tried during the early 1990′s!

By: runbei

runbei — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 01:53:07 +0000

I agree that rigid rules like 10% are of doubtful value – we are just too individually talented and must make progress at our own pace. I’ll share an experience with increasing my mileage, in hopes that it will help others.

In the early 1990s, I bumped my training from 10-15 miles per week to alternating weeks of 45 and 60. I ran only every other day, so I was doing all 15-milers. I took a year and a half to increase mileage, adding 1/2-mile to each run every other week. During those 18 months I missed not a single day due to injury or overtraining. I did miss one day after a bad reaction to a flu shot. It was an enjoyable experience. I thought of it as the Inch-Up Method. It worked infallibly well. My goal was to train for slow-paced marathons – “just to finish.” If I had it to do again, I would choose a different method entirely. I would do two short recovery runs during the week, no more than 30 minutes, and put most of my effort into a single weekend long run.

For the long runs, I would probably do a monthly rhythm of long > medium > long > medium until the long runs reached – what? maybe 24 miles? Anyway, at a point where I wasn’t recovering quickly enough from the long runs, I might switch to: very long > medium > long > medium. “Very long” being 24-26 miles, and “long” being perhaps 20.

I would let RECOVERY determine everything. I would evaluate recovery by watching the inner quality of my runs. If there was a forced, contractive, disharmonious feeling during the long runs, I would back off and re-set my training until I was sure that each run felt expansive and happy. If your body ain’t enjoying it, it for sure ain’t improving. My old-guy 2 cents worth (I’m 69).

By: Building Strength and Preventing Injury: Lessons from Cross Country | Run It Fast

Fri, 25 Feb 2011 06:48:34 +0000

[...] To increase mileage, back off on the intense workouts. Learn from the previous lesson and switch a fartlek or interval session to a hill workout. Replacing grueling interval workouts with volume will help you become a faster runner in the long-term. High total mileage was always reinforced during cross country season and often took a backseat to fast workouts during track. Don’t make this mistake. [...]

By: 3 Ways to Make 2011 Your Best Year Ever | Running in the Family

3 Ways to Make 2011 Your Best Year Ever | Running in the Family — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 15:51:18 +0000

[...] adding an extra mile or two to a few runs every week. Whatever option you choose, make sure you increase mileage gradually and include a day of complete rest or a short, easy run [...]

By: Fitz

Fitz — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 18:21:46 +0000

Rest days are so important, especially for new runners. You can make bigger jumps if you’re recovering properly.

By: David Csonka

David Csonka — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 14:23:46 +0000

Yeah, I’m not sure either how well the ol’ 10% rule works. I was helping my brother prep to do his first ever 5k, and he only had a month to get from couch potato to doing 3 miles. I didn’t use the couch-to-5k program, I devised a custom program for him, starting out with some mild running plus strength work. I made him give me feedback everyday so I could gauge how he was doing, and how he felt each day really determined how much of a distance/intensity increase I would recommend.

I had him alternate between interval running some days, to sprints drills on others, and finally long runs as well. Also, the workouts would usually begin and end with squats, crunches, and stair runs. In the beginning he had initial signs of shin pain, but I got him to do more calf stretching after his workouts, and that loosened the tightness which was antagonizing the shin muscles.

Rest days, and managing his diet/sleep were also pretty important. Overall, I was very impressed with how he performed on race day. He did the whole 3 miles without stopping, I was so proud!