While this may seem like an easy question to answer at the onset, it is not. It really comes down to your experience as a runner and your ultimate goal.
If you are new to running, you have to strike a balance between working your large lower body muscle groups and resting them. Without proper rest, your chance of injury increases significantly. Most experts agree new runners should limit themselves weekly to:
• running three to four days
• cross-training for one to two days
• resting one day
Running
The number of days you run, or frequency, is only one aspect of running. The other two are distance (how far you run) and pace or intensity. Pace is important because it tells you how fast or how hard you run and it is typically expressed as the number of minutes it takes you to run one mile or kilometer (if you live outside the United States or United Kingdom). Usually, distance and intensity go hand-in-hand. If you run faster than normal, you will end up going a shorter distance overall as you will not be able to keep up that faster pace for the same distance as you would if you were running at your normal pace.
If you want to keep accurate track of your running pace, then you should buy a golf gps watch that can track your running pace, just like the ones in this article: https://golfgpsauthority.com/best-golf-gps-watch-with-fitness-tracker. The best dedicated running watches for 2024 like the Garmin Forerunner 965 come with even more running features such as pacing strategies and race prediction times and they also come with onboard music storage
Cross Training
On your cross-training days, chose at least one activity that you like to do. It can be swimming, weight training, cycling or you can choose from a myriad of other activities. Generally speaking, your cross-training event should work other muscle groups not used when running. This gives your muscle groups worked when running some time to heal and repair themselves.
Resting
Not running or doing cross training at least one day per week is essential to good muscle management. We know that without proper rest your chances for an injury increase, but you can also suffer from burnout or just poor results due to the fact that your muscles are just too weak to develop and get stronger.
Most non-competitive runners, in it for just the exercise, actually just jog. They tend to keep the same steady pace (intensity) for the duration of their run (distance). However, competitive runners, have different intensity levels:
• tempo run – A pace moderately faster than your normal pace. Tempo runs are usually shorter in distance and duration than a normal run.
• threshold – the fastest pace where you can still breathe deeply, but not strain to get enough oxygen. Beginners can usually sustain this pace for up to 30 minutes.
• VO2max – the fastest pace where you are breathing as hard as you can. Usually sustainable for only six to ten minutes.
• full sprint – the fastest your body can run for short distances. Usually sustainable for only 20 seconds.
If your goal changes and you decide you want to run for more than just exercise, you can experiment with each of the above paces as each one has a different effect on your body. Competitive runners use each pace at different times when either training for, or trying to maintain, a competitive running fitness level.
Learn to listen to your body; some days a threshold pace may seem easy while on other days it may be difficult. In the end, have fun with your run, allocate some days for cross training and take off at least one day for rest per week.
