How many days a week do you run?

[Wannaberoadrunner]

I plan to get to the point where I feel I can run every day.

I'm not there yet and I've been running for a while, but I want to take my time to get there. I run about 2/3 days a week.

How many days a week are you all running?

[MissUnderstanding Administrator Graduate10]

I usually run three or four days a week. That works well for me. I’ve previously tried running more but that usually means dropping gym/swim sessions and those are important. I definitely do better with proper rest days.

[Cmoi Graduate10]

I've been running a fraction over three years and now mostly run three or sometimes four times a week. However last week I did two short runs, as it was too hot - I don't cope well in the heat - and I was too busy with other stuff.

I've never run daily, and the only time I've ever done four or five runs a week was during trail marathon training. That was plenty for me, I need my rest days.

Also, fwiw, my younger brother has been running 40 years and usually runs three times a week.

[SueAppleRun Graduate10 60minGraduate]

I aim to run 4 days a week but often 3 and occasionally 5, I have run every day for a while, much shorter runs though,

[cheekychipmunks Graduate10]

I’ve been running for 5 years and tend to run 3 or 4 times each week. However, I’m fortunate not to be injury prone and don’t bat an eyelid at running on consecutive days. I do make sure I don’t run the day after a particularly long or hard run however. 😀

[Oldfloss Administrator 60minGraduate]

Three or four for me usually... and always a rest day in between... I know you've run before but have not been running regularly for a while.. You started back about a month ago after a while off? Maybe ease back in gently.. ?

I'd say .maybe, best to get back enjoyably and not risk injury

[nowster Graduate10]

My suggestion is to keep things at 4 days per week maximum until you've been running regularly (again) for about six months.

Then gradually over a couple of months vary up and down between 4 and 6 running days per week, taking rest days after any harder or longer runs. Vary the types of runs you're doing.

I ran every day this year between 1 January and 30 March, only stopping because I tripped and fell whilst doing my warm up walk on 31 March, deeply scraping one knee.

My daily runs varied in distance between 2.25km (12 minutes) and a Half Marathon (2h10m).

One thing I did notice when running every day was that the absence of any rest days meant my performance was beginning to tail off.

I'm now doing between 5 and 6 runs per week again and my performance is getting back to normal.

One lady I'm following on Strava (Ju-Ju of the Magic Plan fame) has been running every day for over five years now, but only runs about a mile most days, with the occasional longer run. She does, however, do a lot of gym work too.

[Zev1963]

I have been running since C25K in 2014. I run 3 times a week at the moment, and have done most of the 9 years I've been running. Tuesday speed intervals (NRC 2nd Speed Run, which I finish with a recovery run up to the 5km mark). Thursday gentle 5km run. Sunday gentle 1.5 hour run. I've done a lot of reading recently about how many runs a week is best. It seems that for recreational runners between 3 and 5 is about right. Too much running is counter productive as your body does not have time to repair between runs, and performance drops. 80% of your running should be at recovery pace.

[chrisl72 Graduate10]

Interesting thread, thank you for posting. I'm also pondering if/when to increase from 3 runs per week. It is typically 3x per week for me since starting c25k earlier this year - occasionally 4 times, but always with a day in between.

I'm contemplating running twice at the weekends and keeping the two mid-week runs so would be running Tues/Thurs/Sat/Sun.

[Curlygurly2 Graduate10]

I normally run every other day, so 3 times one week, 4 times the next. That works well for me, leaves time to fit other stuff in on the rest days, usually walking. I like both running and walking.

I have had periods of running every day, or almost every day, but if I do that I tend to prefer shorter runs.

[Freecloud Graduate10]

Great reading this thread. I mostly run 5 days a week with a long run 20k+ on a Sunday morning. I think I have been following some form of marathon training plan over the past 2 years and blend the run or one matching it from the NRC app.

A piece of advice I would give is to make sure that most of your runs during the week are at a slow conversation pace or close to it.

[misswobble Graduate10]

Ju Ju who moderated this board was a daily runner so her posts on the subject are worth a read 🙂

The definitive articles on running every day are from the late, great Ron Hill. He wrote about it a lot. He was running daily til shortly before his death

I run four or five times a week now. When I first started running a four day a week plan I thought it would kill me 😫 just build up carefully and you should ok. Daily runners won’t be running far though bear in mind. If you want to run long you’ll need more rest days to allow recovery time

Good luck 🙂👍