Dumb question alert !

[Rockette]

Hi all ,excuse my ignorance but when it says don't increase your distance more than 10% a week and I'm going to increase my time by 10% a week so that's 3 mins can I had 3 mins to every run or just 1 min each of the 3 runs . I'm paranoid of injury lol .Thanks in advance

[SuzyKK Graduate]

Hi @Rockette I assumed it meant one could do 3 additional minutes on each of the 3 runs, in that week...

[Rockette in reply to SuzyKK]

Lol thanks Suzy.

[Millsie-J Graduate]

If you now run 90 mins a week, you can add a further 9 mins for the week, i.e. 99 mins. Split it how you want. Similar if you increase distance.....10% of your total distance for the week.

Personally I would split it as a starting point.

[Hidden]

I did 3x 33 but then got bored and went for 10%distance increase on one run and 2 x 30. Tried one shorter quicker run and then got bored of that.

The 10% increase actually is quite a rapid increment once you get going.

Now I run 2x 5k and try to do a longer run and have (once) managed a 10k

It's all a bit random really but as long as I run 3 times a week I'm happy 😊

[Irishprincess Graduate]

Millsie-J 's suggestion is spot on. If you're running 15K a week (3 x 5K's) then you can run 16.5K the next week and divide that however you want.

One word of caution though. The 10% is the maximum and sometimes less is better. When I was working up to longer distances I increased no more than 5/6% rather than the 10%. Everyone is different and I took longer but like you I was paranoid about getting injured and this suited me perfectly,

It's also a good idea to have a week when you either reduce your total distance or keep it at the same level as the week before. It gives your body a rest.

[Millsie-J Graduate in reply to Irishprincess]

Great advice your Maj! As IP has suggested, go at your own pace.....you don't have to increase every week. It's a very good idea to consolidate the new distance every couple of weeks before increasing further!

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate]

Millsie-J has explained it beautifully Irishprincess has added excellent advice also

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

I posted this healthunlocked.com/couchto5.... a couple of years ago, which hopefully answers most questions about the 10% rule.

There are no dumb questions.........but do check the answers.