How to increase your running distance
As a runner, I read about running a fair bit. But no matter which running magazine I'm browsing or sports website I'm looking through, I keep seeing so-called “experts” recommend the 10% rule and for me, it doesn't work. I'm not sure I agree with it and here's why...
The 10% Rule simply states that you should only increase mileage in increments of 10%. So if you are running 20 miles this week and want to increase mileage, you should only run 2 more miles in order to stay “safe” and keep the risk of injury due to over load to a minimal.
Let's look at this from a recreational runners perspective.
Say I'm a 10min/mi runner. Adding 2 more miles onto my weekly total is an extra 20 minutes of running. Then adding another 10% on to that the following week, means I'm adding 42 minutes of running to my weekly total and in 3 weeks, It'll be over an extra hour!
It feels like a lot, in a very short space of time. And I don't know about you but I'm time limited for my week day runs, so I'd be looking at doing that for my Sunday run. Adding just an extra mile to the end of my 6 mile run can feel like a slog, especially when I'm tired and my running form has slipped. Pushing it to two, just isn't going to work.
So I use a gentler approach and that's the 10% time on feet method.
All runners will have a mileage sweet spot and the time it takes them to run that distance. It's the lazy, comfortable Sunday morning run. If it takes you 60 minutes to do that run then that's your starting point for increasing your 'time on feet'.
Once a week, for one run only, increase your 60 minutes by 10% (run for 66 minutes). The next week, take the 66 minutes and increase that by 10% = 72 mins. The following week, take the 72 minutes and increase that by 10% and so on and so on.... It means that you have a slower load increase and gives your body more time to adjust. Mentally it feels more manageable too. Your other runs won't suffer and you'll still be able to give your speed sessions a good go. And don't worry about the distance. That will come automatically as you run for longer duration's.
So if you're a recreational runner and you're thinking about training for a marathon. Or you're just wanting to run a bit further and are confused on how to start, try the 10% time on feet method.