By Kristen Carter
Runners, particularly distance runners, often have a love affair with mileage. We think that the more miles we put down every week the faster we will run. We look to the super elites who are running well over 100 miles per week and think that to run better times we must run more miles. However, far to often runners will increase their miles without adjusting their running intensity. I have seen many a well intentioned runner get injured because she tried to bump up her mileage and intensity simultaneously.
Over a dozen years of personal experience, research and observation have taught me that to stay healthy the average runner must keep mileage and intensity on opposite ends of a see-saw. As mileage goes up, intensity must go down (or at least not be increased) and vice versa. This can mean you start hitting the track more often for speed workouts or you start running further every day–just don’t try to do both things at once. This is at least true until your body adjusts to either the increase in mileage or intensity. If both are increased simultaneously, or even if one is increased without reducing the other, you are risking injury.
How do you avoid the “injury zone”? Here are three tips to help you stay healthy.
- Don’t increase your mileage by more than 10% every three weeks. Thus, if you’ve been running 50 miles per week and want to bump up your mileage, try 55 miles for three weeks. If that feels good try 60 miles per week.
- Listen to your body! Every body is unique. Your body will give you signs if you are approaching the injury cliff. Listen to these signs and back down when you hear them.
- Focus on your goals and decide if increasing intensity or mileage will be more beneficial. Training for a 5k PR? Maybe you need to add in more track and tempo work. Gunning for your first half-marathon? Perhaps you need to increase your mileage for awhile.
