![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() “Don’t be afraid to back off and don’t compare your training to anybody else’s-three days might work for you while three doesn’t work for somebody else. “Running is universal, but every body is different,” says Roberto Mandje, a former Olympic distance runner and the chief coach at New York Road Runners. ![]() “You’ll also have less tissue fatigue in your muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia, etc., resulting in a lower chance of overuse injury,” Harrison says.īut remember: It’s about what works for your body. If time isn’t the issue, the other major plus to running fewer days per week is less of an injury risk. Besides the fact that running won’t completely take over every one of your non-working or sleeping hours, “you’ll have less cumulative fatigue throughout your body, making for high levels of the anabolic hormones that trigger muscle growth and fat burning, and your cortisol-which has the opposite effect-will be lower,” says Alex Harrison, Ph.D., a certified strength and conditioning specialist, USA Track & Field-certified running coach, and sport performance coach for Renaissance Periodization. While running more isn’t going to hurt your half marathon chances (the best half marathoners run around 160 to 255 kms per week!), running less can actually help. Does that translate to the half marathon? “Definitely,” Pierce says. One landmark study found that when veteran marathons followed the three-day-a-week Furman Institute of Running and Scientific Training(FIRST) program developed by researchers Bill Pierce and Scott Murr for 16 weeks, they improved their finishing times by an average of almost 20 minutes. The reality is, life gets in the way.Īnd with most half marathon training plans calling for at least four or as many as six days of running per week, it’s almost like you’re setting yourself up for failure if you have a demanding job, a family, or a social life.īut you can train for a half marathon by running just three days a week. Everyone who signs up for a half marathon signs up with the best of intentions-we’re not going to skip a single km of our training plan, we’re going to cross-train at least twice a week, and we’ll definitely set aside dedicated time for recovery work. ![]()
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