Running training tips
Run most of your weekly volume easy enough to hold a conversation, keep one harder session and one longer run, add distance slowly rather than in jumps, and treat sleep and food as part of the training. Almost every running problem is one of those five things being out of place.
Lire en françaisRun easy more often than you think
The most common mistake in recreational running is that easy runs are too fast and hard sessions are too slow, so everything lands in a grey middle that builds fatigue without building fitness. Roughly four fifths of your weekly minutes should be easy: nasal breathing possible, full sentences possible, no urge to check your watch.
The pay-off is that the remaining fifth can be genuinely hard, which is where speed comes from.
A week that works at any level
Never place two hard days back to back, and keep the long run away from the quality session by at least a day.
| Days per week | Structure | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | 1 easy run, 1 longer run | Build the aerobic base first |
| 3 | 2 easy runs, 1 longer run | Consistency before intensity |
| 4 | 2 easy, 1 quality, 1 long | First real speed work |
| 5 | 3 easy, 1 quality, 1 long | Volume without extra hard days |
| 6 | 3 easy, 2 quality, 1 long | Only with 6+ months of consistency |
Add volume in small, boring increments
- Increase weekly distance by about 10%, and hold it for a week before increasing again.
- Grow the long run by 1-2 km at a time, not by 5.
- Every fourth week, drop total volume by roughly a third.
- After a week off, restart at about 80% of your previous volume.
Form: only three things are worth fixing
Beyond that, form changes are usually slow and rarely the reason a plan is not working. Consistency is.
- Cadence: if you are well under ~165 steps per minute, shorten your stride slightly rather than reaching forward.
- Posture: run tall, relax the shoulders, let the arms swing back rather than across the body.
- Foot placement: land under your hips, not far in front of them.
Hills, heat and terrain
Hills are strength work in disguise: short, controlled uphill efforts build power with less impact than flat sprints, and downhill running is the part that makes you sore, so introduce it gradually. In heat, pace slows by design — run by effort, not by pace, and expect 10-20 seconds per kilometre slower on hot days without concluding you lost fitness.
Fuel, sleep and the session after a bad session
Runs under an hour need nothing special. Beyond 75-90 minutes, take carbohydrate during the run and practise it in training rather than discovering it on race day. Sleep is the single most reliable performance variable you control.
One bad session means almost nothing. Two or three in a row usually means fatigue, not lost fitness: take three easy days and repeat the week. If a run causes sharp or one-sided pain rather than general fatigue, stop and see a doctor or physiotherapist.
Frequently asked questions
- How many days a week should I run?
- Three is enough to improve steadily; four or five improves faster if you can keep most of it easy. Two consistent runs beat four you abandon after a fortnight.
- Should I run every day?
- Only after months of consistent training, and only if most runs are genuinely easy. Rest days are where the adaptation happens.
- How fast should my easy runs be?
- Slow enough to hold a conversation. If your easy pace is within 20-30 seconds per kilometre of your tempo pace, it is too fast.
- Does FitPal cost anything to start?
- No. The free tier gives a rolling one-week adaptive plan, unlimited session logging and your trend. Pro is €9.99/month and adds four-week blocks and unlimited coaching conversations.