I currently run six days per week, and the though the thought of running seven days has crossed my mind, I quickly dismissed the idea because knowing me, that would be the beginning of some kind of ridiculous streak!
Seriously though, I look forward to my Monday off day, which also serves as a backup day in the case of a cancelled run Saturday or Sunday due to weather or what have you.
Disclaimer: this is not an attempt to bash those who only run a couple days a week, but rather a discussion on an intriguing topic. So feel free to chime in regardless of your running frequency, or lack there of in the case of injury or life problems.
So how many days per week do you run, and what are your thoughts on your rest days, or rest days in general?
When I am feeling normal, I don't break it into 7 day chunks. Instead, I will run 9 out of 10 days or 13 out of 14. Real life has a tendency to pick 'rest days' for me, though, so I never got into streaking. Plus, the boys need a house. (joke. sort of)
7 days is normal and damn convenient for planning, but it doesn't have to be that way.
These days, I run more like 3 out of 7. But I try to go outside 8 out of 7.
6. Lately I have been looking forward to my rest days.
Village people
I run 6-7 days a week. I hate rest days and usually end up at my LRS. I try to concentrate on my weekly mileage goal and I either run bonus miles or take the day off. I love bonus miles!
Rest days are important and I will take them if I need them, but I usually will run easy miles when I am tired. It is more a habit than trying to sound hardcore.
delicate flower
I was running 6 or 7 days before the injury. I just enjoyed it too much to take a rest day. My "rest day" would be 4-5 real easy miles and I'd feel ready to go the next day. Once I'm rehabbed from this injury, I'm probably looking 4 or 5 days a week with fewer miles, at least through the end of the year. Running is going to have to be curbed somewhat for more cross days and strength training, at least short term.
<3
Sloooow.
3-5, but I'm a fat newbie I'm hoping to get consistently 4-5 as I get stronger.
Happy to be here.
Before this illness crap, I was spreading 50-55 mpw over 5 days. One of my days off is a necessity because I watch the baby while my wife is at work. My other off day is the Sunday after my Saturday long runs. I have given some thought to going on an easy run on Sunday mornings but I have no desire to do so. I like the Sunday rest day.
Half PR: 1:34 (August, 2012)
Marathon PR: 3:45 (October, 2012)
Next race: ???
Next Marathon: 2015???
I just started a 5 day run schedule. I was running 4 days a week, and cross training two, with one complete rest day,
new schedule is five run days (trying to get weekly mileage over 40) plus three cross training sessions (mingled in with run days) and one complete rest day.
I've been able to avoid injuries for the most part, with a recent deep bone bruise in my foot being the notable exception (But that was because of a brutal little race in February)
Trail and Ultra Running User Group
I run 5 days a week with rest days Mondays and Fridays. Building the weekly mileage slowly. Up to about 23 a week now. A couple months ago i was running 6 days and being a fairly new runner i was doing to many daily miles. 4-5 miles a day several days in a row and it caught up to me. Ended up taking a couple of weeks off .
First Race
Hot Chocolate 5K Chicago November 4, 2012 30:17
Second Race
Penguin in the Park 5K Decatur Illinois March 23,2013 27:08
Scott
YAYpril - B-Plus
I run at least 5 days a week. However, the past 3 weeks I've been doing a "streak" (2 miles run or walk, 50 pushups, 50 situps minimum every day) so I've found myself doing a 2-3 mile recovery run in lieu of a 2-mile walk some days. I've found that if I TRULY take it easy most days, I can run 7 days with no issue. I've run every day since last Friday (including a 5k race last Saturday) and I haven't felt fatigued yet.
Of course, I'm only running 35-40 mpw, not 50+ like most people running 6-7 days a week.
I have been running 5 lately, but have done 6 in the past. Okay, in the interest of full disclosure, I have a broken ankle and I'm running zero right now. But I WAS running 5, consistently since last June, until I hurt myself.
I mentally need at least one weeknight off from running, particularly in the wintertime when I'm dragging myself out the door every day to slog along in the dark/cold/snow or on the treadmill, and it's hard to make myself want to run at all.
I look forward to my rest days a lot.
Though, I'm at nearly 5 weeks with no real exercise at this point. That is TOO MANY rest days.
My wildly inconsistent PRs:
5k: 24:36 (10/20/12)
10k: 52:01 (4/28/12)
HM: 1:50:09 (10/27/12)
Marathon: 4:19:11 (10/2/2011)
I think 35-40mpw is fantastic!
Go figure
Trying to find some more hay to restock the barn
When I started I got into a 5 day per week schedule - Monday & Friday were days off running. Monday I used as cross training and would generally bike, but that started getting more of a pushed workout than it should have been (I used to bike a fair bit) so I actually started running every easy on Mondays and short distances (3-4 miles). This worked great to help speed recovery from Sunday's long run in my schedule.
At the end of last year I started in with a Pfitz 18/70 plan that had six days per week scheduled ... but I had so gotten used to that easy recovery run on Monday that I kept it going - so that means I've been doing 7 days a week now for a couple of months. I'm really not considering it a streak and it would be no problem to take a day off if I needed it.
Train smart ... race smarter.
I've been running 7 days a week, usually 8-10 runs per week for about 3 months now. I've definitely enjoyed it, and the frequency allows me to get my mileage up without going too long on each run. Runs at recovery pace have been a new addition for me, but I've liked them more than rest days. Most of my time is just "me" time, so this kind of schedule works well for me. I have to admit, I'd trade 3, maybe even 4, runs per week for a nice girlfriend lol. For now, I run on!
I thought that was your LRS angle when you paced for the slower-paced group runs.