Hi, braillegirl. The short answer is that how many runs you do in a week is a training choice you make based off how your body responds to training. Couch-to-5K is based off 3 days a week based on the premise that it takes time for your body to adjust to the literal POUNDING you are giving it with this new exercise - running. That's why if you're feeling you HAVE to exercise more it's a good idea to pick cross-training on off days. Some people do very well with running 3 days a week. There's a whole mode of thinking that says if you run harder on fewer days that you'll do well. The most famous example is the FIRST program. Read all you want about it, but be warned that the start of your running career is NOT a good time to do a lot of high-intensity training - and is a great way to hurt yourself. Some people do very well with running every single day. Most of those people will run harder on a few days and run much more gently ("easy" or "recovery", depending) on the other days. Some people even run more than once per day. The most famous example of running every day is probably programs based off of Lydiard. Read all you want about it, but be warned that suddenly jumping into running every day is a GREAT way to hurt yourself. The largest number of experienced runners seem to run 5 or 6 days a week. They say that you need a "rest day" every week. Some of them run more than once a day so that they can have that day off. Most of them don't. ("Doubles" as they're called, are usually used when you're running so much you just can't fit it all in your regular schedule.) When do you start? Hmm. That's a tricky question because it depends so much on the individual and how they're responding to training. My opinion is that if you're continuing to improve doing what you're doing, then don't change a thing. If you stop improving for a few months, it's time to mix up what you're doing. That might mean adding more running days or more mileage. It might mean increasing the intensity of what you're doing. It might mean adding strength training or other cross-training. Don't do all that at once, just pick one thing that you either WANT to do more of or feel you're weak in, and work on that area. Trying to increase both training intensity and how much you're running at the same time is a great way to hurt yourself. There's a couple of ways you can put in walking. You can log it as intervals if you're doing run/walk. You can create a type of running called "walking". You can create a type of workout called "walking." I usually run/walk, and I simply created a running type called "run/walking" and lump it all together, total time, total distance, and BAM I'm done. I'm sure other people have different ways too. I think a few people create a new workout type for every week, but I'm not sure. Welcome!

I personally wouldn't recommend doing so until you are at a point when you can truly attune with your body during runs. You know, like how you'd know what pace you're going at due to leg turnover, or what messages your body is giving you. Until then, 2 or 3 days a week is fine. I've been running since June and I still never venture past 4 days of running per week, no matter how good I feel.