6-day-a-week runners: off day?

It really depends on the plan and race I'm training for (or designing for someone).  For 6 day a week runs I will almost always give Monday off.  But I also tend to follow a lot of what Pfitzinger-Douglas do in their plans which is why I go that route.

And while Sunday is the long run day, I do not always have an easy day on Saturday.  For marathon training I will have up to an 8 miler at general aerobic pace the day before a 20 or 22 sometimes.

Ditto.  In fact, taking a rest day at all is personal preference and experimentation.  I often don't plan them at all.  They just 'happen' from time to time. 

If your blog is accurate be careful building up to quickly as all year thus far you ran less than 50 miles per month.

I recently read an article that suggested that if your long run is so hard that you feel you NEED a day off the following day, your long run was either too long or too hard.  I'm not sure I 100% agree with that in all circumstances... but I think if your goal is overall weekly mileage (or even monthly mileage), then there's a lot of sense to that.  Cutting back the intensity or even the distance of the long run to allow for more running on the other days (since you won't be recovering from the long run for 1-2 days after) will probably get you to the line a faster runner.

Since your goal of running 6 days a week is to allow for greater overall volume, I'd encourage you to make almost all of your runs "easy"... especially with an HIM as your "A" race.  You will be a better runner if you log more miles -- and you'll be able to log more miles if the vast majority of them are easy (so that you can run again the next day).

I've recently started experimenting with a similar plan too.  If your schedule is limiting you to the plan you posted, then you'll need to work within it.  But if your preconceived ideas about needing a short run the day after a medium run are what caused you to select the schedule, then I think you'll find if you just slow down you can run a lot more and not need much recovery.

In fact, if scheduling is not your largest constraint, you'll likely get even more weekly training stress with less need for recovery if you split one or more of your medium runs into an AM and a PM shorter run... they'll be so easy you'll wonder if you're actually working but in the end you will have logged a few extra miles that day than if you had just done the medium run (and you'll need virtually no recovery).

The reading I've been doing recently has been a rude awakening to me regarding how many of my runs are too hard.  For HIM and longer, I'm starting to accept that I probably do more harm than good by running more than one 30-40 minute tempo run per week.  I'd be far better off running more miles at an easy pace.

Edited by JoshKaptur 2009-10-19 9:09 AM

what ^^^ they said.

Also, don't know how much you currently run but if you are just starting to build up your frequency I would just focus on running everyday (or 6x a week) and don't stress much about distance or intensity. The point is to get it done ever day at a comfortable pace that will leave enough in the tank to do it again and again and again... When feeling good and fresh go a bit longer and/or faster, when feeling tired go slower and/or shorter. Once you have around 4-6 weeks of just runnning and your body has adapted to it then you can start adding more structure by doing one session your long run, and another one a faster run, etc.

Edited by JorgeM 2009-10-19 9:09 AM

IMO, this is a key point that many recreational runners and triathletes miss.  I would suggest that unless an athlete is training for a specific event that requires a longer run, that the long run should make up less than 30% of their overall weekly volume.

For the OP, I would focus on consistency; run 6+x/week at a reasonable level based on your current training and build from there.

Shane

Just to answer this, I had a pretty sporadic run schedule this year...it was my first tri season and without a solid gameplan I effectively hurt myself twice--it actually happened more because of biking, doing two separate rides of 150 and 100 miles that I wasn't prepared for and injuring myself in the process.  I had built up to 20-25 miles a week early in the season but couldn't hold that with the knee injuries so my overall miles don't really reflect where I've been this season.  I'm trying to avoid that this time around by building the run up during the offseason, then the bike and swim will follow in March/April.

But yes, the run miles will be increased slowly, I basically go from 20 a week (where I was a few weeks ago) to 30 a week by the end of November to 40 a week in February then high 40's in April, so I think it's an attainable progression. 

A very knowledgeable fellow (BarryP) over on Slowtwitch has recently posted parts one and two of a three part series on run training.  It is an excellent read from a great and helpful person.

I would highly recommend the read.

Gordon

Thanks Gordon, that was actually my reason for going from a 4-day to 6-day plan, he made some great points in those two posts he made, I'm excited to see how my running progresses this winter.  

BarryP was also the author of the article I was referring to that had the quote about recovery, and the main influence on my switching to a 6 day 8 run plan.

I can't believe how many miles I'm running this week with the majority of my runs being only 30-45 minutes.

I personally believe (and BarryP has also said) that the long run being no more than 25-30% of total volume (my understanding is that this is a Daniels formula) may not be possible for many schedule-constrained long course triathletes.  While 8-12 short/medium runs with a long run of 2 hours might be better for HIM training, the fact is many people are struggling to squeeze in 3 runs a week while also swim and bike training.  In that case, you need to put as much work into those 3 runs as your body can handle (and very carefully listen to your body's feedback to avoid injury).  It won't be ideal from a recovery standpoint... but that long run is going to be essential and comprise way more than a quarter of your total run mileage (though likely much closer to 25% of your total training time).

You may want to do all your runs for now at zone 1/2 and skip the zone 3 stuff until you build up your base.

I'm doing all my runs now super easy what's comfortable. I want the miles in and know going easy today helps me run again tomorrow.