There are many schools of thought when it comes to how much we should run or walk in a week. Jeff Galloway, interval training guru, feels that 3 days a week is enough to train for any distance of race. Hal Higdon, running coach, suggests 5 days a week in his intermediate training, Hanson-Brooks training plans suggest 5-6 days for their half marathon program and Runner’s World suggest 3-6 days of running depending on whether you are a beginner or advanced runner. You can also find training plans for half marathon that are from 10 weeks to 18 weeks. I googled “half marathon training plans” and in .62 seconds there were 3.3 MILLION results, it can be overwhelming.
Since our training is based on the Galloway model, our program is based on running or walking 3 days a week, but is there really an “ideal” amount? I think that you have to look at your running or walking goals, are you training to be on Olympic athlete? To win money at races? To win the race or your age group? To get in better shape? To participate in a 5k, 10k, half or full marathon? Look at your life and what makes sense for you. Maybe you work full time and juggle a family and other outside interests, maybe you work part time, are single, are taking caring of your parents, the combinations are endless. Bottom line – there is no magic number of days to run or walk. You need to do what is right for you at this very moment in life. Right now you may be happy doing 2-3 days of running workouts but here may come a time when you want to work on your speed or stamina and you add more days.
What is right for others isn’t always right for you. (I remember my father yelling at me “if everyone is jumping off the cliff, are you going to join them?”) The important thing is not to worry about how many days or how many miles but to just get out there and move! Do what is right for you, right now. Just keep moving.