HOW DO I KNOW WHEN I AM READY TO RUN A 5K/10K/HM/MAR?

This is a question I have often pondered myself. Recently, I pushed my long runs up to get into half marathon shape and started posting some decent times, but also started feeling a little burn-out.

Was I ready to take on a half marathon? Some people go from couch to full marathon in 12-16 weeks after all...So why not?

POINT #1: Define "ready"

For some people, they say they are "ready" to race a certain distance when they think there is even a remote chance that they can finish the race. So being ready for a marathon means simply being somewhat confident that you can probably finish one. 

For me, "ready" means that I am prepared to fulfill my potential at a certain racing distance. That definition leaves some ambiguity though because it opens a new question, "How do I know I am prepared to fulfill my potential?"

POINT #2: Let mpw determine the race distance, not the other way around...

FIRST, from Runner's World: http://www.runnersworld.com/running-tips/how-many-miles-a-week-should-i-run

5K ready:
20-25 MPW (non-elites)

10K ready:
25-30 MPW (non-elite)

HM ready:
30-40 MPW (non-elite)

MAR ready:
30-50 MPW (non-elite)

To me, this does not mean you should log those distances if you want to run a certain race, it means you should wait to run a given race until you have safely built up to that mileage over time!

So, my opinion is: If you have not run 30-50 miles consistently (whatever that means...call it for the last 3 months or a year) you are NOT ready to run a marathon.

I'm not saying you won't be able to finish a marathon, but you aren't doing it right, probably. By that I mean you run much higher risk of injury, burnout and never running again because it was too much too soon.

Here is an example:

The end of the 5K felt hard to me and I experienced some slowdown toward the end and didn't really understand why. But at a certain point in my running it all went away. I could easily run negative splits and posted PR after PR (sometimes even on a "tempo" run without even trying...) at the 5K distance.

This was right around the time I started posting 20 mile weeks. (Just like Runner's World suggests). 

But at this point, I was still experiencing slowdown in the 10K distance. I tried to do a bunch of workouts to reduce it, but it was still there. That is because YOUR BODY KNOWS BEST WHAT IT IS READY FOR and it is hard to override that by trying to force things that your body is not ready for. 

POINT #3: The length of the long run should be determined by your MPW.

Another benchmark for me on race readiness seems to be the length of the long run. When my long run regularly became 2-3 times the 5K distance (6-9 miles roughly), I started to feel really proficient at the 5K. The thing is that a lot of people I know try to push up the long run prematurely to get extra gains in fitness. One of my friends runs about 20 MPW, but only runs twice and the long run is 13 or 14 miles. 

THERE ARE AT LEAST TWO METHODS YOU CAN USE FOR DETERMINING HOW LONG YOUR LONG RUN SHOULD BE:

1) No more than 1/3 of your total weekly mileage

2) No more than double your average run (excluding the long run)

The two usually yield pretty similar results. (The first is a little cyclical, but we will not undertake that here).

What happens if you exceed this and run longer than these methods suggest? I have never seen anything that answers that question--only the suggestion that you should not do it. So, I am forced to answer out of my own experience:

YOUR LEGS, JOINTS, MUSCLES AND BODILY SYSTEMS WILL FEEL A LITTLE TOO BEAT-UP. 

Sure, a little pain or soreness can be helpful, but why do push your body into it if it is not ready. In my first year of running, an 8 mile run would have left me down for a week and maybe caused an injury. Now, an 8 mile run is relaxing--refreshing even and I could easily run the next day even if the 8 miles includes tempo work. So why not just wait until your body is ready and have a better running experience? If you really love to run, keep your long run where it should be so that you are fresh and able to run more. Perhaps my friend that runs only twice a week does so because the 14 mile run is too much at this point (with total MPW at just 20) to leave him fresh to run more. 

I have been guilty too. I wanted to start training for a half marathon before I was ready and dropped some long runs of over 14 miles as part of a 28 mile week. In some ways I feel that can be helpful to push your body to the next level by shocking it a little and OCCASIONALLY giving it a little more than it is ready for, but doing it all the time will drastically increase your risk of injury, burnout and unnecessary time away from running.  

MY OPINION: Stick to one of the long run rules above--max out at 1/3 of your weekly mileage or double your average non-long run. Think of it this way: Would you rather be able to run 4-5 days a week and have a long run of 8 or 9 miles, or run a 14 or 15 mile run to impress your friends the most on Monday morning but only be able to run twice a week? I will take the first scenario...

Now, there is a point where your long run will not be 2-3 times your target race distance. For a 10K, you will maybe be doing 10-12 mile long runs, for a HM, maybe just 14-15 mile runs and for the full marathon you may max out at less than race distance--perhaps 20-22 miles. However, my advice based on personal experience is to wait until those long runs come naturally as part of your body's natural increase in tolerance to higher weekly mileages. Or, think of it this way: save those runs until they are no more than a third of your total weekly mileage.

So, if we follow the maxim that long runs should be 1/3 of the total weekly mileage, you will not be ready for those kinds of long runs until you have roughly the following weekly mileage numbers with consistency.

For 5K: 18-27 mpw, long run of 6-9 miles.

For 10K: 30-36 mpw, long run of 10-12 miles.

For HM: 42-45 mpw, long run of 14-15 miles.

For MAR: 60-66 mpw, long runs up to 20-22 miles.

Notice that these are different from what Runner's World gives. This is because these number reflect peak mileage during your training program.

IN OTHER WORDS, THE FIRST SET OF MILEAGES SHOULD BE CLOSE TO WHAT YOU ARE DOING REGULARLY, AND YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO BUILD UP TO THIS SECOND SET OF MILEAGE NUMBERS DURING A TRAINING PROGRAM.

So, you are probably ready to start a marathon training program in my opinion if you regularly run 30-50 mpw and feel like you could build up to 60-66 mpw in just a short time (maybe 3 months).

SUMMARY:

For me, I have decided to hold my mileage steady from month to month and if I have no problems with burnout or excessive soreness, I will up it just a couple miles and hold it there again for a month and continue to do so as it unfolds naturally. 

It is tempting to push up the weekly mileage just to be able to do a super cool race that will impress your friends, but in the long run, you will be much happier that you waited until your body was ready for those new race distances. 

It is also tempting to push up the weekly long run--especially because they are usually on the weekend or on another day when we have more free time. It can feel like a way to "get your weekly mileage in" or some people might push up the distance on the long runs to impress their friends or try to get ready for a race they are not yet ready for. KEEP YOUR LONG RUNS AT LESS THAN 1/3 OF YOUR WEEKLY MILEAGE and give yourself the gift of letting your body adapt as it is ready. You will be have a much better experience and one day you will wake up and realize you are regularly doing 14-15 mile long runs and it may be time to give the half marathon a try! 

If you want to build mileage, it often means learning to slow down on easy days. Make sure to hit your key workouts (intervals, repeats, tempo runs, long runs) but if you slog along as slow as you can otherwise, it will let you build up to bigger mileage numbers. Plus, running slowly seems to do wonders for some reason. I have set more than one PR right on the back of a 15 minute SUPER slow warm-up (like my 5K pace plus 6 minutes kind of slow!).

We usually know when our body is telling us we did too much, but it can tell us we are ready for more too! For me, that is two weeks of consistent running with only minor twinges (that go away within a day or two). If your body doesn't give you the go ahead...stay where you are at mileage wise and slow down your easy days and then reevaluate in a couple of weeks. There is no hurry! It is better to do it right. Your future HM-PR-running self will thank you!

Running slowly should feel a little boring, but I like to offset it with some excitement. An occasional longer-than-even long run or faster-than-ever 400m at the end of an easy run won't hurt anything and keeps things exciting. I like to end super easy runs with some strides of 20-30 seconds. They don't tax the system but build a lot of leg speed and let you test your limits before race day finally comes around!

So, while I may want to try a marathon sooner than later, I will be letting myself progress naturally to 60+mpw and 20 mile long runs before I give it a go...

How about you?