So what does a three day per week running programme actually look like? The key to it is that every run is purposeful - that means that every time you head out the door you know what you are going to do - choose between:
- Hill workout
- Intervals on the track
- Fartlek
- Race pace repeats
- Long run
- Threshold training
- And so on?
A simple way to figure this out is to take a standard training programme for a marathon, half marathon, or 10K, and adapt it by doing all the purposeful, intense runs, but replace the recovery runs with either a swim or a bike ride.
Chances are you'll lose nothing in terms of fitness, you'll reduce your risk of injury, and you should arrive at the start line full of energy and ready to run the race of your life.
