Running edition - Is 10% increase in mileage per week a good goal?

For a long time the generic advice to runners has been to ‘increase running mileage by 10% per week’. This might not be the most appropriate advice for runners who want to progress reasonably towards higher mileage. If you start at 1 mile per week, it is going to take you much longer to get to 20 weekly miles than someone who starts at running 5 miles per week. Thus, the 10% per week rule is too variable and generic to apply to everyone.

Consider using other return to running protocols, like the University of Delaware or Ohio State running protocols, which also details how to adjust your running volume based on how your body responds to progressively increasing mileage and intensity.

Another way to plan your running progression that is likely better than the 10% per week rule is using the principle of acute-to-chronic workload ratio. What this means is that you should generally not exceed increasing your weekly mileage by more than 20% of the average of the last month’s weekly mileage. If you have ran 40 miles over the last month, you should not run more than 12 miles in the following week. This method takes into account either increases or decreases in running volume which sometimes happens during planned or unplanned breaks from running.