How Much Running Is Too Much Running?

It’s easy to get caught up in logging high mileage every week as a way to keep your cardio fitness up or to prep for a future race. But there can also be a point when your weekly mileage starts to take a toll on your body. Whether you’re deep in a training cycle or in the midst of a run streak, it’s common to wonder: How much running is too much?

Though the answer varies from person to person, there are some things you can do to figure out if your training volume is right for you or if it needs some adjustments. Here’s what the experts say.

One way to determine if your training habits are healthy is to think about what your goal is—and what aspects of fitness you need to be successful in that event, according to Janet Hamilton, C.S.C.S., an exercise physiologist and owner of Running Strong in Atlanta. Training for a 5K is much different than preparing for a marathon.

“Think about where you are in your training cycle,” says Hamilton. “It’s normal to have your mileage and training workouts vary from the base-building phase to the prerace and race phase and into the postrace recovery phase.”

Download Your Runners World+ Training Plans 10-percent rule (increase total weekly mileage by no more than 10 percent every week for three weeks, decrease by 10 percent for the fourth week, then repeat). You’ll do this until you peak with your highest mileage week coming about three to four weeks before your event.

Keep in mind that you can’t be at your “peak” for long without increasing your risk of injury or overtraining, so to stay healthy, mileage and intensity should fluctuate based on your phase of training.

After your peak, you’ll reduce mileage during a taper period. This will allow your body to recover for race day. If the event is big like a marathon, you’ll slowly ease back into regular training over the course of four weeks. That’s when you’ll return to a maintenance phase of running to preserve your cardio fitness levels.

One tip for staying healthy and injury-free at any mileage you’re training for is improving recovery tactics, says Joe McConkey, a Boston-based exercise physiologist and USATF-certified running coach. So, if you want to run more, plan on spending more time on mobility and pliability, particularly during the build-up phase.

Is running every day bad training plan to help balance their load. But even with that, almost every runner will have a period where they do too much too soon, McConkey says.

One indication of running too much is that your general energy is down, How does incorporating cross-training into your routine help you avoid running too much or in the midst of a run streak, its common to wonder: How much running is too much paces are slower than normal. These side effects are likely because you are not getting the recovery needed.

Also, look to your muscles for signs of overdoing it. “A simple way to check if you are running too much is by monitoring your pliability,” says McConkey. For example, if you foam roll and there is muscle soreness and pain throughout your legs, this is likely a sign the body is accumulating inflammation, How does incorporating cross-training into your routine help you avoid running too much.

The key is to tune into your own body and listen closely for the feedback it’s providing you, Hamilton says. “If you’re constantly sore, battling one injury after another, that’s a pretty good indication you’re taking it too far,” she says.

Additionally, if you continue to train despite an injury, it’s time to re-evaluate. “Do what’s needed for the given race or event goal and respect the fact that beyond that level you may find diminishing returns,” Hamilton says. “Doing more will usually bring benefits in performance, but at some point that risk/reward calculation starts to get flipped on its head, and you take on way more risk with the increased training and reap only minimal if any reward.”

As McConkey mentioned, check the pliability of your muscles. If you are healthy, strong, and fit, you should be able to press very strongly with your thumb, hand, or foam roller along the muscles of your back and legs and have virtually no discomfort. “If you check this daily and start to notice the muscle tension/pain-to-press has increased, you might need to take a day or two off,” McConkey says.

Overtraining symptoms that can signal you’re running too much vary, but some common ones runners can measure on their own are things like fatigue, a loss of enthusiasm for running, sleep disruption, changes in appetite, elevation in morning How does incorporating cross-training into your routine help you avoid running too much, and of course any running injury, Hamilton says.

Again, always listen to your body. Pain and injury are signs you may be overdoing it and need to take a break or lessen up on your mileage.

“I like to call these ‘whispers,’ and if you listen to the whispers, you’ll not force your body to ‘shout’ at you (usually in the form of an injury),” Hamilton says.

For runners who are injury prone, detrained, or suffer from chronic conditions such as arthritis, running every day is not advised.

of running to preserve your cardio fitness levels RW Run Streak, running every day is fine. In fact, we know runners who have been streaking (running at least one mile per day every day) for more than 50 years. The important thing to remember is to treat your daily runs with some structure, limiting high-intensity efforts to one to two days per week and performing recovery runs at a How to Increase Mileage Running.

Overall, making progressions gradually over time and allowing your body time to respond and adapt will reduce the risk that you will push your body too hard and sustain an injury, Hamilton says. And, taking a day off from running can help you reset and recover—which is important for improving your running performance.

How to Identify and Recover from Overtraining training plan is crucial. Rest days give your body a break from running regularly, aid in the recovery process, and prevent injuries.

According to Laura Norris, CPT, a RRCA-certified run coach with a masters in applied exercise science, rest days can help reduce the risk of overtraining or running too much. And ideally, these rest days consist of limited physical activity that puts added stress on the body.

Health - Injuries at least How to Adjust Your Run Schedule After a Big Race visualization or meditation, CA Notice at Collection stretching.

Because running requires the entire body, it puts stress on the cardiovascular, respiratory, musculoskeletal, endocrine, and nervous systems. Norris explains that when runners take a rest day, they can give their bodies a break from this stress, which benefits the entire body, too.

“Pretty much anything can be taken to extremes,” Hamilton says. “Though running is generally a healthy activity, it can be taken too far and negatively affect your physical as well as mental health.”

Cross-training can be an effective method for active recovery, but it’s important to recognize that cross-training does not substitute for rest, according to Norris.

She explains that cross-training is not necessary for all runners, but it can benefit those who are injury-prone by allowing them to get in more aerobic training volume without the high impact of running. Some examples of cross-training include swimming, cycling, or even hopping on the elliptical.

Every runner is different, so whether you decide to rest or cross-train with low-intensity activity is based on preference (though you still want at least one rest day a week).

In fact, a study published in Frontiers in Physiology in 2022 tested recovery strategies on randomized groups of fifteen individuals who performed high-intensity workouts regularly. Groups were tested for delayed-onset muscle soreness, heart rate, muscle oxygen saturation, and blood lactate levels (which can be a marker of fatigue). The researchers found that both low-intensity active recovery (15 minutes of leg pedaling) and total rest—along with neuromuscular electrical stimulation—after a workout achieved similar results in these recovery markers up to 24 hours after the high-intensity workout.

What’s the best way to cut back on mileage so you can keep running injury-free?

If you’re One tip for staying healthy and injury-free at any mileage youre training for is improving, make the next week on your training plan a recovery week, McConkey suggests. Do this by decreasing your total volume by 40 percent and reduce the frequency of running by 20 to 25 percent.

Norris recommends that frequent runners who train six days a week may benefit more from taking a rest day as opposed to cross-training on the seventh day. Or, if a runner can only tolerate three runs per week, they can think about cross-training one to three days a week.

So, if you need to alter your training schedule to avoid running too much, rest days and cross-training can be tools to an injury-free experience.

Aside from the 10-percent rule, get used to daily foam rolling and pliability check-in sessions. If tension or pain on the foam roller is increasing as your mileage increases, you are likely doing too much too soon.

How can beginners increase mileage safely without running too much running coach can help you determine the proper pace for any given workout based on the physiology involved and they can be the “voice of reason” when things seem to be going off track, Hamilton says.

Bottom line: Train at the right pace for you, and build your mileage based on where you are now. Listen to your body as you build mileage, and back off on mileage and intensity if you experience overtraining symptoms or pain and injury.

Jordan Smith

Digital Editor

Jordan Smith is a writer and editor with over 5 years of experience reporting on health and fitness news and trends. She is a published author, studying for her personal trainer certification, and over the past year became an unintentional Coronavirus expert. She has previously worked at Health, Inc., and 605 Magazine and was the editor-in-chief of her collegiate newspaper. Her love of all things outdoors came from growing up in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

Kristine Kearns

How to Run More Consistently

Running in the Cold Runner’s World and Bicycling in July 2024. She previously coached high school girls cross country and currently competes in seasonal races, with more than six years of distance training and an affinity for weightlifting. You can find her wearing purple, baking cupcakes, and visiting her local farmers market.