[Mark]

A question more of general interest, but when programming your training blocks, do you organise it based on hitting a number of miles per week or a number of hours per week?

I have been basing my transition period on miles per week but I am curious to experiment with basing it on hours per week as I move onto a base phase in the early part of 2021.

I’ve noticed that my time per week has gone down slightly (despite keeping relatively high mileage) as my paces have increased across Z1-2. I’m increasing it steadily and there will probably be a point where the % gains get thinner as I get fitter, but I’m curious to know how other runners are programming their training blocks.

Topic

[luv2sharpen]

luv2sharpen on November 25, 2020 at 6:02 pm #47386

I would be inclined to say it depends on how your goal event is measured. For example, if your goal event is a specific race or route with x distance and vert, I would measure the progression by those parameters. If the event is more time based (like max distance/vert in a 24hr event) I would lean towards only progressing by hours of training.

In practice I do a bit of both… when I am in maintenance mode or coming back from a break, without a specific goal in mind yet I tend to just try to get a certain number of hours per week via several different modalities. As I define my goal better I start focusing on getting a certain amount of vertical + specific work in per session and per week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous on December 8, 2020 at 10:59 am #47989

I always go by duration because any elevation gain will change the amount of possible mileage within X hours. I would try and estimate how long your event will be and then use that to scale your workouts.