We recommend Easy rather than Steady Runs as part of a training schedule aimed at performance improvement. However, if you would like to include Steady Runs in your tarining, we suggest that you substitute them for some of your Easy runs. You should only follow these guidelines if you are already reasonably fit e.g. you can run 5km without stopping. This is very much dependent on your personal goals, your current level of fitness, the time you have available and most importantly, how much your body can cope with; there is no set recommendation that suits everyone. Use our Training Pace Calculator (see below)- This will suggest a target pace and weekly distance for each type of run based on a recent race result and the total distance you run each week.

What is Age-Grading Age-Grading is a way of measuring your running performance taking into account your age and sex....you can effectively score every run you do. Good Run Guide brings you another Wednesday evening trail race series. The races are 5 miles each long and loosely based on one of our recommended running routes through scenic and sometimes challenging parts of Wimbledon Common. They start at the iconic windmill and offer a mixture of adventure, fun and challenge all set within the lovely Wimbledon Common and completely traffic free. However conveniently there is a large free car park at the start. As your score is a comparison with World Record times don't be dissapointed if it is a long way from 100%. As a general guide, if your percentage comes out as 90% or above then either your watch has stopped or you can count yourself as World Class! Over 80% is typically National Class, over 70% is Regional Class and over 60% is local Class. The following table describes a number of common types of running and the benefits of each. It also sets out our recommended guidelines on effort levels and distance for medium distance runners (running distances between 3 miles to 10 miles) who are aiming to improve performance.

We recommend that you aim to build in one long run per week to be run at an Easy pace. If you are training for a medium distance race, this should be geared to the length of the race and how far off it is; you should be able to comfortably run the race distance as your long run as you get near to the date of the race. Review and recalculate - As your performance or weekly distance changes, recalculate your target paces so that you are training at a level that reflects your current ability. The above advice provides a guide to a developing a regular weekly training schedule but if you are planning a race, you should consider developing a longer-term schedule that builds your training over time with the race date as a goal. The following table provides some general advice on developing a longer-term training schedule for a medium distance race (3 to 10 miles). You should use this in combination with the training pace guidelines above and should recalculate your target paces as your training progress. 8 - 12 WEEKS The Long run can be increased if you are training for a longer race, but limit the time to under 2½ hours.

The calculation uses data collated by the World Association of Veteran Athletics, to adjust your performance for age and gender. It takes World Record performances for each age and disatance, for men and women, and uses these as benchmarks. So, for example: if the World Record for a 40 year old man running 10 miles is 46:31 and another 40 year old man runs 10 miles in 58:30, he has an Age-Graded performance of 79.5% (46:31 divided by 58:30). If you are relatively new to running it is not always easy to translate the target level of effort into how fast you should run. Select the Saved Route you want to edit and then simply continue drawing. New points will be automatically added to the end of the route. You can save the extended route with a new name. Vary your training over time with new goals - Don't continue with the same weekly schedule for months on end or you could get bored, disillusioned or even injured. It's a good idea to base your training around a specific goal or race; choose a goal, train towards the goal, then allow some recovery time (perhaps just running at an Easy pace for a few weeks or alternative exercise), and then set a new goal. If you use the Good Run Guide Log Book, we can analyse races you've logged to estimate your Performance Degradation Factor.Each finisher receives a mug, chocolate bar and fruit. There are series and individual medals/prizes. This factor reflects your ability to maintain your average speed as the length of the race increases. This varies for different types of runners. Ultra-distance runners tend to have very low factors (as low as 3%) while sprinters have very high factors (as high as 30%). Our suggested default value is 8% - in rough terms, this means that your speed declines by about 8% when the distance doubles. If you select "All Time" from the drop-down list above then the PB's listed will be your best times ever logged for each route. To show your Season PB's select the year you are interested in. This will show your best times logged that year for each route logged more than once in that year. If you are a medium distance runner and your goal is to improve your running performance, you can calculate a recommended weekly training schedule using our Training Pace Calculator. Enter a time from a recent race and the distance you run each week and we will suggest a training pace and weekly distance for each type of run. If you haven't run a race recently then we recommend that you map out a 5K flat route using our Route Measurer and run this as a time trial to estimate your current race pace. TRAINING PACE CALCULATOR It is possible to run as little as 10 miles per week and still achieve a good level of fitness and participate in shorter distance races. However, if you want to train for medium distance races and achieve your best possible performance for the time spent training, a good goal is to run between 15 and 40 miles a week (depending upon time constaints, the speed you run, and how well your body copes with training). Always monitor your own health and tiredness levels each week so that you don’t overtrain. Also, cross-training such as cycling, swimming and strength training, can have a beneficial effect, so it is worthwhile considering adding this to your weekly schedule if possible.

One of the most common ways to categorise running is by how fast you run. However, "fast" means different things to different runners, so in general terms it is best explained by how hard you run, i.e. the level of effort or the intensity of the training session.

Benefits of a varied weekly training schedule

How much running should I do each week? It is possible to run as little as 10 miles per week and still achieve a good level of fitness and participate in shorter distance races.