Running · Endurance
How to run further
How to run so it stops hurting, the ladder from run-walk to a half marathon, the rules for adding distance, and the 7-day running chart synced from your watch.
The movement
How to do one properly.
Every rep the same shape, so the numbers mean the same thing on day thirty as on day one.
- 1
Run tall, eyes ahead, shoulders loose and arms swinging from the shoulder, not across your body.
- 2
Land under your hips with a quick, light step. Around a hundred and seventy steps a minute suits most people.
- 3
Breathe in a rhythm you can keep, through the mouth when it is hard.
- 4
Run most of your kilometres at a pace where you could talk in full sentences.
- 5
Finish a run feeling you could have done a little more. That is the pace that adds up.
The way up
How to run further
Rung 1
Run-walk
A minute running, a minute walking, twenty minutes. Shorten the walks week by week.
Rung 2
5 km
Thirty minutes continuous at an easy pace. The first real milestone.
Rung 3
10 km
Add a long run once a week, a kilometre longer each time.
Rung 4
Half marathon
A long run of eighteen kilometres and a weekly total above forty.
Add distance to the week, not the run: about ten percent more each week, then every fourth week a step back. The body adapts between runs, not during them.
Keep four runs in five easy. Easy feels too slow, and that is the point; the hard runs only work when the easy ones are easy.
Three runs a week is enough to improve for a long time. One is longer, one has some faster running in it, and the rest are just running.
How it is counted
On the board, however it got there.
Your watch or phone sends it. Garmin, Fitbit, Wahoo, Suunto, Apple Health, and Health Connect all report running on their own, so it lands scored without anyone typing. No watch? Say it out loud in the app instead.
Worth 30 points per kilometre in the app, so a challenge can weigh it against anything else you count.
Questions
Asked about running
How much further each week?
About ten percent on the weekly total, with every fourth week eased back. A five kilometre long run becomes ten in six to eight weeks that way, without the shins complaining.
Does a treadmill count?
Yes. A treadmill run lands as running from every source that records it as a run, and it counts the same kilometres on the board.
Does it count from my watch?
Your watch or phone sends it. Garmin, Fitbit, Wahoo, Suunto, Apple Health, and Health Connect all report running on their own, so it lands scored without anyone typing. No watch? Say it out loud in the app instead.
Is there a chart to follow?
Yes. The 7-day running challenge is written for exactly this: a number for every day, a rest when it is earned, and a way to run it with friends in the app.
Is it free?
Yes. The athlete app is free: logging, challenges and every guide on this site. Coaches pay for their workspace; the people they coach do not.
Other exercises
Everything else we count.
Push up
How to do more push ups
Pull up
How to do more pull ups
Squat
How to do more squats
Plank
How to hold a plank longer
Sit up
How to do more sit ups
Dip
How to do more dips
Burpees
How to do more burpees
Lunges
How to do more lunges
Jumping jacks
How to do more jumping jacks
Skipping
How to skip rope longer
Extensions
How to do more back extensions
Battle ropes
How to last longer on battle ropes
Cycling
How to ride further
Swimming
How to swim further
Rowing
How to row further
Steps
How to walk more steps every day
Hiking
How to hike further
Football
How to get fitter for football
Basketball
How to get fitter for basketball
Tennis
How to get fitter for tennis
Dancing
How to build stamina for dancing
Yoga
How to make yoga a daily habit
Do more running.
Let someone see it.
Get the app, log what you did or let your watch send it, and hand your friends the code.