• To improve, it is essential to train with specific methods such as intervals and fartlek, challenging yourself continuously.

• Start by identifying your weekly distance to build on that gradually, following the 10+5+0 rule used to increase miles safely.

• Every six weeks, reduce mileage by 25 percent to consolidate progress and prevent injury while maintaining a balanced approach to training.

Thephases, when running, are always marked by two factors: I want to go faster, I want to go farther. In both cases, there are simple ways to improve: repeats, long runs, core stability, fartlek, hill repeats; all expertly mixed to achieve your goal because-it is well known-a challenge with yourself is never won or finished. The challenge is always open!

If, on the other hand, you want to go harder and farther in a short time and without effort, well, in that case I think a very good solution might be a pilgrimage to a mystical destination of your choice but-believe me-I don’t think it will work much.

The important thing then is to always start from the premise that every achievement takes time and discipline. Unfortunately. Or fortunately, because otherwise it would be uninteresting to win hands-down without effort.

In RunLovers Club (you’re already a member, right?), our Facebook group, many people compete to see who can get the most miles in a week. It is beautiful because everyone is always trying to increase their “mileage,” without competitiveness but with the goal of improving themselves-and with everyone’s support.

But how to increase the distance intelligently? Because-I’ll let you in on a secret-it is not possible to go from 50 to 150 km/week naturally. Instead, it is necessary to do it methodically, so as to build a lasting result without incurring unnecessary injury risks.

1. Find your Base Route.

It is the starting point, the total distance in the week-because from now on we will reason only on a weekly basis-that you commonly run without suffering the dreaded leg-woody effect (overtraining) or-worse-to feel as if you did not run (undertraining).

Finding out what your Baseline Distance is is extremely simple: check your workouts for the past 4-6 months and find the total distance over which you feel most comfortable. In which you feel “trained” but also that, perhaps, you could give a little more.

Let us assume, for ease of calculation, that the comfortable weekly mileage is 50 km: this will be our starting point, the foundation on which we will build our distance.

2. The 10+5+0 rule

Don’t worry, you don’t have to add 10 miles a week. Simply, starting from your Base Route, you need to add 10% one week, 5% the next, and then consolidate for one week.

So–still starting from our hypothetical 50 km/week, and my high school math teacher will forgive me if I am wrong–the first week you will run 55 km (50 km + 10%), the second will become 58 (55 km + 5%), and the third week the total kilometers to be run will still be 58. For the next one you can add 10%, for the one after that 5%, and so on until you are an ultramarathoner!

Okay, I’m disliking myself for all the formulas I’m using and probably the real test of endurance is to complete the reading of this article but-if you’ve made it this far-I hope you’ve appreciated the effort at simplification I’m making. However, don’t worry, we are almost done. ;)

3. The week of recovery

Even when making a concrete pour, it is necessary to wait some time for it to settle. And why should it be different in running? Therefore, every 6 weeks, it is good to provide a recovery one so as to further consolidate our new Basic Pathway and prevent any injuries. How? Reducing the mileage by 25% over the 7 days.

Do you want a numerical example? Are you sure? Okay.

If your new Base Mileage is 50 miles, for one week you will do 60 total miles. It will be a small vacation week on which perhaps you can focus on cross-training or a larger load of core stability that will also be worth a run-up to start building again.

Starting again from 50 miles, of course.