Should i run farther or faster

Listen to music. Train faster. Join a running club. Consistency is king. Use the long run day to increase your mileage to your desired distance.

Your other 2 run days of the week will be of shorter distance than your long run day. For example: Run One: 3. How much do marathon runners run per day? Runners in marathon training may run 0 miles on a rest day, miles on an easy day, upwards of 20 miles on a long run day, and anything in between. Science has never been kind to the idea that runners can improve their running form by consciously fiddling with it. For example, a study by researchers at Colorado State University found that 12 weeks of learning the popular POSE method of running actually worsened the running economy of triathletes.

Keep Hands at Your Waist. Try to keep your hands at waist level, right about where they might lightly brush your hip.

Or you could be a total running newbie, and don't know which way is best when it comes to tackling your training besides, well, putting one foot in front of the other. No matter where you are in the running game, give our Day Running Challenge a try. But there is an answer to the age-old debate regarding which is better: running faster or longer?

We tapped running expert Danny Mackey, a Brooks Beast Track Club coach with a Master's degree in Exercise Physiology and Biomechanics, to find out whether you should dedicate your time on the road, treadmill, or track to upping your pace or extending your distance for all-around get-fit benefits. Disclaimer: If you're training for a certain long-distance race i. But if you're the average, recreational runner, logging miles mainly for the fitness benefits, and want to know where to best direct your efforts, Mackey's advice will clue you in.

Just do both. Variability is key, says Mackey. Butif you're only running a couple of times a week, running for speed will get you more bang for your buck in terms of fitness benefits-as long as you give your body time to recover in between.

When you're running five or six days a week, you need long, slow runs to let your body recover, Mackey says. And if you're going hard, you're using everything. But the consequence is that you have to recover from it, or you're going to get hurt. If you're running about three days a week, those off days can act as your recovery. But know that upping your running frequency and simply going long and slow for every run isn't a great option either.

It's not great for body composition and for fat storage. Running only long and easy won't cut it for a bunch of reasons. As mentioned above, running faster helps to build muscle and has the added benefit of taking less time to complete your workout. On top of that, when you focus on running at an increased pace, your overall speed will improve, even on the days when you are training for distance instead. On the other hand, running longer distances is good for endurance and allows you to burn a substantial number of calories in a single workout.

Both of those are good for your overall health and will provide benefits in other areas of your life as well. Increased endurance will have the side effect of allowing you to increase your distance, even when running at a faster pace. Mixing up your workouts is always a good idea, because it keeps your body from getting used to the routine as well. Please subscribe to our newsletter to get the latest news in your domain of interest.

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If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again. Sweat Nosh Lifestyle Wellbeing Motherhood. Your body just functions differently every day—and a lot of variables contribute to this. But if you are looking to shed pounds, longer runs might be the best way to go.

On the other hand, running longer distances is good for endurance and allows you to burn a substantial number of calories in a single workout.