Keeping Fit While Busy

I'm following your beginners training program 3, and almost finished with it. (Thanks, it's a great program!). Soon, I plan to move on and start training for a 10k race later in the spring.

For my 10k training, I hope to run 3 times a week. But... before I start that, I have a few weeks at work that are super busy, so I'm not sure I'll be able to go out as much as 3 times a week :(.

My question is what's the minimum amount of running I can do to keep my current fitness, so that I can still manage about 30 minutes of running when I start the 10k training? Is it enough to run 30 minutes once a week (just for a few weeks)?


Answer by Dominique:


Hi there,
Thanks for your running training question. Great to hear you are another happy user of Beginners Running Program 3. It's the most popular program on my site and for good reason.

Sorry for a late reply. I have been on a break and only just resumed working on the site. This answer may be too late.

Once you have built up to a certain level of fitness you can maintain it for a little while with not doing that much work. Running once a week for 30 minutes is not a lot, but if you do it for a limited amount of time you might be able to get away with it.



I know what it is like to have those super busy weeks. I am heading into a few myself with quarterly reporting coming up. I find that running at the end of those tough days is a great way to get rid of a bit of stress and to clear the head. If at all possible, I would recommend that you try to find the time to fit some running in anyway. Even when it is busy we usually find time to have a shower, brush our teeth and put on our clothes. Try to make running an equally essential part of your day!

But, as said before, if not possible, rest assured that you will maintain a large part of your fitness when you work out less for a few weeks.

Kind regards,
Dominique