An important consideration is that TrainAsONE is not just scheduling a short run, but rather it is determining a combination of runs, the result of each affecting the benefits and risks for all following runs. The whole plan is a balancing act of the calculated benefits of running vs rest vs risk of injury. The former two are based upon patterns of training that have demonstrated improved performance and better race times, whereas the latter is derived from user injury records and research papers.
At TrainAsONE, we very often receive questions along the lines of ‘My shortest run is usually around 45 minutes, why do I have a 10 minute run in my plan?’. When we’ve looked at the specifics, there has always been good reason, and no evidence that increasing runs will be of any significant benefit (though would significantly increase risk of injury).
The philosophy of ‘longer must be better’ is probably a deep-seated human conception, and in part perpetuated by common (and often flawed) training wisdom. Whilst overall more training is better, it is how you get there that is important.
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