Weekly Mileage Planner
Distribute your weekly running kilometres across your available training days, including a proportional long run. Use this when building a training block to balance load and recovery intelligently.
About this calculator
The core of weekly mileage planning is even distribution: average daily distance = totalMileage / runDays. This gives the baseline kilometres per session if load were spread equally. In practice, one session is designated the long run, calculated as: longRunDistance = totalMileage × (longRunPercent / 100). The remaining distance is then split across the other running days. This approach respects the 10% rule — avoiding weekly mileage increases of more than 10% to limit overuse injury risk. A well-structured week typically has the long run accounting for 25–35% of total mileage, with easy recovery runs and one or two quality sessions filling the remaining days. Balancing volume across days prevents accumulated fatigue from compromising key workouts.
How to use
You want to run 50 km this week over 5 days, with 30% allocated to the long run. Step 1: Enter totalMileage = 50, runDays = 5, longRunPercent = 30. Step 2: Average per day = 50 / 5 = 10 km. Step 3: Long run = 50 × (30 / 100) = 15 km. Step 4: Remaining 35 km is distributed over 4 other days = 35 / 4 = 8.75 km per session. You now have a concrete plan: one 15 km long run and four ~8.75 km runs across the week.
Frequently asked questions
How much should I increase my weekly running mileage each week to avoid injury?
The widely cited 10% rule recommends increasing your total weekly mileage by no more than 10% from one week to the next. For example, if you run 40 km this week, cap next week at 44 km. Some coaches advocate for even more conservative 5–8% increases for runners who are new, returning from injury, or above 70 km per week. Every third or fourth week should be a recovery week with reduced mileage — typically 20–30% less — before building again.
What percentage of weekly mileage should the long run be?
For most recreational runners, the long run should represent 25–35% of weekly total mileage. At the lower end, the long run builds endurance without dominating recovery; at the higher end it better simulates race-specific fatigue for half-marathon and marathon preparation. Going beyond 40% risks leaving you too fatigued for quality work during the rest of the week. Elite marathon programs sometimes push the long run to 35–40% during peak weeks, but this requires proportionally high overall volume to keep individual sessions manageable.
How many days per week should a beginner runner train to build mileage safely?
Beginners typically do best with 3–4 running days per week, with at least one rest or cross-training day between runs. This frequency allows adequate recovery while still providing enough stimulus for adaptation. Starting with 3 days and adding a fourth after 4–6 consistent weeks is a sensible progression. Running every day before your connective tissues have adapted dramatically increases the risk of stress fractures and tendon injuries, even if the pace and distance feel easy.