From October 19th to October 25th, I ran every day for a week. Each run was for a shorter distance than I would usually do, so with my usual flair for the unexpected, I’m calling this a short run week. For me, a short run is no more than 4.5km, usually around 3km.
I decided to do a short run week for three main reasons. I love running outside and particularly enjoy streets and parks with lots of trees. A set of short runs at this time of year seemed like a great way to see the trees dressing up in their autumn colours. I decided to run similar routes each day to get the best chance of observing small changes in the same groups of leaves.
My second reason was that I wanted to try something different… by doing something the same! I usually run on alternate days with either a rest, or strength and balance exercises on the days inbetween. Doing pretty much the same run and route each day was out of my comfort zone, partly because when I have had niggles it happened when I did longer runs on consecutive days. Which brings me to the third reason… testing how my muscles would hold up.
Shorter runs might be a way of getting round niggles causes by running with a smaller rest interval: I wanted to find out. I had no big events or timed goals scheduled, so the consequences were less if I did get a niggle. I was also curious about how the distance would accumulate across the week, compared to my usual running pattern.
What happened?
The trees were magnificent.
Short run week made me more aware of the timing of different trees and which ones were likely to have a good colour display in the following weeks. This led to some wonderful walks and great photos in early November.
I didn’t get bored of running the same routes, instead I started to concentrate more on the small differences. I was more aware of the terrain from running across it every day, so it was easier to notice and adjust for muddiness and slithering leaf litter. An upside I hadn’t considered was that I got a load of local legend achievements on Strava segments, due to running similar routes across the week.
I’m fairly happy that my muscles held up, though I did have a small foot niggle the following week. This is something I get once or twice a year anyaway, so it’s hard to say if short run week was a factor. I ran 26km across the week, so slightly more than my usual weekly average of 20km. Since doing my short run week, I’m on average 30 seconds faster per kilometer. I had slowed down after some falls in August, and the short run week helped me get that speed back.
The one downside was having to wash or remember to wash my running kit more frequently. Slightly more faff and also more emissions from the washing machine!
Overall, I would do a short run week again, and probably buy more socks in advance. I’m planning to try this in spring as well as autumn next year; at the time when the trees round here start to blossom.
About my running
I’ve been running on and off for nearly 25 years, often more off than on! In 2015, I had a major setback to my overall fitness due to an ear infection that went very wrong.
After ‘mostly’ relearning balance and co-ordination, I started running again and joined GoodGym.
All of which somehow led to running up skyscrapers for charity.
