Each week, I ask a question about a common running science myth. Answer correctly and you'll be entered into the weekly raffle.
Studies of elite distance runners consistently show what percentage of their weekly mileage is run at "easy" effort (conversational, below lactate threshold)?
A. 50-60% — distance runners need lots of tempo and threshold work 🏃⚡ (13.4%)
B. 70-75% — a roughly 3:1 easy-to-hard split 🏃🔄 (10.7%)
C. 80-85% — the “80/20 rule” that Stephen Seiler’s research keeps confirming 🐢🚀 (61.8%)
D. 95%+ — the hard days are supposed to be very rare in a periodized plan 🛋️🔥 (14.2%)
Why this is right
Across decades of research on elite distance runners (Seiler, Ingham, Billat), the pattern holds — roughly 80% of weekly volume runs easy, ~20% sits at threshold and above. Most recreational runners have this inverted: too many sessions in the “grey zone” that’s too hard to recover from and too easy to drive adaptation.
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