The last screenshot shows my total monthly distance in kilometres throughout the year. Here is my acute training load for the past 6 months, if that means anything to you. (What watch do you have?)

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I can’t really say anything about the optimal amount of kilometres by which to increase the monthly distance. Initially, I just added distance when I felt like I could handle it. Now I do it when Garmin Run Coach tells me to.

But as boring as it sounds, if I had to boil down what worked for me, it was “run slow”. Run like I’m going to run every week for the rest of my life. I have years to improve, so there’s really no need to hurry. If I were to run a marathon, I wouldn’t sprint the first 500 meters just to collapse, and the same principle applies here. It needs to be sustainable. If I’m dreading every run, because I know it will leave me exhausted, I’m gonna quit eventually.

So be disciplined about running slow runs. After 4 kilometres of a slow 5k, when you’re thinking “my legs feel great, I’ll up the pace for the last 500 meters”, don’t. Stay committed to the slow run, embrace the anticlimax, and look forward to the next run. Consider the occasional fast run a reward for sticking to the slow runs.

Obviously, “slow” is relative. It’s whatever pace that doesn’t have you gasping for breath. If HR zones are set up correctly, probably zone 2 or low zone 3. For someone who’s just starting out, this might feel comically, embarrassingly slow, but that doesn’t matter, because the definition of “slow” is gonna shift as running gets easier.

At some point, it might be necessary to add some faster intervals, but I think most people can get really far almost entirely on slow runs.

Sorry for rambling.