The Truth Behind Junk Miles

Audio Transcript

Coach Sinead: Hi everyone. I’m here with you again to answer your training and racing questions, and help you to run smarter and faster.

If you have a question you would like one of our coaches to answer in an upcoming episode, you can submit it at runnersconnect.net/daily.

We would love to hear from you, and love to help you out with whatever has you curious.

Today we have a question from Caleb on junk miles.

Caleb: Hi Runners Connect. My question is about junk miles. First, what are junk miles?

I’ve heard contradicting definitions of what they are. And second, are they really junk? I’ve also heard contradicting opinions on if they are junk miles. Thank you.

Sinead: This is an awesome question, Caleb, and one that is a hot button topic in the running community.

We got this question a couple of weeks ago on the podcast, and it stirred up quite a conversation on Facebook.

It’s understandable why because, like you said, there is a little bit of confusion around what the term Junk Miles means, and the term has some negative connotations to it.

First and foremost, to answer your first question, junk miles, are ones that don’t produce a specific physiological benefit.

It’s important to remember that whenever you go out for a run, whether it be a recovery run, a steady state run, tempo run, or a speed session, it is crucial that you ask yourself, what is the purpose of this workout?

If you don’t know the answer to this question, you might end up doing something in the session that negates the purpose of the workout.

Say for instance you have a tempo run on your schedule, the purpose of this tempo run is to build your aerobic capacity and your endurance.

If you get out there and you start trying to run 10-20 seconds faster per mile in this tempo run, you’re going to be turning the workout into something that it’s not designed for.

The purpose of the workout, again, is to build on your aerobic capacity, and so the prescribed paces for the workout are there for that very reason.

If you try and dip under and go out too hard, and end up fizzling towards the end of the workout, you will be defeating the entire purpose of the workout.

That’s one example of something that runners call junk miles.

It’s when you go into a workout or a recovery run and turn it into something that it’s not designed to be, something that doesn’t achieve the physiological benefits you are seeking with the workout.

The same is true if, say, you have a recovery day on your schedule, and you go out and turn it into a bit of a tempo run.

This negates the purpose of the easy day, which is pure recovery.

We emphasize easy days at Runners Connect because these are the days where you want to make sure you’re enabling your body to recover from your last workout in time for your next workout.

So, if you go out there and turn your easy day into a workout in and of itself, you won’t be getting the physiological benefits and the recovery from that easy day.

That’s another instance where runners would use the term junk miles.

Another reason runners will use this term is to refer to excess miles, and these are runners who are big subscribers to the whole philosophy that quality is always better than quantity.

We, at Runners Connect, are big advocates of this philosophy, that’s how we shape all our training for our members at Runners Connect.

This is because we don’t like to give runners more than what is going to benefit them.

Runners often have this mentality that the more you do, the better you will be, and that’s most often not the case at all.

With the average runner, there is a point of diminishing returns when it comes to mileage.

Say, for instance, you’re training for a marathon. There are a lot of misconceptions when it comes to the marathon long run, which is obviously a crucial part of the marathon buildup.

Many runners think that it is necessary to do multiple long runs of 20-22 miles in their training segment.

That is not the case. Instead, it could cost them some improvement, for more critical physiological systems that they could gain in workouts later in the week.

More importantly, scientific research has shown that runs of over three hours offer little aerobic benefit compared to runs of two hours.

So, while a 22-miler might give you a nice boost of confidence going into a 26.2-miller, it doesn’t benefit you aerobically any more than an 18-miler would.

It also increases your risk for injury if you do multiple long runs upwards of 22 miles.

Again, that is where the term junk miles would be used. It’s the excess miles that don’t produce any sort of physiological benefit.

When you only need to run 18 miles to get those benefits, if you do a 22-miler, running four extra miles, those miles would be considered by most runners, junk miles. They don’t serve any purpose.

I’ve also seen with quite a lot of runners where, say, they have 37 miles on their schedule for a week, they get to Sunday and they want to do another three miles to round it off to 40 miles, so they can say they did 40 miles in their training log.

Those last three miles, are excess miles, they would be considered by a lot of runners to be junk miles because they weren’t prescribed on the schedule, and they don’t serve any real purpose.

A lot of runners have this mentality that the more you do, the better you will be, and that’s often not the case. That’s what the term Junk Miles means.

Whenever you step out the door to go for a run, you want to have a purpose for that run, and you want to achieve that purpose, so that you get the benefits designed for that specific session, and you work the systems for which that session is designed.

For runners who aren’t training for anything in particular, who don’t have a goal race, and are not following a training schedule, maybe they just want to go for a run to enjoy it, the term junk miles would not apply.

Running is great for you and can be therapeutic at times.

If you aren’t training for anything specific, and you’re not following a training schedule with prescribed workouts that are designed to help you achieve a goal, you want to go for a run to enjoy it, those are not junk miles by any means.

Caleb, thanks so much for submitting that question. I hope what I said has cleared up the confusion surrounding the term junk miles.

I know it is a confusing term, and it’s often got a lot of false information around it. I enjoyed answering that one today.

If you have a question you would like one of our expert coaches to answer in an upcoming episode, you can submit it at runnersconnect.net/daily.

We would love the opportunity to share our advice with you, and help you achieve your goals. Please do submit any questions you have.

Finally, I want to thank our sponsor

As the temperatures climb and your training continues to ramp up this summer, it’s important that you replenish the essential vitamins and minerals you lose through your sweat.

But how can you stay hydrated and replenish your electrolytes without all those unnecessary calories and additives in sports drinks?

EnduroPacks is a fast-acting liquid, made by runners for runners, that provides natural vegetable-based nutrients to help you get the most out of your training.

Just squirt a little into your water bottle, and off you go. Everything you need, and nothing you don’t, for improved blood flow, muscle contraction, and overall health.

EnduroPacks has a great, subtle, lemon flavor that I love because you can put it in absolutely anything.

And I can already tell a huge difference in my performance since I began taking EnduroPacks just a few weeks ago. See for yourself at runnersconnect.net/enduropacks.

Thank you so much again for tuning in. I hope you have a great day.