I’ve run Marathons and Ultra Marathons by applying the 80/20 rule.
What is the 80/20 rule in Running?
The short answer to the 80/20 rule is 80 percent easy and 20 percent hard.
Let’s take a closer look at the 80/20 rule. The 80/20 rule applied to running shouldn’t be confused with Pareto’s Principle, which states that 20% of effort leads to 80% of results.
In running, the 80/20 rule is the amount of intensity put into training. This works for everyone, whether you’re an elite athlete or just starting out. The 80 in the 80/20 rule represents the percentage of easy training runs, and the 20 in the 80/20 rule represents the percentage of hard training runs. To make the math easy, let’s take a 10-day training schedule; out of the 10 days of training, 8 days are easy, and 2 days are hard.
What are the benefits of the 80/20 Rule?
The most significant benefit of the 80/20 rule is reducing burnout. If a runner is training at 100% all the time, there is a substantial risk of burning out because it just gets tiring to put in that much effort daily.
Another benefit to the 80/20 rule, it increases recovery time. The runner’s body gets to recover on the easy days. Recovery days are vital to gaining positive results.
One fear runners have is that they’re afraid of losing their gains from all the hard training days, but research shows that runners actually get stronger with fewer hard training days and more recovery days.
How Can the 80/20 Rule be applied in Ultra Marathon Training?
To be an Ultra Marathoner, what’s important is time on feet. If I’m training for a 50k, I want to run about 50 miles weekly. If I’m training for a 50 miler, I want to run about 70 to 80 miles weekly. If I’m preparing for a 100-miler, I want to be running approximately 100+ miles a week.
Not all of these runs need to be hard. My six-day training schedule would look like the following based on the 80/20 rule:
Monday: Rest day
Tuesday: Interval Training (Hard Day)
Wednesday: Slow 10-13 mile run (Easy Day)
Thursday: Slow 10-13 mile run (Easy Day)
Friday: Tempo Run 8-10 miles (Medium Day)
Saturday: Slow Long Run 16 – 18 miles (Easy Day)
Sunday: Slow Long Run 18-20 miles (Medium Day)
What Heart Rate Zone is 80/20?
There are about five heart rate zones based on STRAVA. Zone 1 is 0-117, Zone 2 is 117-145, Zone 3 is 145-160, Zone 4 is 160-174, and zone 5 is >174. When running on easy days, a runner’s heart rate should not exceed 160. It’s on the hard days where a runner can enter zones 4 and 5 but stay away from them on easy days.
Summary
Studies found that the 80/20 rule is beneficial to endurance athletes. Following this training method reduces burnout and muscle fatigue. The 80/20 rule increases endurance and strength. The 80/20 rule can be successfully applied to short and long-distance runners.
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