The answer depends on how fast do you want to run.
You’ve probably heard of the Pareto Principle. Quite simply Pareto’s Principle is that 20% of any activity yields 80% of the result and 80% of any activity yields 20% of the result.
This works in almost any situation. For example, you probably wear 20% of the clothes you own 80% of the time, which means that 80% of your wardrobe is stuffed with clothes you wear 20% of the time (if ever)!
After 40 years, I finally got my hands on the City2Surf Trophy!
So it is with training.
20% of the City2Surf training you do will give you 80% of your fitness success, which is ample to carry you comfortably across the finish line of a 14 km fun run in a fairly good time.
If you want to be an elite athlete, you’ll need to put 80% more effort into your training routine to gain the last 20% of speed and conditioning needed to reach your maximum potential.
The idea behind the City2Surf 100 Day Challenge is to help motivate and challenge people with enough activity in the 100 day training period to get them fit enough to comfortably handle the City2Surf distance. Depending on their age and fitness level this is enough put an average runner in the 60 to 75 minute range.
That said, the people who want to gain even more benefit, can simply add more kilometres to the challenge.
The fastest of the City2Surf Legends all achieved times under 50 minutes in the 14km City2Surf, but to do it they all ran roughly 160 kms per week in training.
When I was chatting with Michael Shelley, the 2009 City2Surf winner, he said that he runs twice a day, seven days a week and for him, ‘a slow jog is a rest day’.
Come and join us in the City2Surf 100 Day Challenge and share your training experience.