Mileage matters most

When I started running, I asked my coach how to get better.

He said show up to every practice.

I did. I got better.

A month or two later, I asked again:

He said run on the weekends when we don't practice. (My high school didn't have practice on Saturdays.)

I did. I got better.

Showing up consistently is the first step in any pursuit. Don't overcomplicate it, especially when first getting started.

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MILEAGE MATTERS MOST

If you want to be capable of doing something, then you have to work at it. If you want to be good at it, not just capable, then you have to do it a lot. That applies to running. 

The attached pdf goes into detail on the importance of consistent deliberate practice. Here are a few highlights:

• The central factor in long term development success is consistency.

• To become the best runner that you can be, or even a significant percentage of your genetic best, requires a lot of running.

• If you want to improve your technique and increase your efficiency, then you must put in deliberate practice.

• Most runners overestimate how much they can improve in the short term while underestimating how much they can improve in the long term. 

• The volume of running is the most influential training factor in both amateur and elite runners.