WEEKLY PLANNING
Put a planned long run inside a complete weekly total
The same long-run distance can account for a very different share of the week.
Define what the weekly total includes
A planned weekly distance should include the proposed long run. If you enter 30 km of other running as the “weekly total” and then enter a 20 km long run separately, the denominator is wrong: the complete week would be 50 km.
Also decide whether the new long run replaces an existing session. Replacing a planned 16 km outing with 20 km adds 4 km to the total. Adding a separate 20 km outing adds all 20 km. Those are different changes even when the long-run field looks identical.
Compare two complete plans
The numbers in this example are illustrative, not a customer training record.
| Plan | Other running | Long run | Total | Long-run share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 20 km | 20 km | 40 km | 50% |
| B | 35 km | 20 km | 55 km | 36.4% |
The calculation is long-run distance divided by the entire weekly distance. A smaller percentage does not automatically make Plan B a better choice: it also contains 15 km more running. The table describes the distribution, not the suitability of either plan.
Compare the whole proposal with recent history
If the eight-week average is 33 km, Plan A’s 40 km is about 21.2% above that average. Plan B’s 55 km is about 66.7% above it. These percentages use the same historical baseline and make the difference between the plans explicit.
Do not turn one of these values into a universal safe-change cutoff. The summary does not include intensity, recent interruptions, terrain, symptoms or individual context. An arithmetic comparison is useful because it shows what you are proposing, not because it can approve the proposal.
Use the calculator to check your bookkeeping
Enter the eight completed weeks and both proposed distances in the volume review tool. It rejects a long run greater than the weekly total because that combination is internally inconsistent.
Before saving a plan, add its sessions manually once. Check units and whether warm-ups or cooldowns are included. That short review can prevent a planning error from being mistaken for a meaningful change in training.