Running 10 Miles A Day – Benefits And Challenges

Running 10 miles a day is not an easy feature to do especially for beginners and requires lots and lots of training and consistency. However, you can build yourself up slowly by setting up milestones like running a mile or two if your body can handle it.

Running should be a part of your day as is eating, taking a shower, and brushing your teeth. With discipline and perseverance, anything is possible and your body will thank you for treating it right.

The Benefits of Running

It builds up your cardiovascular endurance, burns plenty of calories, strengthens bone density, and helps you with weight loss, I mean, who wouldn’t want to lose weight? Overall, running will drastically improve your physical and mental health.

Things to Prepare Before Running

• Eating a small meal or snacks like oatmeal, banana with an energy bar, or bread with peanut butter. Foods that can fuel your body before running.
• Wearing comfortable, flexible trousers and a basic T-shirt will serve well as long as it is not baggy. Investing in running shoes from brands like Nike or Adidas will be worth it in the long run, although it is pricey.
• Hydrate your body before and during the run.
• Stretch and warm up to not hurt or cause an injury to yourself.
• Have good quality sleep the night before as sleeping 7-8 hours per night energizes your body to be well prepared the next day.
• Plan your route to know how far you’re going and where you would want to go. Running all around the place is not a good way to run.

How Long Can It Take To Run 10 Miles?

Running 10 miles usually takes 1-2 hours but it largely depends on the running pace, level of fitness, experience, physical size, and running form of the runner. The average time to run a mile is about 9-10 minutes, while beginners usually fall around 13-20 minutes. Elite competitive runners take 4-6 minutes to run a mile.

Is Running 10 Miles a Day Too Much?

Most people can’t do 10 miles a day of running and might call you insane for doing it. Is it way too much?

It depends on the fitness level of your body. Some elite marathon athletes push their bodies to the limits and run 100-120 miles per week. You will need to listen to your body to know if you can run 10 miles. Otherwise, if you cannot, you can always work yourself up and build your endurance and
progress each week until you hit the 10-mile mark.

Rest is the key to repairing and maintaining a fit body. If you feel like a day of rest is not enough, then just add more rest days to properly recover your body and to make sure you don’t get injured.
During the Run

• Maintain good posture: While running, slouching or not having a straight back is bad form and will slow down your progress.
• Start slow: Running slow at the start of your run is a good technique to not gas yourself up quickly and to be able to finish your 10-mile run.
• Music: Listening to music that you like will make you run longer, easier, and more fun.
• Discipline not motivation: Motivation will help you do things when you feel like doing them, but discipline is doing things no matter what you’re feeling.
• Bring water: Make sure to have a bottle of water while running to hydrate yourself and to run longer.
• Maintain a steady pace: This helps you in running longer miles by preserving your energy because you are using less force and effort in your movement.

Also Read: 10 Surprising Benefits of Running in the Morning

HOW TO BREATHE PROPERLY WHILE RUNNING

USE BOTH NOSE AND MOUTH TO BREATH

Breathing in with your nose and breathing out with your mouth is the standard technique for breathing properly while running. But when running intensity ramps up like going at a faster pace or sprinting, breathing through your mouth will be more efficient as it inhales more oxygen. Or if you’re running at a casual pace, then breathing with your nose is usually fine.

MENTAL BENEFITS OF RUNNING 10 MILES

1. REDUCES STRESS

When you run or do any kind of exercise, endorphins are released into your body which is considered a natural painkiller. This natural chemical helps relieve pain, reduces anxiety, relaxes you, and improves your mood.

2. IT CLEARS YOUR MIND

Running makes you forget about your problems and tends to positively impact your attitude and improves your memory and ability to learn.

Without physically moving, your brain fogs up like glass, leading to not being able to focus.

RUNNING CHALLENGES YOUR BRAIN

What I mean by that is when you’re running, your body can still run let’s say about 1-2 miles left in the tank, but your brain will tell you to stop and take a quick break because it feels the ‘burn’.

When this happens, you need to keep going and push yourself to the limits.

Doing this will improve your self-worth and help you understand that you can get through tough situations. But of course, be careful to not injure yourself.

Running is a mental exercise and it may seem easy but it is not, especially when you’re running 10 miles a day.

You have to be dedicated and disciplined to run every single day, that’s why they say that running is 90% mental and 10% physical.

Mental toughness is key in running such long distances because some runners find their body to be able to run longer, but their mind finds it hard to keep going.

Also Read: Does Shaving Your Legs Make You Run Faster?

IT BUILDS YOUR BASE FOR THE ULTRAMARATHON

Also called ultra-distance or ultra-running, are running distances that range from 31 miles (50 km) to over 200 miles (321 km). Running 10 miles a day for a whole month shows that it builds the foundation and strength that is needed for participating in ultramarathons and it makes it easier to do as YouTuber Vince Luu said.

FIND A GROUP TO RUN WITH

Running along with a group of people will boost your mood and attitude and you won’t feel so lonely. Invite your friends, family, and girlfriend/boyfriend if you have one, even your dog can run with you. Get a companion to be alongside you while you’re running to make the experience feel better.

IT MIGHT BE BORING

After running for a couple of weeks, you might find yourselves bored. This could be the fact that you’re running on the same routes, or your end goal is the same as day 1. Choosing different routes and places will hugely benefit you in not feeling bored on your run.

Change up things and you might discover areas around your city or neighborhood like parks or shops that you’ve never seen before.

This could also lead to better performance in your running such as being more positive and outgoing.

INJURIES

If you’re not careful enough, the possibility of getting injured is bound to happen, especially running 10 miles. Running at this distance every single day can lead to no recovery for your body. Your muscles will have no time for it to heal and grow back stronger.

To avoid getting injured, stretch and warm up your body before running. If you’re just starting on this journey, then you might wanna lower the distance that you’re running to avoid the chance of getting injured.

MUSCLE CRAMPS

If you just experienced a muscle cramp while running, then this is a sign of overtraining or lack of muscle strength. Although cramps do go away on their own, focusing on your breathing and relaxing your body can speed up the pain of going away.

To avoid getting muscle cramps, try to reduce the intensity or running pace and get plenty of rest. Hydration is also another factor in avoiding this.

HOW TO START RUNNING 10 MILES A DAY?

If you’re a beginner runner that wants to start running long distances, then here are tips on how to start doing it:

1. TAKING IT EASY – Don’t run 10 miles right off the bat, instead take baby steps like running a mile or two. I let my ego get ahead of me when I first started and thought that it was easy to run such distances.
2. MOVE SLOWLY – If you think you can’t continue anymore at your current running pace, then start walking. When you can recover, run again and move at a steady pace.
3. BE POSITIVE AND CONSISTENT – I got demotivated and thought that I couldn’t do 10 miles a day. I thought that it was too hard to do, but I pushed through it every day in baby steps until I could do longer and longer distances. Do not think of negative thoughts as that will ruin your progress.
4. START NOW – People say they wanna run but can’t even start. They always make excuses that they would start their journey tomorrow, and tomorrow into next week, and next week into next month, and it goes on and on and on. You have to act now and must be determined
   and dedicated to completing such a task.

What To Do Post-Run

• Eat – A well-balanced meal that contains carbohydrates, high protein, fruits, and vegetables will aid muscle recovery and muscle building.
  Eating the right nutrients will nourish your body and recover faster which means you can run quickly again the next day.
• Hydrate – drinking water after a 10-mile run is crucial as when you are running, your body sweats heavily and gets dehydrated, thus your body can’t function well. It is important to drink lots of water to give yourself more energy and better temperature regulation.
• Stretch – Stretching after running will further improve your mobility and flexibility and relaxes your muscles which will prevent strains and cramps. Not stretching after running will most likely suffer from muscle soreness.
• Ice baths – taking ice baths to reduce the amount of muscle soreness that occurs after running and relaxes your whole body when you get out of the ice bath.
• Rest – Running will tear your muscle fibers thanks to the amount of high intensity and physical load that happens while you are running. Resting will allow your body to recover and your muscles will start to heal and grow back stronger and faster than before.
  A good night’s rest is the most important thing you can do post-run to prevent injuries and energize your body to be able to run again the next day.

When you are finally able to run 10 miles a day. You’re a beast and you should be proud of yourself for completing a not-so-easy task. Your body is ready for longer distances and maybe, increase the miles that you run and your next milestone could be 20 miles. Run a marathon as well, it is a great
experience to run with other people and it would again challenge your mind and body.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q: DOES RUNNING GET EASIER?

Just like any exercise, running does get easier the more you do it. That’s
why staying consistent is the key to being able to run 10 miles.

Q: HOW MANY CALORIES ARE BURNED WHEN RUNNING?

A good rule of thumb is 100 calories burned per mile. Factors included in this are your weight because heavier people tend to burn more calories.

Q: DOES RUNNING MAKE YOU LOSE MUSCLE?

The answer is a little complicated. There is a possibility of losing a little bit of muscle when running long distances. However, this can be avoided by simply eating more, though not so much. So long as you change your diet depending on how you run, then this should not be a problem.

Q: HOW CAN I AVOID GETTING INJURED?

Pushing yourself to the limits is good to hone your mind. But pushing yourself too far to the point where you can get injured, then try to slow down to shortly recover.

Q: WHAT DO I DO IF I AM SICK AND CAN’T RUN?

Then it’s best to rest to give time for your body to recover.