How Much Volume Do You Actually Need? Minimum Dose, Optimal Dose, Frequency, and Distribution

How many miles a week do you need to run to get better? It's the question coaches hear most, and the annoying answer is: enough to create an adaptation, not so much that you can't absorb it. The body doesn't experience a mileage total. A mile on a 14er and a mile on a track are completely different stresses, which is why time at effort is a better way to think about volume than distance.TJ and Zoë break volume into four levers. How much: the difference between the minimum effective dose, the optimal dose, and the maximum recoverable dose, and why most runners should be asking about the middle one. How often: what 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 days a week actually get you, and why frequency is the most overlooked tool for newer runners. How long: why 15 + 5 is not a 20-mile long run, and why the cost of a run doesn't rise in a straight line. And where: easy/hard distribution, the weekend-warrior trap, and why back-to-back long runs are a tool rather than an organizing principle. It all starts from the same place — the week you can actually repeat, found in your TrainingPeaks history, not the week you're proudest of.First, TJ has an answer for what happened at Leadville. Then: a listener question about Nordic skiing all winter and protecting running fitness for a spring 50K, and Hot or Not on mocktails, aid station hydration mixes, and Tiger Balm.Questions for a future episode: microcosmcoaching@gmail.comCoaching and community: https://microcosm-coaching.com