Why Beginners Should Run for Time Instead of Distance

Key takeaways

• Running for time, not distance, is safer for beginner runners
• Time-based runs let your pace adjust naturally based on how you feel that day
• This approach helps reduce injury risk and burnout while still building endurance
• You can complete your workouts even on tough terrain or low-energy days
• Focusing on minutes makes running feel more achievable and enjoyable, which improves consistency

As a beginner runner, it may be tempting to set a mileage-based goal for yourself every time you head out for a run. It can be satisfying knowing you ran a certain number of miles, especially if your pre-runner self never thought you could run, say, three miles straight. But chasing a number—however many miles that may be—can also be dangerous.

For beginner runners or anyone looking to build a base after time off, or even for seasoned runners at the start of a training block (the first few weeks of a race-specific training plan), running for time instead of mileage is the safer, more effective way to go.

Here are a few scenarios to explain why:

Scenario 1: When Injury Strikes Mid-Run

Say your goal for a run on any given day is to cover three miles. You start your run, or your run/walk combination, and a half-mile in, feel a niggle in your calf. You’re smart, so you adjust your speed to slow down and maybe walk more than run. But at 30 minutes, you’ve only covered 2.5 miles.

You either:

a) Continue your workout to get to your 3-mile goal, despite the pain in your calf, which makes your injury worse;

b) Continue your workout to get your 3-mile goal despite your pain and once you reach three miles, you realize you’re late to pick up your son from school;

c) You stop at 30 minutes and 2.5 miles and feel badly about yourself for the rest of the day.

Scenario 2: Running on a Tough Day

You head out for a 30-minute run or run/walk combination. You didn’t sleep well last night and feel like you may be coming down with a cold. Your body naturally adjusts your pace, and you continue your planned run/walk workout, but at a pace that feels doable that day. At 30 minutes, you’ve completed your goal workout and:

a) feel good about your accomplishment and didn’t make yourself sicker;

b) continue to allow your body to adapt to running without pushing the pace or the distance, therefore safely build your aerobic and musculoskeletal endurance;

c) you enjoyed yourself because you didn’t push beyond what you were capable of on that given day.

Scenario 3: Tackling Challenging Terrain

You decide to run a nice, albeit hilly and rocky trail. You start your run-walk feeling great. At 20 minutes, you realize you’ve only covered .6 miles.

You:

a) become annoyed at the lack of mileage and decide to continue up the trail until you’ve reached 1.5 miles and only then will you allow yourself to turn around (because you wanted to cover three miles, dangit!). This causes you to push way beyond your physical and mental limits and forces you to take the next week off from running…and you’re late for work!

b) you turn around at .6 miles and reach your starting point after covering 1.2 miles in 35-or-so minutes (the return trip, downhill, is quicker) and you’re disappointed you didn’t cover three miles.

Or, c) you realize, wisely, that 35-or-so minutes of effort/work on a hilly trail was fantastic training and you’re happy and fulfilled that you built strength…and got out in nature. And you safely built your base of endurance.

The Bottom Line on Time vs. Distance

There is a time and place in a runner’s journey to focus on mileage. Having time goals for races, for instance, requires knowing what pace you’re running while training, and knowing you can cover certain mileages. (And even then, it’s wise to start out the training with time-based efforts.)

But, as you’re building a foundation both of endurance and love for the sport of running—that’s always the goal, in my book…literally in my book, “Running That Doesn’t Suck: How to Love Running (Even if You Think You Hate It)”—running for time over mileage is the way to go.