For the non-runners out there, junk miles are considered the easy miles you run in the afternoon, after you had a workout in the morning OR adding on extra miles during a cool-down jog. Some might claim that these runs are useless and without added benefit, only risking injury or overtraining. Others say that all running counts as training. I’m one of those others. For me, junk miles don’t exist. Here’s why.

There is only load. A certain amount of running has an impact on different parts of body and mind. This impact can be physiological, psychological, biomechanical, hormonal, etc. If a coach thinks 30 minutes of very easy jogging can be beneficial physiologically (e.g. increased blood flow for recovery purposes) and biomechanical (e.g. increased bone strength), then that might be a good reason to put it in the program. On the other hand, if he feels that the second run of the day will tire out the athlete mentally, then it’s a good idea to skip this run. No run (or workout) is useless in and of itself. The context in which it is implemented is everything.

So, go out for that easy jog. It all counts!