Running 3 Miles A Day: How It Will Transform Your Life

Many people consider streak running when looking to make some type of change within themselves. Whether the change you are working toward is physical or mental, joining a streak is certain to achieve results for you. 

While one mile per day is a fantastic place to start for beginners, 3-mile runs are the next step up and offer quite a few health benefits.

If you’re ready to take on the next challenge in your daily running regimen, the 3-mile run is a fantastic place to start. Here’s why…

Is Running 3 Miles A Day Good?

Setting yourself a goal to run 3 miles a day may be a difficult challenge. However, if you have a solid running form, fitness level, and cardiovascular base, it shouldn’t be difficult.

It’s a goal you may need to build up to and of course a time investment like most training plans. But, the benefits of running 3 miles each day are significant. 

Consistent aerobic exercise can lower your risk of cardiovascular disease, improve your metabolism, and burn fat.

But please note that all training regimens need recovery and rest days. Streak running is fantastic but ample care must be taken to avoid injury and overtraining.

How Will 3 Miles A Day Transform You

Let’s assume that you’re not a beginner runner but 3 mile runs are a significant commitment.

An average runner can knock out this distance in about 30 minutes. Most of us should have that amount of time each day to dedicate to exercise. So, knowing that in 1-hour you can finish the 3 miles, shower, and change, ensures this streak distance isn’t a burden.

As I mentioned before, consistent cardiovascular activity is excellent for our heart health. If you’re looking to help keep your heart happy, this is another reason to commit to 30-60 minutes of cardio activity a day. 

Running 3 miles will easily hit that minimum daily cardio goal.

If you are looking to focus on weight loss by burning calories and improve your body composition, running daily will certainly help. In addition, you will find your body toning from this daily commitment.

Running daily also has fantastic psychological benefits. This is one way to show yourself exactly how mentally strong you are, in addition to physical strength. 

There are some days when exhaustion and frustration with our day will creep in. Having a dedicated time set aside for physical and mental wellness is an important thing for all of us.

This time you set aside will remind you on the hardest of days that you can push through and do hard things: both physically and mentally.

Running also produces a runner’s high. This is due to the endorphins that your body naturally produces when you exercise. Committing to this daily task will help you keep the feel-good juices flowing.

How Long Should It Take To Run 3 Miles?

Honestly, I always cringe when people ask how long it should take to run 3 miles. Most beginners run anywhere from 9 to 13-minute miles. This means it can take anywhere from 27 minutes to 45 minutes for a novice to finish a 5K, or 3.1 miles.

Once people get acclimated to running, their times usually start to go down. However, you can’t judge or measure yourself based on someone else’s achievement. 

Remember: the only person you need to beat is yourself. If you beat your personal best by a fraction of a second, that’s all that matters.

Is Running 3 Miles In 30 Minutes Good?

That depends on so many variables. If your personal record (PR) for a 5K is 32 minutes and you pop a 30 minute 5K, you have just had an exceptional race! 

However, if your average 5K time is 25 minutes and on an off day it takes you 35 minutes, you are probably not pleased with your results. 

The point is that there are so many variables that come into play when determining if a run is “good” or not.

Not All Runs Have The Same Goal

One thing to remember is that not all runs have the same desired outcome. If you are truly looking to grow and evolve as a runner, you want to switch things up a bit.

One run, the purpose or objective might be to do speed work, the next run an easy run. Let’s examine different ways to cover 3 miles. Note that each of these workouts has a very different objective and way to meet the mileage.

Workout One: 

• 800-meter warm-up
• 8×400 at mile pace
• 800 meter cool down

Workout Two:

• 800-meter warm-up
• Alternate hard/easy by 800s
• End with 800 cool down

Workout Three:

• 800 warm-up
• 200 (rest :30)
• 400 (rest 1:30)
• 600 (rest 2:00)
• 800 (rest 3:00)
• 600 (Rest 2:00)
• 400 (rest 1:30)
• 200 (rest :30)
• 800 cool down

Workout Four:

• Run three easy miles. Pace should be 1:00 – 1:30 minutes per mile slower than your personal record in the 5K.

The point is that not all runs are created equally. If you run the same, easy three-mile loop each day your body won’t be transformed as much as if you mix up your workouts. Your body needs easy runs just as much as it benefits from challenging efforts.

It is equally as important to mention that although there are multiple speed workouts listed, this is just for illustration purposes. It is not our intention that you do all of these types of workouts in the same week.

What About Running 4 Miles A Day?

If running 3 miles a day is good, isn’t running 4 miles a day better? Maybe, maybe not. You need to ask yourself what your goals are. Does running more miles every day help you to better achieve those goals?

For most of us, our running is just like every other aspect of our life: we need balance.

I guess the piece that I would use to caution you is that more is not necessarily always better. Examine your goals. Figure out your objectives for each workout. Find your balance. Plan your workouts from there.

Considering these things should help you to determine what your workout needs are.

A Final Thought On Daily Running

So we’ve covered quite a bit. 3-mile runs are, in fact, a great goal, achievable daily distance, and have significant physical and psychological benefits.

But, let’s make it a point to not focus so much on the distance, pace, or duration of our runs. Those details are far less important than the act of adding consistent physical activity to our lifestyle.

Regular running, even 5 minutes per day, at slow speeds, can impact our lives in incredible ways.

Now, get after it!