Runners with a busy working and home life schedule often find it challenging to fit in sufficient sessions in a week to meet their fitness or competitive aims. It is perfectly possible to achieve the latter with a '3 times a week' routine.

Each individual will have their own preference for which days of the week these should be. Some may find Saturday/Sunday/Wednesday convenient, those with family commitments might choose Sunday/Tuesday/Thursday. A great advantage of this routine is that one is getting ample recovery between sessions.

I would recommend a 'long' run each week with the other 2 sessions taken from the following pool of sessions:

6-8 x 400m with 2 minutes recovery

3-4 x 800m with 3 minutes recovery (this and the above session on a track or round a soccer pitch)

40 minutes fartlek (including warm up and cool down)

Hill repetitions - 4 x 400m, 8 x 200m or 6 x 300m

2 x 2 miles with 2 minutes recovery

3 x 1.5 miles with 2 minutes recovery 

40 minutes steady pace run

Choice from the above 'non-long run' sessions will ensure that there is quality work being carried out to maximise benefits from a restricted schedule.