So, you can run 3 miles without stopping, now what?
You’ve run two half marathons exactly the same pace…why?
There are probably a few reasons and I might turn this into a three-part series but for now, ONE QUESTION…are you doing the same thing every time you run?!
For most people, it is 2-3 miles at the same easy pace over and over OR 2-3 miles as FAST as they can go…over and over and over and they don’t know why they aren’t getting better.
Exercise physiology tells us that our bodies have two different systems, anerobic and aerobic. They always work at the same time but come to the forefront at different times. Want to get faster at running, you need to work them BOTH separately so that when they work together, they are BOTH more efficient.
Without going into an entire biology lesson here are THREE different runs you should be doing in order to help your body be more efficient at processing energy and therefore get faster.
1. Short faster intervals or repeats followed by equal or longer recovery. You can do this by street light intervals or time intervals (30 second/ 30 second/30 seconds). Pace should be faster then those 2 miles runs you do. Fast enough to need the recovery.
Warm up
1st interval: run harder than your normal pace
2nd interval: walk at a brisk but recovery pace
3rd interval: jog an easy pace
Repeat.
2. Pace or Tempo Run: Sounds complicated but its not. Do a warm up mile EASY, a middle mile at what you consider a challenging pace but not all out, and a recovery mile EASY.
Working on a half marathon: Warm up 1-2 miles, timed tempo that progressively get longer (start with 20 minutes and work your way up to 40-50 min slightly faster than goal race pace), then 1-2 mile recovery.
3. Long run: If you’ve mastered the “3 miles without stopping” this is where you add on, but at a slower / easier pace then you run your 3-mile runs. Start with simply adding a quarter mile at a time but lowering the pace for the entire run.
Again, these aren’t meant to be fast…you do your hard workouts hard / easy workouts easy…that is the KEY to getting better!
I know this is a very simplified post so leave questions below!
TWO things that I would add…having a PLAN and building strength!
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Happy Running
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