6 minutes or 14 minutes. It doesn't
matter how long it takes you to cover a mile, a mile is still a mile.
Today is Global Running Day - a day for people around the
world to celebrate the joys of running. Share your passion for the sport of
running and inspire others to get moving.
For all fitness levels, running is a great sport to challenge your mind and
body. But even better, running does not require a gym membership, it's fairly
inexpensive and you can do it almost anywhere (and anytime) and it comes with a
list of benefits including body composition changes, fitness gains, stress
relief and self-confidence.
While running can provide you with a great endorphin-rush, making you feel like
you are capable of tackling everything on your to-do list after you finish a
run workout, running does come with a few downfalls.
Running is very corrosive on the body and in order to reduce the risk for
injuries and health issues, longevity in the sport of running requires a
careful balance of consistent training, good economy, proper recovery,
excellent nutrition and listening to the body.
Running is rather hard on the body and not every human body is designed to be a
runner. Running requires good flexibility and range of motion as well as
exceptional cardiorespiratory endurance and muscular strength. Injuries due to
overtraining, poor biomechanics and improper shoes or increasing mileage too
quickly are very common in runners of all fitness levels.
If you are looking to extend your running career or you are hoping to improve
your running fitness, I have a few important tips to help make the most out of
your running journey.
Build a strong body – As great as it
feels to check-off an hour run from your training plan, it’s important that you
build a strong and resilient body before you try to increase your speed and
distance. Strength training is an important part of a balanced running routine
for a weak body increases the risk for injury. It’s recommended to include 2-3
x 20-40 minute sessions of functional (ex. run-specific) strength training each
week into your running routine alongside strength based running (ex. incline
walking and hill strides). One of your strength workouts should include
power-based strength. Runners should aim to improve strength in the hips,
glutes, lower back and core to ensure good pelvis strength but don't neglect
the arms and feet. Bottom line, don't try to run yourself to a stronger body.
Incorporate strength training and strength-based running to become a more
resilient runner with better economy.
Consistency is key – When you start your run
training, you will either feel amazing and the miles will tick away naturally
OR you will struggle with recovery after runs and you will find yourself sore,
tired and unmotivated to continue. Based on research, the magic number of runs
per week is between three and five. Less runs can place just as much stress on
your body as running too much. Frequency training improves endurance, speed and
stamina but you need consistent training to help you adapt to training stress
with proper recovery. Also, frequent running allows you to focus on your
economy and cadence, without having each run be a "key" workout
designed to improve your lactate threshold or aerobic endurance. Develop a
smart training plan that gives you several times to run per week,with different
intensities and duration's, with no run workout being too exhausting that you
can't recover from it before your next run workout. When you aren't running,
consider cross training like swimming or cycling to bridge you from one run
workout to the next.
It’s not just about miles completed – Nothing can
replace hard work so if you want to be a better runner, you have to pay your
physical dues. But being a "better runner" requires so much more than
running x-miles a week or running x-pace. Take a look at your lifestyle and
recognize that good restful sleep (7-8 hours), a positive attitude, good stress
management, attention to sport nutrition, balanced daily nutrition, a healthy
immune system, good mobility, proper pacing, using RPE instead of being a slave
to your gadget and a good warm-up will help you improve your running fitness.
In other words, think about what you are doing when you are not running
if you want to become a better, stronger and faster runner. Be an active
participant in your run training so you are constantly making smart choices.
Going into a run with tension, stress and tight muscles will cause you to run
with tension, stress and tight muscles.
Running is not punishment - You do not need to earn your food by
running. If you find yourself running to earn a treat or to burn off food that
you feel guilty about eating or because you hate your body, you are running for
the wrong reasons. Running allows you to enjoy the fresh air, it takes you to
different places, it helps you socialize with like-minded individuals and it
helps you de-stress. Running should make you feel good. If you find yourself
using your run training as a way to feel more in control over your eating
choices or to reward yourself with "off limit" food, you may be
forming a dysfunctional relationship with exercise, which may lead to
disordered eating or excessive exercising. Make sure your reasons for
exercising or training for an event are for the right reasons. Run to get
stronger, to relieve stress, to feel confident about your body and to challenge
your limits. Do not run for punishment, to earn food, to reward yourself, to
justify eating certain foods or because you shame your body. Running should not
control your life, your food choices or your thoughts about your body but
instead, should add value to your life. Be grateful that you can use your body
to run for there are many people in this world who are unable to enjoy the
benefits of running.
Optimize the energy cost of running - Specifically for athletes (triathletes/runners),
you must be being able to sustain a high rate of energy production for a prolonged
amount of time. Your ability to run well is not determined by how fast
you can run but how efficient you are at using oxygen in order to resist
fatigue throughout your entire training session or event. By improving your
running economy, or how well your body uses oxygen for whatever duration and
intensity you are running, you can actually get you running faster with less
work. Imagine that – if you want to run faster, just run more efficiently! The
winning formula is: Good posture/form = Improved efficiency = resistance to
fatigue = faster running.
Cross Train - Cycling,
swimming and strength training can all help improve your running mechanics.
Running does not necessarily make you a better swimmer or cyclist but swimming
and cycling can make you a better runner as you can work on mobility, balance,
posture control and speed without placing weight on the body. Knowing that
running is an injury-producing sport, cross training offers a healthy amount of
stress and literally "takes the load off."
RUNNING TECHNIQUE TIPS
- Establish good posture before you start running.
Typically marching into power walking will help.
- Avoid forcefully swinging your arms in front of your body. Thumbs
toward armpits, elbows behind you. Any forward arm movement should be a
counter movement to your arms swinging behind you.
- Relax your shoulders and hold no tension in your neck/arms/
- Head looks ahead of you toward the ground, not to the horizon,
straight up or straight down.
- Forward lean - hips in front of knees, in front of ankles. Don’t
lean back or upright.
- Avoid bouncing up and down and instead, propel yourself
forward.
- Don’t overstride or try to land on your toes. Focus on landing
your feet under your hips.
- Minimize your time on the ground to help you run light, to
minimize fatigue.
- Use your warm-up and any time before your run main set to work on
posture and form.
- To help run downhill, hold your arms closer to your body to feel
more control.
- Incorporate walk breaks to help you reset form.
- Fuel and hydrate to help delay fatigue
and to keep good form.
- Always run with good form. If you
can't keep good form, your risk for injury increases
In honor of Global Running Day, my friends at StrideBox are offering you 50% off the
first box for a new monthly subscription to StrideBox.
StrideBox is a fun and exciting way to discover new running
products. It makes for a special surprise gift for a running friend or gift
yourself a monthly box of running nutrition, accessories and essentials.
The coupon code is RunningDay17
Learn more HERE.
Happy Running!
