Tomorrow’s Run for Your Life outdoor workout will begin at 8:00 am in front of the George Rosenfeld Center for Recovery (GRCR) on Wards Island. The team goal for this Saturday is to complete a 7 ½ mile run down and back on the FDR Drive trailway immediately followed by our stretch routine workshop.
Running Fatigue
The fatigue you encounter during your distance run may seem like a problem, something you would like to avoid. But when you think about it, fatigue is necessary. Really! Running fatigue is a good thing for a couple of reasons. First, if running were easy, what would be the point? There would be no challenge. Second, fatigue plays a protective role; the pain and discomfort of running fatigue is like an emergency stop button. It is there to force you to stop or slow down before you do significant damage to your body.
Whether you agree with me or not, fatigue will always be a factor in your running and one that you need to learn to deal with. Here are some helpful hints, information, and workouts to help you deal with the physical and mental aspects of distance running fatigue.
Fatigue-Fighting Workouts
By Rick Morris
Finding the cause of running fatigue used to be a simple matter. You thought you either had muscles that were worn out or were suffering from a lactic acid overload. Now we know that it’s much more complicated than that. Distance running fatigue is now thought to be caused by a complex interaction of peripheral muscle fatigue, changes in blood chemistry, and protective central nervous system reactions to those changes. The causes of fatigue may be complex, but your fatigue-fighting training doesn’t need to be. To improve your body’s resistance, or more correctly, your body’s response to peripheral muscle and metabolic changes, you need to do workouts that bring about those changes. Here are just a few valuable fatigue-fighting workouts that will improve your ability to deal with distance running fatigue.
400/800/400 Meter Compound Sets
This compound set combines the fatigue-fighting benefits of both positive and negative split training. After a warm-up, run 400 meters at a very hard pace or close to mile pace. Then slow to about 10K pace for 800 meters before speeding back up to mile pace for the final 400 meters. Rest for two minutes and repeat for your desired number of repetitions. I would suggest beginning with three compound sets and gradually build to six as your fitness improves.
5 x 3 Minute Repeats
Here is a classic distance runner’s workout that is very effective at building fitness and fighting fatigue. It challenges you both physically and mentally. Warm-up, then run for 3 minutes at a very hard pace or about 3K race pace. Repeat this four more times for a total of 5 repeats with 2 minutes of rest between each repeat.
Adapted from Running Planet Journal
Coach Andre tips:
Train harder and smarter to get better results. These are just two different types of workouts that will help improve your long-distance running. The team will be incorporating these training routines throughout the week on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.