This Saturday’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. This week’s running goal is to continue practicing base pace running for another 5-7 mile run.
Running and exercise go hand-in-hand with recovery: first, you want to start slow. Then, after you get going, you want to internalize your every thought and physical move as this will help you navigate your way along the course. You also want to remain hyper-vigilant to avoid any unnecessary detours, potholes, or reckless drivers along the course. True joy and pleasure come from within, like when you experience runners high or flow. Therefore, keep doing what you’re doing by staying on the road of recovery and always remember: “It works if you work it.”
Improve Your Performance
- To build endurance, first and foremost listen to your body. Do not add mileage if you’re still fatigued from previous runs or your starting heart rate is above its normal resting rate. You can increase your mileage up to 10% weekly, but this really depends on your weekly mileage to begin with. Also, be sure to schedule a comparatively light week every fourth week to help avoid overuse injuries.
- Running hills will improve your overall strength. It will also increase your speed since the motion of climbing hills mimics the high leg lifts of sprinting.
- To develop strength and speed, alternate intervals of sprinting with recovery periods at your normal training pace. Just be sure to warm up beforehand and cool down afterward to allow your muscles to return to normal functioning.
- On race day, it’s best to eat a light meal, high in carbohydrates so you’ll have plenty of quick energy. You can get your carbs from energy bars, bananas, bagels, or even pasta or rice. Sports drinks are also a good source of carbohydrates and will make sure you’re well hydrated.
Source: Adapted from Runner’s World
Coach Andre’s tips:
Training is about being consistent and listening to your body. Knowing the early signs of injury can save you a lot of misery later on and being consistent can build mental stamina along with teaching you patience.
Pain and discomfort are often thought of as the same but they’re not. Discomfort is when your body experiences change to a normal routine – for example, running speed repeats at a maximum sprint pace. Because of the added stress, while sprinting, muscle fatigue sets in much sooner and causes the body to feel uncomfortable. This is discomfort.
Pain is quite different; pain continues to manifest after your workout routine is over.
Pain may be the early sign of an injury – sometimes we push ourselves to the point of injury without even knowing it. For example, jumping from a 6-mile training run one week to running a 15-mile training run the next week. To prevent injuries, a good rule of thumb is to add no more than 1-2 miles to your longest training run each week.