Recovery Runs:
The day after a hard workout or race make sure you listen to your body. Your muscles will be
sore and need an easy distance run both to remove the lactic acid and to
help deal with the soreness left over from the race.
Tempo Runs:
Tempo runs are a good way to get stronger and to help build your endurance in the
building up period of your training. The uses of a heart rate monitor in
a tempo will help you know what your lactic threshold is and how hard
you should be running. A tempo run should be a solid 75% to 85% effort.
Rotating Shoes:
Make sure to change shoes every 350 to 500 miles to avoid getting injured from
running on broken down shoes. Additionally, rotating two pairs of shoes
during heavy training will make your shoes last much longer.
The Long Run:
Incorporating a long run into your weekly training is an essential aspect of training.
The long run should be fifteen to twenty percent of your total weekly mileage.
Many runners do their long run on Saturday or Sunday to cap off the week’s training.
Increasing Mileage:
When attempting to increase your weekly mileage it is important to do it in
small, steady increases rather than dramatic spikes. By increasing your
mileage each week ten percent your body will comfortably adjust to the
added volume without becoming overly sore.
Interval Workouts:
Interval workouts are a key aspect of hard training. Start out with something not
too challenging like 6 X 400M. If your goal pace for a 5k is six minute
miles, then you should try to run your intervals at just off race pace.
90 seconds per 400 meters equates to six minute pace so try running
your intervals at 94-96 seconds. As you become more comfortable with the
interval workouts try increasing the number of intervals and dropping
the pace of each interval to make the workouts more challenging.
Assessing Injuries:
Listening to your body when you feel an injury coming on is just as important as
any other aspect of training. If you take care of injury with ice, rest,
and stretching you can significantly decrease the amount of time
missed. Trying to run through an injury will almost always lead to more
missed time training than if it the injury is properly treated at its
initial onset.