How to Improve your Running Part 3
Let's continue on how best to improve your running with my final installment. I hope these articles have given you some great tips and knowledge about the way you run and how to improve
Remember, there is no perfect running form
14. Speed Training
If you run the same pace during every run you are unlikely to get better at running very fast can will, once again, increase risk of injury.
A Stride is a 1-minute pace change you can incorporate into a long run.
After 10-20 minutes of warm-up running, slowly build up pace over 20 seconds, hold max pace for 10 seconds then slow down over 30 seconds to take you back to your slow run pace again.
Add a few strides to one of your moderate runs every week to get the benefits of this speed work.
15. Vary Your Weekly Runs
The best way to avoid running injuries is to make sure you vary your running speeds and distances through the week.
Run a short fast session, one or two middle distance runs, and a long, slow run each week to include the variety you need to reduce our injury risk.
16. Remember There is No “Perfect Running Form”
Plenty of people want to tell you the ‘correct’ way to run.
Normally these people are selling something or think they have all the answers.
The reality is that there is no perfect way to run, just your way, my way, and everyone else's way.
17. Run with Music, Or Without!
Some runners love to run with music, the driving beats of music can help you cover that last km even when your legs are screaming.
Listening to podcasts
Stay safe.
Bone conduction headphones
If you always run with music, try running without - mix it up a little.
Try unplugging on a long slow train run and listen to the world around you.
Listen to your breathing, focus on the feeling in your legs, think about your form.
18. Rest and Recover
One of our final tips is probably the leased utilized training tool in a runner's arsenal to improve their running.
Every time we exercise we place stressful force on our muscles, tendons, bones, and ligaments.
This stressful force causes microdamage in the tissues at a cellular level, however, this is a normal process that helps us get stronger int he long term.
This small amount of damage is the normal signal for the body to make the damaged tissue stronger and is how we adapt to activity changes by building stronger tissues over time.
However, if you don’t include enough rest days in your running, the damage - repair - strengthen cycle can be altered so the tissues don't have enough time to get stronger and therefore continue to get get more damaged and consequently weaker.
19. Seek Help Early For Little Aches and Pains
Runners are typically a fairly stoic mob putting up with little niggles or pain longer than the average person.
The majority of running-related injuries are generally problems caused by repetitive overloading of tissue structures which means the more you continue to run on them, the worse they will tend to become!
Getting help early for a problem is the best way to make sure a small annoyance does not become a big issue that puts you out of running for a long time.
At Complete Podiatry, we love working with runners so they can run faster, longer and stronger.
I'm so confident we can help you that I'd love to chat with you personally about running better, it's what I'm passionate about!
Contact us on 8330 0004 or Book Online & I'll be more than happy to explain how we can help you improve your running performance and experience.
Anthony Robinson
Director of Complete Podiatry