If you want to train injury-free and increase your performance, you should do one thing above all: take the slow runs truly slowly.
Many runners know this: an easy continuous run is on the training plan, but in the end you constantly look at your sports watch and try to maintain a certain pace. However, reports from Runners World show that this is precisely the most common mistake. If you want to increase your performance and at the same time remain injury-free, you must learn to complete your recovery runs in a truly relaxed manner.
According to Nike running coach Chris Bennett in Runners World, "easy" is not a fixed pace, but a feeling. Many recreational athletes treat every run like a new challenge or just stare at the data on their watch. Yet factors such as stress or lack of sleep play a huge role in how strenuous a run feels. If you try to force your usual pace despite stress, you overload your body.
Running coaches Kai Ng and Alysha Flynn also confirm in Runners World that amateur runners often complete their easy sessions far too quickly. As a result, a run that is actually supposed to build aerobic fitness and promote recovery becomes an unnecessarily hard strain. This increases the risk of constant fatigue, aches or injuries.
Before you venture into more intensive training plans – such as marathon preparation – you should have a solid foundation, according to the experts. Flynn and Ng recommend a weekly distance of about 20 to 25 miles (approx. 32 to 40 kilometres) for this, spread over at least three to four days. In addition, you should be able to run a longer run of six to eight miles (approx. 10 to 13 kilometres) in one go.
The crucial point here is: this long run must not leave you extremely exhausted. You should be able to recover quickly afterwards and train normally again over the next few days. The frequency of training and the total weekly volume are more important here than the length of a single run.
To make your training more efficient, you can implement the following steps directly:
Your takeaway: Ignore your sports watch during easy runs and run solely according to your body's feel to recover optimally.
This article was generated automatically with AI from the sources listed above and has not been editorially reviewed.