Why recovery run

Here are five tips for beginner and intermediate runners: 1. Pick a flat course. Let go of pace and have fun. Pay attention to your surroundings. Try these two sample recovery runs. Recovery Run 2 : This run should be a minute group run with people who are typically slower than you are. About the Author: Duncan Larkin. Duncan Larkin is a freelance writer and marathoner. His latest book, "The Minute Runner," will be published in January. I need to get Tommy to do guest blog post for us.

Hi Teri! I read your blog all the time — and totally relate to your topic of keeping easy days easy. I tend to go just a liiiittle too hard, and end up fatigued. Does Enoch have anything to say about that? Fellow FL and Gator grad here — love Enoch! He is great. I actually wanted to ask you if it would be possible for you to share a quick survey.

I am working with a baby startup that is creating a marketplace platform to better connect runners with coaches, and other secondary healthcare providers that have running-specific expertise. We are starting with some market research, and would love for any help I can get. I use a fitness tracker to measure my heart rate on runs. Great tips, thanks! Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. Over to you Enoch! Aerobic Development Aerobic development is important from the mile to the marathon. Avoiding Injury and Overtraining Recovery runs make up the majority of the time we spend running. Wear a heart rate monitor and aim for 65 to 75 percent of your maximum heart rate.

Think of your recovery runs as recovery workouts. Decide in advance how slowly you will run. Sample week from my marathon training So, what does that look like in practice? Note all the recovery runs! I was running easy times per week. M — Double Run Day, Su — 45 recovery run with Tommy, pace My coach sent me the comment below on Strava, and re-iterated it again via text that he really likes when I go slower on my recovery runs.

A Fresh Perspective on Recovery Runs. The truth is that lactic acid levels return to normal within an hour after even the most brutal workouts. Nor does lactic acid cause muscle fatigue in the first place. Nor is there any evidence that the sort of light activity that a recovery run entails promotes muscle tissue repair, glycogen replenishment or any other physiological response that is actually relevant to muscle recovery.

In short, recovery runs do not enhance recovery. Nevertheless, recovery runs are almost universally practiced by top runners.

That wouldn't be the case if this type of workout weren't beneficial. So what is the real benefit of recovery runs? The real benefit of recovery runs is that they increase your fitness--perhaps almost as much as longer, faster runs do--by challenging you to run in a pre-fatigued state i.

There is evidence that fitness adaptations occur not so much in proportion to how much time you spend exercising but rather in proportion to how much time you spend exercising beyond the point of initial fatigue in workouts.

In fact, it is best to do this with a running buddy and be able to chit chat all the way. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Find races. Please enter your comment! Please enter your name here. You have entered an incorrect email address! Our database has. Get tickets.