How Fast Should I Run?
Whether you’re trying to beat a personal best or aiming to run continuously for thirty minutes, the bottom line is the same – the cornerstone to improving your running performance and achieving your running goals is training. The common misconception about running is that it’s simple. You might be thinking, “don’t you just put one foot in front of the other and run as fast as you can?” well, that’s only the extreme basics. The truth is that distance runners train at many different intensities ranging from very easy to high intensity! Every type of run has a purpose, which we’ll dive into below.
Before we look at each run type, we need to understand the factors which determine running performance.
In a nutshell, your running performance is based on your heart’s ability to pump blood through your body, your blood’s capacity to carry oxygen, and your muscles’ ability to both utilise the delivered oxygen and rid itself of the waste products created during this process. You can improve these factors by incorporating the types of runs discussed below into your training.
Easy running
The importance of easy running is often overlooked but is vital, especially in the early part of the training plan, to help build strength in muscle, bone and ligaments, before moving to higher intensity sessions. By building a training plan that incorporates regular easy running sessions, the body becomes more efficient at supplying oxygen to fuel your muscles and removing waste products such as carbon dioxide and lactate.
Another benefit of easy running is the improvement of running economy, which is defined as the relative oxygen requirement to run at a given pace. An improvement in running economy means it’s possible to run at a faster pace with less effort – which will come in use during training and racing!
Running at a lower intensity has also been shown to burn similar levels of fat as running the same distance at a faster pace. 5 miles at 6:00/mile or 8:00/mile burns the same number of calories because the extra time makes up for the slower speed.
If in doubt, easy running should always be performed at a lower intensity. The session will still result in great cardiovascular adaptations, and will help to avoid fatigue and injury. The perfect easy run is performed at a comfortable, conversational pace, with the focus being time on your feet rather than effort. The heart reaches its maximum contraction force well below maximum exercise intensity. Anything beyond 70% of maximum heart rate will only add unnecessary fatigue and injury risk without providing any significant improvements.
Working too hard on easy run days will cause more fatigue with no additional benefits. This fatigue can negatively affect higher intensity training days, reducing their quality and impact.
Higher Intensity Running
Whilst easy running provides many benefits by itself, the importance of high intensity training cannot be ignored when attempting to maximise running performance. Tempos, interval and hills are the main types of runs that make up the higher intensity sessions that distance runners perform.
Tempo Running
Tempo runs should be performed at the lactate threshold. In other words, run just below the pace where fatigue builds up too quickly to be able to continue for much longer. Running at this pace will improve the body’s ability to remove lactate levels and therefore increase the running pace at which this occurs.
Interval Training
Interval sessions also provide unique training benefits. Running repeatedly for 2-5 minutes at maximum rate of oxygen consumption will improve the efficiency of your respiratory system. The more efficient the respiratory system is, less effort is required when you run, which means it’s possible to run faster than ever!
Hill Training
Every runner has their own running technique, making hill running a very useful component for any runner’s programme. It provides resistance training that is specific to the muscles that each runner uses in their unique running motion. Hill running is very short, high intensity, repeated runs up a (you guessed it!) hill. The training effect shown from hill running has repeatedly been correlated to improvements in running economy, as well as increasing stride rate and length. It should be noted that resistance training is very high intensity and, as a result, stresses the leg muscles more than other run types. Because of this, it’s important to limit the duration of each hill run and ensure proper recovery post-session.
How It All Ties Together
Every run has a unique purpose to it and the pace for each session should be correlated to a runner’s current fitness and end goal. Easy running provides a great foundation for higher intensity runs. As the body becomes more used to easy running, the leg muscles that have been working during these runs become stronger and less susceptible to the injuries that are common at higher intensities. Any runner should begin with plenty of easy running before they are ready to move onto higher intensity runs. Remember that adaptation to training only occurs during and after recovery, and as higher intensity runs take longer to recover from, they can’t be performed every run of the week.
Zoazi incorporates all session types to maximise the benefit from training. Once a solid foundation of easy running has been built up, higher intensity sessions are gradually introduced to improve fitness. The sessions of a Zoazi training plan combine to lead to peak fitness at the end of the plan, ready for a race or to start the training cycle again.
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