3 Simple Ways To Improve Your Running Game
It is totally normal to feel like you've hit a plateau during training.
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If your running has plateaued, there may be a few things you can do to see improvement again. Here are three simple tips to improve your running.
Focus on Consistency.
Often, most of our training is centered around gearing up for a race. And while it is good to have goal races to stay motivated, maintaining a strong base between races is a great way to see marked improvement in your running. If you’re looking to maintain a base after a big race like a half marathon or marathon, return to running about 75 percent of your peak week during your race build up. If your next goal race is a half marathon keep your weekend long runs around one-and-a-half hours and if you’re planning a marathon next, try to keep your long run at around 2 hours.
Run Slower.
Once you’ve seen improvement in your running it can be hard to “go back” to running slower than the pace you’ve become accustomed to seeing. However, trying to beat your pace on every single run will only result in slower race times. Your body needs slower recovery runs in order to train harder. Run “easy” runs around 3 minutes slower than your 5K pace.
Run Faster.
Chances are if all your runs are the same pace you’re not running fast enough either. Once you start running slower, you can incorporate interval training into your running. Start with quick bursts of increased effort like one minute of hard running followed by one minute of jogging. Throw these intervals into the middle of a three mile run, where you warm up for one mile, run 1 min on, 1 min off for a mile and then cool down with a mile. As you get more comfortable running intervals try upping the interval time to 2 min on, 2 min off. Then try 3 min on, and 2 min off. Always warm up and cool down with easy running.