Every session counts!

YOU PACK A LOT INTO YOUR TRAINING WEEK, SO MAKE SURE YOUR PRECIOUS TIME ISN’T WASTED

WORDS: ELIZABETH HUFTON

Keeping to a structured training week is a brilliant way to improve your running fitness and speed over time, and is essential if you’re aiming to run well in a race. However, in every planned session there’s room for interpretation – and plenty of scope to become distracted just by the love of moving! To make sure you’re getting the very best rewards from all the effort you’re putting in, use this guide to make sure you’re getting every session right.

“USE A HEART-RATE MONITOR TO KEEP THE RUN EASY”

EASY RUNS

Your easy run should be a no-brainer, right? The clue’s in the name. But this innocuous looking session can screw up the rest of your training week if you get it wrong – which lots of us do.

If you’re running more than three times a week then there’s a good chance one of your runs will be labeled an ‘easy run’ or ‘recovery run’. The benefit of this session is to keep your legs turning over, to help reduce muscle stiffness after harder days, and to keep your aerobic fitness topped up. To tap into those rewards, though, you need to make your easy run just that: easy. Keep your effort level low throughout, even if you feel really energised. This way, you’ll use this run to truly help your body recover from harder workouts. Working at a lower heart rate also means you’ll burn more fat and build a solid foundation for all your harder training work.

Find it tough to take it easy? There are a few ways to help you stay disciplined on this session. You could use a heart-rate monitor or GPS to stay within your known easy zones – around 60 per cent or less of your maximum effort. Remember the love you have for running – this session is a great chance to just sit back and enjoy the scenery. If you usually run with music, leave it at home for this run as pumping beats almost always make you run faster. Alternatively, make a new playlist full of chilled-out tunes that you can’t possibly sprint to.