Warming Up and Cooling Down

You should start all of your runs at a gentle pace and spend the first 5 to 10 minutes of the run building to your normal training pace. This gradual building allows your muscles, heart, and lungs to warm up and work better when you want to get going. You also should ease off during the last bit of a run to allow your heart rate to return to normal more gradually. When you start doing races and fast workouts like the ones in this chapter, you need to make your warm-up and cool-down much more pronounced. Most people know that they should warm up before trying to do something hard, whether it’s running fast, lifting a heavy weight, or what have you. The best way to warm up for any activity is by doing that activity at a low level of effort. So a weightlifter might do a few bench presses at a very low weight, and runners might run one to three miles very slowly before they try to run fast.
Where many runners fall short is on the other end of the workout. They neglect to do a good cool-down after a hard effort. Usually that’s because they’re exhausted, and think that more running is just going to exhaust them more. But cooling down (you’ll also hear runners call it warming down, but that’s really the opposite of what you’re doing) helps you recover more quickly from your hard efforts. When you finish a race or a hard workout, your heart rate is near its maximum, and waste products have built up in your muscles. You’re tired, so you plop down and consider yourself done for the day. The next time you run, your legs are still sore because those waste products have pooled in your muscles. A good cool-down flushes those waste products out. Cool-downs don’t have to be long. One mile is often plenty. After catching your breath, run very slowly for at least 10 minutes. A cool-down run should be at a much slower pace than your regular runs. By the end of the cool-down, I guarantee that you’ll feel better.

The Long and Short of Long Runs

When I was training to be the best marathoner in the world, my long run was the focus of my week. But you don’t have to be a marathoner to benefit from long runs, and your long runs don’t have to be 20 miles or more, like mine were. What counts as a long run is relative to how much you usually run. Marathoners need to build up to at least a couple of runs of 20 miles or more before they should try to cover 26.2 miles. But for a 5K runner, a long run could be as short as six miles.
There’s no set standard for what constitutes a long run, but here’s a good guideline: Two out of every three weeks, do a run that’s at least one and a half times longer than any other run you do that week. If your normal run is three miles, then five miles is a long run for you. Hard-core runners who log 10 miles a day would say that they’re “going long” if they went 15 miles or more. If you measure your runs by time, the same standard applies. If you usually run for half an hour, then going 45 minutes or more would be a long run for you.
Many runners do a long run every week, but you don’t have to. Two out of every three weeks is a good goal. This frequency is enough to progress in boosting your endurance, but the occasional week off gives you a chance to recoup physically and mentally. A plan that many runners use is to do a long run on weekends that they’re not racing. This plan mixes things up nicely.
What do you get from doing long runs? Obviously, marathoners need to train their bodies and minds to be out there for a long time. But every runner, even ones who aren’t going to race, should incorporate runs of varying lengths into their training. When you do a long run, you deplete your muscles’ glycogen stores more than usual. During your recovery from the long run, your muscles develop the ability to store more glycogen. This means that the next time you run as far, your muscles won’t get tired as soon. Psychologically, long runs help your usual runs seem easier. When you’re used to being out there for almost an hour once a week, then your normal 30-minute runs don’t seem as daunting. And obviously, the longer you run, the more calories you burn, and the longer you’ll burn calories at an accelerated rate after your run. Long runs are great for losing weight.
Do your long runs at your normal training pace. These runs count as hard workouts because of the increased distance, not because you maintain a faster pace. You should be able to finish your long runs at the same pace you start them. If you have to slow dramatically at the end, then you’ve prematurely depleted your glycogen stores by starting too quickly.
The key to successfully increasing your long run is progressing gradually. When you can comfortably complete a long run at a given distance, try going one mile farther the next time. This is the approach I take. After my racing season ends in the fall, I take it easy for a while. My longest run for a month will be 10 miles or so. Starting in December, I’ll go 12 miles or so once a week, and then start adding one mile per long run until I’m at my target distance.
Make your long runs special. Try to do them in a nice setting, and try to do them with friends. These factors will make these runs more enjoyable, and the miles will pass more easily.

Smooth Striding

One of the best ways to introduce fast running into your program is by doing striders. Striders are good because they’re fast enough to teach your muscles and nervous system how to run smoothly at a fast pace, but they’re so short that they don’t fatigue you. Striders don’t really count as a hard workout. Still, I think that all runners should do them once or twice a week. Striders move you through a fuller range of motion than regular moderate runs. They also feel great—it’s fun to run at close to top speed, knowing that you’re only going to be doing so for 20 seconds or so. Most runners do striders at or near the end of a normal run. When you do striders, do 8 to 12. Some runners like to do them on the straightaway of a track, so they know that they’re going about 100 yards and that the footing will be good. But you can do them anywhere you can run smoothly for 100 yards at a time on a flat, level surface. A good day to do striders is the day before a fast workout or a long run. Striders wake up your body from the usual plodding. That’s why most serious runners also do a few striders just before starting a fast workout or a race.
The key to doing striders is to stay relaxed. Watch the top sprinters in the world, and you’ll see that although they’re running faster than 25 miles per hour, their entire bodies, especially their shoulders, neck, and face, are incredibly relaxed. Shoot for this lack of tension when you do striders. Accelerate smoothly to what feels like the fastest pace you could maintain for half a mile. Try to reach that speed by halfway, hold that speed for a bit, and then gradually slow down. Wait a minute or so, and then start your next strider. Striders are a great way to improve your running form. By learning to run smoothly when you’re running at close to top speed, you become better able to do so at all speeds. On each strider, concentrate on one aspect of good running form. For example, concentrate on keeping your shoulders low and relaxed during one strider. On the next, think about maintaining a quick, smooth turnover of your feet. On the next, concentrate on keeping your hands cupped, relaxed, and passing your body at about your waist. Pretty soon, you’ve done your 8 to 12 striders.