Archive for Competition
7th Golden Rule of Running: Recovery Times
Posted by: | Comments(This is number 7 in our periodic series of the Golden Rules of running: time-tested guidelines and best practices that experienced runners have agree work for them.)
The Race-Recovery Rule
For each mile that you race, you should plan to allow one day of recovery before returning to hard training or racing.
That means no speed workouts or racing for six days after a 10-K or 26 days after a marathon. The rule’s originator was the late Jack Foster, the masters marathon world record holder (2:11:18) from 1974 to 1990. Foster wrote in his book, Tale of the Ancient Marathoner, “My method is roughly to have a day off racing for every mile I raced.”
So when you run in a race, whether it’s a 5K that you do with your girlfriends, or a grueling marathon that taxes and challenges every fiber of your muscles, you’ll want to keep this in mind. Give yourself time to recover. This rule has been proven and tested by runners of all ages and at all levels.
The Exception: If your race effort wasn’t all-out, taking fewer recovery days is okay. But don’t race back to the starting line before you (and your coach) are ready. And consider when you are taking those days off, you are doing it in-step with Foster, one of the great masters of running.
Why Run?
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It’s Monday. Welcome back to the school and work week. Monday again. And if you’re like the rest of us, you’re dragging your tail just a little. So maybe you take a day off from running?
Stop right there! Or maybe start right there! Let’s talk about why we run. There are health, emotional, and even intellectual benefits to running.
The health benefits are the ones we think of first. Some of these benefits may include weight loss, improved cardiovascular health, improved bone health, improved mood and better coordination.
Emotionally, we stand to gain, too. Running teaches a longer view of things. It helps us feel better when the endorphins kick in and when the blood starts circulating because we’ve gotten up and moved it down the road. The body starts to shoot out chemicals into the blood stream and the brain that are helpful to keeping emotional equilibrium.
As for the intellectual benefits, I think that’s my own theory. I think the blood circulating bringing oxygen to the brain helps us think clearer and moves our analytical circuitry to move faster. We learn more and better. If you check the studies, they all show that those who exercise regularly are better educated, make more money and achieve greater success. It seems the competitive edge, whether it’s exhibited in actual races or achieving a personal best, can have benefits further down the road.
So… don’t skip your Monday run. You’ll want your week off to the best start possible.
#6: Familiarity Breeds… a Good Run!
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(This is Rule #6 in our periodic series, “The 25 Golden Rules of Running: proven, time-tested rules of running that have worked for thousands upon thousands of runners over the miles.)
Don’t eat or drink anything new before or during a race or hard workout. This makes sense. At times of stress and great importance on what you put in your body, put things that you know will be easy to digest, will be familiar and comfortable in combination with your body’s digestion and needs, and will be less likely to come back on you in unhappy ways.
Stick to what works for you. “Your gastrointestinal tract becomes accustomed to a certain mix of nutrients,” says Dallow. “You can normally vary this mix without trouble, but you risk indigestion when prerace jitters are added.”
The Exception: If you’re about to bonk, eating something new is probably better than eating nothing at all. And have a great run!