Ive talked to a lot of runners who have less than a year of experience in the sport.
Their main goal is to get faster over 5k or 10k and break a performance plateau.
The biggest handicap new runners have is a small aerobic basealso called running endurance or stamina.
So how do you improve running endurance without increasing injury risk?
Simple: alternative aerobic exercise.
Note: This post is an excerpt from my book,Running for Health & Happiness.
Its also available as aninstant download.
The first was before my senior year of college as I was preparing for my last cross country season.
My fitness had reached an entirely new level and I was running with much more talented runners.
The power of triathlon training is incredible and can undoubtedly increase your fitness levels.
During these intense training cycles, I didnt even feel fatigued or burned out.
I wasnt getting bored by only running every day either.
Keeping your training fresh from a mental perspective will help you avoid staleness and losing motivation.
Physically, I got stronger than ever.
I was doing more cardiovascular exercise than I had ever done with barely any extra injury risk.
If youre injury-prone, this is exactly how you improve your personal bests.
Cycling and swimming in particular work very different muscles and increase overall athleticism.
Swimming is a second tier form of exercise for runnersits just not specific enough.
For the most improvement in your running, stick to exercises that closely mimic the motion of running.
If youre experienced, it’s possible for you to skip the belt for a harder workout.
Cycling Road biking is preferable, but mountain biking will also help.
Ellipticalmachine Effective, but not very fun.
Keep your cadence high to mimic running.
Swimming Learn proper technique, dont drown, and do faster workouts for an extra aerobic boost.
To be a good runner, you have to run a lot.
It depends on your level of fitness and what pop in of race youre training for.
The last thing you want is to be tired on the most important workout of the week.
You may also need a day of cross-trainingafterthe long run if you need extra recovery.
This isnt always practical, so my second choice for most runners is to use itbeforea long run.
Being properly prepared for a long run and then running it well is vital for marathon training.
I remember reading this study several months ago but unfortunately I cant find it now.
If you have it handy c’mon let me know!
Scheduling your long runs, workouts, easy days, and cross-training can be a daunting task.
All I had to do was show up and get it done!
So heres how to implement this information in your running schedule.
Imagine youre a healthy runner.
How would you plan your cross-training workouts?
Both time and intensity is low to help you recover from the workout in the morning.
Wednesdays cycling session can be longer and at a more moderate effort.
Here the goal is to add volume to your weekly workload to increase your general endurance.
youll know what to tell them!
Learn more about his bookon Amazonor get it as aninstant download here.
Image bykarpenko_ilia(Shutterstock).
