Better Running: Rest More, Run More

The two most common training errors seem to be too few miles and too little rest. The two may seem mutually exclusive but they are not at all.

Rest is critical because the body only gets stronger when it recovers from being stressed, and in this case, I mean being stressed by being pushed to physical exertion that is more than it is accustomed to doing. So, if you don't get enough rest, your body can't possibly become as strong as it could have.

No, rest doesn't have to mean a day without physical activity or even without running. It simply means a day without a stressful or intense workout of any kind. Many people make the mistake of running at a high intensity effort day after day, or they take a day off from running but participate in an intense swimming workout, spinning class, or boot camp.

These other activities are excellent and worthwhile, but your body is not resting/recovering on a day when you do that.

Take a look at your workout journal. Are you giving your body time to recover?

The other issue is running more. Yes, you might need to run more. The runners who run the most - and by that I mean put in the most miles - experience fewer injuries. All the drills, speed work, weight training, hill work, and stretching in the world cannot make up for an insufficient base. Make sure you begin each macro cycle by building a good base, and then maintain those miles throughout most of the season.

Without a good running base, your taper will not be effective. It can't be. Remember, the whole concept of a taper is to drastically reduce your mileage. If you haven't established much of a base, you won't have much of a taper because there cannot be a drastic reduction in mileage. Therefore, it won't have the effect it could have had.

For a detailed explanation of how to properly build your base and how to apply the hard/easy principle, listen to Mojor for Running Podcast #4 and #5.

Now, there are some experts who promote a three-day-a-week marathon training program. I am sure this can work, but I think it can only work with lots of cross training. And, one ting I don't like about that program is that it requires you to make all of those days hard training days. Seems to me that that would be tiring and tiresome. I would not want to think that every time I go out to run, it's going to be intense. Sometimes, this kind of a program is necessitated by a busy schedule or by an injury. In such situations, this program would be a good alternative to the ideal training regimen.

Running most days of the week and applying the hard/easy training principle will make it possible for you to get in lots of miles AND adequately recover from those miles, thereby optimizing and maximizing your results.