A few years ago I bought a heart rate monitor at our local running store. Steve, the owner, took me aside to explain about HRMs. Nope, he didn’t show me how to operate it; instead he told me when to use it. He explained how the most important time to use the HRM is on easy runs as most runners tend to run way too fast when they should recovery days.
Posts by Laurie have a lot of enthusiasm for training. She wrote, “The way I see it, the two most important runs on a plan are the long run and the medium long run. All of the others are take it or leave it.” She’s right, and the most dangerous and overlooked run is the easy run, where highly-motivated runners can get lost in their ambition and overtrain.
The importance of running slow seems to be misunderstood by many runners, particularly serious competitive racers. We can get lost in the land of training hard and often miss the rich benefits of running easy. Instead of running easy, we often pile on too much running at a faster pace than we need to, missing the enjoyment and training benefits of running easy.
The World’s Best Running Coach, Dr. Jack Daniels, says running easy gets shortchanged, yet it has the highest importance in even the most competitive runners' training plan. He refers to running easy as “free from trouble or pain” with substantial benefits and says it’s how runners should spend at least 85 – 90% of our running time. And he’s even given this training intensity a technical name—Easy Runs!
Still, it seems running easy is hard for many runners. We tend to downplay the importance of our easy, short, and slow runs and the benefits they gain. Instead, we see the gritty fast runs and the long runs as the key to getting better. Running easy is the bread and butter of our most intense training. Running easy helps keep us out of the land of overtraining, muscle pulls, and stress fractures. Just ask Rich, who today posted about being on the ice and ibuprofen routine.
I’ve learned a lot from Steve’s dead-on advice, and I use the HRM regularly on my shorter easy runs to keep my pace and intensity lower than I would otherwise run. It reminds me to slow down and reap the full benefits of easy running.
One of my goals for this year is to enjoy my running more, but it’s a shame I sometimes need to strap on a device to keep my running easy. You’d think I’d figure that out with less technology.
Run Easy sign on Flickr by Running Engelhardt
Sidewalk sign on Flickr by Spotmaticfanatic
A few years ago I bought a heart rate monitor at our local running store. Steve, the owner, took me aside to explain about HRMs. Nope, he didn’t show me how to operate it; instead he told me when to use it. He explained how the most important time to use the HRM is on easy runs as most runners tend to run way too fast when they should recovery days.
Posts by Laurie have a lot of enthusiasm for training. She wrote, “The way I see it, the two most important runs on a plan are the long run and the medium long run. All of the others are take it or leave it.” She’s right, and the most dangerous and overlooked run is the easy run, where highly-motivated runners can get lost in their ambition and overtrain.
The World’s Best Running Coach, Dr. Jack Daniels, says running easy gets shortchanged, yet it has the highest importance in even the most competitive runners' training plan. He refers to running easy as “free from trouble or pain” with substantial benefits and says it’s how runners should spend at least 85 – 90% of our running time. And he’s even given this training intensity a technical name—Easy Runs!
I’ve learned a lot from Steve’s dead-on advice, and I use the HRM regularly on my shorter easy runs to keep my pace and intensity lower than I would otherwise run. It reminds me to slow down and reap the full benefits of easy running.
One of my goals for this year is to enjoy my running more, but it’s a shame I sometimes need to strap on a device to keep my running easy. You’d think I’d figure that out with less technology.
Run Easy sign on Flickr by Running Engelhardt
Sidewalk sign on Flickr by Spotmaticfanatic