Saturday, May 27, 2017

Saturday or Sunday – Long Easy Run Day


This is the classic “smell the roses” workout, a long easy run where you focus on feeling good, feeling comfortable, being in control, practicing good form, and just enjoying your running.

This workout is best done as a group run and is not competitive.

This run can be up to 30% to 35% of your weekly miles. If you are doing 10 miles a week, a 3 to 3.5 mile run. If you are doing 20 miles a week, a 6 to 7 mile run. If you are doing 30 miles a week, a 9 to 10 mile run. If you are doing 40 miles a week, still a 10 mile run, as now you are working more “easy miles” and “fartlek” into your recovery runs on easy days.

Focus on form – “running tall” with good posture, loose and relaxed, head still and not bobbing around, feeling your relaxed cheeks bounce, feeling your relaxed fingers bounce, forearms loose, parallel to the ground, pointing in the direction you are running.

At the end of the work-out you should feel pleasantly tired, but not stressed or exhausted. You should be able to carry on a conversation with your fellow runners for the whole workout. Save finishing strong and being competitive for Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Weekend runs are best done reasonably early in the morning on Saturday or Sunday, as other activities create conflict later in the day. Also, traffic on the roads is light early on weekend mornings but it gets heavy later in the day. As most weekend races will be in the morning, we want to get into the rhythm of running in the morning on weekends.

Most running clubs sponsor long easy group runs either Saturday or Sunday morning.

Suggested Workout
1.       Long easy run totaling 30% to 35% of your total miles for the week. Use the first half-mile as a warm-up jog

2.       Gently stretch the calf, quads, hamstrings and lower back either before or after the run

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