Hello runner friends!
Welcome back to the Bass Pro Fitness Series
MIDWEEK M😊TIVATI😊N blog!
Now let's get started by talking about what's happening all around us. Spring flowers are sprouting up! I know, I know! It's not spring yet. But it sure feels like it. And barring a few cold snaps in the extended forecast, it appears that winter is definitely making it's way out at the same rate the daffodils, spring beauties and bluebells are making their way in. Which is the very reason that, as I ran in a tank top and shorts yesterday, I couldn't help but feel grateful for the warm temps and the array of Missouri flowering plants that I spotted budding along the trail I was on. The Show-Me State really does have a wide variety of wildflowers as well as flowering trees and colorful bushes.
With all this beauty of different types springing up all around, it had me thinking. There are a lot of different types of runs that a person can do, but how many runners are mixing things up? I'd say probably not many. But they should be! After all, a runner can't grow if they're consistently doing the same old, same old. Right? And since spring is the season of growth, now's a great time to vary up your routine! With that being said, let's look at eight basic types of runs and how it will benefit you to add these into your routine:
Recovery Run
A recovery run is a relatively short run performed at an easy pace. Recovery runs serve to add a little mileage to a runner’s training without taking away from performance in the harder, more important workouts that precede and follow them. Recovery runs are best done as the next run after a hard workout such as an interval run. Do your recovery runs as slowly as necessary to feel relatively comfortable despite lingering fatigue from your previous run.
Base Run
A base run is a relatively short to moderate-length run undertaken at a runner’s natural pace. While individual base runs are not meant to be challenging, they are meant to be done frequently, and in the aggregate they stimulate big improvements in aerobic capacity, endurance, and running economy. Base runs will make up a bulk of your weekly training mileage.
Long Run
Generally, a long run is a base run that lasts long enough to leave a runner moderately to severely fatigued. The function of a long run is to increase raw endurance. The distance or duration required to achieve this effect depends, of course, on your current level of endurance. As a general rule, your longest run should be long enough to give you confidence that raw endurance will not limit you in races. There are many spins you can put on a long run, such as progressing the pace from start to finish or mixing intervals into the run.
Progression Run
A progression run is a run that begins at a runner’s natural pace and ends with a faster segment at anywhere from marathon down to 10K pace. These runs are generally intended to be moderately challenging—harder than base runs but easier than most threshold and interval runs. Because they’re a medium-effort workout, the recovery time is less than more intense sessions.
Fartlek
A fartlek workout is a base run that mixes in intervals of varying duration or distance. It’s a good way to begin the process of developing efficiency and fatigue resistance at faster speeds in the early phases of the training cycle, or to get a moderate dose of fast running later in the training cycle in addition to the larger doses provided by tempo/threshold and interval workouts. They can also serve as a less-structured alternative to a traditional interval session such as a track workout.
*One of the easiest ways to perform a fartlek is to pick an object and sprint to it. Once you reach the object (think about a stop sign, telephone pole, or other item on your route), slow down to your normal easy pace for a while before doing it again. You can also go by time by throwing in random 30 second sprint periods. It's all about unstructured periods of running, so be creative, mix it up, and make it fun.
Hill Repeats
Hill repeats are repeated short segments of hard uphill running. They increase aerobic power, high-intensity fatigue resistance, pain tolerance, and run-specific strength. The ideal hill on which to run hill repeats features a steady, moderate gradient of 4 to 6 percent. Hill repetitions are typically done at the end of the base-building period as a relatively safe way to introduce harder high-intensity training into the program.
Tempo Run
A tempo run is a sustained effort at lactate threshold intensity, which is the fastest pace that can be sustained for one hour in highly fit runners and the fastest pace that can be sustained for 20 minutes in less fit runners. Tempo or threshold runs serve to increase the speed you can sustain for a prolonged period of time and to increase the time you can sustain that relatively fast pace. These runs should include warm up mileage, the increased effort in the middle of the run and then cool down miles at the end. These runs can be as little as 3 miles.
Intervals
Interval workouts consist of repeated shorter segments of fast running separated by slow jogging or standing recoveries. This format enables a runner to pack more fast running into a single workout than he or she could with a single prolonged fast effort to exhaustion.
*Interval workouts are great when you're short on time as you get a lot of bang for your buck.
A recovery run is a relatively short run performed at an easy pace. Recovery runs serve to add a little mileage to a runner’s training without taking away from performance in the harder, more important workouts that precede and follow them. Recovery runs are best done as the next run after a hard workout such as an interval run. Do your recovery runs as slowly as necessary to feel relatively comfortable despite lingering fatigue from your previous run.
Base Run
A base run is a relatively short to moderate-length run undertaken at a runner’s natural pace. While individual base runs are not meant to be challenging, they are meant to be done frequently, and in the aggregate they stimulate big improvements in aerobic capacity, endurance, and running economy. Base runs will make up a bulk of your weekly training mileage.
Long Run
Generally, a long run is a base run that lasts long enough to leave a runner moderately to severely fatigued. The function of a long run is to increase raw endurance. The distance or duration required to achieve this effect depends, of course, on your current level of endurance. As a general rule, your longest run should be long enough to give you confidence that raw endurance will not limit you in races. There are many spins you can put on a long run, such as progressing the pace from start to finish or mixing intervals into the run.
Progression Run
A progression run is a run that begins at a runner’s natural pace and ends with a faster segment at anywhere from marathon down to 10K pace. These runs are generally intended to be moderately challenging—harder than base runs but easier than most threshold and interval runs. Because they’re a medium-effort workout, the recovery time is less than more intense sessions.
Fartlek
A fartlek workout is a base run that mixes in intervals of varying duration or distance. It’s a good way to begin the process of developing efficiency and fatigue resistance at faster speeds in the early phases of the training cycle, or to get a moderate dose of fast running later in the training cycle in addition to the larger doses provided by tempo/threshold and interval workouts. They can also serve as a less-structured alternative to a traditional interval session such as a track workout.
*One of the easiest ways to perform a fartlek is to pick an object and sprint to it. Once you reach the object (think about a stop sign, telephone pole, or other item on your route), slow down to your normal easy pace for a while before doing it again. You can also go by time by throwing in random 30 second sprint periods. It's all about unstructured periods of running, so be creative, mix it up, and make it fun.
Hill Repeats
Hill repeats are repeated short segments of hard uphill running. They increase aerobic power, high-intensity fatigue resistance, pain tolerance, and run-specific strength. The ideal hill on which to run hill repeats features a steady, moderate gradient of 4 to 6 percent. Hill repetitions are typically done at the end of the base-building period as a relatively safe way to introduce harder high-intensity training into the program.
Tempo Run
A tempo run is a sustained effort at lactate threshold intensity, which is the fastest pace that can be sustained for one hour in highly fit runners and the fastest pace that can be sustained for 20 minutes in less fit runners. Tempo or threshold runs serve to increase the speed you can sustain for a prolonged period of time and to increase the time you can sustain that relatively fast pace. These runs should include warm up mileage, the increased effort in the middle of the run and then cool down miles at the end. These runs can be as little as 3 miles.
Intervals
Interval workouts consist of repeated shorter segments of fast running separated by slow jogging or standing recoveries. This format enables a runner to pack more fast running into a single workout than he or she could with a single prolonged fast effort to exhaustion.
*Interval workouts are great when you're short on time as you get a lot of bang for your buck.
So there you have it friends. As we approach a new season of growth and change, it's a great time to make it your goal to grow as a runner by trying new ways of running and creating new workouts. This will not only break up the monotony of the same old, same old routine, but will make you a better runner all around. So get out there and do some fartleks! You'll be glad you did.
Happy Running!
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