Reliable

November 17th- Reliable

This post will focus on running by feel and relying on you body to make the pace.

 

Sometimes it feels good to run naked and rely on your body, rather than your Garmin. For me, it can bring back the joy of running, help me focus, and de-stress from the day. I follow my breath to help guide my workouts. I found a great article from Competitor that taught me to run by feel and avoid injury from pushing too hard.

Long Runs (steady state runs)  

Breathe with a 3:3 ratio. Inhale for 3 steps and out for 3 steps.  While breathing in, take one step with your left, one with your right, and one with your left again. Do the same while breathing out. 

This run should feel "comfortably hard"- not a walk in the park but you should be able to have a small conversation. 

Tempo Runs  

Breathe with a 2:2 ratio. Inhale for 2 steps and out for 2 steps.  While breathing in, take one step with your left, one with your right. Do the same while breathing out. 

This run should feel "hard but controlled"and will be shorted than your long runs.

VO2 Max Workouts 

Breathe with a 2:1 ratio. Inhale for 2 steps and out for 1 step.   

This run should feel close to maximum effort. You should not be able to talk more than a word and the runs will be done in internals. I like to do my VO2 Max workouts at track practice with a coach for guidance. 

Hope this will help you rely on yourself more and less on your watch! Go out there and run naked. :)