As the weather gets nicer and summer approaches, it is a great time to start building up your running.
Whether you have a competition or race you are training for or just want to make your morning run more enjoyable, building your capacity when it comes to running will be hugely beneficial.
It’s not just about running faster and faster; it’s about running better. It involves leveraging pacing and different stimulus types to help you find the best way to run.
The Benefits of Increased Capacity
Increasing our capacity and learning how to run will not only lead to better performance but also help our recovery and health. It will allow us to get the maximum benefit out of each run, increase our endurance, and build mental resilience.
So what exactly is our running capacity?
Running capacity is determined and influenced by many factors, but a broad definition would be the ability to sustain pace over time.
We want to build our capacity to run faster for longer without breaking down. Increasing our running capacity correlates to upping our V02 max, lactate threshold, and muscular endurance. Not only will this make us better at running, but it will also transfer to many other areas of our fitness.
Increasing your base and improving Economy
When we build our running, we first want to consider building a base. When building this base, we go slow and relatively long in our runs.
If you do not run already, this can be a ten- to twenty-minute low-intensity session that alternates between slow jogging and walking. If you have some running already under your belt, try for 20 to 30 minutes of slow, continuous moving.
The point here is not to go fast. Pay no mind to how far you go or how fast your pace is. Instead, look inward, find a way to breathe, relax your shoulders, and stay calm. Try to run on the balls of your feet.
We are working to improve our running economy. This is how efficiently our bodies move while running, and it comes from truly taking the time to learn how to run comfortably. We also want to get time on our feet and get used to the impact on our legs.
As you run more, you can increase how long you go. Perhaps you do start logging distance over time. As a rule, never increase more than 10% volume each week – otherwise, you are prone to injury.
Pacing
You may love to go out at maximum effort for each workout. When you see a 400-meter run at the beginning of a workout, you attack it and land a fast time.
The problem is, the workout is four rounds, and you are smoked after a single run.
This is not uncommon, and if this is you, you must work on your pacing while you run.
Pacing is built from those long, slow sessions in which we improve our running mechanics and learn to control our bodies.
From there, we can add in workouts such as
- 5 minutes work, 3 minutes rest
- 4 sets of 400-m with 1 minute of rest
- 10 minutes run, 2 minutes rest, then repeat
We are finding how fast we should go for each time domain. We do not go out fast on set one and drop off. We stay consistent, using our bodies’ feedback to find the right pace to hold for each distance or time domain where we are uncomfortable, but the speed is sustainable.
The rest intervals in these efforts are not enough to fully recover, so you will learn the speeds you can hold while under fatigue.
These types of workouts will be the most beneficial for a CrossFit setting. They allow you to be in tune with your body and will help greatly with metcons.
Building Strength and Top Speed
Building that top speed is also important. Speed work is always beneficial; sprinting at high intensity improves our reflexes and strengthens our muscles.
For sprint work, you want short intervals, ideally under 1 minute, and a 1:3 or up to 1:10 work-to-rest ratio.
This allows your phosphagen and anaerobic energy systems to almost fully recover so you can maintain true maximum effort on each sprint.
Putting it all together
If you are adding in running three days a week, you can choose one workout of each of the types we talk about above. Otherwise, select an option that would most benefit you.
Remember, every workout has a purpose. If you are serious about increasing your running capacity, be intentional. Use the slow days to feel how your body moves. Push the pace just enough on pacing days, and don’t be afraid to push it a little too far every once in a while. That, after all, is how we learn.
On the sprint days, earn your rest. If you want to increase your power effort, you’ll need that long rest interval.
Do not simply go through the movements; be purposeful. Only then will you realize just how much you can improve your running. And who knows, you may start loving it.
