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Running Advice
How do I increase my endurance? The Long Run!
Here's a question I've been asked a number of times. The best way to increase
your endurance, as far as running goes, is your Sunday long run (or whatever
day you choose). How far you actually run varies according to your goals.
If you're just running to keep in shape, a long run of 6 to 8 miles will probably
be plenty.
If you're looking to run in 5k or 10k races, you'll probably want to get the long runs up to 10 to 12 miles minimum, every other week. One week the long run would be the 10 or 12 miles, the next week it would be 6 to 8 miles. Want to run a marathon? Check our marathon articles for the info on this training.
Now that you have a set goal for these long runs, the next step is to reach the goal. Run your long run the length of your longest run so far, and add a mile. For instance, if you've run 3 miles in one of your runs during the week, run 4 miles in this weeks long run. In order to do that and increase your endurance in the process, run 3 to 5 minutes, then walk for a minute. Do this from the very beginning, and do so throughout the run.
Run this run very slowly. VERY SLOWLY. Slower than you run your weekly runs. Do all your long runs slowly, and be certain to take the walk breaks I mentioned. Follow your normal weekly training (no more than 2 days off in a row) and next week, add another mile, again, slowly and with walk breaks. When you reach the 8 mile mark, the next week run 4 - 6 miles. Then the next week, add a mile again, and continue adding a mile every other week, with a run of 6 to 8 miles on the off week, until you reach your goal.
If you do these runs slowly, and get those walk breaks in, your endurance will increase tremendously. The secret is to take it easy and gradually build up your endurance. Less injuries, less down time.
I walk - that's it. I walk 4 times a week for 20 minutes.
Is this doing me any good?
Of course it is! Any kind of sustained physical activity will do you good.
Obviously your getting more benefit from walking those 20 minutes than the
person who is sitting at home during those same 20 minutes watching tv. You
must enjoy it - you're keeping at it. So you've attained one of the goals
we've talked about elsewhere. Find an exercise you like to do and then do
it on a continuous basis.
Now how much good this is doing depends on how you're walking. If your hands are in your pocket and you're casually strolling, well, it is better than nothing. But if your walking at a brisk pace and swinging your arms as you're walking, it's a lot better than nothing. You need to get the heart pumping a little faster than normal and keep it there for 20 - 30 minutes to get the most benefit.
To really get the most out of walking, every so often jog a little. Even 15 - 20 seconds. Then go back to walking. Do that a few times and you'll notice even more improvement. One last tip would be to extend your walk to 30 minutes if you can.
However, if you want to just keep doing what you're doing now. As long as you keep taking a brisk 20 minute walk regularly, you will definitely be helping your body stay fit. So keep on walkin'.
