Okay, you might not need to do all these things on every run that you do,
but we wanted to cover all these things,
that you could do on your runs, in order to
get faster,
enjoy them more,
potentially to avoid injury niggles,
and stay motivated. Just to name a few.
So since Andy, Kate, Rick, Manni and I are all out on our runs,
what better time to tell you about all the things that you should be thinking
about doing, during your run.
But before we do,
please support the channel by hitting subscribe and tapping the bell icon.
And with that out of the way, let's dive in!
First up, you should think about your breathing when you're out on a run.
Now, the best way to breathe is using what's called diaphragmatic breathing,
which is breathing using your diaphragm lower down towards your belly,
rather than using shallow chest breathing higher up.
The reason for this, is that
it's a more efficient way to maximize how much oxygen you can take in.
You open up your chest cavity,
which allows more oxygen into your blood and that extra
oxygen rich blood is then pumped around the body, helping to put off fatigue.
It's also important to think about relaxing your shoulders when you're out on a run.
Don't be tempted to hunch forward. Particularly as you get tired.
This can make a massive difference to how you feel when you're out on a run.
Next thing to think about is your posture.
As well as not hunching your shoulders, try to stay tall as you run.
Try to think of it as a string attached to the top of your head.
And someone's pulling you up to make you taller.
Look straight ahead rather than at your feet and try to keep your shoulder
blades pulled back.
Also, try to keep your hips up and forwards, rather than sitting back into your
running, which can happen as you get fatigued and your hips stop to drop.
Make sure to stay strong in your core too.
That's a great way to maintain good posture.
Building core exercises into your training regime will also help you keep a
good posture during those longer runs.
And lastly with posture, always use your arms.
Don't let them flail around and avoid side to side arm movements.
But instead, pump them to help with your momentum,
especially when you're driving up a hill or trying to gain some more speed.
In terms of technique when you're running,
try to use your glutes and your hamstrings to pull your leg underneath your
body, to make an active foot contact, rather than reaching out in front of you.
Don't let your knee collapse inwards when your foot
hits the ground. You can check
if that happens by looking down or by filming yourself,
Either from the front or the back as you run.
Think about making your foot contact times as fast and as light as possible.
Think about the floor being hot or like lava,
or like you're treading on puppy dogs tails,
you don't want to be touching the ground too much,
too hard. And try some dorsiflexion drills during the week as well.
So, bouncing on your toes,
pulling your toes up to your shin and then pushing them down into the ground and
then see if that feels different the next time you go out for a run.
It should give you better propulsion off the ground.
Next up cadence.
Some runners swear by the importance of cadence, while others aren't interested as
they just think it's another thing to monitor.
But, thinking about it can actually give you a focus and starting your run
with slightly increased cadence and a reduced stride length can actually help you
warm up with less strain on your body.
Cadence and stride length are what makes up a runner's speed.
And a simple definition of cadence is how many times your feet hit the ground in
60 seconds.
A lot of sports watches will measure your cadence now,
but just remember that your cadence figure
may fluctuate, depending on the length of your run.
Your cadence may also tend to speed up at the end of a race.
Whilst out on a run,
you could start thinking about your cadence and how many times your feet touch the ground
in 60 seconds. For reference, Olympic athletes who are running a 10k, tend to
have a cadence of around about 200 steps per minute.
Although the golden number is thought to be closer to 180. For recreational
runners, that number tends to be around about 150 steps per minute.
Although the ideal number will vary from runner to runner.
Now, many of us have running watches with heart rate tracking built in,
but do we actually take advantage and make use of that statistic on our runs?
Most of the time, probably not.
Learning about different heart rate zones and about which each zone feels like,
can be really useful to your pacing on a run, and also to your sense of effort
or perceived exertion.
So pay attention at different points on your run and learn how it feels to be in
each of those zones.
Heart rate can be a valuable tool. Make sure your training zones are set right,
so you can know if you're running easy on your easy runs or not.
As we always say with easy runs,
the perception of easy can very much depend on the day.
Some days an easy run that feels comfortable can end up being surprisingly fast.
While on other days, the same speed can feel like maximum effort.
Your heart rate is a way of keeping you honest.
Another factor to consider out on your run is your mentality.
Why are you running? That's a great question to ask yourself,
particularly if you're going through some tough miles in order to regain some
focus and be present in your run.
Running is a great way of practicing mindfulness and a lot of people take up
running to help their mental health.
So pay attention to your surroundings,
soak up the run and be grateful for what you've achieved.
You've made it out the door and you're running and that's something to be proud of.
You could also take a moment to think about your future goals and what you want to achieve.
Head out with some coping mechanisms to help you on tricky sections of your run,
where you might want to quit.
Whether that be a mantra, a podcast,
or maybe some of your favourite songs or perhaps running with
somebody else for support. Perhaps joining a running community, club or a crew,
a Strava club,
or even our very own Running Channel Facebook Community Group.
Think about what motivates you to put your trainers on and head out the front door,
as that'll help you keeping put one foot in front of the other.
If you're setting out on an easy run and a good gauge for the right pace can be
checking whether or not you can still talk. In fact, conversation
pace is a great indicator of an easy run.
On the flip side,
you can use this as a sign to let you know how hard you're working during an
interval or speed run.
If you can still talk,
then that's a sign that you can perhaps push yourself a bit harder and go a bit faster.
Talking is also a great way of passing the time during a long run.
So if you've got a running buddy,
why not aim to meet up with them and run together. Even better,
you can get them to plan the route. Then, all you have to do is turn up.
Now, some people prefer to focus on their surroundings.
So this might not be for them.
However, studies have shown that the right music can actually enhance your performance.
Yes, and we even made a video all about this,
working with the world expert in this area of research to create the world's
ultimate running song.
If you're looking for music to help get you through a run, check out
'Run With Me' by The Running Channel and try
build yourself playlists with a certain tempo or motivational lyrics to help
spur you on.
It's also important to make sure you're hydrated whilst you're on your run.
So depending on the length of your run, you might not need to take any water with you,
but do make sure that you're taking in enough hydration before and after your run.
For a longer run,
you might want to take out a bottle or hydration pack with you.
If you want to know more about hydration for runners,
then make sure you check out our video all about it for loads more tips.
You could stash your bottle somewhere and run past it to collect it on the way,
if you don't fancy carrying a bottle the whole way.
And do pay attention to the outside temperature too.
You might not normally need to take water with you for a 10k,
but if it's really hot outside, you might find you need to.
Electrolytes might also be something you want to take out with you, in order
to replace the salts and other minerals lost through sweat on a run.
And if you are thinking about trying out electrolytes for an upcoming race or
event virtual or otherwise, then make sure you try them in training first,
just to make sure they don't upset your stomach or make you feel sick.
Now, obviously nutrition requirements will depend on the length of a run,
but if you're running for more than an hour or you're training for a race,
where you're planing on taking gels or other nutrition on board during the run,
it's a good idea to practice this.
Yeah, so do grab a gel, a tablet, a bar, whatever your nutrition of choice is,
and in the same flavour you're planning to try and race day.
And give it whirl on a run.
It's also a good time to think about where you're going to store your nutrition on a run.
As you might find that there's nothing worse than opening up a body temperature gel
that's been in your back pocket for the last hour or so.
Whether you're going to eat and run at the same time or stop to eat,
plan when you're going to take on your nutrition and use it to break up your run.
And lastly, don't forget
to enjoy your run.
Running should always be fun and all these tips are to help you get more out of it.
Hopefully, making it easier and more enjoyable.
We love sharing our passion for running with you all.
And we love hearing from you.
So let us know down in the comments
if you already do any of the things that we suggested ,
or if you've got any other tips, make sure you leave those in the comments as well.
Don't forget to check out some of our other videos packed full of running tips,
and we'll see you next time on The Running Channel.