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- Welcome back to another edition of
Triathlon Training Explained, powered by TrainingPeaks.
Now, there is no escaping the fact that running
is a rather tiring business.
I mean, by its very nature, it's an all-body activity,
it's an impact sport too, and added to this, if done well,
it requires a good degree of technique as well.
And this can all get, well, rather hard to keep going.
None the less, running is a very important skill
that we should all really be able to master,
and on the simplest level,
it's a great way to stay healthy, and for many,
it's an excellent tool to help them slim down as well.
So on this video, I'm going to help you with some tips
for before, during, and after your run,
to help you avoid getting fatigued.
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Now before we go on to talk about tips during running,
I do have a few for before running too,
and the first of those, is stay healthy.
Now, it goes without saying that
you need to be in good shape and healthy to run efficiently.
And the usual standards apply here, drink plenty of water,
loads of fruit and veg in your diet,
try and avoid junk food, because if we've got a good diet,
then that means in generally,
we're going to be keeping our weight down,
and that helps us to run without being as tired.
So now for my second tip for before we're running,
and that's cross training.
Now whether or not running is your sole focus for training,
in all likelihood, you're likely to be
fitting in some other ways to keep fit,
whether that be swimming, cycling,
or popping down to the gym
for some strength work or for core work,
and adding in these cross training activities
will just help improve your stamina
and build your overall endurance.
Right, now for my final tip before we go running,
and that's talking about the warm up.
Now whether you go running,
or any form of exercise for that matter,
a good warm up is essential,
not only does it prep our body for what's coming ahead,
but it also reminds our brain
that we're going to to do some proper exercise.
So for a run-specific warm up,
I always feel that we should include some
dynamic stretching and some light mobility work
like leg swings and some hip circling,
and also include some static stretches as well,
just to prep the body and get it ready for the run ahead.
So now we've got that all taken care of,
now it's time to focus on the tips for during our run.
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So onto during the run.
My first tip is related to breathing,
now it's long been discussed in running circles
whether you should breathe in through your nose
or, out through your mouth, but to be honest,
this isn't really a very efficient way for trying to breathe
in a fairly intense aerobic activity, such as running.
But if we can breathe more efficiently,
it's just going to make the whole experience of running
feel more pleasant, and that'll improve our performance
and crucially, make us feel less tired too.
So in particular, as we're running faster,
your muscles need as much oxygen as they can get
and quite simply, your mouth delivers
more per breath, than your nose.
Now okay, at slower conversational paces,
nose breathing is most likely going to be fine,
but as that intensity ramps up,
you don't want to be limiting the amount of oxygen
that you can bring to your body.
Rather, you want to have
the maximum oxygen uptake that is possible,
and that's where your mouth wins all the time.
Now many runners have found
that by breathing through both their nose and their mouth,
they're able to get enough oxygen in.
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And now for my second tip during running.
And that's focusing on our hydration,
now quite simply, we need water to survive,
and over the course of a day, we should be aiming
to glug back, well, as many as eight glasses of water.
And we should definitely aim to have at least one of those
prior to going out for our run.
And try and be even more organized
and fill a water bottle up, pop it in the fridge,
so when we come back, we've got a nice cool drink
because I always find that, that much more refreshing.
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Now onto my next tip for mid-run, and that is pacing.
Don't go out the door like a rocket,
just start off with a nice and steady jog,
and over time, increase that pace nice and evenly.
And although it might sound really straightforward
don't stop, if you're feeling tired mid-run
then just dial the pace back
and take it back to a nice and easy jog.
Sure, if you're feeling exhausted,
then stop and consider a power walk,
but only for 30 seconds or so,
put that time cap on it, and then start jogging again,
and over time, you're not going to need
nearly as many of these walking segments in your run.
Now for my final mid-run tip, and that is posture.
Now running with good and proper posture,
can go along way to staving off mid-run fatigue.
And that can work on two fronts,
now firstly, because running with a good technique
can make sure that we're going to be running more efficiently
and therefore, we'll be going further for the same effort.
And on that note, I actually did a whole video
about the perfect run technique,
which I will link to at the end of the video.
And secondly, by having something to focus on,
other than the one foot in front of the other monotony
that running can become,
it can work as a rather useful distraction technique.
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So we've addressed before running, during running
and now it's time to tackle after our running.
So as you're winding down the last portion of your run,
the last five to 10 minutes should just be
a nice and easy, gently jog, gradually coming down
to a walking pace as you finish,
that just allows us to bring our breathing
and heart rates down to good levels.
The worst thing you can do is just stop dead in your tracks
all hunched over, or worse,
collapsed in a heap at your front door.
And as an aside, one thing that I always like to do
when I finish running, is some nice and gentle stretches.
Focus on all the major muscle groups,
your quads, your hamstrings, and your calves too,
and I believe this just leaves you
in a better place starting your next run.
So my second tip for after running is, well, taking a break.
Only the most experienced of runners
should aspire to daily running,
so don't try and do this, it's only going to serve
to leave you feeling, well, pretty tired,
both physically and mentally.
A nice way of approaching your running,
is doing one day on, one day off, and this can build up to
two days on, one day off and even then,
up to three days of running on, and one day off,
and this is just a really manageable way
for building up your tolerance
and avoiding getting really tired from your running.
Now as I alluded to in the video already,
there unfortunately are no magic bullets
to suddenly not feeling tired when you're running
it is a tough thing to do after all,
but, for the most part,
I do reckon that's what attracts a lot of us
to the sport in the first place.
And I do think, that if you follow some of these tips
that I've suggested in this video,
and implement them into your routine,
I defy you not to feel less tired
the next time you're running.
Now hopefully you've enjoyed this video,
so please hit that thumb-up like button,
find The Globe on screen to get all the other videos
on our channel, and if you want to see the video
that I talked about in this video,
about how to run with perfect run technique,
you can find that here, and if you want to see
another video that Mark and Heather did
about how to run off the bike, you can get that here.