would you like to get faster well then as a secret run slower bear with me don't leave if you stick around then I'm going to talk you through how ultimately running slowly was the secret to how I managed to compete at the Olympics so we better get running slowly for a little bit of context when I was competing I'd have started some of my slower runs outside or slower than eight minute miling and whilst that might not sound all that slow ultimately I was racing at sub four minute mining so that's the massive difference between
my slowest and fastest runs now there's a reason that recovery runs are designed to be run slowly it helps you to recover in terms of your muscles and your joints efficiently and safely without increasing your risk of injury as well as reducing the risk of injury directly regular slower and Recovery runs can actually reduce the impact and intensity of Doms by increasing blood circulation and clearing out the lactate in your system you might have heard the phrase no pain no gain but definitely don't pay that any heed there's really good evidence now that going back
to back with intense exercise not giving yourself time to adapt and recover has a massively increased risk of you getting injured so we're not saying throw speed work out the window we're just saying intersperse it with those slow runs because they're the secret variety is a splice of life I've spoken to so many Runners who are stuck in a rut just trying to save even a few seconds off their 5K PB and invariably when I've spoken to them that's been because they're doing the same workouts the same runs again and again and again and it's
not just a physical barrier to progress It's a mental barrier too ultimately it's demotivating and boring so you need variety because your body responds better and adapts more and you'll make more progress through changes in stimulus so highs and lows that's interval training cross training and yes those slower runs to allow your body to quite literally think on its feet the other benefit is that you're always working in your aerobic Zone which means your body's able to take on enough oxygen to meet the requirements of those working muscles now over time your body begins to
adapt which means it becomes more efficient at converting the energy that your muscles need and ultimately that leads to you running further and faster so you should feel more comfortable on those prolonged runs but an added side benefit provided that your slow runs a part of a varied training plan is you should see an increase to your vot max score if you'd like to know more about vot Max then check out our video here all about that slower runs are also going to allow you to push through the fatigue which isn't always a good idea
but sometimes you have to as part of your training plan and doing it on a recovery run is a much smarter way compared to running faster to avoid the potential injury associated with pushing through that fatigue but it's a really important thing to be able to do mentally and physically now if you are running slowly it's pretty likely that you'll have a relatively low heart rate potentially around about zone two as a consequence of running slowly depending on how you've got your heart rate set up but there's actually a training philosophy called the math method
which was developed by a guy called Dr Phil maffetone using your math your MAF which is your maximum aerobic function to dictate how fast you should do all of your runs so to calculate your MAF you take 180 subtract your age and then make some small adjustments based on your running history and your medical history then that's your maximum aerobic heart rate so that means that ultimately you should run all of your runs below that heart rate to ensure that they're aerobic now obviously Dr Phil maverton swears by this method but so do a lot
of other people and I think we can make an entire video all about the math method so if you're interested in that let me know in the comments maybe we should take it on see what impact it has on our fitness let us know and we'll make it happen now let's talk about deload weeks now what these are they're single weeks with lower volume and intensity that come after a prolonged block maybe of three four five weeks of hard training and they appear in a lot of different training plans and these weeks are so important
because they allow you to make the adaptations at a cellular and muscular level which lead to the big leaps forward in progress and times I use them as a professional athlete lots of training plans to use them because they make a massive difference now if you're not focused purely on speed then that's an opportunity to focus on something else so you're running form for example on your slower runs choose the time to focus on your Cadence the way you're carrying your arms your posture your foot strike your stride length all of those things because that
teaches you the muscle memory to use when you're fatigued when you're running faster in training or in races so you don't have to think about it now it's not just a performance thing it can also reduce your risk of injury so if you do want to find out how you can improve your running form then check out this video and whilst you're not focused on running fast think about the different Paces that you're running at tune your body in to feel what it feels like because that's going to benefit you both in training and any
races that you do now if you're not worried about the pace of your runs that's the perfect opportunity to involve more people so friends and family because not only will you release mood lifting endorphins but you also have the chance to unwind from a tough day by chatting with friends now if you're running alongside somebody and not making eye contact like you might might going for coffee or a drink in the pub it actually does allow you to talk about more meaningful deeper things which ultimately benefits your mental health without potentially feeling awkward in fact
a 2020 study from Edinburgh University found that Runners that participated in Social running events like parkrun and dedicated running groups were less likely to develop depression and had lower stress levels than people who ran on their own and I know from experience that if you're happier then you'll run better too don't forget to take in your surroundings you can run to some really beautiful places so don't miss them because you're concentrating on checking your watch every 10 seconds or worried about running a PB Pace ultimately you want to give your body and mind proper permission
to switch off so now the only question is when are you going to do your next slow run let me know in the comments and if you're looking for something to do next then check this video out here we always talk about variety check it out because it's a hill workout that could help you take your running to the next level
