Easy vs. Hard
Posted: February 26, 2007
©roguerunning.com
One of the most important concepts of training that you will be asked to master is that of effort, or how hard or easy am I supposed to be running? Effort is based upon each individual’s perception & therefore difficult to quantify. It becomes easier if we think of effort, at this point, as varying degrees of hard & easy. If you remember & adhere to the mantra "Keep your easy days easy & your hard days hard," you will significantly increase your fitness level in a short period of time while remaining injury free throughout the duration of this training program.
Easy: Easy should be comfortable running in which you can carry on a conversation. If you are not comfortable talking & your breathing is labored then you are running too hard. Slow down, give the body the opportunity to feel comfortable & save your discomfort for the workout days. As your fitness level increases over the next 7 weeks you will be able to run at a quicker speed & still remain comfortable. The body burns fat calories when you run easy, as the fuel source that your metabolism uses is fat, rather than sugar (glycogen). This means that you will lose more weight by running easy for longer periods of time than you will by running at a hard effort for shorter periods of time. When you are running easy the stress upon the muscles & tendons is lessened & the run actually becomes restorative, contributing both to fitness & injury prevention. Easy running is an extremely important aspect of training that many think of as junk miles or a day to skip running altogether. If you do not run on your easy days or if you run your easy days too hard, then you will be courting injury & probably not make it through this training program.
Hard: You should only be running hard on one day a week: your workout day. This is the day that you will be gaining the speed & strength to complete the distance in the time that you will set as your goal. The workouts that we have designed are intended to stress your body a little more each week. The long run day is also considered a hard day but you should not be running this day at a hard effort. Just covering the distance prescribed at a comfortable pace will be enough to make the day seem taxing to your body & you will need a day or two to recover from the long run. By keeping the other days of the week easy you are allowing your body to be rested & ready to tackle the workout & long run days with enthusiasm. If you run too hard on your easy days you will feel lethargic & unmotivated, sure signs of over-training. How can you know if you are running too hard? Your first indicator is your breathing, as we discussed before. You will also not be able to hold the hard effort for very long before you feel as if you need to slow down or walk. An easy run should be comfortable throughout. Even if you encounter hills on your easy run you should slow down & try to keep the same effort you were running on the flat. At first you may need to walk some of the hills to keep the effort easy but as you become stronger & fitter you will be able to run up the hills & still feel easy. On your workout days, start off conservatively & build into the hard effort. It is counter productive to start off at a pace that fatigues you to the point that you cannot continue a hard effort & are forced to slow down significantly or stop altogether. It is fine if you cannot maintain the same pace throughout the workout but you should endeavor to work hard for the whole workout. In this way you will be able to get the most benefit from the workouts & retain a positive outlook on the training. The workouts will get longer & more difficult as the program progresses & you will adapt to those stresses. There is no need to try to hurry the process up, give your body the rest it needs.
What about Cross-Training (XT) days? You should consider them easy days & as you feel more comfortable with the training you can make one XT day hard per week. It is important that this day is not a pounding activity, however. Choose to cycle or swim, these activities use different muscles & are not likely to cause over-training.
