February 6, 2025 • 25 mins
Hi Running Friends!
This episode explores mid-run drills that make running fresh, fun, and purposeful. We discuss techniques like fartleks, strides, tempo runs, high knees, and bounding, offering runners effective ways to enhance performance while enjoying their workouts.
• Overview of the importance of keeping runs fresh and purposeful
• Explanation of fartleks and how to implement them
• Introduction to strides and their benefits
• Utilizing tempo runs as a beginner-friendly drill
• Discussing the role of high knees in improving running form
• Benefits of bounding for strength and coordination
Resources:
Coach Jen Steele's Off-Season Boot Camp -my interview with Coach Jen is the springboard for todays episode, and I want to give her credit. Head to her website and check out her resources. You can also listen to our conversation from last season.
If you are looking for a coach to help you reach your running goals, even if it's just to start to run, take a look at my Coaching Services page on the website. I do virtual, in-person (Buffalo, NY area) and also offer single zoom sessions for those would just like to chat with a coach one time.
Find my additional outlets over at the YouTube channel and at wrinkledrunner.com. Sign up over on the blog for the once-a-month newsletter! If you would like information on utilizing a running coach, check out what I can do for you here.
If you have any running-related questions, please send an email to sherry@wrinkledrunner.com…I answer every one.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey running friends.
On today's episode of theWrinkled Runner, we are going to
be talking about ways to keepyour runs fresh and fun and also
purposeful.
We're going to be adding insome drills mid-run, during your
run, and not only will thatbreak up the monotony a bit, but
it will also help you becomestronger, faster, more efficient
(00:23):
and teach you some of thethings that maybe you're not
doing in a warm-up.
Maybe you've never done a temporun before.
Some of these things if you dothem mid-run for not too long of
a time, it can teach you how todo them, learn how to do them
and then apply them when you'rewarming up or a pre-run drill,
(00:46):
or a tempo run or strides at theend of your run.
All these things we're going totalk about them today, and back
in October I interviewed CoachJen Steele and she's from
California and I was talking toher about things that runners
can do in the middle of theiroff season, as some of us call
(01:06):
it, when we're not really intraining for a race, when we're
kind of taking a break but stillgetting out there, and she
actually has a boot camp forthose who are interested and
it's a virtual boot camp, so Iwill link to her below.
When I talked to her in October,she did it.
I think she started inmid-October and I'm not sure if
(01:29):
she does them throughout theyear or if it's just kind of an
end-of-the-year thing.
But while we were talking, Iwas explaining how, for some of
her clients, she gives them somethings drills and exercises and
things to do in the middle oftheir run.
It's something they don't haveto think about beforehand, but
she has it prescribed, which Ithought was brilliant, because
(01:53):
for a lot of runners the lastthing we want to do is, you know
, do drills beforehand, warm-up,strength training, all of these
things that I consider part oftraining, and I do them and I
have my clients do them.
But sometimes all we want to dois run, and so it can be hard
(02:15):
to incorporate some of theseother things.
But if it's in the middle of arun, where you're already
dressed, you're already doing it, you're already out there, then
it can introduce you to some ofthe extra things that as
coaches, we like to see ourathletes doing.
(02:36):
And if you incorporate theminto the middle of a run just
for a few minutes, then it mightbe easier for you to do them
before or after or, you know, goout for a tempo run and we're
going to talk all about thisstuff.
But I'll also link you to thatpodcast episode that I did with
Coach Jen and, as I said before,to her website.
(02:57):
So I'm going to walk youthrough a few different drills
and you can choose maybe tothink about doing one every week
I'm certainly not saying toincorporate all of them into the
middle of one run or even to dolike one every run, every
(03:19):
couple of runs.
Incorporate one of these drillsand think about how you might
be able to use them as a warm upor delve a little further into
running drills and how to usethem.
Delve a little further intospeed work when we talk about
strides and fartleks and temposand just enjoy the process of
(03:45):
giving a little kick to themiddle of your run because, as I
said, sometimes if we're goingout for 40 minutes or an hour or
longer, it can get a little bitboring and this kind of gives
you a little snack, as it were,in the middle of your run.
So the first thing we're goingto talk about is a fartlek and,
(04:06):
if you haven't heard aboutbefore, it's called speed play.
It's a Swedish word for speedplay and it's playing with your
speed.
So it's not something that ishard and fast.
There aren't really any rulesto it.
You're kind of just taking offon your own.
So you get to choose how longor short your bursts of speed
(04:31):
are, when and how long torecover and when to decide.
Okay, you're done with thatparticular aspect of the run.
So it really gives runnersautonomy when it comes to doing
some speed work, which I thinkis super important.
As a coach, I'm always tellingmy athletes my job is to make it
(04:52):
so that you can make some ofthese decisions on your own, not
just give you a cookie cutterplan or tell you exactly what to
do in all situations, but togive you the tools so that you
can go out and make some ofthese decisions on your own.
And fart looks are a great wayto introduce a runner to speed
(05:13):
work that they make all thedecisions about.
So fart locks are a great wayto improve your ability to
transition between paces,because if you're in a race and
you're on varied terrain, forexample, and you're running up a
hill terrain, for example, andyou're running up a hill, you
(05:34):
are probably not going to tryand charge up that hill as fast
as if you are going on a flatsurface.
And for me, who's older,running down a hill can actually
feel harder than running up ahill, so it can help with that.
It can also help you developaerobic and anaerobic systems,
because you're running fast andthen you're recovering, and it
can also teach you how to pickup your pace and all of that
(05:59):
will give you better stamina andbetter speed over time as you
incorporate these.
So it is as simple as pickingout something in the distance.
Now here in Buffalo there's aroad that is.
It used to be super easy for meto get to, based on where we
live, but now it's quite a trek.
But I loved it because it waskind of a off the beaten path
(06:24):
road, but it was.
If you, if you live here inBuffalo, it's where River Works
is.
The utility poles are spacedpretty evenly apart.
So when I wanted to do like afartlek, I would run to this
road and I would run in betweenthe utility poles.
I would run like hack to theone utility pole, stop and
(06:44):
recover and jog to the nextutility pole, then run to the
next one that's faster and thenkind of did that all down the
road.
But you can use a mailbox, youcan use a parked car, you can
use a sign, anything that yousee in the distance, pick it out
and then just run, run faster,pick up that pace.
(07:07):
When you reach it, recover bygoing back to the easy pace that
you were holding before.
You can repeat this as often asyou like during your run twice,
three times, four times,whatever you can decide.
When you're done now, whenyou're running faster,
especially if you aren't used todoing speed work, here are some
(07:27):
things that you can keep inmind while you're doing that,
and that's why some of thesemid-run drills are really,
really good, because it forcesyour brain to think and it
develops that neuromuscularthing that you want going on in
your body.
So you're gonna think aboutrelaxing your shoulders, keeping
your stride light quick, usingyour arms to drive your speed.
(07:49):
Let them work with yourshoulders, keeping your stride
light quick, using your arms todrive your speed, let them work
with your legs, feel how yourarms are moving with your legs,
stay focused on your breathing,but let it be natural and pick
up that pace as you're going to,whatever it was in the distance
that you're running towards Now, along the same lines of
fartlex, is strides.
(08:11):
A lot of times I'll prescribestrides or I'll do strides at
the end of an easy run.
It's kind of a cool way to justpick up your pace.
You know, end your runfatiguing your legs a little bit
more, which is what we want.
In order to get adaptations inour running, our legs need to
get tired and then, as theybuild back up during recovery,
(08:35):
those adaptations in our muscleswill happen.
But with strides it's a littlemore, there's a little bit more
of a recipe to it.
So, instead of just runningfast, you are going to do it
over a time period.
Usually I give about a 20second stride.
And if you do these mid run andyou don't want to keep an eye
(08:58):
on your watch the whole timebecause the whole concept of
doing these mid run is likeyou're choosing when you're
going to do these drills, soit's not going to be like a beep
or you know you get to the endof a segment If you're, if you
have a coach or if you buildyour own workouts it's just kind
of oh, you know what?
I think I'm going to do a fewstrides right now.
(09:19):
So I would say build up over 20seconds and you can count that
in your head One, 1,000, 1,000,three, 1,000.
You're going to take off,you're going to run fast and
then, as you get to around 18,19, you're taking the gas off
until you get to 20.
(09:39):
And you're back to your easypace, easy jog.
If you've really pushed it youmight have to walk.
Just keep moving, don't stop,just keep moving.
And you stop, just keep moving.
And you can do those threetimes and then have 90 seconds
to two minutes of recovery, orwhen you feel recovered, when
(10:00):
you feel like or you can seethat your heart rate is back
down to not resting but more oflike an easy pace and you're not
huffing and you're not puffing.
You want to be recovered whenyou do the next stride.
So when you do kind of thesespeed, play things in the middle
of your run, you're going to be.
(10:21):
If I chunk up a run into run,1.5 miles at this and two miles
at that, and then throw in theseintervals and then a one mile
cool down, whatever it is, ifit's chunked it just goes by so
(10:44):
much faster than you know.
Go out for a six mile run muchfaster than you know.
Go out for a six mile run, andthis will help you mentally as
well as physically with thethings that you're introducing
your body to.
So the next thing we're goingto talk about is a tempo run,
and this isn't going to be an uhquote, unquote real tempo.
(11:07):
It's going to be a five-minutetempo effort.
It's controlled but it'schallenging.
So you're going to pick about aseven on a scale of one to ten
for effort, maybe getting intoeight, but I like a seven.
For this.
You should be able to speak inshort phrases, but you're not
(11:29):
going to be able to hold a fullconversation for it.
So this kind of mid-run tempois a good way to introduce
yourself to tempo runs withoutyou having to do a formal run
right out of the gate.
When you're first starting toget into faster workouts, the
tempo run is kind of a bread andbutter workout, so to speak,
(11:50):
but it can seem daunting if youhave never done any kind of
speed work before, becauseusually a tempo run is between
20 to 40 minutes, could be up toan hour depending on the person
.
But if you've never done speedwork before and I'm telling you
to go out faster a 7 out of 10,.
When you're used to doing a 3,20 minutes is going to seem like
(12:13):
a long time.
So doing a 5-minute tempo inthe middle of an easy run kind
of introduces you to the conceptand gives you an idea of how to
do this before you actually doa formal one.
Now a tempo effort.
This is to help you increaseyour lactate threshold and
(12:34):
that's when your body starts tostruggle with clearing lactate
from your muscles.
It's when you start to getreally tired.
If you're running really fast,that's kind of the point where
you're just like oh my gosh, Ican't do this anymore, I can't
go anymore.
But tempo runs can get ourbodies to raise that level,
raise our threshold, which makesus more efficient and it helps
(12:59):
us maintain those faster pacesfor longer.
It's also great mental trainingbecause it forces us to focus
and stay strong even though wemay be uncomfortable.
So a lot of half marathonersand marathoners use tempo runs
like all the time.
Basically, you know, once a weekthere's going to be a tempo run
(13:21):
in there.
But even if you don't run thosedistances, even if you don't
race at all, the tempo run canreally benefit you because
you're going to learn how to bekind of comfortably
uncomfortable, and it just addsan extra little thing into your
running.
And when you do enough fiveminute ones, you can build to 10
(13:45):
minutes and then 15.
And then by that time you'regoing to be ready for an honest
to goodness 20 or 30 minutetempo run.
That would be your run for theday.
It would be a tempo run thatwould be prescribed.
You know you'd go out forprobably a mile, whatever the
warmup would be, and then youwould run for 20 minutes, 30
minutes, 40 minutes at thatcomfortably uncomfortable pace
(14:07):
and then have a cool down so itwouldn't be a mid-run drill
anymore.
So a tempo will keep you at asteady pace for a set period of
time.
So it can also help you withpacing yourself, because if you
go out too fast and the goal isstaying at that steady pace,
you're going to crash and you'regoing to burn.
And if you get to the end of itand you feel pretty fresh, then
(14:31):
you're going to know you wentout a little too slow and you
can pick up the pace for thenext tempo.
So to do a mid-run, five-minutetempo though, you're going to
find a stretch of road or pathor park, somewhere where you can
maintain a steady pace.
If you don't have an area likethat, you're going to have to
kind of just do this wherever,even just running around the
(14:53):
block, you know, somewhere whereyou're not constantly stopping
at a light to have to cross thestreet, that kind of thing and
you're going to run for fiveminutes at a pace that you feel
like you can sustain but thatwhen you get to the end of it
you're going to be glad you gotto the end of it.
You're still going to have moreto run at the end of this
(15:14):
because this is like a mid-rundrill, but it's only for five
minutes.
So settle into a steady pace.
Feel like it's a seven, keepchecking that pace and if you're
really starting to peter out,do definitely slow down.
But feel like you're controlled.
Stay smooth, you know.
(15:35):
Don't be surging ahead and thenslowing way down.
Try to keep it as steady aspossible.
I really am really bad at pacing.
I suck at pacing.
So don't ever ask me to paceyou in a race because I don't
know.
It's a big weakness for me.
So this can help you learn howto pace yourself.
(15:58):
You know a lot of people willstart out too fast and you're
going to get to minute three andyou're going to be like, oh my
gosh, I'm not going to be ableto finish this, and that's fine.
You know, if you're going outfor a four mile run and you're
doing this at mile two as yourmid run kind of thing, mid run
drill and you get to threeminutes and you think you're
doing this at mile two as yourmid-run kind of thing, mid-run
drill, and you get to threeminutes and you think you're
(16:18):
going to die, definitely stop,you know, and so that you can
complete your run, I'm notasking you to not be able to
complete your run.
This is a tool to help youlearn how to pace yourself in
these things.
So it might take you a fewweeks or a few runs to kind of
figure that out, especially ifyou have never done this before
(16:40):
and you don't know what yourtempo pace is.
This will help you figure thatout.
So it's going to be a lot ofexperimentation, but it is a
good tool to do that.
So you're going to want to stayrelaxed, keep that tension out
of your shoulders when you run,no matter what run you do, and
focus on running efficiently,running quickly.
(17:01):
Think about not overstriding,which is when your front foot
lands way ahead of your body.
People think that having thisbig stride is good.
Overstriding can lead toinjuries.
It can lead to what they calljust kind of breaking.
During your run.
We want to make sure our footis landing underneath our body.
(17:22):
So all these kinds of thingsyou're going to think about as
you're running this tempo run.
When it feels hard, this alsowill help you to stay mentally
focused Back off.
If you have minutes to go andit doesn't feel sustainable.
Like I said, you're trying tofind a five minute sustainable
pace.
But if it's getting hard, butyou know you feel like you can
(17:43):
do it, this is where that mentalfocus kicks in.
And maybe have a mantra or youknow, really think about what
you're doing and think about ifyou get to the three minute mark
and you still have two minutesto go and you think you can do
this, but it's going to bereally hard.
This is where that mental comesinto play when you're when
(18:05):
you're doing these things.
So after that is done, shake itoff, shake it out, return to
your easy pace and finish thatrun.
The next drill we're going totalk about is high knees, so
this drill is good for improvingyour running form, your speed
and the knee drive, which isreally important in running.
(18:27):
It can help activate themuscles in your hips and your
core, which is also importantfor powerful and efficient
running.
I have a lot of problems withmy hips and so high knees is
something that I do a lot midrun.
This is one of the drills thatI do mid run.
Uh, because I'm I tend to be anoverly horizontal runner.
(18:52):
Uh, I don't pick up my feetenough.
So like, if I'm running on atrail, for example, I am in all
kinds of danger of tripping overroots because my feet don't
pick up enough.
You know you don't want to belike hopping as you run.
You know so vertical thatyou're like a piston, but you
(19:16):
don't want to be so horizontaleither that your feet aren't
coming off the ground, so itmakes things like running on
sand, for example, totallyimpossible for me.
I don't know how people do that, but I run with my son twice a
week and he's actually reallygood at having his feet pick up
as he runs.
So here in Buffalo we've hadjust a terrible winter as far as
(19:40):
snow goes, which I blame myself, because when I sign up for the
Buffalo Marathon which Ihaven't run the Buffalo Marathon
since, I think, 2019.
But I always say, if I sign upfor the marathon because it's in
May, I start training inJanuary we're guaranteed to have
a really, really bad winter,and that is proving to be the
(20:00):
case, after a few winters ofonly having a few snowstorms and
then the rest of the timereally at least here in the city
not much snow at all.
But anyway, there's a lot ofsnow and there's a lot of ice,
and he is holding himself upreally well as we're running.
On this, I am doing anabsolutely horrendous job.
(20:23):
I feel like I'm slipping allthe time.
I'm using, you know, my glutesa lot during these runs, trying
to keep myself upright, and sothis high knee drill is
something that I like to do inthe middle to make myself
concentrate on picking my feetup more, and that way I can have
a better shot at putting myfoot down where it's supposed to
(20:46):
go to avoid slipping.
Also, as I get older, I amtrying to avoid that kind of
older person shuffle as I walkor as I run, and I do feel like
this helps with that.
So I only do this for about 30seconds in the middle of a run
because it is a drill and I amtrying to complete a run.
But I'm gonna lift my knees upto hip level while maintaining a
(21:11):
quick cadence, so don't sinkinto your hips.
You're gonna wanna keep uprightand I'm gonna link you in the
show notes to a good coachingvideo on how to do that drill,
and I encourage you to watchthat before doing this mid run,
because if you haven't done thisbefore seeing it done correctly
(21:31):
, that's your best bet, becausethen you're going to learn how
to do it right the first time,instead of having to correct it
later If you go out and try itand then you watch something and
you're like, oh, I'm not doingit right and there's a few
nuances to it and it's kind ofhard to talk about it with you
not visually being able to seeit.
So I'll link it and that's justsomething that you can do in
(21:53):
the middle of your run, just forlike 30 seconds.
Another 30 second drill that Iencourage for the mid run would
be something called bounding.
So this is exaggerated running.
It's kind of like you'releaping from one step to the
next.
It's a plyometric exercise andit helps coordination, build
(22:14):
strength, power.
It's helpful for improving yourpush off and overall overall
running economy.
When I think of bounding, Ithink of probably what's in your
mind when you think of bounding, which is a deer.
So you're gonna think like adeer.
So for 30 seconds you're gonnatake these long, powerful
strides, driving your knees,pushing off the ground and kind
(22:37):
of floating between each step.
So for me, this is notsomething I'm going to do in the
middle of winter, unless I'm onlike true pavement, because you
know, landing I'd probably fallon my butt.
But really think like a deerand I'll link you to a video
also showing you versus tellingyou.
Again, I encourage you to watchhow this is done before you go
(23:00):
out and do it just based on whatI'm saying.
Now, when you do this, you aregoing to look, let's say,
interesting as you do this.
So someone seeing you and notseeing that you're running
beforehand and running again ina regular way after, if they
just see you bounding, they aregoing to think that you run
(23:25):
interestingly.
But if someone sees you runningand then you start doing your
bounding and then you run,they're just going to know that
you are doing somethingpurposeful.
So this is one of thoseinstances where you're just
going to kind of have to get outof your own way and not care
what people think Either that orfind some place that nobody
else is and just do that for 30seconds Bound.
(23:48):
You know you're going to feellike you're doing something and
you're getting to be a betterrunner by doing any of these
drills doing any of these drills.
So whether you choose to dofartlex or a tempo effort or
high knees or bounding, you areadding something valuable to
your run.
So these drills not only keepthings fun, but can also make
(24:11):
you a more efficient runner overtime.
So pick one drill, incorporatethat into a run each week.
Notice how it makes your runmore engaging and time goes by
faster and for most runners itfeels like they're doing
something productive.
But in the end it is to havefun.
Hey running friends.
On today's episode of theWrinkled Runner, we are going to
be talking about ways to keepyour runs fresh and fun and also
purposeful.
We're going to be adding insome drills mid-run, during your
run, and not only will thatbreak up the monotony a bit, but
it will also help you becomestronger, faster, more efficient
(00:23):
and teach you some of thethings that maybe you're not
doing in a warm-up.
Maybe you've never done a temporun before.
Some of these things if you dothem mid-run for not too long of
a time, it can teach you how todo them, learn how to do them
and then apply them when you'rewarming up or a pre-run drill,
(00:46):
or a tempo run or strides at theend of your run.
All these things we're going totalk about them today, and back
in October I interviewed CoachJen Steele and she's from
California and I was talking toher about things that runners
can do in the middle of theiroff season, as some of us call
(01:06):
it, when we're not really intraining for a race, when we're
kind of taking a break but stillgetting out there, and she
actually has a boot camp forthose who are interested and
it's a virtual boot camp, so Iwill link to her below.
When I talked to her in October,she did it.
I think she started inmid-October and I'm not sure if
(01:29):
she does them throughout theyear or if it's just kind of an
end-of-the-year thing.
But while we were talking, Iwas explaining how, for some of
her clients, she gives them somethings drills and exercises and
things to do in the middle oftheir run.
It's something they don't haveto think about beforehand, but
she has it prescribed, which Ithought was brilliant, because
(01:53):
for a lot of runners the lastthing we want to do is, you know
, do drills beforehand, warm-up,strength training, all of these
things that I consider part oftraining, and I do them and I
have my clients do them.
But sometimes all we want to dois run, and so it can be hard
(02:15):
to incorporate some of theseother things.
But if it's in the middle of arun, where you're already
dressed, you're already doing it, you're already out there, then
it can introduce you to some ofthe extra things that as
coaches, we like to see ourathletes doing.
(02:36):
And if you incorporate theminto the middle of a run just
for a few minutes, then it mightbe easier for you to do them
before or after or, you know, goout for a tempo run and we're
going to talk all about thisstuff.
But I'll also link you to thatpodcast episode that I did with
Coach Jen and, as I said before,to her website.
(02:57):
So I'm going to walk youthrough a few different drills
and you can choose maybe tothink about doing one every week
I'm certainly not saying toincorporate all of them into the
middle of one run or even to dolike one every run, every
(03:19):
couple of runs.
Incorporate one of these drillsand think about how you might
be able to use them as a warm upor delve a little further into
running drills and how to usethem.
Delve a little further intospeed work when we talk about
strides and fartleks and temposand just enjoy the process of
(03:45):
giving a little kick to themiddle of your run because, as I
said, sometimes if we're goingout for 40 minutes or an hour or
longer, it can get a little bitboring and this kind of gives
you a little snack, as it were,in the middle of your run.
So the first thing we're goingto talk about is a fartlek and,
(04:06):
if you haven't heard aboutbefore, it's called speed play.
It's a Swedish word for speedplay and it's playing with your
speed.
So it's not something that ishard and fast.
There aren't really any rulesto it.
You're kind of just taking offon your own.
So you get to choose how longor short your bursts of speed
(04:31):
are, when and how long torecover and when to decide.
Okay, you're done with thatparticular aspect of the run.
So it really gives runnersautonomy when it comes to doing
some speed work, which I thinkis super important.
As a coach, I'm always tellingmy athletes my job is to make it
(04:52):
so that you can make some ofthese decisions on your own, not
just give you a cookie cutterplan or tell you exactly what to
do in all situations, but togive you the tools so that you
can go out and make some ofthese decisions on your own.
And fart looks are a great wayto introduce a runner to speed
(05:13):
work that they make all thedecisions about.
So fart locks are a great wayto improve your ability to
transition between paces,because if you're in a race and
you're on varied terrain, forexample, and you're running up a
hill terrain, for example, andyou're running up a hill, you
(05:34):
are probably not going to tryand charge up that hill as fast
as if you are going on a flatsurface.
And for me, who's older,running down a hill can actually
feel harder than running up ahill, so it can help with that.
It can also help you developaerobic and anaerobic systems,
because you're running fast andthen you're recovering, and it
can also teach you how to pickup your pace and all of that
(05:59):
will give you better stamina andbetter speed over time as you
incorporate these.
So it is as simple as pickingout something in the distance.
Now here in Buffalo there's aroad that is.
It used to be super easy for meto get to, based on where we
live, but now it's quite a trek.
But I loved it because it waskind of a off the beaten path
(06:24):
road, but it was.
If you, if you live here inBuffalo, it's where River Works
is.
The utility poles are spacedpretty evenly apart.
So when I wanted to do like afartlek, I would run to this
road and I would run in betweenthe utility poles.
I would run like hack to theone utility pole, stop and
(06:44):
recover and jog to the nextutility pole, then run to the
next one that's faster and thenkind of did that all down the
road.
But you can use a mailbox, youcan use a parked car, you can
use a sign, anything that yousee in the distance, pick it out
and then just run, run faster,pick up that pace.
(07:07):
When you reach it, recover bygoing back to the easy pace that
you were holding before.
You can repeat this as often asyou like during your run twice,
three times, four times,whatever you can decide.
When you're done now, whenyou're running faster,
especially if you aren't used todoing speed work, here are some
(07:27):
things that you can keep inmind while you're doing that,
and that's why some of thesemid-run drills are really,
really good, because it forcesyour brain to think and it
develops that neuromuscularthing that you want going on in
your body.
So you're gonna think aboutrelaxing your shoulders, keeping
your stride light quick, usingyour arms to drive your speed.
(07:49):
Let them work with yourshoulders, keeping your stride
light quick, using your arms todrive your speed, let them work
with your legs, feel how yourarms are moving with your legs,
stay focused on your breathing,but let it be natural and pick
up that pace as you're going to,whatever it was in the distance
that you're running towards Now, along the same lines of
fartlex, is strides.
(08:11):
A lot of times I'll prescribestrides or I'll do strides at
the end of an easy run.
It's kind of a cool way to justpick up your pace.
You know, end your runfatiguing your legs a little bit
more, which is what we want.
In order to get adaptations inour running, our legs need to
get tired and then, as theybuild back up during recovery,
(08:35):
those adaptations in our muscleswill happen.
But with strides it's a littlemore, there's a little bit more
of a recipe to it.
So, instead of just runningfast, you are going to do it
over a time period.
Usually I give about a 20second stride.
And if you do these mid run andyou don't want to keep an eye
(08:58):
on your watch the whole timebecause the whole concept of
doing these mid run is likeyou're choosing when you're
going to do these drills, soit's not going to be like a beep
or you know you get to the endof a segment If you're, if you
have a coach or if you buildyour own workouts it's just kind
of oh, you know what?
I think I'm going to do a fewstrides right now.
(09:19):
So I would say build up over 20seconds and you can count that
in your head One, 1,000, 1,000,three, 1,000.
You're going to take off,you're going to run fast and
then, as you get to around 18,19, you're taking the gas off
until you get to 20.
(09:39):
And you're back to your easypace, easy jog.
If you've really pushed it youmight have to walk.
Just keep moving, don't stop,just keep moving.
And you stop, just keep moving.
And you can do those threetimes and then have 90 seconds
to two minutes of recovery, orwhen you feel recovered, when
(10:00):
you feel like or you can seethat your heart rate is back
down to not resting but more oflike an easy pace and you're not
huffing and you're not puffing.
You want to be recovered whenyou do the next stride.
So when you do kind of thesespeed, play things in the middle
of your run, you're going to be.
(10:21):
If I chunk up a run into run,1.5 miles at this and two miles
at that, and then throw in theseintervals and then a one mile
cool down, whatever it is, ifit's chunked it just goes by so
(10:44):
much faster than you know.
Go out for a six mile run muchfaster than you know.
Go out for a six mile run, andthis will help you mentally as
well as physically with thethings that you're introducing
your body to.
So the next thing we're goingto talk about is a tempo run,
and this isn't going to be an uhquote, unquote real tempo.
(11:07):
It's going to be a five-minutetempo effort.
It's controlled but it'schallenging.
So you're going to pick about aseven on a scale of one to ten
for effort, maybe getting intoeight, but I like a seven.
For this.
You should be able to speak inshort phrases, but you're not
(11:29):
going to be able to hold a fullconversation for it.
So this kind of mid-run tempois a good way to introduce
yourself to tempo runs withoutyou having to do a formal run
right out of the gate.
When you're first starting toget into faster workouts, the
tempo run is kind of a bread andbutter workout, so to speak,
(11:50):
but it can seem daunting if youhave never done any kind of
speed work before, becauseusually a tempo run is between
20 to 40 minutes, could be up toan hour depending on the person
.
But if you've never done speedwork before and I'm telling you
to go out faster a 7 out of 10,.
When you're used to doing a 3,20 minutes is going to seem like
(12:13):
a long time.
So doing a 5-minute tempo inthe middle of an easy run kind
of introduces you to the conceptand gives you an idea of how to
do this before you actually doa formal one.
Now a tempo effort.
This is to help you increaseyour lactate threshold and
(12:34):
that's when your body starts tostruggle with clearing lactate
from your muscles.
It's when you start to getreally tired.
If you're running really fast,that's kind of the point where
you're just like oh my gosh, Ican't do this anymore, I can't
go anymore.
But tempo runs can get ourbodies to raise that level,
raise our threshold, which makesus more efficient and it helps
(12:59):
us maintain those faster pacesfor longer.
It's also great mental trainingbecause it forces us to focus
and stay strong even though wemay be uncomfortable.
So a lot of half marathonersand marathoners use tempo runs
like all the time.
Basically, you know, once a weekthere's going to be a tempo run
(13:21):
in there.
But even if you don't run thosedistances, even if you don't
race at all, the tempo run canreally benefit you because
you're going to learn how to bekind of comfortably
uncomfortable, and it just addsan extra little thing into your
running.
And when you do enough fiveminute ones, you can build to 10
(13:45):
minutes and then 15.
And then by that time you'regoing to be ready for an honest
to goodness 20 or 30 minutetempo run.
That would be your run for theday.
It would be a tempo run thatwould be prescribed.
You know you'd go out forprobably a mile, whatever the
warmup would be, and then youwould run for 20 minutes, 30
minutes, 40 minutes at thatcomfortably uncomfortable pace
(14:07):
and then have a cool down so itwouldn't be a mid-run drill
anymore.
So a tempo will keep you at asteady pace for a set period of
time.
So it can also help you withpacing yourself, because if you
go out too fast and the goal isstaying at that steady pace,
you're going to crash and you'regoing to burn.
And if you get to the end of itand you feel pretty fresh, then
(14:31):
you're going to know you wentout a little too slow and you
can pick up the pace for thenext tempo.
So to do a mid-run, five-minutetempo though, you're going to
find a stretch of road or pathor park, somewhere where you can
maintain a steady pace.
If you don't have an area likethat, you're going to have to
kind of just do this wherever,even just running around the
(14:53):
block, you know, somewhere whereyou're not constantly stopping
at a light to have to cross thestreet, that kind of thing and
you're going to run for fiveminutes at a pace that you feel
like you can sustain but thatwhen you get to the end of it
you're going to be glad you gotto the end of it.
You're still going to have moreto run at the end of this
(15:14):
because this is like a mid-rundrill, but it's only for five
minutes.
So settle into a steady pace.
Feel like it's a seven, keepchecking that pace and if you're
really starting to peter out,do definitely slow down.
But feel like you're controlled.
Stay smooth, you know.
(15:35):
Don't be surging ahead and thenslowing way down.
Try to keep it as steady aspossible.
I really am really bad at pacing.
I suck at pacing.
So don't ever ask me to paceyou in a race because I don't
know.
It's a big weakness for me.
So this can help you learn howto pace yourself.
(15:58):
You know a lot of people willstart out too fast and you're
going to get to minute three andyou're going to be like, oh my
gosh, I'm not going to be ableto finish this, and that's fine.
You know, if you're going outfor a four mile run and you're
doing this at mile two as yourmid run kind of thing, mid run
drill and you get to threeminutes and you think you're
doing this at mile two as yourmid-run kind of thing, mid-run
drill, and you get to threeminutes and you think you're
(16:18):
going to die, definitely stop,you know, and so that you can
complete your run, I'm notasking you to not be able to
complete your run.
This is a tool to help youlearn how to pace yourself in
these things.
So it might take you a fewweeks or a few runs to kind of
figure that out, especially ifyou have never done this before
(16:40):
and you don't know what yourtempo pace is.
This will help you figure thatout.
So it's going to be a lot ofexperimentation, but it is a
good tool to do that.
So you're going to want to stayrelaxed, keep that tension out
of your shoulders when you run,no matter what run you do, and
focus on running efficiently,running quickly.
(17:01):
Think about not overstriding,which is when your front foot
lands way ahead of your body.
People think that having thisbig stride is good.
Overstriding can lead toinjuries.
It can lead to what they calljust kind of breaking.
During your run.
We want to make sure our footis landing underneath our body.
(17:22):
So all these kinds of thingsyou're going to think about as
you're running this tempo run.
When it feels hard, this alsowill help you to stay mentally
focused Back off.
If you have minutes to go andit doesn't feel sustainable.
Like I said, you're trying tofind a five minute sustainable
pace.
But if it's getting hard, butyou know you feel like you can
(17:43):
do it, this is where that mentalfocus kicks in.
And maybe have a mantra or youknow, really think about what
you're doing and think about ifyou get to the three minute mark
and you still have two minutesto go and you think you can do
this, but it's going to bereally hard.
This is where that mental comesinto play when you're when
(18:05):
you're doing these things.
So after that is done, shake itoff, shake it out, return to
your easy pace and finish thatrun.
The next drill we're going totalk about is high knees, so
this drill is good for improvingyour running form, your speed
and the knee drive, which isreally important in running.
(18:27):
It can help activate themuscles in your hips and your
core, which is also importantfor powerful and efficient
running.
I have a lot of problems withmy hips and so high knees is
something that I do a lot midrun.
This is one of the drills thatI do mid run.
Uh, because I'm I tend to be anoverly horizontal runner.
(18:52):
Uh, I don't pick up my feetenough.
So like, if I'm running on atrail, for example, I am in all
kinds of danger of tripping overroots because my feet don't
pick up enough.
You know you don't want to belike hopping as you run.
You know so vertical thatyou're like a piston, but you
(19:16):
don't want to be so horizontaleither that your feet aren't
coming off the ground, so itmakes things like running on
sand, for example, totallyimpossible for me.
I don't know how people do that, but I run with my son twice a
week and he's actually reallygood at having his feet pick up
as he runs.
So here in Buffalo we've hadjust a terrible winter as far as
(19:40):
snow goes, which I blame myself, because when I sign up for the
Buffalo Marathon which Ihaven't run the Buffalo Marathon
since, I think, 2019.
But I always say, if I sign upfor the marathon because it's in
May, I start training inJanuary we're guaranteed to have
a really, really bad winter,and that is proving to be the
(20:00):
case, after a few winters ofonly having a few snowstorms and
then the rest of the timereally at least here in the city
not much snow at all.
But anyway, there's a lot ofsnow and there's a lot of ice,
and he is holding himself upreally well as we're running.
On this, I am doing anabsolutely horrendous job.
(20:23):
I feel like I'm slipping allthe time.
I'm using, you know, my glutesa lot during these runs, trying
to keep myself upright, and sothis high knee drill is
something that I like to do inthe middle to make myself
concentrate on picking my feetup more, and that way I can have
a better shot at putting myfoot down where it's supposed to
(20:46):
go to avoid slipping.
Also, as I get older, I amtrying to avoid that kind of
older person shuffle as I walkor as I run, and I do feel like
this helps with that.
So I only do this for about 30seconds in the middle of a run
because it is a drill and I amtrying to complete a run.
But I'm gonna lift my knees upto hip level while maintaining a
(21:11):
quick cadence, so don't sinkinto your hips.
You're gonna wanna keep uprightand I'm gonna link you in the
show notes to a good coachingvideo on how to do that drill,
and I encourage you to watchthat before doing this mid run,
because if you haven't done thisbefore seeing it done correctly
(21:31):
, that's your best bet, becausethen you're going to learn how
to do it right the first time,instead of having to correct it
later If you go out and try itand then you watch something and
you're like, oh, I'm not doingit right and there's a few
nuances to it and it's kind ofhard to talk about it with you
not visually being able to seeit.
So I'll link it and that's justsomething that you can do in
(21:53):
the middle of your run, just forlike 30 seconds.
Another 30 second drill that Iencourage for the mid run would
be something called bounding.
So this is exaggerated running.
It's kind of like you'releaping from one step to the
next.
It's a plyometric exercise andit helps coordination, build
(22:14):
strength, power.
It's helpful for improving yourpush off and overall overall
running economy.
When I think of bounding, Ithink of probably what's in your
mind when you think of bounding, which is a deer.
So you're gonna think like adeer.
So for 30 seconds you're gonnatake these long, powerful
strides, driving your knees,pushing off the ground and kind
(22:37):
of floating between each step.
So for me, this is notsomething I'm going to do in the
middle of winter, unless I'm onlike true pavement, because you
know, landing I'd probably fallon my butt.
But really think like a deerand I'll link you to a video
also showing you versus tellingyou.
Again, I encourage you to watchhow this is done before you go
(23:00):
out and do it just based on whatI'm saying.
Now, when you do this, you aregoing to look, let's say,
interesting as you do this.
So someone seeing you and notseeing that you're running
beforehand and running again ina regular way after, if they
just see you bounding, they aregoing to think that you run
(23:25):
interestingly.
But if someone sees you runningand then you start doing your
bounding and then you run,they're just going to know that
you are doing somethingpurposeful.
So this is one of thoseinstances where you're just
going to kind of have to get outof your own way and not care
what people think Either that orfind some place that nobody
else is and just do that for 30seconds Bound.
(23:48):
You know you're going to feellike you're doing something and
you're getting to be a betterrunner by doing any of these
drills doing any of these drills.
So whether you choose to dofartlex or a tempo effort or
high knees or bounding, you areadding something valuable to
your run.
So these drills not only keepthings fun, but can also make
(24:11):
you a more efficient runner overtime.
So pick one drill, incorporatethat into a run each week.
Notice how it makes your runmore engaging and time goes by
faster and for most runners itfeels like they're doing
something productive.
But in the end it is to havefun.
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