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| Arbogast: When we look at the speed of recovery runs, as athletes and coaches we need to look at the goals and philosophy surrounding why we do them in the first place. That will give us the answers and logical justifications for how they are to be completed. |
| A recovery run should serve several purposes and should fit in a weekly microcycle not as an afterthought but as a carefully planned and important facet of weekly training. First, the recovery run should help to promote an improved blood flow through muscles that have suffered microcellular tears from intensive training, whether caused by speed (trackwork, hard fartleks, stepdown runs), endurance (dramatically exceeding the 5K race distance regardless of overall speed of the run) or resistance (hills, sand, etc.). This improved blood flow will speed nutrients to the affected tissues at a rate greater than a body at rest, hastening the recovery process. Secondly, the recovery run should allow the mental side of the athlete a chance to recover. A slow recovery run is a chance to socialize, think and plan ... a chance to dream, set goals and envision success and what it takes to get there. These things are extremely hard to do when the athlete is focusing with every fiber of his or her ability on holding pace during a harder run. |
| So what type of pace is acceptable or sufficient? |
| A recovery run needs to be sub-maximal in speed, endurance and resistance, so speed of the run is only one concern. The run should be short enough and easy enough that at no time does the athlete encounter stress in any of these three areas of training. Typically, for an athlete competing at an 18:00 level for 5K, a power run, hard fartlek or stepdown run might be done at approximate pacing of 5:40-6:20, depending upon the workout. For an athlete at this level, a recovery run in the 8:00 range for three to four miles would be relatively normal. A run at this speed will allow many of the team members to participate, build team spirit and keep interaction between team members as a focus. |
| However, all of this is dependent upon the most important part of an overall training plan: Run hard on hard days, easy on easy days! Recovery runs serve a purpose: to allow the athlete to recover from the previous hard run but also to prepare the athlete for the next one! Any serious athlete who is concerned about the speed of a recovery run had better be in serious need of it due to working diligently on the hard runs. Treat easy runs as a necessity of superb training -- not as an excuse to develop a comfort zone that is semi-hard, but semi-easy. Work extra hard on your hard days and expand the comfort zone, then recover with a very easy run (or two) prior to the next workout challenge! |