“Doing the little things can make a big difference” – Yogi Berra

Today I did an easy run of ~35 minutes after a dynamic warm-up. During this run I focused on keeping the effort easy and enjoy the run! Immediately after my run I performed the following exercises:

 

• Leg swings forward and back with both straight and bent leg (10 repetitions of each for each leg)
• Leg swings side-to-side with both straight and bent leg (10 repetitions of each for each leg)
• Clamshells (15 repetitions on each side)
• Prone planks (~30 seconds)
• Side planks (~30 seconds)
• Supine planks (~20 seconds)
• Double leg hip bridges (10 repetitions)
• Quadrupeds (10 repetitions on each side)
• Single-leg balance (~30 seconds for each leg)

Immediately after these exercises I performed foam rolling and eccentric lengthening exercises for ~10 minutes.

Recommendation: If you have an easy day scheduled, as I would recommend for intermediate and advanced runners (running at least 4-5 days per week), as you most likely should during your first week of training, keep the pace easy today. Again, depending on your running experience and time taken off you may choose to run 30-45 minutes today.  If you are a beginner running three days a week, you may want to do a 20-30 minute walk. For all runners, I recommend doing any of the exercises above that you know how to properly perform. Then you should do at least a 10 minute cool-down.

Tip of the Day: You should have easy days in your training program on the days these are scheduled you should keep those runs easy. There is a reason why these runs are supposed to be easy. If you don’t keep them easy and push the pace, you won’t be getting the benefit of this run and this could negatively impact recovery, future training, and ultimately your running performance for your goal race. Easy runs are usually meant for recovery and building your aerobic fitness, especially early in a training program. So, don’t miss out on these when you are scheduled to do an easy run. Go along with this, each workout in your training program should have a purpose. Don’t go into your training blindly and just try to “wing it”. This won’t help you realize your maximum potential come race day.

Please let me know if you have any questions, or if I can be of help in any way.

Have a great day today!

Your friend and coach,

Brian