Recovering from a long run
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As runners, we have inherently obsessive personalities. We’re always looking to push the envelope with our training paces and make each workout better than the one before. Unfortunately, if you don’t give your body the rest and recovery it needs on easy days, you’ll wind up overtrained, burnt out, or injured. As a running coach, I am an ardent proponent of maximizing each day that you run and making the most of out every mile on the training schedule. While it’s contrary to a runner’s obsessive nature, sometimes maximizing your training means taking a slow recovery day.
What is an easy recovery run
A recovery run is a training day that is designed to facilitate recovery by delivering oxygen and nutrients to the muscles damaged during running. The main purpose of a recovery run is restoration, not building aerobic strength.
Most runners are surprised with how slow they must run to execute a recovery day. A true recovery run can sometimes feel almost painfully slow. However, a good rule of thumb for a recovery run is that you can never run too slow, but you can easily run too fast to realize maximum benefits. When in doubt, slow down.
To help guide you, a runner training for a half marathon should run their recovery runs about 1-2 minutes slower than their goal half marathon pace in order to maintain a true recovery pace. For a marathoner, recovery pace is about 60-90 seconds slower per mile than marathon goal pace. For a 5k runner, this pace would be about 2-3 minutes slower than race pace.
How does a recovery run work?
After you perform a hard workout, your muscles have small muscle tears from the forceful contractions required to run at faster and faster speeds. These muscles tears are what cause muscle pain and what make training the day after a hard workout difficult. The body heals these small micro tears through the circulatory system (blood), which delivers oxygen and nutrients to the muscles that need repair. Once these micro tears are healed, the muscle will be stronger and allow you to run faster and longer.
Slow running increases blood flow to these muscles, helping clear out waste products while delivering fresh oxygen and nutrients. If you run too hard on an easy day, you create more muscle tears than you’re fixing, so it is critical you keep your recovery day as easy as possible. Interestingly, aerobic development at the cellular level is almost exactly the same whether you’re running 30 seconds slower than marathon pace or 2 minutes slower than marathon pace. The only difference is that you create more muscle damage at 30 seconds slower than marathon pace compared to 2 minutes slower.
When should you include a recovery run in your training plan?
Recovery runs should be implemented between hard workout sessions. For example, if you have a hard workout on Tuesday, you should include a recovery run on either Wednesday or Thursday (or both, depending on your mileage).
Too many runners complete a hard session on Tuesday and then inadvertently push the pace on Wednesday or Thursday. Consequently, they cannot run as fast as they are capable of during their next workout. Thus, they’ve minimized the benefits of the workout and only slowed down their progression.
However, if you give your body a chance to fully recover, you can run faster during your next workout or long run and maximize the physiological benefits of the specific workout.
Why easy running over cross training?
While cross training also helps increase blood flow, most cross training modalities do not target the running specific muscles which need the most nutrients. Sure, some machines simulate running, but to maximize the benefits, you need to target the exact muscles involved in running as specifically as possible.
Of course, beginner runners need to build up to the point where they can safely add mileage to their training schedule, but the salient point about recovery runs remain in tact. To maximize the benefits of your workouts, keep your recovery days easy and only go hard during workout days.
So, the next time you have a recovery day scheduled on your training plan, make sure to take full advantage and run as slow as your body needs to recover that day.
Do you ever push the pace on your easy days? Have any tricks to help slow yourself down?
I have a question- if one runs 6 days a week, and 1 day of rest then how many “recovery runs” should they have in their training schedule?
Good question, Shannon. That would be highly dependent upon your running and training history (how long you’ve been running for and how well-trained you are) as well as your racing goals.
However, for someone looking to maximize performance, here is what I suggest:
If you’re still a relative beginner, you should have 4 recovery runs.
If you’re more intermediate and looking to maximize your racing goals, 3 recovery runs
If you’re more advanced or you’re training for a marathon, I would have 2 recovery runs.
Hope this helped.
Jeff
Does alternating hard and very easy days work in the long term? monday- easy recovery 6, tuesday 10 x 300m hard, wednesday – easy 5, thursday 11 miles easy, friday 3 x 800m hard, saturday easy 8, sunday 12- 15 good pace 7.00mm – 7.30mm. should there be a day off here for a 34 10k runner?
Another good question, Chris. Alternating hard and easy days is actually a very good long-term plan, especially for a 34min 10k runner.
If your body is handling 7 days a week of running, I don’t think you need to take a day off every week. Perhaps you can schedule one every second or third week, just to build in some extra recovery. Even elite marathoners like Ryan Hall and Paula Radcliff doe this in their training.
Just a quick note on your plan, I would look at adding more tempo runs to your training if you’re training for the 10k. Tempo runs can build a lot of endurance and help maximize your potential at 10k and longer. Here is an article about threshold runs (another name for tempo run): http://runnersconnect.net/running-training-articles/what-is-lactate-threshold/ that might interest you.
Good luck!
You mention increased blood flow clearing out waste and bring nutrients to my damaged muscles. I would certainly expect that all my cells are already being serviced by my circulatory system. If I have a naturally active lifestyle (walking, standing at my desk, taking the stairs, etc) I would expect that any waste would have long left my muscles before I even lace up for a recovery run. My blood is always flowing to my muscles as well, providing nutrients. I can’t visualize how a recovery run changes this naturally occurring process any. Can you help me understand this part?
That’s a great question, Jeff. It basically comes down to specificity and delivering blood and nutrients to the specific muscles used when running.
The circulatory system will deliver blood and nutrients to all the muscles generally, but won’t deliver anything extra to the muscles you’ve specifically worked while running. To do that, you need to work the specific muscles you used lightly.
Typically, this comes from running, but if your body can’t handle the volume, then it could be from aqua jogging or the elliptical (the two most similar movements to running).
Here is a video you might enjoy about this topic: http://www.runnerspace.com/video.php?do=view&video_id=26661
Great article. Thank you.
I have a question. I planned to race on Sunday — a 5 miler — and then do a 24-hour relay race the following Friday. It’s one of those Ragnar relays, where you run three legs over the course of 24 hours. The legs are of varying distances — 3, 5, maybe 8 miles — so you could end up running close to 20 miles over the course of the race.
My question is: will I have enough recovery time between Sunday and my first leg the following Friday evening? Should I perhaps not “race” Friday, but instead use the race as a training day? Or, just jog it?
Thank you!
Sorry. My second to last sentence was incorrect. It should read: “Should I perhaps not “race” on SUNDAY, but instead use that race as a training day in preparation for the relay? Another option?”
Thanks!