IN OUR series of articles, we have covered several key training workouts that you must incorporate into your training programme. These are the easy runs, long runs, time trials and progressive runs.
As you have noticed, all of these runs are at a relatively slower pace, which will help you meet the training objectives of cardiovascular development. If you run these runs too fast, you will not be able to run as long as you would like to, and thus limit the desired long-term benefits.
Besides cardiovascular development, another important area that you should work on would be your neuromuscular system. Striding is one of the best ways to work on your neuromuscular strength.
Our brain is connected to our muscles via wires called neurons. By consciously learning what it feels to run fast, and to run with good technique, we can get our brain and muscles to work together. This is how striding regularly can help us to run faster longer.
Choosing a location
To accomplish this, find a flat, even surface of about 100m in length - you can choose to do this on a track. You want to ensure that the path is clear with no obstacles or pedestrians. You will be running at high speeds and you do not want to ram into anyone.
How
Before you begin the workout, please complete a short warm-up jog of 10 to 20 minutes to prime your muscles. When you are ready, start from one end and slowly accelerate to top speed in about 50m before slowing down near the end of the 100m. You want to accelerate smoothly and gently.
Decelerate in a similar manner.
Starting or stopping abruptly can lead to muscular trauma.
During each stride, you should focus on good form and recognise what it feels like to run fast with a clean technique.
Simple guidelines include running tall and upright, reducing side to side movements and driving your knees forward - imagine you are Usain Bolt sprinting.
Feeling funny
It is entirely normal to feel awkward when running faster than usual. Even I feel weird sometimes when striding especially after a long hiatus from training. You may feel that your arms and legs are all over the place but trust me, it gets better after a few sessions.
Your running stride will feel smooth and efficient with practise and this new-found efficiency will be carried over to your distance running. The brain will eventually acknowledge what is required to run fast, and hopefully, the brain will remember.
Soreness
It is also common that runners suffer from body aches after the first two sessions. I get them too. This effect is termed delayed onset muscle soreness or Doms for short.
Such soreness will only be felt when you introduce your body to new stress.
It will start to adapt to in a short period of time. As you continue to do these sessions consistently, you will not only stop feeling the aches but will also start feeling refreshed after doing the strides.
Start small
Start off with three sets of 100m stridings before progressing slowly, over a few weeks, to six to eight sets.
Top athletes will often perform a short session of strides the day prior to a race and even during warm-up on the day of the race. As with all new training, remember to ease your body into it and not over push yourself.
Enhance your neuromuscular system on top of your cardiovascular fitness to maximise your chances of a personal best at the marathon.
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