NicoleWe’re talking about off-season running in the fourth of the a multi-part series with off-season tips for endurance athletes. We started with off-season nutrition, swimming, and cycling, and the final part will discuss strength training.
With running being essentially a high-impact sport, it’s a good idea to give your body a bit of a break for a little bit. So when your run volume is down, consider the following tips to give yourself a bit of a break without stopping completely.
1. Run the trails if you’ve been on the road, but don’t worry about pace. Your legs will appreciate the softer surface, and they may even get stronger with the terrain variation.
2. Revisit your warm-up and cool-down routines. Do you incorporate some kind of movement prep/dynamic warm-up, and post-run stretching routine into your runs? Now’s a good time to test some out.
3. Do a drill session each week where you just focus on technique. Some of the drills might also be good to incorporate to your dynamic warm-up.
4. Grab some friends you haven’t run with for a while, set an upper pace limit that’s quite comfortable for everyone, and run super slow so you can remember what easy running feels like!
5. Run in shorter fall/holiday season races like 5ks or 10ks for fun to keep some fitness, but don’t feel you have to train for them.
6. Don’t be afraid of a treadmill. If the weather isn’t great and you still want to run, put on some good tunes, hop on the treadmill and play with paces and grade. Again, don’t worry about running fast or for long, just get your run on!
What do you do in the off-season to get a little break but keep some running fitness?
Don’t know what to do for your off-season training? Let Coach Nicole create a custom training plan for you–just $25/week. Get in touch with here:
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Nicole
