Slow jog...happy pace😁

[Scout37]

Yesterday and today had niggly knee and niggly asthma, so decided to keep it light. Still better than doing nothing eh?

Keeping to my really light, slow jog, concentrating on keeping my steps shorter and under my hips really worked. I actually felt I could easily have gone on all day at that pace, but in view of slight body rebellions (probably result of my mad down hill sprint last week) I thought it best to keep it reasonably short today.

So. An easy one, in light rain which was lovely. All being well, can push things on again next week.

Happy running all...

[JackyGT]

Nothing wrong with a slow jog - works for me 😀

[Scout37 Graduate in reply to JackyGT]

I love it! Honestly, I know I can't do it every time if I want to move forward, but it's great when I really want to enjoy it!

[MontyMooDog Graduate]

Good sensible attitude there. Will be following you soon once my hamstring settles👍😁🏃

[Scout37 Graduate in reply to MontyMooDog]

Swift healing wishes...

[MontyMooDog Graduate in reply to Scout37]

Thanks. I reckon I've been doing an inadequate warm up for the level I'm running at now.... 😕

[nowster Graduate]

A slow run is amazing, as I too noted on Monday.

Slow can also mean you go for a longer duration/distance without tiring.

I think it's a good idea to mix it up. Slow runs, fast runs, long runs.

Like MontyMooDog I'm waiting for my leg to settle before I start up again.

[MontyMooDog Graduate in reply to nowster]

Yes annoying when you pick up an injury but I suppose it's the nature of the sport....

[Scout37 Graduate in reply to nowster]

I have a question about this. I keep reading that running slowly improves stamina and ultimately speed.

Can someone please explain how this works?

Whilst I have greatly improved my stamina over the C25K and beyond, I have only improved my speed on shorter runs. I am still only comfortable at about 10 minutes per kilometre. I can get this up to 8 minutes, briefly less, but only up to about 2k then I am finished.

I absolutely love running at my happy pace, but will this really improve my fitness? Yes I'm mixing it up, doing some shorter faster ones, but I'd love to understand more about how it works.

I'm never going to be quick, even in school days running for the county I didn't have a fast twitch muscle in my body, just relied on stamina and holding a decent pace start to finish.

So, I'll never be fast. But I want to keep getting fitter!

[MontyMooDog Graduate in reply to Scout37]

Running slowly will increase your aerobic fitness. The heart is a muscle and can be trained to become stronger. When the heart becomes stronger it can pump more efficiently as is will increase the stroke volume which is the volume of blood per beat. If you are pumping more blood you are supplying more fuel (oxygen) to your leg muscles per beat. So you ultimately can run faster or for longer at the same effort. Long term effect will show a decrease in your resting pulse as the heart does not have to beat so fast to maintain your status quo ( as it is pumping more per stroke). Hope this helps.

[Scout37 Graduate in reply to MontyMooDog]

Thank you!

[MontyMooDog Graduate in reply to Scout37]

You will increase speed by either increasing your cadence (steps per minute) and/or increasing your stride length. Both will be helped by short fast sessions such as interval training 👍

[Scout37 Graduate in reply to MontyMooDog]

More thanks!

[Roxdog Graduate]

Good and sensible plan! You are listening to your body!

[Scout37 Graduate in reply to Roxdog]

Cheers.

Maybe one day my body will tell me to run a fast 10k!🤣

[Jools2020 Graduate]

Well done! Listening to your body and doing just the right thing 👏👍