Run, Forrest, Run: How To Run Farther

Yuri Elkaim, BPHE, CK, RHN
myTreadmillTrainer.com

If you have ever seen the Boston Marathon on television, you probably wondered the same thing I did: “Are these people robots?”

It may seem like something out of Terminator 2, but believe it or not, those thousands of marathoners who run 26 miles up and down hills in wind, rain, sleet, or sun, really are human.  It’s just that they have trained their bodies to run long distances efficiently and effectively.

You may have no desire to run a marathon (especially ultra marathons that go for over 100 miles), but if you want to increase your endurance and learn how to run farther, read on.

What It Takes To Go Long

Running is one of those activities in which you improve the more you do it.  While that may seem like common sense, you’d be surprised how many people expect to improve while running without consistent and dedicated exercise.   This is especially important for long distance running.

There are essentially two components to how far you can run:

The first is how efficiently your body can move air through your system.  The better your aerobic capabilities, the better you will be at maintaining a strenuous effort over a long period of time.  The second is how well your muscles can hold up to the strain caused by a buildup of lactic acid in the muscle, among other things.

Put the two together and they determine how far you can go.

Learning how to run farther is all about developing those two concepts, so that you too, one day, could find yourself sweating out your organs while pounding pavement on the streets of Boston. (Good luck.)

Training: The Basics

Okay, so, you want to run farther.  I can sum up long-distance running in one word: mileage.

Or, in the words of Jan from The Brady Bunch, “Mileage mileage mileage!”

Mileage refers to how many miles you run in a period of time, usually a week.  This means you will be running consistently during the week, and keeping track of your miles.  The more miles, generally speaking, the higher your endurance level.

You should be running at least four times a week if you want to substantially improve your endurance.  When you become proficient, you should probably up it to five or six times a week.  But four is the minimum.

You should eventually try to run at least 3.1 miles (a 5k) per session. A good fundamental program for someone who isn’t a beginner would consist of, say, four-five 3-mile runs a week at a pace of approximately 8-10 minutes a mile.  That will build your endurance bit by bit but will not kill you. As you improve, you can add miles gradually and build up that stamina.

The key to running farther is to run, run, and run. Keep it consistent and keep hitting that distance and you’ll improve.  You’ll be running from Boston to San Francisco in no time.

=> CLICK HERE to get started with the Treadmill Trainer running workouts!